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What Is SAP Migration Strategy?
With the last major release of SAP ECC, version 6.0 EHP 8, made available in 2016, the question facing SAP customers is around the move to SAP S/4HANA. While SAP has extended mainstream maintenance for the ECC 6.0 platform until the end of 2027, with an optional premium maintenance available for an additional three years, those running these solutions need to decide on the move to SAP S/4HANA. The three biggest factors around this move are when they will move, and how they will move, and where they will move.
What Is SAP Migration Strategy?
With the last major release of SAP ECC, version 6.0 EHP 8, made available in 2016, the question facing SAP customers is around the move to SAP S/4HANA. While SAP has extended mainstream maintenance for the ECC 6.0 platform until the end of 2027, with an optional premium maintenance available for an additional three years, those running these solutions need to decide on the move to SAP S/4HANA. The three biggest factors around this move are when they will move, and how they will move, and where they will move.
The when is a question that is up to each organization. However, with the majority of organizations taking between 12 and 18 months once the business case has already been made, the period before mainstream maintenance ends can approach very quickly. Once the decision has been made when to move, organizations must then determine what approach they will take to their SAP migration. Will they simply move everything as is into SAP S/4HANA? Will they start from scratch to produce as clean a system as possible? Or will they take an intermediate route? The last factor is where they will move. With most organizations moving SAP workloads to the cloud, this may be the route of choice. However, others will want hybrid environments or entirely local infrastructure.
Key Considerations for SAPinsiders
- Understand what other organizations are saying about their SAP Migration Strategy. These include: 1) the fact that the biggest challenge is often building the business case, 2) moves to a new ERP system are both resource intensive as well as expensive, 3) newer versions of SAP S/4HANA include significant business benefits, and 4) the move to SAP S/4HANA represents a major opportunity to improve business operations.
- Ensure that you have planned effectively for the migration. When migrating from your existing ERP system, there are important tips that you can follow to ensure that processes are successful. First, engage your business teams in the process. While this is an investment in resources, there will be more success with the overall project if your business teams are involved from the beginning. Second, remove unnecessary custom code. Limiting what you have to move forward will make the process much easier. And lastly, plan for a phased approach. You will want to have dry runs and even maintain both systems in parallel to ensure that they are working correctly.
78 results
How cbs Integrates Change Management in SAP TransformationsMar 2 — SAP S/4HANA transformations require more than technical migration. This analysis examines how cbs integrates change management, PMO governance, and its M-cbs methodology into a structured execution model designed to align employee adoption with measurable business outcomes.
3 minute read
Why Techwave Sees SAP EHP8 Upgrades as a Strategic Step Toward S/4HANA ReadinessFeb 27 — Techwave is advising SAP ECC customers to view the EHP8 upgrade as a strategic move to mitigate risks while preparing for S/4HANA, emphasizing the need for modernization before the end of extended support for older versions in 2025.
3 minute read
SAP’s Cloud Sovereignty ShiftFeb 26 — Jim Loiacono argues that SAP customers should explore diverse Cloud ERP deployment options beyond hyperscale public cloud to optimize costs, enhance data sovereignty, and align ERP with their business strategies while avoiding hidden migration costs.
5 minute read
How Saviynt Supports SAP S/4HANA Identity Modernization Ahead of 2027Feb 20 — As SAP Identity Management approaches end-of-life in 2027, SAP S/4HANA modernization programs must reassess identity governance, cross-system segregation-of-duties risk, and third-party access control across distributed cloud environments.
3 minute read
AI, SAP, and 2027: Why Identity Architecture Is Now a Program-Level DecisionFeb 18 — AI agents are already operating inside SAP systems, yet most organizations lack visibility and effective control over their privileges. As S/4HANA migration and SAP Identity Management retirement approach, identity architecture is no longer an operational afterthought. It is becoming a structural decision that shapes automation risk, segregation-of-duties integrity, and audit resilience.
4 minute read
PetMeds’ Architecture Shift: Why CTO Umesh Sripad Chose a Fragmented Best-of-Breed CoreFeb 17 — PetMeds, challenged by its legacy technology, adopted a fragmented architecture approach under CTO Umesh Sripad, deploying specific tools for commerce and finance while prioritizing standardization and minimizing customization to enhance agility and scalability.
5 minute read
How UiPath’s CIO Reframed SAP Transformation: Five Lessons From ‘Customer Zero’Feb 3 — UiPath ran its SAP S/4HANA migration as a Customer Zero initiative, embedding automation directly into execution rather than layering it on after go-live. The experience reshaped clean-core discipline, operating models, and readiness for agentic workflows under live finance conditions.
3 minute read
Why Security Timing Determines Success in RISE with SAP TransformationsFeb 2 — Security timing often determines whether RISE with SAP transformations stay on track. This analysis examines how late risk discovery undermines migration, execution, and post–go-live outcomes, and why secure-by-design approaches change delivery discipline.
4 minute read
Inside UiPath’s SAP S/4HANA Migration: What ‘Customer Zero’ Reveals About Clean Core, Automation, and Agentic ERPJan 29 — UiPath ran its own SAP S/4HANA migration as a Customer Zero initiative, embedding automation directly into execution rather than layering it on after go-live. The experience reshaped how the company approaches clean core discipline, agentic workflows, and ERP operating models under production conditions.
5 minute read