麻豆传媒视频

Preparing an enterprise for a large-scale SAP S/4HANA transformation is no easy process. From the moment you decide to move to S/4HANA, to the moment you go-live, there are a series of crucial tasks to undertake to ensure a smooth transition of data and business processes.

featuring Arndt Hoffman, Chief Strategist at , and Leonard Maganza, Chief Customer Officer at 麻豆传媒视频, the challenges of getting data and custom code ready for S/4HANA were discussed at length (). 

The Blueprint for Successful S/4HANA Transformation: 4 Key Preparation Stages 

1. Immerse Yourself in SAP S/4HANA Education

No matter how much expertise you carry with you from prior transformations, when it comes to SAP S/4HANA  transition, it鈥檚 an important step to re-educate and immerse yourself in the latest technologies and approaches.

For example, significant technological advances in the custom code space have been made in recent years. 鈥淣ow, with intelligent automation (for custom code) you鈥檙e able to sort 90-95% of transformation challenges with technology, and allow your team to focus on value-adding efforts,鈥� said Arndt Hoffman, in the recent webinar. 鈥淕iven the resource shortages in the market, it鈥檚 likely never too late to start thinking about automation.鈥�

鈥淔or all transformations, data and code are on the critical path. When you master them, you master the project plan. When you accelerate them, you accelerate the migration program. When you de-risk them, you de-risk the entire project.鈥�

Arndt Hoffman, Chief Strategist, smartshift

The immersion process unlocks insights that could significantly change your transformation process. With the technology available such as the 麻豆传媒视频 Knowledge Platform, you don鈥檛 need to wait until the transformation starts to begin addressing data quality. Businesses that work with 麻豆传媒视频 have identified opportunities to get data sorted upfront prior to moving, whether that be through a Business Partner consolidation, Central Finance integration, or Spare Parts/Inventory initiative. Many data optimization tasks don鈥檛 need to wait until you鈥檙e live in S/4HANA.

In the custom code sphere, it鈥檚 a similar story. 鈥�50% of custom code changes can be done now in ECC,鈥� said Arndt Hoffman.

In the fast-paced world of data transformation, it鈥檚 never been more important to research and/or liaise with the experts to establish what the best new strategies are for moving your transformation forward.

2. Align Your SAP S/4HANA Program Objectives to Business Strategy

While it may seem like an obvious step, aligning the transformation program to the business strategy is crucially important.

鈥淵ou have to ask yourself, is your internal organization ready for all the new technology?鈥� explained Hoffman. 鈥淵ou need to build a roadmap towards enablement to ensure maximum productivity (of the transformation).鈥�

Leonard Maganza, Chief Customer Officer at 麻豆传媒视频, added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 more about best fit than it is best practice. You have to find a transformation approach that suits where you鈥檙e heading as an organization.鈥�

In the world of enterprise transformation, there鈥檚 rarely a situation of one-size-fits all.

鈥淵ou need to start with assessing your internal situation. Why do you want to change your platform? Do you have technical debt? What鈥檚 the business driver?鈥�

Leonard Maganza, Chief Customer Officer at 麻豆传媒视频

As plans develop, it鈥檚 important to look at data in terms of a value stream. Try to identify areas where data could be more helpful in driving the business鈥� agenda, whether that鈥檚 in procurement or finance, and build your transformation plan to drive data, process, and business improvement in those areas.

With custom code, it鈥檚 more an issue of re-evaluation: what鈥檚 important for the business to take with them to S/4HANA and which code is best to be retired.

鈥淲e find that 40-60% of custom code is not used,鈥� said Hoffman, citing an area business could immediately focus on to improve system agility. 鈥淭he rest (of an enterprises鈥� custom code) might be strategic and useful but it limits your ability to adapt to SAP platform innovations.鈥� Hoffman went to on discuss how more custom code enhancements in ECC or legacy systems, ultimately means, the more transformation work you鈥檒l need to do to migrate them over.

At this planning stage, it鈥檚 worth evaluating which processes you鈥檝e customized (most likely for a good reason at the time) could be standardized as per SAP recommendations. Over the long-term, it鈥檚 very likely this wouldn鈥檛 hurt the business. In fact, it would likely provide more benefits through greater access to SAP functionality and automatic upgrades in the future.

3. Automate the Assessment of Your SAP S/4HANA Data and Custom Code Landscape

The next part of the preparation process is to delve into the transformation鈥檚 critical areas of data and custom code, using technology to assess where data / custom code is causing the biggest issues and conversely where value may be hidden.

鈥淵ou have to let the data speak for itself,鈥� said Leonard Maganza, 鈥淥nce you鈥檝e got the data, validate it. It will help you prepare.鈥�

Data Assessment Express, the automated data assessment solution can help you analyze your organizational data. 鈥淚n the assessment, we tier the data and apply business relevancy criteria to it, 鈥渃ontinued Maganza. 鈥淥nce you know what you need you can eliminate the data that鈥檚 more of a liability than an asset. Archive aging data that鈥檚 required for audits and customer services and move unstructured data into a data lake if you鈥檇 like to retain it.鈥�

鈥淚dentify where the higher volume discounts can be found. Decide what data is relevant then approach it from a business impact perspective before you send off people to work.鈥�

Leonard Maganza, Chief Customer Officer at 麻豆传媒视频

Assessments are a dime-a-dozen in the technology industry, so finding the right specific assessments that focus on the critical aspects of a transformation is where you鈥檒l find the long-run benefits. With a data assessment such as 麻豆传媒视频’s Data Assessment Express, you鈥檒l be in a better position to identify where pre-migration activity can be conducted to smooth the ultimate transition. 鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of data quality initiatives you need to do in advance of migration to avoid elongating your timeline,鈥� said Maganza. 鈥淥ptimizing data in your legacy systems before you migrate really is a sensible approach.鈥�

4. Sandbox Testing

Assessments get you to a certain point, but it鈥檚 soon time to put that knowledge into practice. 鈥楽andboxing鈥� is an excellent way to test data and processes before you move your full dataset and code over to S/4HANA, and protects you against stress and pain down the road.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about addressing the data interoperability problem,鈥� as Maganza put it. 鈥淭he only way you can test if it鈥檚 going to work is to have the data and custom code in a sandbox environment that mirrors the new system.鈥�

鈥淵ou can get into analysis paralysis that gets you nowhere. Sandboxes with real data and custom code are essential to build a minimum viable product fast and test that the system works.鈥�

Arndt Hoffman, Chief Strategist at smartshift

Testing is a core part of 麻豆传媒视频’s migration methodology. When we say 鈥淟oad early, load often,鈥� what we really mean is through an agile approach to testing, learning, and repeating. You鈥檒l be put in control of the process and assured your data is right-sized and right-formatted for the ultimate S/4HANA migration.

To learn more about 麻豆传媒视频’s data migration solutions for S/4HANA, contact us.