The switch to SAP S/4HANAis imminent?
The switch to SAP S/4HANA is just around the corner? Mainstream maintenance of the widely used Business Suite with the core product SAP ECC will only be offered until the end of 2027 and already SAP is only making new functions available in S/4HANA.
The associated changeover is a complex project that needs to be well prepared and planned.
Especially at the beginning of the conversion, companies have to face a multitude of new challenges, as the introduction or conversion to S/4HANA is not a typical IT project. The proportion of technical topics in the S/4HANA project is significantly higher than in other SAP projects. Processes have to be standardised and the entire IT landscape harmonised beforehand. Depending on the complexity and depth of integration, the business departments must provide a lot of time and know-how, as all business processes must be analysed, optimised if necessary and returned to the standard or newly mapped with S/4HANA. The business process transformation also determines the implementation approach.
Ways of the SAP S4 changeover
There are three different ways to migrate to SAP S/4HANA:
New implementation/ Greenfield approach
SAP S/4HANA is completely reinstalled and the software is completely redesigned. The advantage is that companies are motivated to rethink old processes and thus get rid of old burdens and move completely to the contemporary architecture. In this way, the full potential of the innovative possibilities is used.
System Conversion/ Brownfield Approach
Here, the existing SAP system is converted to S/4HANA so that no complete rebuild takes place, but existing processes are transferred. Thus, proven value chains of the existing SAP ERP system are retained, which is worthwhile if companies consist of numerous branches or do not want to do without historical data.
Selective migration/ALLFIELD approach
As a hybrid form, this approach aims to achieve a balance between retention and redesign. For this purpose, a data-less copy of the previous system is first created, which is then converted to SAP S/HANA and finally filled with selective, freely chosen legacy data. In this way, future business processes can be designed more flexibly while preserving valuable workflows.
Regardless of which approach is used, an important prerequisite for a successful migration is a "big picture" of the future system landscape. Training should therefore be part of the SAP S/HANA transition from the very beginning and be provided to all employees who will have to deal with the system, so that they are appropriately prepared for the changes in the change process.
It is advisable to plan the training courses close to the time of need and close to the context in terms of content, so that the knowledge transfer is effective and the best possible learning success is achieved.
Include training in the roadmap
Switching to S/4HANA is a challenge for many SAP customers and requires a large investment of capital and resources, but good preparation can mitigate the complexity of the project.
A number of things can therefore be done before the actual changeover to SAP S/4HANA to avoid unpleasant surprises later on and thus make the migration a complete success.
These preparations include, above all, the creation of a roadmap that shows which steps need to be taken at what time - from the initial situation to the introduction of SAP S/4HANA. It is important that the affected employees are involved in the project from the beginning through active change management - after all, they are significantly involved in ensuring that the SAP S4 changeover runs smoothly.
Training should definitely be scheduled at an early stage so that employees have enough time to familiarise themselves with the new application and uncertainties are thus eliminated. Otherwise, there is a risk of delaying the go-live, causing budgets to be exceeded and end users to be disappointed because the potential of new technologies is poorly communicated.
SAP S/4HANA migration with datango
An SAP S/4HANA migration affects all facets of the business. The general way of working and the user interface of the end users will also change. In order to transfer the familiar processes into the SAP system, it is of utmost importance that process measures are taken in change management before the conversion. This promotes staff acceptance right from the start and at the same time gives them the opportunity to get to know and understand the system. A high level of motivation is required from each individual project manager and user to avoid aggravating project conditions.
datango can make the step of digital transformation easier for your company. Don't let the transition to S/4HANA steal your time and money and start with a solid foundation from the beginning by creating your training materials with datango.
You can use the complete simulation environment with datango for the digital training of your end users. In addition, we support you in the context of your process documentation and the roll-out of all new processes, specifically from the introduction to the change management.
We accompany you and your products throughout the entire product life cycle.
Don't delay the SAP S/4HANA changeover any longer
As the SAP S/4HANA changeover is accompanied by fears about the feasibility and complexity of the transformation process, it is often delayed out of concern about unforeseeable interruptions to company operations. Although the year 2027 is still a few years away, it is worth taking the initiative now and switching to the new system in order to benefit from innovations earlier and leave competitors behind.
Those who start the changeover earlier can also save on implementation costs, as it is to be expected that consultant resources will become scarce in view of the increasing demand from companies - especially towards the end of maintenance - and costs will rise sharply as a result.
In addition, the effort involved in the migration should not be underestimated. Although SAP estimates the duration of the migration from an SAP product to SAP S/4HANA at around 12-18 months, companies that have already started with this report that the migration can take much longer. Since the project duration strongly depends on the size of the company, the depth of use of the respective predecessor system as well as the chosen approach of the transition strategy, this cannot be generalised. It is also not possible to generalise the time needed for employees to become confident in the new application, which is why sufficient time should be planned for training and further education.
At datango, we always strive to support you with our technologies in a targeted manner and to help you achieve optimal employee enablement.
SAP S/4HANA simply explained with datango
With over 20 years of experience, datango is one of the market leaders in the field of corporate training, (software) rollout support and process documentation. Our customers include a wide variety of companies from a wide range of industries. Our goal is to introduce your employees to new or changed business processes quickly, efficiently and sustainably and to strengthen their acceptance. Our solutions enable you to document every process (in Word, PowerPoint, HTML and PDF formats). In addition, a complete simulation landscape is created in parallel, in which users can carry out new processes without triggering a process in the real system.
Our application-sensitive live help is able to provide your employees with the relevant learning content directly at the workplace and in real time in order to generate a productive learning effect. The content created can also be automatically translated into 40 languages. In the event of a release change, you only need a few clicks to update the content.
Our solutions are applicable for:
- SAP ECC
- S/4HANA
- Any SAP modules
With datango, you focus your efforts on efficient training of new processes, so that you save large financial resources. We support you in the S/4HANA transition. In a no-obligation demo, we show you our solutions for concrete support and successful employee acceptance.
Feel free to contact us!
If you have any questions on the topic of SAP S/4HANA migration with datango or have decided to use datango as your training and documentation tool, we will be happy to help you at any time! Please use the contact form or simply give us a call: