May 12, 2021
•1 minute read
SAP S/4HANA Implementation
SAP S/4HANA Implementation: Deployment Approaches and Key Considerations
SAP S/4HANA implementation is one of the most consequential IT decisions an enterprise can make. Whether moving through a system conversion, a new implementation, or a selective data transition, the chosen path shapes project timelines, technical debt, and long-term business value. With SAP ECC mainstream maintenance ending in 2027, organizations are under mounting pressure to act. The resources on this page reflect the current state of SAP S/4HANA deployment strategy, migration approaches, change management practices, and the infrastructure and tooling decisions that determine whether an implementation succeeds or stalls.
What Is SAP S/4HANA Implementation?
SAP S/4HANA implementation covers the end-to-end process of deploying and configuring SAP’s flagship ERP suite. Organizations choose from three primary deployment paths: system conversion (brownfield), which migrates existing SAP ECC data and configuration; new implementation (greenfield), which builds a fresh system from scratch; and selective data transition, which preserves essential historical data while leaving behind obsolete customizations. Deployment decisions also span infrastructure (public cloud, private cloud, or on-premises), tooling such as SAP Readiness Check and the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit, custom code remediation, and change management planning.
SAP S/4HANA Implementation: Deployment Approaches and Key Considerations
SAP S/4HANA implementation is one of the most consequential IT decisions an enterprise can make. Whether moving through a system conversion, a new implementation, or a selective data transition, the chosen path shapes project timelines, technical debt, and long-term business value. With SAP ECC mainstream maintenance ending in 2027, organizations are under mounting pressure to act. The resources on this page reflect the current state of SAP S/4HANA deployment strategy, migration approaches, change management practices, and the infrastructure and tooling decisions that determine whether an implementation succeeds or stalls.
What Is SAP S/4HANA Implementation?
SAP S/4HANA implementation covers the end-to-end process of deploying and configuring SAP’s flagship ERP suite. Organizations choose from three primary deployment paths: system conversion (brownfield), which migrates existing SAP ECC data and configuration; new implementation (greenfield), which builds a fresh system from scratch; and selective data transition, which preserves essential historical data while leaving behind obsolete customizations. Deployment decisions also span infrastructure (public cloud, private cloud, or on-premises), tooling such as SAP Readiness Check and the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit, custom code remediation, and change management planning.
What Use Cases Are Referenced?
Brownfield Implementation in Heavy Manufacturing
A SAPinsider article covers how Brazilian stone exporter Decolores Marmores e Granitos SA completed a hybrid brownfield migration from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA in February 2025. Over six months, 60 professionals logged 12,000 hours testing more than 1,500 scenarios. The project replaced legacy SAP PI/PO with the SAP Integration Suite, accelerated accounting close cycles, and improved industrial traceability.
Cloud ERP Migration on Microsoft Azure for an Automotive Distributor
This SAPinsider article covered how SAP Argentina, Prestige Auto, and Softtek are migrating Mercedes-Benz Argentina’s core ERP from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA on Microsoft Azure. The initiative targets real-time data access, AI readiness, and operational efficiency, with a joint executive committee governing the program to ensure alignment and minimize disruption.
Refocusing the World’s Largest SAP S/4HANA Project
This SAPinsider session examines how Roche, a pharmaceutical company, made minimal progress in its SAP S/4HANA project after the first year, then paused, evaluated, and restarted using SAFe practices. The reset transformed a stalled deployment into steady delivery across 95 countries and 260 affiliates, offering critical lessons on business-IT alignment in large-scale implementations.
Selective Data Transition as an Implementation De-Risking Strategy
A SAPinsider article presents selective data transition as a third path beyond the greenfield-versus-brownfield debate, allowing organizations to discard obsolete technical debt while retaining essential historical data. The analysis also identifies process diagnostics with SAP Signavio and the treatment of change management as technical requirements as essential pillars of a successful SAP Cloud ERP implementation.
Deployment Model Selection and Implementation Planning
A SAPinsider analysis examines how Applexus Technologies’ CeleRITE platform helps organizations assess their existing SAP ECC landscape and choose the right migration strategy, whether greenfield, brownfield, or selective data transition, by identifying process inefficiencies and customizations before implementation begins.
