Read Time: 10 minutes
Upgrading to SAP S/4HANA is a major undertaking. Without a clear plan, organizations risk cost overruns, project delays, and limited access to key resources. Many hesitate to move forward due to the complexity and uncertainty involved. But with the right strategy, S/4HANA adoption can unlock real business transformation, not just a system upgrade.
(Figure 1: S/4HANA Migration Options)
Understand Your Migration Options
There’s no one-size-fits-all path to S/4HANA. SAP outlines five strategic options Some organizations treat it as a strategic opportunity to transform and innovate, while others take a more tactical, short-term approach. Some are even exploring non-SAP alternatives, delaying adoption, or turning to third-party maintenance:
- Strategic Adoption: Invest in a full transformation to unlock innovation and digital capabilities.
- Tactical Adoption: Address immediate pain points while postponing a full migration.
- Change ERP: Move to an alternative ERP platform if SAP no longer fits your strategy.
- Third-Party Maintenance: Delay migration while staying compliant through support partners.
- Wait and See: Postpone any major action and the highest-risk option.
Choosing the right path requires aligning ERP plans with your business priorities. Acting early ensures you avoid last-minute decisions driven by deadlines instead of value.
Define the Right Migration Type
Once a strategic path is chosen, it’s important to define what kind of migration your organization needs:
- Technical vs. Functional Migration: Will you lift and shift, or take the opportunity to optimize?
- Greenfield: A fresh start with a new system and redesigned processes.
- Brownfield: Retain existing configurations and data while upgrading the core.
- Hybrid: Combine both approaches for selected modules or business units.
Each model has trade-offs in cost, complexity, and potential benefit. The key is choosing based on what matters most: whether that’s innovation, stability, or speed.
Use Tools and Resources to Your Advantage
SAP provides tools that can reduce uncertainty and guide your roadmap:
- Business Scenario Recommendations (BSR): Analyze usage and find relevant S/4HANA capabilities.
- SAP Transformation Navigator: Align SAP product planning with your business strategy.
- Readiness Check: Evaluate system compatibility, custom code, and integrations.
- These tools help organizations reduce guesswork and make informed, data-driven migration decisions.
Choose the Right Support Partner
The partner you select will have a significant impact on your migration outcome. Key risks include:
- Limited experience or high turnover in S/4HANA delivery teams
- Underestimating the effort required for functional transformation
- Overpromising on timeline or budget, and underdelivering
- Organizations that need more time to plan may also consider third-party support as a way to maintain their ECC systems while preparing for change.
How Crowe Can Help
At Crowe, we have supported global organizations in propelling their business transformations through the use of SAP ERP capabilities. Starting from Zero-Cost Readiness Checks, and high-impact use case identification to solution integration, we help our clients spur innovation and unlock the business potential of AI and modern ERP.