Tim Lessel shows the way to an optimal transformation to SAP S/4HANA
PTA IT-Beratung is a guest at CIO ROUNDTABLE Heidelberg, the exclusive CIO network in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. Tim Lessel, Head of SAP at the PTA, will use the exclusive platform to explain to IT managers at the evening event on June 23, 2022 in his presentation “SAP S/4HANA: Many roads lead to Rome, but not all are paved” which options IT managers and SAP user companies can use to efficiently switch to SAP S/4HANA or introduce the new SAP suite. The CIO ROUNDTABLE Heidelberg is a locally organized and protected space for IT managers to discuss relevant business IT topics in a discreet and vendor-neutral manner. The CIO ROUNDTABLE Heidelberg meets regularly at the SeeHotel in Ketsch, the evening event starts at 18:30.
Equipping ERP infrastructure for the age of digitalization
Since the early 1990s, PTA IT-Beratung has been supporting numerous customers with SAP and IT expertise, benefiting from a wide range of experience in almost all operational processes. This also applies to the upgrade or implementation of SAP S/4HANA. An ERP system plays a central role in corporate planning and management as well as in the handling of core processes. However, many companies are faced with the challenge of having to make their legacy systems “fit” and equip them for the increased requirements that the digital transformation demands with a high degree of dynamism. Companies that use SAP ERP or the SAP Business Suite can do this by switching to the new ERP suite S/4HANA. But this is precisely where a few key questions need to be answered to ensure that the path to S/4HANA does not turn out to be an aberration. Company managers should therefore be clear about when the right time is right for migration and which path is the right one, which operating model is best suited and that a successful changeover also requires a rethink, i.e. change management.
Finding the right path to SAP S/4HANA
The switch to SAP S/4HANA is therefore by no means trivial, and there are various scenarios available to companies: They can implement the new SAP suite from scratch using the greenfield approach. This approach is always linked to a fundamental reorganization of the SAP landscape based on the standard functionalities of SAP S/4HANA. Companies that are already using an SAP solution often opt for system conversion using the brownfield approach, i.e. converting the existing SAP landscape to the new ERP software suite. For example, it is essential that extensions and in-house developments that are no longer used or no longer executable are identified and eliminated in order to keep the new SAP system lean. Finally, there is the option of a landscape transformation. This option is chosen by companies that want to use S/4HANA to reorganize their organizational structure mapped in the existing SAP system or consolidate a multi-ERP environment (SAP and non-SAP).
Consider the right operating model and take the workforce with you on the journey
In addition to these complex options, it is important to clarify which operating model is best suited: on-premise, SaaS or cloud. With RISE with SAP, the Walldorf-based software company now offers various options for switching to the new ERP suite in the cloud. You can choose between a SaaS solution in the public cloud (SAP S/4HANA Cloud) and the SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition. However, this decision also depends on which changeover scenario a company has chosen and should therefore not be disregarded.
The implementation of SAP S/4HANA, regardless of whether it is a new implementation or system conversion, is not just a pure IT project, but a complex transformation. Employees need to be taken along on this journey, which is why active change management is an important success factor. Because this transformation is a change for everyone, for the company and the people who work there.
Get more background information on CIO ROUNDTABLE Heidelberg or contact us if you would like to find out more about which path to SAP S/4HANA is the right one for your company and your organization:
