Introducing an Overview of an SAP S/4HANA Conversion

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to give an overview of the SAP S/4HANA conversion process

SAP S/4HANA Conversion - Overview

  • SAP S/4HANA on-premise edition is the next generation business suite. It is fully built on the most advanced in-memory platform existing today: SAP HANA. The product uses modern design principles with the SAP Fiori user experience (UX) as well as a new role-based user experience concept. With the move to SAP S/4HANA, you are benefiting from continuous application innovations such as:
  • Application optimizations specific for the SAP HANA column-based data storage: With SAP S/4HANA, SAP optimizes the application to make the best use of the capabilities of the SAP HANA database, for example, removed aggregates and reduction of the data footprint.
  • Responsive user experience design: With SAP S/4HANA, SAP designs the application with the latest role-based user experience (UX).
  • Unifying functionality in the core: With SAP S/4HANA, SAP removes redundancy. SAP S/4HANA is designed to provide one functionality for one objective.
  • With SAP S/4HANA, SAP helps businesses to run simple in the digital economy, including topics such as the Internet of Things, Big Data, business networks, and mobile-first.

This course contains the SAP S/4HANA conversion scenario. Other possible scenarios are explained only high level in a later lesson.

SAP provides a process for the conversion to SAP S/4HANA. This training gives an overview of the tools, the phases, and the activities involved in the process.

SAP recommends that you perform the activities in the sequence shown in the figure, SAP S/4HANA – The Three Transition Scenarios, and explained in the lesson.

To enable you to do an optimal planning of your path to SAP S/4HANA, SAP provides the Simplification Item Catalog for SAP S/4HANA. This list describes in detail the effects on individual transactions and functions in SAP S/4HANA.

These figures are taken from the SAP S/4HANA Conversion Guide.

In SAP S/4HANA Server, many tables do not exist any longer - especially aggregate and index tables. Data is moved to other tables. Existing tables are combined with new tables.

For more details, see support.sap.com/sltoolset.

The Maintenance Planner simplifies the landscape maintenance process to update, upgrade and install SAP systems with ease and efficiency.

Choose the SAP system to be upgraded and plan your target version.

For an SAP S/4HANA conversion, choose the Plan for SAP S/4HANA tile. An ease to transition is offered. Building blocks (such as SAP Fiori) are automatically integrated.

Define changes, based on your landscape data in customer profile.

Push all required files to your download basket and download the stack XML file.

The SI-Checks must be performed - and errors must be solved - before the SUM can enter downtime. The SUM rechecks the results.

The custom code analysis can be done prior to the SAP S/4HANA conversion. The custom code adoption can only be performed after the conversion.

SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA displays the simplification items that are relevant for your specific SAP ECC source system conversion to SAP S/4HANA Server. The simplification items are identified according to factors such as transactions used, customizing, and table contents. The simplification items are one of the most important means of preparing your move to SAP S/4HANA Server, and enable you to do the following:

  • Display the SAP S/4HANA simplification items that are relevant for your SAP ECC system.

  • Reference related project activities for each item to organize project efforts.

  • Focus on the most important activities first, for example, which business decisions are to be made and which tasks can be performed now on the source SAP ECC system.

  • Filter mandatory and conditional activities to ease project planning.

  • Organize work by setting a manual status and adding personal comments.

  • Upload the detailed consistency check results to deep dive into necessary data cleanup and corrections.

Note: SAP Fiori front-end server will have to run either on SAP MaxDB, SAP ASE or SAP HANA as a database -> see SAP Note 2214245

  • Use the Simplification List to map existing business processes to SAP S/4HANA.
  • Start Usage and Procedure Logging (UPL) to have statistics based on a long phase.
  • Check custom code: Which parts are obsolete? What does SAP offer today?
  • Reduce DB size, for example, by archiving or using SAP Data Volume Management (DVM).
  • Consider Unicode conversion.
  • Consider Readiness Check.
  • Read the System Conversion guide
  • Use the Maintenance Planner: Get familiar and use checks early.
  • Run the Simplification Item (SI) check programs.

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