SAP S/4HANA Migration: Why Timelines Slip and How Leaders Can Prevent It

Migrating to any new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is considered one of the most significant IT projects for any organization. Such systems as SAP S/4HANA provide cutting-edge technologies that allow companies to optimize their financial, supply chain, and sales operations.

Even though most organizations plan their SAP S/4HANA Migration in a reasonable way, they often face unexpected SAP implementation delays. These challenges arise due to technical, data-related, organizational, and human factors. In order to prevent schedule slippage, it is essential to understand what causes it and address these issues during the project scoping stage.

4 Reasons Why SAP S/4HANA Migrations Are Often Delayed

Dirty Legacy Data

Many organizations use one or another ERP system for more than ten years. During this period, users may accumulate dozens or hundreds of thousands of disorganized or erroneous records in their databases. When migrating to a new system, such data must be reviewed and corrected. It is not uncommon for companies to spend more than 50 percent of their time and resources processing legacy data during the migration project. 

Too Much Custom Code

During the years of working with SAP ECC, many organizations develop custom code in order to operate their standard business processes better. In contrast, SAP S/4HANA is designed to work with standard procedures, and customizing it may be quite expensive and time-consuming. It is reported that thousands of lines of code that do not serve any specific purpose are often left unused during migration. SAP consultants should analyze every single program that will be transferred to the new ERP system in order to avoid wasting resources on unnecessary code.

Inexperienced Project Members

An ERP system migration is a challenging task that requires the constant attention of seasoned professionals. SAP S/4HANA migration consultants usually work with company leaders throughout the project in order to ensure nothing goes wrong. However, there are often not enough trained team members at every organization who can participate in such a high-level project.

End-User Involvement

SAP S/4HANA migration consultants often face users’ unwillingness to learn and adapt to new software. In most cases, people tend to complain and seek to return old, comfortable features when confronted with new technologies. Such behavior significantly complicates the post-go-live support process and makes it difficult to keep the project on schedule.

How to Avoid Migration Delays

Clean Legacy Data

It should take no more than 6 months to prepare production data for migration. The data cleansing process should begin at least 6 months before the actual technical migration. All irrelevant information should be deleted or archived. Data formats should also be standardized. All responsible directors should be accountable for the accuracy and reliability of their respective data sets. It is essential to establish a responsible person for each category of data.

Fit-to-Standard Approach

Organizations should thoroughly assess their current code base and leave only the programs that provide specific business benefits. Code optimization is even more important during the migration process. At least 60 to 70 percent of legacy code should be deleted since it is either irrelevant or can be replaced with new, more efficient programs. In many cases, companies try to adjust the standard SAP S/4HANA processes in order to fit their business needs. However, it is much easier and cheaper to modify the business processes themselves instead of altering the software.

Time Management for Company Directors

It is critical to ensure that company directors, heads of departments, and other key personnel are not overloaded with routine operations. Their daily tasks should be automated or performed by temporary workers. It is also necessary to organize regular joint meetings with the project leadership and SAP migration consultants. In this way, project managers will be able to identify project deviations at an early stage and fix them without significant delays.

User Training

User training should be an integral part of any migration project. It is essential to familiarize end-users with the new Fiori interface and demonstrate how new software will make their work easier. Such training will facilitate the post-go-live period and reduce the number of user-related issues.

AIQU Solutions Helps Organizations Achieve SAP S/4HANA Migration Success Without Project Delays

Any SAP S/4HANA migration project requires professional technical knowledge, operational management, and even financial expertise. Our SAP consultants understand the complexity of large-scale system migrations and aim to make the process as smooth and rapid as possible. We offer our clients a comprehensive set of SAP migration services and solutions that target the most common causes of project delays.

We work closely with all stakeholders in order to optimize the legacy data cleansing process, standardize business processes, and remove redundant custom code to ensure project delivery on time and within scope. It is now time to consider migrating your ERP system to SAP S/4HANA with minimal disruptions to your business operations. Learn more about our enterprise-class SAP migration services and contact our experts to design your SAP S/4HANA migration roadmap.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long does it take to migrate to SAP S/4HANA?

The migration timeline for mid-size and large enterprises may vary from 9 to 18 months. The duration depends on the amount of data, the complexity of the business processes, and the level of customization.

2. What is the difference between Greenfield and Brownfield migration?

“Greenfield” refers to an implementation in which an organization builds a new SAP S/4HANA environment and redesigns its processes rather than directly converting the existing system. Existing data may still be selectively migrated. Meanwhile, in case of Brownfield migration, the existing SAP system is migrated to a new SAP S/4HANA system.

3. Why is it important to clean legacy data?

Since SAP S/4HANA is a new-generation ERP system, it uses a fundamentally different data architecture. It is essential to delete all unnecessary data in order not to spend too much time and effort on processing information during the migration project.

4. When should we begin preparing end-users for the system migration?

The end-user preparation process should begin at the project initiation stage. It is essential to build user buy-in at an early stage in order to ensure there are no showstoppers related to the new software.

5. Why should we turn to professional SAP migration services?

Experienced SAP migration service providers deliver their industry expertise, proven tools, and high-quality technical capabilities to ensure every project is delivered on time and within scope.