Conversion S/4HANA –Brownfield or Greenfield?
With the extension of ECC 6.0 maintenance until the end of 2027, the time pressure for a changeover to S/4HANA is no longer quite so great. However, the extension of maintenance (from 2025 to 2027) only means a slightly slower ride, not a change of course. So the strategic direction “S/4” is still set.
For many SAP customers, in addition to the time frame, it is also important with which technical approach (greenfield, i.e., new implementation, or brownfield, i.e., system conversion) a changeover is approached. Basic guiding questions for decision-making are:
- Can the system be technically converted in one step?
- Do current business processes already support the company's long-term strategy?
- Can templates such as SAP Best Practices or SAP Model Company be used as a basis for creating and modernizing the company's core processes?
- Which customer-specific developments are to be adopted?
- Is consolidation of the system landscape one of the main drivers for the changeover to S/4HANA?
- Are previous transaction data required on the S/4HANA system?
- Is the project IT- or department-driven and -financed?
This evaluation is part of the first project phase. In addition, as a basis for decision-making, on the one hand the current system must be analyzed from the technical side (readiness check with code check, etc.), but on the other hand the processes must also be recorded and possible changes or improvements with the new S/4HANA must be taken into account. The concrete advantages of S/4HANA for the customer are also worked out and presented together in this first phase. This creates the opportunity to evaluate the benefits for the business and thus calculate an ROI for the project.
HPC has fundamentally adopted the SAP project approach, but on the one hand simplified it (in order to be able to use it also for conversions in medium-sized businesses) and on the other hand the HPC approach provides for an agile project approach in the realization phase. Overall, it is therefore called hybrid project approach (classic waterfall model, but agile realization phase) and combines the advantages of both worlds.
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