The 4 Big Questions Businesses Are Asking About Making the Jump To SAP S/4HANA (That You Should Be Too)

Blog: The Tibco Blog

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The industry is moving to SAP S/4HANA, and businesses will have to migrate their existing deployments sooner rather than later. With this migration, they can achieve improved insights and agility, as well as more comprehensive, unified data management. However, this migration is a major undertaking that comes with a host of challenges. Here are some of the questions businesses should be thinking about to help shape their adoption strategy:

1. Who’s moving on and who’s staying behind?

One of the more significant difficulties in deciding whether or not to transition your business to a new form of technology is weighing the inherent risks involved in the process against the danger of being left behind by your competitors. According to Gartner’s October 2020 article covering the top six questions about the transition to S/4HANA, the question of just how many of SAP’s business suite clients were either migrating or had made plans to migrate to S/4HANA accounted for at least 35% of the inquiries submitted to Gartner’s analysts.

2. What’s driving businesses to adopt S/4HANA?

Building on the first question, many CIOs are struggling to make a compelling case for committing to migration to S/4HANA, especially when taking into consideration SAP’s decision to extend the end of their support for SAP ECC until at least 2027. Gaining insight into what’s driving early-adopters to undergo the massive undertaking involved in upgrading could be the tipping point in whether or not you decide it’s the right time for your business to make the jump.

3. Do I deploy SAP S/4HANA on-premises or on the cloud?

If you decide to upgrade, the two main deployment modes for SAP S/4HANA are S/4HANA AnyPremise, which is hosted on-premises, and S/4HANA Cloud Essentials. What’s the difference? On-premises deployment provides more custom control, but it also requires more money, space, and the right team to make sure it’s executed properly. Deploying with the cloud is quicker, less expensive, and gives you all the benefits of SAP S/4HANA without needing to invest in infrastructure, storage, or an in-house management team, but you will not have nearly as much oversight or control over customization.

4. Should I migrate my existing deployment or start fresh with a new system?

This final question may be among the most important to consider, especially when making a change as big as moving an ERP system. The choice comes down to either a greenfield implementation, essentially wiping the slate clean and choosing to rebuild any custom developments from the previous set-up, or a brownfield implementation, which is more akin to a “transformational upgrade” that migrates the existing workflow.

This could be the time to start over, reduce complexities, and take the opportunity to clear out technical debt with a greenfield implementation. However, this is also the riskier option, as it forces the redevelopment of business-critical system customizations from your previous deployment, which can be a significant time sink. Still, a brownfield implementation, while faster and less risky, can stifle innovation, as you are migrating customizations and complexities that you may be better off without.

Deploying with the cloud is quicker, less expensive, and gives you all the benefits of SAP S/4HANA without needing to invest in infrastructure, storage, or an in-house management team.
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Moving from Migration Questions to Migration Success

Answers to these questions will inform your SAP S/4HANA migration strategy. And whatever you decide, TIBCO has the technology and expertise to help you migrate successfully. Check out this infographic to get all the information on offerings, implementation best practices, and the answers you need to successfully transition your business to SAP S/4HANA.