Mar 16-19, 2026Las Vegas, Nevada, NV
SAP S/4HANA
Featured Insiders
Upcoming Events
SAPinsider Las Vegas 2026
Related Vendors
SAP S/4HANA: An Overview and Key Considerations
What Is SAP S/4HANA?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has been the cornerstone of SAP solutions since the company was founded in 1972. SAP’s first packaged mainframe software application, SAP R/2, was released in 1979, and was followed by SAP R/3, SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) 5.0, and SAP ECC 6.0. SAP’s current flagship enterprise ERP solution, SAP S/4HANA, was released in 2015, and was a significant shift for the organization as it ran exclusively on the SAP HANA database.
Modules included in an SAP S/4HANA system include: Asset Management, Finance, Human Resources, Manufacturing, R&D/Engineering, Sales, Service, Sourcing and Procurement, and Supply Chain. Each of these modules consist of multiple applications that offer specific features and functionality, as well as industry-specific and enhanced line-of-business functions.
SAP S/4HANA: An Overview and Key Considerations
What Is SAP S/4HANA?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has been the cornerstone of SAP solutions since the company was founded in 1972. SAP’s first packaged mainframe software application, SAP R/2, was released in 1979, and was followed by SAP R/3, SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) 5.0, and SAP ECC 6.0. SAP’s current flagship enterprise ERP solution, SAP S/4HANA, was released in 2015, and was a significant shift for the organization as it ran exclusively on the SAP HANA database.
Modules included in an SAP S/4HANA system include: Asset Management, Finance, Human Resources, Manufacturing, R&D/Engineering, Sales, Service, Sourcing and Procurement, and Supply Chain. Each of these modules consist of multiple applications that offer specific features and functionality, as well as industry-specific and enhanced line-of-business functions.
Key Considerations for SAPinsiders
- SAP S/4HANA is the solution that SAP wants enterprise ERP customers to be running, but it is about more than simply adopting technology. According to Tom Janoshalmi, the former Global Head of SAP Digital Core Move, organizations need to look at their move to SAP S/4HANA to being about a connected story not just a technology upgrade. While SAPinsider research has shown that many organizations look at SAP S/4HANA largely because of the upcoming end of maintenance for core SAP ERP releases, more see a move to SAP S/4HANA as the opportunity to re-engineer and update processes and configurations. Janoshalmi agrees. He wants organizations to focus on the value they can derive from SAP S/4HANA and what they can achieve moving forward. You can hear more about why the move to SAP S/4HANA is important by reading SAPinsider’s interview with Janoshalmi.
- SAP S/4HANA is the core around which organizations can build their transformed landscape. When Eczacıbaşı Building Products needed to update their existing systems and processes, they looked at SAP S/4HANA as the central part of their update. The overall process involved a complete evaluation of all their current processes and implementing technologies that would increase agility while boosting customer brand experience. SAP S/4HANA was used to connect all the different parts of the business in that process. This article covers more about the Eczacıbaşı project, as does this event session where they discuss their results.
- SAP continues to enhance SAP S/4HANA by including it in RISE with SAP. RISE with SAP is not a new product, but an offering that includes assets that help organizations achieve transformation. The central part of this is SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the software-as-a-service version of SAP’s flagship ERP solution. Damien Johnson from SAP explains in this session what RISE with SAP is, and how it impacts organizations’ existing SAP S/4HANA projects.
850 results
Beyond the “vTax”: Future-Proofing Your SAP InfrastructureJan 29 — The shifting landscape of virtualization licensing has introduced a new “vTax,” leaving SAP customers grappling with escalating infrastructure costs and unpredictable renewal cycles. To protect your SAP ROI, it is time to look beyond legacy proprietary hypervisors. Join this session to discover a strategic path to cost-efficiency and performance by migrating mission-critical SAP workloads—including SAP […]
1 minute read
SAP S/4HANA Migration 2025Feb 28, 2025 — With the 2027 SAP maintenance deadline approaching, SAP customers are under increasing pressure to move to SAP S/4HANA, especially within the context of RISE with SAP. However, recognizing the varying levels of preparedness in the SAP ERP customer base, SAP has introduced a phased maintenance approach beyond 2027. Starting in 2028, organizations can opt for extended maintenance—available until 2030 at a two percent premium—to ensure continued support while organizations complete the transition. Those who forgo this option or reach the end of their extended maintenance period will transition to customer-specific maintenance, which provides essential support but without full enhancements.
