Conversion until 2030

However, companies also want to take advantage of the change and clean up thoroughly: According to a study by PwC, 75 percent of the companies surveyed in DACH are also focusing on a general standardization of their processes. Massive investments seem to be associated with this: 68 percent of the companies see the external effort through third-party services or licensing costs as the main cost driver.

"The migration to S/4 Hana is one of the most far-reaching interventions companies have made in the past ten years and is a major IT dilemma. Those who automate their software management in advance create important security reserves for the migration.", says Christian Steiger. The SAP expert is CEO of Solutive AG. With the ESM Suite, his developers offer a tool for enterprise software management that automates and secures processes for SAP adjustments, changes and software transports. This significantly reduces the time and personnel required.

Three different paths lead through the migration: brownfield, greenfield or colorful. The brownfield approach first provides for an analysis and adaptation of the existing SAP structure via custom code management, and the migration is completed as an upgrade. The greenfield model, meanwhile, ensures a comprehensive cleanup of the system landscape and implements S/4 as a new system without taking into account the historical process and system structures.

Another advantage of this method - in addition to restarting with a system that has been freed from legacy issues - is the seamless audit trail, which is much more complex to map with Brownfield. Colourful combines both models into a compromise. The ESM suite works with all models. The suite's automation is based on agile software development and DevOps, which have already proven themselves in SAP's software management.

"Migration and success in going live depend to a large extent on different release statuses and the general diversity of systems. A central management platform keeps the threads neatly together and facilitates entry into the productive future. Preparation can also take place via a repository that initially acts as a simulation for the new SAP environment.", Steiger continues. Timely preparation is crucial here, however.