Describing the Customer Transition Paths to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition

Review each term in the table below to learn more about the different types of transitions.

An analysis of approximately 10,000 SAP S/4HANA projects over 3 years found 48% of projects were system conversions, 50% of projects were new implementations, with the remaining 2% being selective data transitions.

Customers explained that business considerations, including the corporate strategy and degree of planned business transformation weighed heavily in their decisions. Technical factors, such as their existing landscape and the need to retain historical data was also important, in addition to the overall organizational readiness, including the level of sponsorship for the project. The higher the level of sponsorship, the more likely the organization was to choose a greenfield new implementation with full process redesign.

Review the graphic below to explore the important customer decisions when choosing a transition path.

The table below provides a summary of the benefits, technical methodology, desired outcomes, and considerations for each transition options.

*Specific methodology depends on customer situation.

For customers pursuing a system conversion, the one-step transition path from an SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition is the recommended approach, although there are alternative paths that take different starting points into account.

There is also a two-step transition path, however it should be carefully considered, because it requires two separate implementation projects.

In addition, the increased complexity increases the transition time, the required system downtime, and cost of the overall implementation.

A new implementation is a brand new installation of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition system to provide a fresh start in a clean system.

The primary steps of a new implementation are:

1. Software Installation: SAP provisions a new SAP S/4HANA instance in the cloud
2. Pre-Configuration Content Activation
   • SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition
     • Starting with the predefined business processes enables a customer to get up and running much faster because the process flows, apps, and business roles to complete different job tasks are already defined. It also makes it easier to train end-users in how to use the new system because the documentation lives in the SAP Signavio Process Navigator website. SAP will activate the chosen business processes for one country version. The implementation team is responsible for activating additional countries.
   • Enterprise Management Layer (EML) for SAP S/4HANA
     • The EML is a selection of business processes from the master package, SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, with a focus on multinational companies. The EML is the successor of the SAP Model Company for Multinational Corporations, and includes 43 country versions with a focus on intercompany processes. SAP will install the preconfigured EML package and additional templates can be activated by request for an additional cost.
   • SAP Qualified Partner Packaged Solutions
     • Partner-created best practice templates built on top of empty systems are qualified by SAP to ensure the solutions are proven and repeatable. These qualified partner solutions may address specific industry functionality or niche areas a customer requires on top of the standard SAP best practice business processes.
3. Software Configuration: Enter configuration values to ensure the SAP Best Practice business processes function correctly, and make additional customizations and extensions as needed.
4. Initial Data Load: Transfer the business data required to run the new system by loading master and open transactional data from the legacy system. The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit facilitates migration of legacy data to the target SAP S/4HANA system. Two types of data are migrated:
   • Master Data: Core business objects such as activity, cost center, bank master, customer, and supplier.
   • Open Items: Open transactional data such as financial balances, sales orders, and purchase orders.

Note

Completed, closed, and partially closed transactional data (e.g. sales orders, purchase orders, plant maintenance orders, etc.) are not migrated.

Note

Recommended data cleansing:

• Archive unnecessary data records pertaining to inactive customer and vendors
• Identify and eliminate duplicates
• Extend records with fields required in SAP S/4HANA
• The SAP Master Data Governance application can be used to curate and maintain clean data.

A system conversion converts an existing SAP ERP system 'as is' into a new SAP S/4HANA system. The primary steps of a system conversion are:

1. Prepare ERP System: Custom code needs to be cleaned up and data volumes should be reduced as much as possible.
2. Database Migration: Data is moved from the legacy database the SAP HANA database.
3. System Update: The system is updated with new applications and database tables.
4. Data Conversion: The original database tables are converted to the new data model.
5. Software Configuration: Implement SAP S/4HANA mandatory items and simplification items and reuse most of the original business processes.

The Software Update Manager (SUM) is the tool that facilitates the database migration, software update, and data conversion steps. The SUM creates a shadow repository on the target database. A shadow system consists of a shadow instance and a shadow repository.

Database Migration Option (DMO) is an optional feature of the Software Update Manager (SUM) tool. It combines three system conversion processes into a single step procedure: database migration + system update + data conversion. System Move adds an additional step that facilitates migration to new data centers. The functionality reduces complexity, downtime, transition time, and costs of the system conversion by packaging multiple steps together and adding the system move to facilitate switching from the old servers to new servers in the target hyperscaler.

Note

DMO with System Move is only available for systems based on Application Server ABAP.

A Selective Data Transition allows transfer of data from one or more existing ERP solutions to a new SAP S/4HANA solution. You select which data to transfer which can include:

• ABAP repository of objects and developments
• Configuration (customizing) data
• Master data
• Transaction data (open items and a time-slice of historical closed items e.g. 2 years)

There are two common approaches:

• Shell Conversion: A shell copy of the production system is made without master and transaction data and converted to SAP S/4HANA. Best if most processes are being reused.
• Mix & Match: A new SAP S/4HANA install is created and elements of existing configuration and ABAP repository are transferred. Best if majority of solution is being redesigned.

Learn more in this SAP Blog.

Considerations for Partner-Led Selective Data Transition Projects:

• Partners create and use their own tools and products
• SAP does not certify 3rd party products or services for SAP S/4HANA Selective Data Transition
• Inconsistencies or issues which arise from the use of non-SAP tools are not covered by the SAP Support Agreements
• If the third party is not able to fix issues that arise, SAP will try to help, however, this remediation will be a chargeable consulting or support service

A Lift and Shift moves an entire system without change to a new landscape. For example, an SAP S/4HANA on premise system on release 2023 could be moved to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition on release 2023.

The primary steps to Lift & Shift a system are:

1. Check Prerequisites: Source system must be on a supported release.
2. Provision Target System: Provision new hardware in the new landscape.
3. Backup & Restore: Use Software Provisioning Manager to backup the current system and restore it on the target system.

A database migration converts an existing SAP system running on any database type 'as is' into a new SAP HANA database. The primary steps of an in-place database migration are:

1. Dual-stack Split: If the current system is on an dual stack it must be split into two individual stacks
2. Unicode Conversion: If the current system uses multiple code pages (MDMP) it must be converted to Unicode which defines each character only once.
3. Database Upgrade: The current system must be upgraded to a supported release.
4. Software Upgrade: The current system software must be upgraded to a supported release.
5. Database Migration: Technical migration of current database to SAP HANA.

Note

The Software Update Manager (SUM) includes an option that combines the upgrade with the database migration. This option is called DMO.