SAP S/4HANA - are you already profiting?

Successful implementation of SAP S/4HANA

We accompany your company during the implementation and beyond. Find out everything about SAP S/4HANA and our consulting services here.

Your route to SAP S/4HANA

SAP S/4HANA is a new world. With SAP's integrated solution, companies can manage, connect, control and analyse all processes and resources even better and faster.

Properly understood, SAP S/4HANA is not just a technical update of existing systems. Rather, SAP S/4HANA is a strategic opportunity to realign the entire business model - for example, through new analysis options, through more easily scalable processes or through the application of artificial intelligence.

The advantages and new functions of SAP S/4HANA are convincing.

• SAP S/4HANA enables end-to-end processes and analytics in real time.
• A wide range of best-practice standard solutions are immediately available - simply plug-and-play for numerous sectors and industries.
• With SAP Fiori, SAP S/4HANA also offers an intuitive interface with a modern design.

As an implementation partner, GAMBIT's consultants help you to introduce SAP S/4HANA - with the experience from numerous implementations and the knowledge of SAP from 25 years.

• We check to what extent your company is ready for the changeover to SAP S/4HANA - and bring along the appropriate tools for this.
• We show you the different operating models for SAP S/4HANA and weigh up the respective advantages and disadvantages together with you.
• We recommend a suitable method of migration - always with a view to a contemporary and flexible target architecture.

Detailed examination before the introduction of SAP S/4HANA

At GAMBIT, the approach to the audit for a changeover to SAP S/4HANA is not a purely IT-intensive process.

We rather carry out the analysis under the following aspect: After the changeover, the functions of the platforms and databases should, in contrast to before, offer clear advantages, both for the management and for the individual divisions.

In other words: the switch to SAP S/4HANA should pay off for your company both strategically and operationally - and in measurable terms.

Our audit gives you a glimpse into a possible future. In this way, we lay the foundation for you to make a sound and safe decision.

Migration to SAP S/4HANA in day-to-day business

Migration to SAP S/4HANA is a costly and complex undertaking. This applies to the technical implementation, to the often large number of users, as well as to the budget and time planning.

Any changeover must be carried out in parallel with ongoing operations - and without becoming a burden on day-to-day business. To ensure that the changeover goes as smoothly as possible for your company, we recommend that you pay particular attention to the following aspects, among others:

• Companies should not calculate time and budget too tightly. Since unforeseen events or errors can always occur in such a complex project, a certain time and financial buffer is needed.
• Those responsible should also be aware that such a project - for example, in companies with different ERP systems in several regions - must be well prepared and communicated with regard to the scheduling of all participants and users.
• It is also recommended that the "go-live" be preceded by a comprehensive test phase. Ideally, all subsequent user groups should already be involved in these tests and all subsequent applications and processes should be run through.
• The help of external consultants can also prove helpful. They can support companies in many ways: with regard to the optimization or transformation of existing business processes, but also with the introduction of new business models.
• The project should always be led by an expert and manager. Leadership and communication skills, assertiveness and technical know-how are just some of the qualities this person should possess. Otherwise, unclear responsibilities, a lack of trust in leadership on the part of those involved, or communication problems can quickly prove to be a stumbling block for the entire process.
• Last but not least: the hardware. If a company wants to implement an on-premise solution, it must investigate at an early stage whether its own IT infrastructure is also designed for this path. Not every server on which the previous ERP software is still running is also suitable for SAP S/4HANA. Adaptations and investments may still be necessary.
  

What is the right time to convert to SAP S/4HANA?

The changeover must be feasible for your company at low risk and as problem-free as possible. Therefore we also consider the timeline of the changeover.

From 2027, SAP will discontinue maintenance without additional costs and the further development of the predecessor software SAP ECC. This will give you enough time to act - without having to act rashly.

We recommend our customers to deal with the changeover at an early stage. Companies should not underestimate the time and effort involved in preparing and implementing such a project.

In addition, exceeding the maintenance limit at the end of 2027 must be avoided under all circumstances - acting too late can have dramatic consequences for the security and operation of your SAP systems.

Get off to a good start with SAP S/4HANA: Readiness Check

GAMBIT does not only give a recommendation whether the current one is the right time to convert your company to SAP S/4HANA. We also analyze whether your company is ready for it.

Among other things, we assess the integration of programs in SAP S/4HANA which were developed in your company itself.

We also use tools to determine the difference between your current system and the state after the changeover. Various tools with different focuses are available for this purpose.

1. With Business Scenario Recommendations (BSR), we investigate which benefits you would particularly benefit from during the transformation to SAP S/4HANA - beyond the generally known advantages of SAP S/4HANA.

These include significant improvements in processes, such as simplified transactions or previously unrecognised value creators.

2. With the SAP Innovation and Optimisation Pathfinder, individual information sources can be aggregated, prepared and evaluated.

The advantage of using Pathfinder is that it saves time. On the other hand, the findings from the evaluation can be diverse and all the more interesting due to the diverse sources. Pathfinder also sorts the different areas according to the amount of potential for improvement.

3. the SAP Transformation Navigator provides companies with answers to the question of what benefits can be expected from new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) or Blockchain technology.

