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Exploring The Best Practices For SAP Implementation Services
#FocusOnBestPractices
Mukund Shinde
Sr. Vice President (Enterprise Solutions – SAP Practice)
October 30, 2024
Exploring The Best approach for SAP Implementation
SAP S/4HANA is one of the preferred ERP suites by many industries, with an option of public, and private cloud deployments. A study by DataCaptive indicates that SAP’s global customer base of 480,000 in 2024. SAP has made it simpler for small and medium businesses to harness the immense potential of the SAP ERP suite with pre-configured SAP solutions and bundled offerings such as GROW with SAP or RISE with SAP.
Let’s explore the best practices for SAP implémentation services, in tune with your business requirements, specifically for SAP S/4HANA. SAP S/4HANA is the core ERP solution that manage in public or private cloud. The suite contains different modules for Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain, Sales, and Manufacturing, amongst others. It also easily integrates other SAP SaaS solutions such as SAP IBP, SAP Success Factor and SAP BTP, also integrate with other 3rd party applications seamlessly.
Proven Methodology for successful Implementation:
The Activate methodology has matured with large number of client implementation, content templates and tools that helps to deploy SAP S/4 HANA in a much efficient manner. This methodology provides end-to-end application implementation management.
Areas of activate methodology:
- Phases
- Work streams
- Deliverables and tasks
- Artifacts
By accessing SAP activate you will be able to avail SAP activate community, SAP Activate Roadmap viewer, and SAP solution manager SAP Activate community as well. This will do a better contribution in making a good progress for your business goals.
SAP implementation phases:
- Discovery
- Prepare
- Explore
- Realise
- Deploy
- Run
Choose a partner who provides end-to-end services including Project management, function and technical areas as well application maintenance services providing flexible SAP Managed Services for the right SAP S/4HANA implementation support and resources required to maintain the new implementation. You would have complete visibility of SAP licenses, implementation and support cost with the following stages:
1. Pre-assessment stage
The foremost start of SAP S/4HANA implementation is to assess the current business needs and existing technology landscape. For example, a potential new SAP S/4HANA implementation might be necessitated to have better operational processes, streamlined reporting, and an integrated ERP system that is agile and flexible.
- The assessment needs to include a detailed gap analysis to identify legacy processes that can be optimized in the SAP S/4HANA implementation, along with customization options to suit specific business requirements. You can leverage the vast SAP S/4HANA integration services for seamless connectivity between your applications, data, and systems. The discovery phase of SAP Activate methodology ensures that the S/4HANA implementation costs and timeline are pre-defined, as there is a scope for running over budget and beyond schedule.
- You also need to include a change management strategy right from the assessment stage of the SAP S/4HANA implementation. This will help you determine the right approach to increasing the SAP solution's adaptability.
- Your strategy needs to ensure that the SAP S/4HANA implementation costs and timeline are pre-defined, as there is a scope for running over budget and beyond schedule.
- You also need to include a change management strategy right from the assessment stage. This will help you determine the right approach to increasing the solution's adaptability.
- Do consider AI-driven tools such as WalkMe or OnScreen which will help your end-users with guided online navigation to make usage simpler. This SAP S/4HANA best practice enhances the change management exercise.
- Have a comprehensive testing mechanism in place at every phase of implementing the SAP solution.
- You need to engage all stakeholders and define the SLA’s, and KPI’s that align with the business needs, providing the required flexibility for future growth. Your strategy should include future ready for AI as well new SAP modules to benefit business.
While SAP S/4HANA implementation partners do customize certain steps, the methodology gives a phase-wise approach for different constituents of the process.
2. Building a Competent Project Team
One of the most important approaches for SAP S/4HANA implementation is building the right project team, which needs to include technical experts as well as business stakeholders to ensure that the exercise aligns with the required objectives.
You need to assign key roles and responsibilities and have a comprehensive mechanism for tracking progress. If you wish to engage a third-party SAP service provider, then you need to consider the below aspects.
Evaluate technology partners based on their experience with SAP S/4HANA implementations, and industry and domain-specific expertise in SAP solutions. Do look at their success stories and customer testimonials, and the way they handle communication and collaboration while offering SAP services.
3. Dealing with Data and workflows
As an SAP S/4HANA best practice, use the Fit-to-Standard approach to standardize current operational processes. SAP offers pe-configured processes that streamline business workflows, along with ample scope for customization that needs to be done judiciously during the SAP S/4HANA implementation.
Factor the choice of cloud-based hosting platform for the SAP solution, which can either be a public or private cloud. The GROW with SAP offering provides a public-cloud hosted platform and Rise with SAP that is private cloud hosted platform and both are managed by SAP.
Choose between the below three approaches for dealing with existing data and workflows.
- Greenfield Approach: The Greenfield SAP S/4HANA implementation is a fresh deployment of SAP solution, with master data migration. The Greenfield approach can be followed for both GROW and Rise approach and mainly for business who wants to leverage mature SAP and existing ERP system does not completely support the business requirements. Also business is having large complex process to be address though right ERP application.
- Brownfield Approach: The Brownfield SAP S/4HANA implementation approach suits scenarios where a data migration is required from an older version of SAP ECC to S/4HANA. The Brownfield approach is well-suited in scenarios where there needs to be a continuity from existing operational processes, with minimal modernization.
- Bluefield Approach: The Bluefield approach suits scenarios where certain processes need to be discarded and others retained. This option gives flexibility to optimize processes and leverage new features of SAP S/4HANA while selectively retaining existing data.
Conduct a thorough data audit to identify and clean up inconsistencies, duplicates, and obsolete data before migration.
Perform repeated migration tests to ensure that the migrated data aligns with the business processes and reporting needs by using SAP S/4HANA integration services.
4. Security and Compliance
SAP S/4HANA implémentations often involve handling sensitive data and making security and compliance critical aspects of the project. Organizations must meet all regulatory requirements and safeguard their data from potential security threats. Below are the best practices in SAP S/4HANA to enhance your security posture.
- Strategize a comprehensive exercise in the early stages to assess risks and implement ways to mitigate them.
- Do perform a thorough security audit during each phase of implementation to identify vulnerabilities, while implementing the SAP solution.
- You need to ensure statutory compliance with relevant regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, or industry-specific standards, such as those that are required in the Pharma, Medical Devices, and Health Sciences. You need to have a technology partner who is well-versed in vertical-specific compliance requirements.
In addition to the above-mentioned best practices for SAP S/4HANA implementation, you also need to include the below aspects.
Ensure the required SAP implementation support is available after the post-go-live phase. This phase is crucial for resolving issues, optimizing system performance, and ensuring that end-users can work effectively with the system. This can be met by having a dedicated post-go-live team to monitor the performance with regular audits to identify, resolve, and optimize.
Conclusion
A successful SAP S/4HANA implementation drives your business towards greater efficiency, improved decision-making, and the ability to adapt to future challenges in a competitive digital world, all within your allocated SAP S/4HANA implementation costs.
The above discussed methods for SAP S/4HANA implementation is specially curated from our 20+ years of experience in ERP implementation, rescue and recovery solutions, and managed services. Korcomptenz is an SAP solutions partner accredited with GROW with SAP and RISE with SAP offerings. If you are looking for a competent and reliable implementation partner, or for SAP S/4HANA managed services, do contact us to leverage the complete potential of the suite.
