Exploring 4 Ways to Handle Data as Part of SAP S/4HANA Migration with Informatica

⇨ Careful planning, a thorough approach to data management, and an experienced implementation partner are necessary for a smooth SAP S/4HANA migration.

⇨ Informatica prescribes 4 data management tactics that can enable organizations to navigate the SAP S/4HANA migration journey.

⇨ Informatica offers a suite of data management capabilities, including master data management, data quality, data cataloging, data governance, and data integration.

When undertaking an SAP S/4HANA migration program, organizations face not only technical obstacles but also challenges related to people and processes. Careful planning, a thorough approach to data management, and an experienced implementation partner can ensure a smooth migration.

Here are four data management tactics prescribed by Informatica that can enable organizations to navigate the SAP S/4HANA migration journey:

Develop a migration approach: Developing a robust migration approach for SAP S/4HANA involves assessing your current SAP landscape and starting with data profiling to understand your data’s state. Adopting a data-centered approach rather than an application-centered one is crucial, as it addresses data complexities, dependencies, and necessary customizations. You must choose between a greenfield implementation (ideal for significant business process changes), a brownfield implementation (mapping legacy data to the new platform), or a selective data transition (prioritizing critical data). A thorough assessment of your legacy ERP landscape will help determine the complexity, timeline, and budget of the migration. Keeping business stakeholders informed about potential process changes is also essential.

Accelerate migration with data integration: Accelerating migration to SAP S/4HANA involves leveraging data integration capabilities to consolidate data from multiple ERP systems, eliminating the need to maintain multiple vendor licenses. Data integration tools can mass ingest data to a staging location, transform it as needed, and migrate it to SAP S/4HANA. In phased migrations, these tools can automate regular data replication from legacy systems and migrate only the incremental data needed. Real-time data synchronization between ERP applications and databases ensures stakeholders have accurate, up-to-date information, reducing inconsistencies and enhancing visibility into operations. This streamlines processes, improves efficiency, and optimizes resource allocation.

Use data management platforms: To eliminate data inconsistencies during SAP S/4HANA migration, seek solutions offering a range of data management capabilities, including data governance, data quality, and master data management (MDM). A comprehensive platform provides scalability, interoperability, and ease of use, centralizing key master data domains such as customer, supplier, product, and employee data. MDM ensures data accuracy, completeness, and consistency across departments. Including data quality monitoring as part of a broader data governance strategy ensures that your data is fit for use and compliant with industry standards. These capabilities are essential for providing seamless access to high-quality data and instilling trust in your data consumers.

Prioritize data quality and governance: Integrating data quality and governance into your change management strategy can significantly enhance user adoption of SAP S/4HANA. A robust strategy should include comprehensive information on the expected cultural and organizational changes, alongside thorough training and skill development for business and IT users. Ensuring continuous data quality monitoring and governance post-migration boosts confidence in data usability, essential for informed decision-making. Effective data governance becomes crucial as multiple stakeholders access the same data platform. Establishing a data marketplace with role-based access control democratizes data access across SAP S/4HANA and other applications, simplifying and securing enterprise-wide data usage.

With its Intelligent Data Management Cloud™ (IDMC), Informatica offers a suite of data management capabilities, including master data management, data quality, data cataloging, data governance, and data integration. With IDMC, organizations can effectively address the four strategic steps above as part of their SAP S/4HANA migration.

Learn more about how organizations can navigate the complexities of SAP S/4HANA migration with Informatica, here.