The Transformation Manager can also provide a chronological order for the introduction of new technologies and show which benefits will result for the company.

4. The SAP Value Lifecycle Manager (VLM) can improve on-time performance. It helps the company's business units to stay within budget.

It also increases value performance. This can be done, for example, through process improvements: The Value Lifecycle Manager identifies these opportunities for improvement, diagnoses the shortcomings of a process and makes recommendations for improved performance.

Which SAP S/4HANA operating model is right for your company?

Heterogeneous databases for different markets and specialized user roles that have grown over the years hinder companies in their further development.

The users, however, have become accustomed to the systems and solutions. They are therefore often sceptical about innovations - or even reject them.

With a due diligence review, we put the consideration of the different operating models on an objective level: We evaluate strengths and weaknesses and provide an outlook on opportunities and risks. In doing so, GAMBIT takes into account the effects on the systems as well as business effects.

Depending on the individual situation, SAP offers different solutions: Cloud, On-Premise or a hybrid variant. With due diligence, GAMBIT's consultants will find the right solution for your company.

SAP S/4HANA: Options for the operating model

When choosing the operating model, the questions are particularly important,

• where the data is stored,
• where application programmes and infrastructure are available
• what costs are incurred in each case
• what consequences the operating model has for expandability and the use of best practices, and
• how flexibly the evaluations can be accessed geographically.

Whether stationary or in the cloud: The decision on this can have significant consequences for the field service, for branch offices or national companies as well as for the cooperation with service providers.

There are basically two variants available today:

• Any-Premise - on any infrastructure (either On-Premise, i.e. locally on-site in your own data centre, on the infrastructure of a hyperscaler such as AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud, or on the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (SAP S/4HANA On-Premise managed by SAP)
• the "real" cloud solutions with the two variants SAP S/4HANA Cloud or RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud (formerly: Multi Tenant Edition, Public Cloud or Essential Edition) and RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition (formerly: Single Tenant Edition, Private Cloud and - still available today, but without the RISE solutions - the Extended Edition).

The difference between these basic directions is not so much a question of infrastructure (even the RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition can be hosted at a hyperscaler, for example), but whether

• a company buys the licences for the software ("software as a product" as with an any-premise solution)

• or whether it subscribes to the software ("software as a service" or "software subscription" as with cloud solutions).

There is no blanket answer as to which concept is best. In order to arrive at a suitable solution, experts have to analyse and get to know the respective company situation in detail. The strategic company goals play a decisive role in this.

GAMBIT advises you which constellation seems to be the most promising for the achievement of your corporate goals. In our recommendation, we take into account the technical readiness and the timeline for implementation. In addition, we show you which advantages you are likely to benefit from.

In the following, we compare different approaches and address the fundamental differences between the solutions.

SAP S/4HANA On-Premise

On-premise means that software and hardware are available locally on site in the company. Applications, databases and SAP systems are usually located there.

However, pure on-premise is a theoretical concept. Mostly today, on-premise and cloud solutions are interconnected and exchange data.

So today, data sources are added that are already in the cloud. These include, for example, external databases for customer relationship management, social media or the data transferred by IoT applications.

The disadvantage of an on-premise solution: The on-premise Solid Core may lack the speed that can be realised with cloud solutions. Or it lacks the tools that SAP offers in the Cloud Platform, a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering.

RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud bzw. SAP S/4HANA Cloud (Public Cloud)

The RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud or SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a public cloud solution (formerly: Multi-Tenant Edition and SAP S/4HANA, Essential Edition).

This solution is a software-as-a-service solution. This means that the software is therefore subscribed to, hosted and operated by SAP and made available to the company via the internet.

This solution can only be used with the greenfield approach (re-implementation). It is extensible via SAP's Extensibility Framework and the SAP Cloud Platform.

The best practice standard can be used via this cloud solution.

RISE with SAP S/4HANA, private edition (Private Cloud)

This solution is the variant preferred by many customers: a cloud solution operated by SAP and hosted at a hyperscaler (Microsoft Azure, AWS or Google Cloud).

It is almost identical to the already known "SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Extended Edition" (Cloud EX), except that in this case the advantages and solutions of "RISE" are not available.

The decisive difference to the Any-Premise offer Private Cloud Managed by SAP: The company does not purchase the licences for SAP S/4HANA, but subscribes to the software.

The RISE with SAP S/4HANA, private edition is therefore licensed as a "software subscription". Unlike the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the software is only available as a subscription and not as a service.

With this solution, companies can combine the functional scope and expandability of an on-premise solution with the advantages of a cloud solution. The scope corresponds to the on-premise solution. Companies can also use the best practices.

The solution can be implemented in different ways: with greenfield (new implementation), brownfield (system conversion) as well as selective migration (selective data transformation).

SAP S/4HANA: Implementation

With SAP Activate, SAP Data Services and the SAP Migration Cockpit, tools and solutions are available to support companies in the transition to SAP S/4HANA.

With the tools, processes are sensibly broken down into individual steps that are easier to understand. In addition, there are various aids or simulations in a test environment.