This structured approach reinforces SAP’s commitment to facilitating SAP S/4HANA adoption while offering businesses the flexibility to transition at their own pace. However, a critical question remains: What is the true state of SAP S/4HANA migration across industries today?
This year's research also explored whether organizations are planning on switching their existing SAP S/4HANA deployments to RISE with SAP as well as the overall impact of RISE with SAP on organizations that are moving to SAP S/4HANA. Deeper analysis of these topics is available in the executive summary for the report, and data from all the survey questions is available in the detailed findings.
To understand and explore the SAP S/4HANA migration strategies, this SAPinsider report examines the adoption trends for SAP S/4HANA, the version of the solution that organizations are deploying, the challenges that they are encountering with the move, and the benefits that those that have already moved to SAP S/4HANA have received.
The findings indicate a dynamic landscape where organizations are progressing at different paces based on their strategic priorities, business needs, and technical preparedness. Currently, 32% of respondents reported that their organization has already transitioned to SAP S/4HANA, a 10% jump compared to 2024 but more in line with data from 2022 (29%). Meanwhile, 27% of organizations are in the implementation stage, actively working to integrate SAP S/4HANA into their IT landscape, a number that has risen from 20% from last year. However, despite this momentum, 21% of organizations remain in the evaluation phase, a drop of 5% from 2024 and 9% from 2023, still assessing their business case for SAP S/4HANA migration, reflecting the complexities and challenges that come with such a transformational shift.
Download the benchmark report to read the full data analysis from 170 members of the SAPinsider community and receive recommendations for your own plans.
- Understand how organizations are moving to SAP S/4HANA.
- Explore the factors influencing their ERP and SAP S/4HANA planning.
- Learn about the impact of RISE with SAP on that move.
- See where organizations are facing barriers to adopting SAP S/4HANA.
2 minute read
How Kimberly-Clark Accelerated Its SAP S/4HANA Transformation with Basis TechnologiesMay 15, 2025 — Kimberly-Clark successfully modernized its core SAP system while minimizing disruption by leveraging Basis Technologies' ActiveControl solution, which reduced expected downtime from 18 hours to 5-6 hours during the upgrade and streamlined transport management, underscoring the critical need for automation and DevOps practices in complex ERP transformations.
3 minute read
Florida Crystals Advances SAP Transformation with Data Readiness Focus Dec 17, 2025 — Florida Crystals Corporation has partnered with Lemongrass and Syniti to enhance data readiness for a Clean Core SAP transformation, focusing on improving enterprise data quality and structure to support its SAP modernization efforts.
2 minute read
Building a perfect data delivery strategy for IKEADec 4, 2024 — Naveen Gupta, Global Data Lead at IKEA discusses how the Inter IKEA Group’s data-centric strategy has succeeded with the help of SAP Advanced Data Migration and Management by Syniti.
In charge of setting up IKEA’s data practice, Naveen’s role spreads across data governance, management, migration, integration, analytics and reporting throughout the Inter IKEA Group, the parent connecting the IKEA franchises with range development and suppliers, aligning IKEA’s wider strategy. He also leads the data stream for ERP implementation, and in this case, as we’ll delve into further, SAP S/4HANA.
8 minute read
S/4HANA Migration with AvantraOct 7, 2025 — By putting in a solution with observability automation and hyperautomation, the team almost instantly gets time back in their day to focus on the S/4HANA initiative. It takes the guesswork and emotion out of trying to figure out if this really is a performance issue, or as is more often the case, just a new environment.
1 minute read
Move to S/4HANA or not?Mar 3, 2023 — Many have talked about S/4 HANA adoption by SAP customers that are still running on ECC6. SAP, consultancies, and IT service providers’ messaging has been focused on moving to S/4 and its benefits, and building the business case for it. But looming deadlines or ominous warnings are not resonating with the SAP customer base. This is echoed by SAPinsider’s Benchmark Report which identified several factors leading to customer resistance like complexity of change and cost. The latter is not surprising as large enterprise projects are always a tough sell financially especially with the talk of recession in the air. Beyond these quantifiable survey results, the article discusses a few examples of factors within organizations that further complicate the decision to move to S/4 HANA.
6 minute read