Unpacking the Strategic Imperative for SAP S/4HANA – Part 2
Meet the Authors
Key Takeaways
⇨ A successful SAP S/4HANA migration strategy must prioritize understanding the current ERP landscape, addressing custom code complexities, and maintaining a clean core to enhance system health and future maintainability.
⇨ Proactive change management is essential for user adoption; early impact analysis and targeted training help minimize friction and ensure that workforce members are prepared to navigate the new system effectively.
⇨ Data cleanliness is foundational for scaling ERP initiatives; organizations should focus on establishing clear business goals, investing in user training, and ensuring reliable data to maximize the benefits of SAP S/4HANA.
Navigating an SAP S/4HANA migration demands a thoughtful strategy that addresses existing system complexities, future maintainability, and, most importantly, the human element.
In the first part of this interview, Bill Carr, Director, SAP Federal at Resolve Tech Solutions, explained why organizations should migrate to SAP S/4HANA. In the concluding part of this series, he shared insights on why prioritizing process, people, and the Clean Core can provide a seamless migration experience for businesses.
According to Carr, understanding a partner’s approach to these interconnected challenges is key to a successful project for an organization. For the partner, deeply understanding the client’s current SAP landscape from the outset is essential.
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Partnership is Key
“We try to get an excellent understanding of the client’s current state ERP system upfront,” he stated, explaining RTS’s process as an implementation partner.
Moreover, years of accumulated custom code are often the biggest hurdles in a migration, complicating everything from testing to future upgrades. RTS uses specialized tools to analyze these custom objects, identifying what exists and how frequently it’s used. This data-driven approach helps clients decide what customizations can be retired, significantly simplifying the move to SAP S/4HANA.
This aligns with SAP’s recommended fit-to-standard philosophy and the clean core concept – keeping the SAP S/4HANA core as standard as possible and leveraging extensions via the Business Technology Platform (BTP). “We’re very conscious about the idea of a clean core,” Carr affirmed, as it is a principle vital for long-term system health and cost-effective maintenance.
Addressing the Frontlines
Beyond technical architecture, the impact of a new system like SAP S/4HANA is paramount for the workforce, too, and SAP professionals are at the forefront of managing user expectations and adoption. According to Carr, RTS integrates change management early, conducting upfront change impact analysis across job roles during the design phase. “We not only look at business processes but also at what [the changes will] mean for individual end users versus how they conduct their business in the future,” he elaborated. This proactive analysis helps anticipate where users will face the most significant changes and allows for targeted training and support strategies.
Carr highlighted this practice with the example of SAP Fiori, where users take time to adapt even though it offers a simplified and intuitive user experience compared to older SAP interfaces.
In such cases, RTS’s approach is to identify potential friction points early to smooth the transition with the end user. This human-centered approach is crucial for successful adoption and realizing the desired business outcomes, like enhanced transparency and operational efficiency, that SAP S/4HANA promises.
Looking Ahead
The convergence of SAP S/4HANA and artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic. Carr noted that organizations are increasingly linking their SAP S/4HANA projects with generative AI capabilities, and RTS is strategically investing in this space through its subsidiary, Juno Labs.
He sees these initiatives becoming interdependent but underscored a critical dependency for SAP professionals: “If you don’t have the correct data in a place where you can take advantage of these tools, it’s tough to move forward with AI initiatives and automation.”
What This Means for SAPinsiders
IT leaders contemplating an SAP S/4HANA migration must heed this advice. Carr concluded with three key recommendations for organizations that are either starting their digital transformation journey: “Ensure clear business goals, invest heavily in training for your people (don’t cut corners here!), and make sure your data is clean, as it is the absolute foundation for scaling your ERP initiatives.” This reinforces that success hinges on clear objectives, empowered users, and reliable data, built on a well-implemented, clean SAP S/4HANA core. Partners like RTS aim to facilitate exactly that.
Custom code impacts you directly. SAPinsider research identifies managing custom code as a major challenge in SAP S/4HANA migrations, contributing to complexity. Excessive or poorly managed custom code can make your system unstable, slow down transactions, complicate testing, and even limit your ability to use standard SAP S/4HANA features. However, a clean core project reduces these headaches, leading to a more reliable and predictable system for your daily tasks.
Make change management your friend to streamline user adoption. While sometimes overlooked, SAPinsider research highlights that change management and user training are critical for successful SAP S/4HANA adoption. RTS prioritizes upfront change impact analysis and emphasizes investing in training. Proactive change management helps identify how your specific role and processes will be affected by the transition to SAP S/4HANA. Good training means you’ll be prepared to use the new system effectively from day one, reducing frustration and maximizing your efficiency.