This pragmatic support lowers the hurdles to implementation. What's more, the tools also make it easier for employees to access SAP S/4HANA in their daily work - whether at the clerk level, in IT or in management.

SAP Activate, for example, is an approach that allows SAP S/4HANA to be introduced quickly and efficiently. The solution is based on a standardised environment and consists of three parts or "pillars".

The Activate methodology includes

• Best practices for business processes (Content),
• a Guided Configuration, and
• the methodology for implementation with agile approaches in the core phases of the project (Methodology).

GAMBIT: Your experienced partner for your SAP S/4HANA implementation

GAMBIT's specialists are on hand to support you on your way to SAP S/4HANA.

Since, as a rule, technically all ways to SAP S/4HANA are possible, we recommend our customers in most cases an implementation according to the SAP Greenfield approach and thus a modern IT architecture:

• 100 per cent in SAP standard,
• simple and permanently flexible,
• individually and infinitely expandable through high-performance apps and other options such as the Extensibility Framework and
• connected via real-time interfaces.

If the existing system landscape has to be retained, we will of course also implement an SAP conversion according to the brownfield approach on request.

You can find out how the approaches differ in the article SAP Greenfield vs. Brownfield.

The introduction of SAP S/4HANA in a company is a far-reaching decision. However, once you have made this decision in favor of SAP S/4HANA, you will benefit from the conversion in the long term.

Would you like to take advantage of this opportunity now? Whether system architecture, roadmap, design or implementation - we support you from the beginning to the end of your SAP S/4HANA project.

Your advantages of an SAP implementation with GAMBIT

More than 160 people who know what is important in such projects. Experts who have an eye on every little detail - but do not get bogged down. And a project management that is as progressive and reliable as it has to be for such an implementation. All this is GAMBIT - SAP Gold Partner and certified for SAP S/4HANA and the SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

With us, different also means better - three advantages in detail

• Proprietary, proven process model
• Individual live model companies
• State-of-the-art project management

We have a tried and tested agile end-to-end process model based on SAP's Activate approach. This makes the implementation of SAP S/4HANA even faster and more secure. Guaranteed.

In your exclusive Project Sandbox on AWS (Amazon Web Services), SAP S/4HANA can be experienced live immediately - completely customised and from day one.

Your internal experts can access the system immediately, run through your processes with their own data and see what SAP S/4HANA is capable of. In addition, the expansion of the system can be actively accompanied in this way - optimisation already takes place during the conception phase. This can be called time-saving and efficient - or simply a good idea.

We carry out the project with up-to-date IT solutions and according to the latest methodologies. For example, we use tools such as Microsoft Sharepoint, OneNote, Teams or Skype for Business in the project work.

All this facilitates cooperation, increases transparency and clarity, minimises risks and errors - and thus improves the result.

What GAMBIT stands for:

• 25 years of experience and competence as an SAP management consultancy
• 160 employees in operation
• 80 employees certified for SAP S4/HANA, SAP S4/HANA Cloud and Landscape Transformation 2.0
• 15,000 users in application management
• 2 locations (Germany and Switzerland)
• 2,000 successful projects in more than 70 countries
• 4.9/5 - this is how our customers rate us on Google on average

SAP S/4HANA with GAMBIT. Simply everything from one source.

Whether architecture in SAP standard, roadmap, implementation or licences, we support you. With GAMBIT you get SAP S/4HANA as a complete package - secure, on time and individually fitting.

• Design and system architecture
• Licences (GAMBIT is SAP licence partner)
• Roadmap and preliminary projects
• Implementation
• Maintenance and lifecycle services

You still have questions?

You would like to know more about SAP S/4HANA, the cloud solutions or about the advantages of SAP best practice standards for your company? Are you wondering whether a cloud solution is really suitable for your requirements? Are you interested in a specific industry solution or a special Fiori app?

GAMBIT has the answers. Call or write us - and arrange a free telephone appointment or video call with one of our experts today. We will be happy to help you.

Glossary: SAP S/4HANA

SAP S/4HANA

SAP Business Suite 4 SAP HANA, (SAP S/4HANA) is the in-memory version of the SAP Business Suite ERP platform. The new generation of the SAP ERP suite has a simplified data model and intuitive user interfaces. The open architecture is optimized for in-memory databases. The application can be run as an on-premise or cloud version and can be deployed in a hybrid environment. In 2027, SAP will discontinue maintenance and further development of the predecessor system SAP ECC 6.0.

SAP HANA

SAP HANA is a database and software platform from SAP. The platform enables the development and integration of software applications. It is based on an in-memory technology that enables processes and analyses in real time. SAP HANA is the basis for SAP S/4HANA.

ERP

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. This is the task of controlling and planning resources in the company on time and according to demand. This includes, for example, personnel, purchasing, logistics, materials, operating resources, equipment, information and communication technology and IT systems.

SAP Fiori

An important innovation under SAP S/4HANA is SAP Fiori, SAP's new User Experience (UX). This feature offers a role-based and contemporary user experience for SAP users. Whether in the office or on the road - the web-based SAP Fiori interface can be used device-independently, with smartphone, notebook, desktop or even tablet.