S/4HANA Pre-study Assessments: A Amart First Step for SAP Transformation
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Key Takeaways
⇨ Organizations should prioritize a Pre-Study assessment to define a strategic and low-risk path for their S/4HANA transition, minimizing financial and operational risks before committing to a full implementation.
⇨ Engaging both executive leadership and technical teams during the Pre-Study ensures alignment between business objectives and operational realities, fostering stronger buy-in across the organization.
⇨ The outcome of a Pre-Study is a tailored roadmap for S/4HANA transition, recommending the optimal migration approach—such as Greenfield, Brownfield, or Selective Data Transition—based on an organization’s unique landscape and readiness.
For many SAP-centric organizations, the question around S/4HANA is no longer if they will make the move—but how and when. Despite growing awareness of SAP’s 2027 timeline for ending mainstream support for ECC, with extended support lasting until 2030, business and IT leaders often struggle to pinpoint the right path forward. That uncertainty can lead to costly delays. Fortunately, a lean and targeted pre-study assessment offers a low-risk, high-value starting point for defining a clear, strategic S/4HANA transition approach.
A Pre-Study project, as practiced by firms like cbs Corporate Business Solutions, avoids the heavy lift of a full transformation project by focusing on evaluating readiness and aligning future-state vision. According to cbs’s Craig Marrett, “The purpose of a Pre-Study is to give companies a cost-efficient, insight-driven foundation for decision-making—without committing to a full implementation effort right away.”
Understanding the Value of a Pre-Study
At the core of a Pre-Study is an integrated analysis. The project begins with executive input to define the organization’s strategic objectives and identify high-level business pain points. This ensures alignment between leadership vision and operational realities.
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Following this, the technical team conducts several focused assessments, including:
- SAP readiness analysis: Evaluates the technical condition of the existing ECC environment.
- Master data quality review: Identifies data integrity issues that could complicate transformation.
- Architecture and integration review: Maps current-state systems and interfaces.
- Functional process assessment: Highlights areas for business process redesign or simplification.
- Transformation management maturity: Gauges the organization’s change readiness.
The outcome is a Future State Concept that shows how S/4HANA capabilities—such as real-time analytics, simplified data models, and automation—could address today’s challenges and unlock new business value.
Building Clarity, Alignment, and a Tailored Roadmap
A Pre-Study assessment offers a strategic, low-risk way for organizations to begin their S/4HANA journey. Rather than diving headfirst into a costly and time-intensive implementation, a Pre-Study allows companies to explore their current SAP ECC environment, identify pain points, and align future-state goals—all without significant capital investment. This lean approach provides valuable insight into how S/4HANA innovations can improve both business processes and IT operations, setting the stage for a value-driven transformation.
Crucially, the Pre-Study takes a top-down and bottom-up approach. By engaging executive stakeholders early, the project ensures alignment between business objectives and technology strategy. At the same time, in-depth technical and functional analyses of the ECC system create a realistic foundation for future planning. This dual focus fosters stronger buy-in across business and IT teams and leads to more informed, practical decision-making.
The final output of the Pre-Study is not just a set of findings, but a tailored S/4HANA transition strategy. It outlines the optimal timing for the transformation, identifies which innovations and process improvements can deliver measurable value, and recommends the most appropriate migration approach—whether Greenfield, Brownfield, or Selective Data Transition. With this roadmap in hand, organizations can move forward with clarity, confidence, and a clear business case for change.
What This Means for SAPinsiders
Start with a Pre-Study to reduce risk and cost. Before investing in a full-scale S/4HANA transition, conduct a focused Pre-Study to assess your organization’s current SAP landscape, data quality, and pain points. This lean assessment minimizes financial and operational risk while delivering a clear understanding of what transformation will entail. Allocate budget and executive sponsorship for a short-term Pre-Study engagement to build an internal business case and validate your S/4HANA readiness.
Align business and IT through top-down and bottom-up input. Engaging leadership early ensures the transition strategy supports long-term business goals, while bottom-up technical analysis grounds that strategy in operational realities. This dual approach strengthens organizational buy-in and reduces friction later in the project. Be sure to involve both senior executives and IT stakeholders in Pre-Study workshops to define strategic objectives and uncover current-state gaps.
Use the Pre-Study to define your best-fit transition approach. A one-size-fits-all path to S/4HANA doesn’t exist. The Pre-Study delivers a tailored roadmap—Greenfield, Brownfield, or Selective Data Transition—based on your technical architecture, data maturity, and transformation readiness. Use the results of the Pre-Study to schedule your transition timeline, prioritize innovations that offer tangible ROI, and choose a migration method that aligns with your organization’s capabilities and change appetite.
