3 Strategies for a Successful SAP S/4HANA Migration
While there is no one-size-fits-all pathway to SAP S/4HANA, there are three general strategies that will help you have a successful SAP S/4HANA migration. Each approach has its own benefits and drawbacks that you should consider when deciding the best strategy for your company. Combine these details with the specifics of your SAP environment, business, and team, and you’ll be able to start your journey towards building a migration plan with confidence.
Greenfield Approach
The simplest explanation of the “Greenfield approach” is you start with a clean slate, completely re-engineering and simplifying all of your workflows and processes. All the knowledge and experience you have stockpiled about your business and best practices are combined to build a new, fully optimized environment from the ground up. This approach, frequently called a “back to standard” initiative, is recommended by SAP and has the greatest long-term ROI.
Brownfield Approach
The “Brownfield Approach” can be considered a renovation of your SAP environment. It migrates your system to SAP S/4HANA without a full re-implementation and with less disruption of your current business processes. This approach maintains much of the long-term investment you’ve made in your SAP environment, and in the short- to mid-term, can be cheaper than a full Greenfield system replacement.
Landscape Transformation
Another migration option is a Landscape approach, and it is often the best option for large corporations with complex structures. It is a more selective migration of specific data sets that have the highest impact in serving the goals and processes of a business. This approach has the benefits of leveraging historical knowledge and system investment, while also providing an opportunity to retool select parts of their system in line with the modern practices of the SAP S/4HAHA environment.
Learn More
It can be difficult selecting the most effective migration strategy so evaluating all the appropriate variables is essential. Get more details including the pros and cons of each approach in our whitepaper “Effective SAP S/4HANA Migration Strategies,” and let us know if you we can help you make the best choice for your business.