What SAPinsider Research Supports This Topic?
Deployment Approaches to SAP S/4HANA (2025)
SAPinsider’s Deployment Approaches to SAP S/4HANA 2025 benchmark report found that more than a third of organizations plan to deploy SAP S/4HANA Cloud through RISE with SAP or GROW with SAP, while nearly a quarter will not complete their transition until after 2027. Speed pressure is pushing more organizations toward brownfield system conversions, increasing post-deployment clean-core complexity.
SAP S/4HANA Migration Benchmark Report (2025)
SAPinsider’s SAP S/4HANA Migration 2025 benchmark report, based on 170 community responses, found that 32% of organizations have completed their transition to SAP S/4HANA, a 10-percentage-point increase year over year. Another 27% are in active implementation, with the 2027 SAP ECC end-of-maintenance deadline cited as the primary driver of adoption.
ERP Migration and Transformation Benchmark Report (2026)
SAPinsider’s ERP Migration and Transformation 2026 benchmark research, based on 296 community responses, found that 55% of organizations have initiated an SAP S/4HANA migration, but only 34% have fully completed the transformation. Custom code remediation and legacy landscape complexity remain the top barriers to implementation completion.
Practical steps for building a proof of concept for SAP S/4HANA analyticsThis session provides all you need to know to set up a proof of concept (PoC) for SAP S/4HANA analytics assembled in one place. Explore your options for BI on SAP S/4HANA and come away with a useful checklist that will help you accelerate your PoC, including links to documentation, blogs, and SAP training offerings. Attendees will learn how to:
-Choose the right business case or business process with relevant data
-Configure and set up integration points for SAP Fiori-, BI-, or BW-based analytics on SAP S/4HANA
-Establish SAP Fiori business and super user roles and see the content to which they have access
-Set up SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP BW connections
An Insider Look at Ingevity’s SAP S/4HANA Business TransformationIngevity is a specialty chemical company based in Charleston, South Carolina that current runs a 20-year-old, heavily customized version of SAP ECC 6.0. But, now for much longer — like many companies, Ingevity is focused on building a digital platform that can support technologies like analytics, automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to help the business become more agile in the face of disruption. The company’s VP of IT and CIO, Michael Mullis, recently talked with SAPinsider about Ingevity’s current SAP S/4HANA business transformation initiative.
This is the next big phase for Ingevity from a technology perspective, and the company is finding that it’s not only about technology upgrades — it’s also about organizational redesign.
Read this executive Q&A and learn:
• How Ingevity is implementing a global business transformation leveraging SAP in a remote working environment;
• New leadership approaches to help prevent burn-out among employees; and
• How Ingevity plans to become more agile in 2021 and beyond.
Apr 2, 2021
•8 minute read
Ask the Experts: Overcoming Challenges to Delivering on the Promise of SAP S/4HANAOrganizations transforming their business processes and IT infrastructure to compete in today’s digital economy are moving to SAP S/4HANA. However, reaching the full potential of a SAP S/4HANA investment may require overcoming challenges with potentially complex new IT infrastructures. How can you deliver on the promise of SAP S/4HANA to ensure that you achieve faster […]
Mar 11, 2021
•1 minute read
Top 5 Tips to Prepare Your Organization for S/4HANAOrganizations are struggling with their decisions around SAP S/4HANA. When should they transition? How do they embrace the new user experience and innovation capabilities of the platform? In this webinar, Kimberley Reid, VP US SAP Solutions at Hitachi Vantara, and Steve Hankins, CFO of Morgan Foods, will share strategies to help organizations prepare their organization […]
Mar 3, 2021
•1 minute read
Workshop: Map Out and Validate Your SAP S/4HANA JourneyYou are ready to begin the journey to transition to SAP S/4HANA Cloud? Whether you are building your strategy or preparing for the transition, you will find value in validating your path and talking to others taking the same journey. Join this peer-to-peer discussion with other leaders who are at different stages of this transition. […]
Feb 11, 2021
•1 minute read
Cloud Options for Your Mission-Critical SAP Workloads Fueled by HPE GreenLakeAs SAP customers consider how and when to approach their SAP S/4HANA migrations, they have many decisions to make and myriad options of how to architect their landscapes. A major choice they need to make is regarding what data to keep on premise and what can move to the cloud. Because many companies are deciding certain data should remain on premise, hybrid cloud options for SAP landscapes are thriving. There are many factors or reasons for this, such as data sovereignty, security and compliance, flexible pay-per-use models and the need to scale fast if needed. This session explores the topic of hybrid cloud options and reveals how HPE builds a cloud that comes to you.
