S/4-Hana - The comparison makes rich

The digital transformation poses major challenges for the economy. Business processes that have been tried and tested for decades must be optimized for the realities of the digital age and new business models must be established.

It is no less challenging for companies to set up their structures and systems in such a way that they can quickly adapt to the ever new opportunities presented by ongoing digitization in line with market requirements. In short, if companies want to survive in the digital competition, everything they do must be geared to flexibility and speed.

In the "SAP S/4 Hana in Germany" study conducted last year by Arvato in collaboration with Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC), 62 percent of respondents stated that their focus was on faster realization of innovative business requirements; 48 percent would like to see an increase in the adaptability and flexibility of their systems.

An essential prerequisite for the successful digital transformation of companies is a powerful ERP system such as S/4. The system is nothing less than the "digital core" with which companies can develop and implement innovative business processes for the digital economy "Economy 4.0". Not least because of the aforementioned advantages for digital transformation, many companies are currently looking at switching to S/4.

In-depth strategy analysis indispensable

An often underestimated aspect of this is the alignment of the individual implementation of the system with the medium- and long-term strategies and goals of the respective company.

But that is precisely what is crucial - after all, S/4 is supposed to be able to map the continuously changing, complex requirements of the digital business world now and in the future.

In order to define the appropriate S/4 implementation for the next few years, the group strategy must be analyzed and the impact it will have on business processes must be determined.

If, for example, parts of the company are to be outsourced or functions centralized, a consistent cloud approach will be the solution. If the foundation is to be laid for secure, rapid growth, the focus will be on standardizing and streamlining processes. Such aspects can then already be taken into account when defining the system development strategy.

One tip: To avoid unpleasant surprises, it is advisable to look not only at the overarching corporate strategy, but also at the plans already derived from it by the specialist departments.

Legal and regulatory circumstances and developments should also be taken into account - one example is the legal regulations on data protection, for example.

An essential prerequisite for this necessary alignment of the implementation of S/4 with the corporate strategy is the close cooperation of the IT team with the specialist departments, such as marketing, purchasing and sales, but also the finance and HR departments.

Only in this way can the requirements be coordinated across disciplines and reflected in the implementation strategy. In addition, all decision-makers important for the development of this strategy should definitely be involved at an early stage.

Analysis and transformation

In view of the large scope of functions and the comprehensive options for the individual implementation of S/4, it is often difficult to quickly find the suitable, future-proof approach.

Arvato therefore offers companies comprehensive support for their S/4 transformation, bringing experience from a number of successfully completed projects to the table.

Greenfield or Brownfield

The heart of the offering is the initialization phase. This provides the basis for the detailed definition of the approach to implementation and addresses four building blocks: the identification of the key points of both the business and IT strategies; the capture of individual deliverables such as, among other things, the recommended transformation method (greenfield vs. brownfield); phase planning with definition of the objectives for each phase; the identification of all stakeholders important for the creation of the system development strategy.

This structured approach provides the necessary assurance that all aspects relevant to the success of the project are taken into account. It is indispensable for the future-proof implementation of S/4, which is far more than "just another IT project", but the starting point and basis for the comprehensive digital transformation of the respective company.