Different Approaches for SAP S/4 HANA Migration

There’s more than just one predefined way to carry out SAP S/4 HANA migration. Why? Because every organization has its specific requirements and different level of SAP S/4 HANA readiness. In contrast, some might opt for the Greenfield approach, which means starting from a clean slate and implementing a new solution. Others might opt for the Brownfield approach that performs complete system conversion as it does not disrupt the existing business processes.

Furthermore, the other approach used to drive the transformation is known as the landscape transformation. Organizations using the landscape transformation method generally consolidate the existing system landscape into SAP S/4 HANA. Lastly, there’s the Bluefield approach that is a combination of the Greenfield and Brownfield approach.

It is worth mentioning that each of these approaches has its perks and drawbacks. Therefore, businesses must be careful enough to look at different aspects of migration, including the platform, database, and configuration, before choosing any particular approach.

This article below gives you a detailed look at each of these approaches one at a time to help businesses choose the right approach based on the requirement of their organization.

The Greenfield Approach

What do we mean by Greenfield Approach? The term Greenfield means a fresh start, and the term was first used by people planning urban cities. However, now the term is used for software development, and this approach does not consider individual developments or the existing IT infrastructure used by the business.

When a business chooses the Greenfield approach to migrate to SAP S/4 HANA, they are re-implementing everything from the start. In simple terms, the Greenfield approach is a brand new SAP implementation where everything is installed from scratch again.

The best part about this approach is that organizations get a chance to simplify and redefine all the business processes to make it possible to take full advantage of all features and functionalities offered by the SAP S/4 HANA platform. Nonetheless, businesses that move forward with the Greenfield approach must be prepared to re-engineer all the business processes.

The Brownfield Approach

Brownfield approach is one of the most commonly used approaches for SAP S/4 HANA migration. This approach is perfect for businesses that want to migrate to SAP S/4 HANA at their own pace if they lack the resources, time, budget, or a business case to opt for the Greenfield approach. Brownfield’s approach is more of a technical system conversion, which means businesses can continue their usual business operations with little to no disruptions.

The main perk of the Brownfield approach is that businesses do not have to lose the investment poured into the existing system. Further, companies can take their time with the entire migration process to SAP S/4 HANA because of the step-by-step formula of this approach.

However, if the data quality of the businesses is poor, then it is better to refrain from adopting this approach because the process might much more time than one might expect.

The Landscape Transformation Approach

When it comes to the landscape transformation approach, it is less about the transformation of the entire system and more about transforming selective parts of the business processes that are important or will bring in better returns on investments. This approach enables businesses to selectively migrate to S4 or consolidate the entire landscape of the industry into a unified global system. The landscape transformation approach allows enterprises to migrate a specific part of the legacy system while keeping the rest of the untouched.

The primary advantage of taking this approach is that it enables organizations to choose specific aspects of the business for migration that is more likely to drive in better returns on investment. The landscape transformation is ideal for companies with multiple SAP ERP or SAP Business Suite systems. Further, large-scale organizations with numerous SAP or non-SAP ERP systems can also leverage this approach.

The Bluefield Approach

The Bluefield approach is a combination of both Brownfield and Greenfield approaches and is ideal for large corporations that have to deal with highly complex structures. The Bluefield approach can be complex, but organizations can leverage this opportunity by re-engineering the customizations and data that were unchanged for years or even decades in some cases. This migration approach requires different specialized tools to extract the existing configuration except for the data and move it onto the SAP S/4 HANA platform.

The biggest perk of choosing the Bluefield approach is that businesses can leverage all the features and functionalities of SAP S/4 HANA, including simplified business processes, Big Data, and seamless mobile integration. Furthermore, companies can secure all the investments made in any significant customizations and get a clean SAP S/4 HANA platform free from unnecessary code, data, or configuration. 

How to choose the right SAP S/4 HANA Migration Approach?

Every organization has its own specific needs and requirements. An organization has to carry out extensive evaluation and analysis of both functional and technical aspects of the migration to choose the appropriate approach for migration.

One needs to consider the existing business function, the landscape of the system, and the user’s readiness in an effective manner. But what’s more important is taking a look at the digital transformation roadmap of the organization. This will help businesses better understand their position on that map and the distance between the current position and the position to which they aspire to get. 

Conclusion

Therefore, these are the four main approaches used for migrating to SAP S/4 HANA, and most of the migration will fall into any one of these approaches. Each of these has its pros and cons, as they are all designed for different migration scenarios based on the requirements of the business organizations.

For instance, if the organization needs a quick transformation, it can opt for the Greenfield approach. On the other hand, if an organization wants to transform the existing SAP ERP system into SAP S/4 HANA, the Brownfield approach is best suited. However, no matter the approach, there will still be many challenges that come in the way. Hence, it is recommended that organizations determine those obstacles beforehand and prepare well to tackle them.