SAP S/4HANA, the Key to Unlock Digital Transformation

After 2020, one of the most popular industry buzzwords, 'digital transformation,' has acquired a whole new dimension and level of prominence. Many enterprises have already set their SAP S/4HANA migration plan in motion in a bid to become an early adopter of SAP's next- and fourth-generation business suite, one that is built upon a digital core.

However, switching to a whole new platform like S/4HANA from on-premises involves multiple risks for any organization, especially when it involves migrating massive amounts of everyday business data. Before we proceed further on that, let's have a quick understanding of what SAP data migration is all about.

What is data migration to SAP S/4HANA?

Data migration is an integral part of SAP migration, or rather of any system implementation, consolidation, or upgrade. It refers to the process of transferring or migrating data from one system to another, here to SAP S/4HANA. Data can be transferred from on-premises hardware to SAP's cloud-based database, from a non-SAP system to SAP, or from a previous SAP solution, like SAP ECC, to their latest business suite.

A study by UK and Ireland SAP User Group (UKISUG) finds that for 66% of SAP customer organizations, data management is a key challenge when moving from SAP ECC 6.0 to S/4HANA.

To ensure a seamless data migration, an organization must have a clear strategy in place to minimize risks, maintain administrative consistency, and maximize ROI. A number of tools and SAP solutions, such as S/4HANA Migration Cockpit (MC), Legacy System Migration Workbench (LSMW), and Rapid Data Migration with SAP Data Services (RDM), are available in the market to support companies in their data migration process. However, a successful and seamless data migration to SAP S/4HANA requires a little more than that. We have collated the top 6 data migration best practices to help you maximize value from your SAP data migration process.

Top 6 Points to Consider Before Starting Your SAP S/4HANA Data Migration

#1 Include data in your migration timeline

While setting up migration timelines, organizations often miscalculate or forget to include the time required to shift all the data to the new environment. However, this one apparently-simple mistake can totally derail the entire plan. Depending on the data volume and the distance and differences between source and target locations, a data migration process, on average, can take from just half an hour to months or even years. That's why it's of utmost importance to have a well-thought-out process backed by the right experts to accelerate the data transfer process and drive it to success.

#2 Don't keep executive buy-in for later

In fact, if possible, try and engage your business unit leaders from the very beginning of the data migration process. The earlier you involve them in strategy and planning, the lesser will be the chance of them backing out at the last moment.

#3 Create one unified data rule book for everyone to follow

This requires early collaboration between different teams to agree on a uniform rule book that aligns business and data rules, taxonomies, corporate goals, and other processes and goals to master data. As a result of this exercise, everyone in the data migration project gets one single source of references throughout the process.

#4 Identify champions to enforce decisions

In each business unit, recognize one team member who is a subject matter expert and a natural leader. Make that person a champion to communicate and uphold the new business process and rules in their teams. This will accelerate the adoption process and ensure easy enforcement of critical business decisions.

#5 Make the most of available SAP solutions and tools

We have already mentioned a couple of tools above. Apart from those tools and SAP solutions, if your organization already has any SAP data service or governance program in place, don't forget to leverage that to bring speed to the migration of master data from the old environment to SAP S/4HANA.

#6 Aim for the low-hanging fruits

Take a thorough look at the inventory of existing data assets, the location, the system, and their relevance in the new model of SAP S/4HANA. Conduct a data profiling to identify any scope of benefits or business drivers in that data. For example, if 'increase customer retention by 50%' happens to be one of the critical business drivers, then perform a data cleanup to ensure your existing relationships and customer experience do not get lost in the process.

Final thoughts

If SAP S/4HANA data migration is an iceberg, then consider these 6 points the tip of the iceberg. As one of the key SAP S/4HANA transformation partners in the world, Cloud4C helps enterprises to transform their SAP on-premises solutions to the next-gen business suite.

Our SAP Migration specialists and cloud engineers ensure that a business can seamlessly migrate to a cloud-powered SAP experience on any cloud platform of choice, regardless of operational ecosystem complexity and underlining compliance. Cloud4C's automation-rich, secure, and hyper-fast SAP Migration Factory Approach is equipped to achieve the transition objective on the desired cloud platform at the highest availability in a single SLA. In tandem, gain transformational impact from the IT till the business strata. Meet and exceed your enterprise digital transformation objectives on the cloud.

For more information on Cloud4C SAP S/4HANA transformation services, visit our website.