Topics include:
- A look at the various SAP S/4HANA hybrid cloud deployment models available to companies looking for a mixed environment
- A discussion of the new co-innovations from SAP and HPE in this area
- Ways that HPE can help with your transformation to a mission critical, flexible SAP S/4HANA deployment, fueled by HPE GreenLake
Jan 25, 2021
•1 minute read
Accelerate SAP S/4HANA Migration and Drive Innovation with SAP Technology ProductsSAP technology products, which includes SAP HANA, SAP Analytics, SAP Cloud Platform, SAP Leonardo and SAP EIM products accelerate your migration to SAP S/4HANA, simplifies integration with SAP and non-SAP applications and boosts innovation. However, understanding which technology products help you in which phase of SAP S/4HANA journey is key to success.
Join this session to understand how:
- SAP EIM products help you to simplify data migration SAP Cloud Platform enables you to migrate custom ABAP applications and integration with SAP and non-SAP apps
- SAP HANA enterprise edition delivers real-time insights for all data SAP Leonardo enables you to build intelligent processes and automate some of the manual and repetitive processes using robotic process automation (RPA) and conversational UIs (Chatbots)
- SAP Analytics Cloud provides visibility into your business with dashboards and reports
Jan 25, 2021
•1 minute read
How to Chart a Fast, Safe, and Cost-Effective Path to SAP S/4HANAWhile a growing number of organizations are going forward with the move to SAP S/4HANA, some are procrastinating about this move. The reasons vary, but in many cases the delay stems from concerns about the complexities of their landscapes and the potential timeline and costs involved. So, how can companies overcome these concerns so they can start experiencing the benefits of migrating and avoid a last-minute mad dash and disruptive, risky downtime?
This session introduces a cloud-based approach that enables a fast, cost-effective path to SAP S/4HANA and complete control over the deployment.
You will learn how to:
- Move to SAP S/4HANA in the cloud in five months or less with selective data transition
- Minimize capital expenditure (CAPEX) and achieve outcomes with a fixed managed service fee
- Reduce project time, effort, and cost by up to 70% and ensure greater accuracy, minimal downtime, and reduced risk
Jan 21, 2021
•1 minute read
How Greenskies Made the Move to SAP S/4HANA: From building the case to resulting benefitsDuring this time of digital transformation, many businesses have similar questions: how can I leverage technology to optimize processes while reducing cost? How do I stay ahead of the competition by digitizing my landscape? How can I scale to accommodate growth? How can I present the business case for modernizing my landscape and for migrating to SAP S/4HANA? How can I build a phased approach to moving to the cloud and to SAP S/4HANA?
Greenskies Renewable Energy, a company that develops, constructs, and maintains renewable-energy projects across the United States, had all of these questions themselves. Attend this session to learn how they embarked upon a journey and now streamline complex financial processes with SAP S/4HANA. You will hear how Greenskies:
- Identified the key points in building a business case for cloud
- Assessed current systems and model their desired future end state – whether cloud, SAP HANA, or SAP S/4HANA
- Achieved business outcomes by building a phased approach to adopting cloud and SAP S/4HANA
Jan 19, 2021
•1 minute read
Top 15 Lessons Learned from 20+ SAP S/4HANA ProjectsThis session combines experience from 20+ projects done across various Western-European countries. They cover greenfield and brownfield, small and large, technical and transformative projects. The lessons learned shared are very concrete items (not just generic points) which make a big impact on the success of SAP S/4HANA projects. Why join this session?
-Learn from the mistakes made by others
-Be aware of major challenges
-Leave the session with a concrete action plan for your organization
Jan 19, 2021
•1 minute read
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