DATA - FUEL OR BALLAST? - JIVS
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MANAGEMENT SAP Move
Move to SAP S/4 Hana
Data – Fuel Or Ballast?
SAP’s Move program shows ways to accelerate the journey to SAP S/4 Hana; one of which is to
separate historic from operational data. Data then can act as fuel rather than ballast.
By Bjoern Braemer, SAP, and Thomas Failer, Data Migration International
he S/4 Hana transformation encom-
T passes far more than just technology.
The new software generation is the
key to a company’s long-term success.
They need an intelligent ERP system ac-
ting as core of their IT landscape to be able
to tackle digitalization challenges, to esta-
blish new data-driven business models
and processes, and to ride the ever-gro-
wing tidal wave of new data rather than
succumb to it.
The implementation of the new soft-
ware generation and the migration and
transformation project consist of many
technological aspects but are primarily
about strategic and organizational topics.
Choosing a migration strategy, planning
how the future IT landscape will look and Thomas Failer (l.), Group CEO of Data Migration International, and Bjoern Braemer, Senior Vice
which processes it will support, deciding President and Global Head of SAP S/4 Hana Movement at SAP.
on what to do with data and documents
from legacy systems – every choice in the such event is Move in Motion. It also offers ach and implementation method, process
process decides the role and importance a card game which shows value creation design and management of legacy infor-
of the future IT landscape for business and potentials in S/4 for different depart- mation. Intelligent enterprises need both
corporate strategy. ments and industries; simulations that an intelligent ERP system as well as an in-
help customers understand different telligent data management, after all.
Mapping your journey choices and their consequences; and
workshops on different topics. Readiness and transformation
Or, as the guideline “Mapping Your Jour- All of these offer customers a precise
ney to SAP S/4 Hana” adequately explains, overview of the value they can unlock for Answers to strategic questions are given
“[…] the way you set up and manage your their businesses and which strategic ques- in the second phase, which primarily con-
project will determine your ability to turn tions they need to answer first, like: Will sists of defining a tangible business case.
SAP’s innovations into your company’s ad- existing business processes be able to sup- This phase is important for aligning busi-
vantage […] if it will provide the business port corporate strategies in the long term? ness and IT strategy so that everyone is on
agility and speed to outplay the competi- Would it be better to optimize and adapt the same page and strategic goals can be
tion through the full automation of busi- them in S/4? Are consolidation of the IT met more easily. Tools like SAP Readiness
ness processes.” landscape and process harmonization Check and SAP Transformation Navigator
To help customers in their migration part of project goals? Will all data and do- or an online recommendation service
journeys, SAP has established the SAP S/4 cuments be migrated to the new systems which calculates the performance of exis-
Hana Movement program under Bjoern or just parts of them? ting processes and the inherent value, can
Braemer’s leadership. Serving as a guide For decision-makers in IT and other de- help. Furthermore, it is equally important
for planning and projects, it offers practi- partments to be able to determine the to find and select data and documents not
cal tips, helpful tools, numerous services right strategy for companies, they need to needed in daily operations anymore after
and guidelines. consider the importance of data in the fu- the migration to S/4 Hana (tools can help
Irrespective of a customer’s chosen ture. They need to familiarize themselves here as well). Besides aligning business
transition path, Move defines four main with future business scenarios and the and IT strategy, companies also need to
phases in the journey to S/4 Hana: most important technologies. The Inter- evaluate migration costs and subsequent
The first phase is designated to choo- net of Things, Big Data and the separation efforts.
sing and defining a migration strategy. of historic and operational data are essen- However, costs are not only influenced
SAP supports customers with programs tial topics in this context. The subsequent- by the choice of implementation approach
and events for connecting, networking ly gained knowledge directly influences – whether that might be system conversi-
and discussing ideas and experiences. One decisions pertaining to migration appro- on, a completely new implementation or
58 E-3 April 2020
SAP Move MANAGEMENT
a mixture of both. Costs are also affected port agile scenarios like mergers and ac- pursuing current business initiatives are
by the choice of how many of the existing quisitions? Will the transferred data act as prioritized over implementing a new soft-
data and documents will be transferred to fuel in the long term or will it eventually ware generation. Therefore, business pri-
S/4 Hana. turn into ballast, hindering agility and was- orities directly influence IT priorities, re-
ting precious resources? Is the new IT quiring them to adapt and develop if need
Consider your options landscape able to support operational cost be.
reduction in the long term to ensure more All of these different and sometimes
Which of these options an individual investment capacity for innovation in the even contradictory goals and priorities re-
customer will take needs to be decided in future? levant for phase one and two of the Move
the third phase which SAP calls “Consider It is not sufficient to answer these ques- program have to be considered at the
Your Options”. If customers decide to only tions only once, however. They need to be same time. Companies furthermore have
migrate parts of their overall information answered again and again to ensure that to keep in mind that IT budgets only in-
assets, they can reduce migration efforts companies stay on the right track. The four crease moderately, if at all. They conse-
and duration of system downtimes during phases defined in Move are therefore not quently have to find new ways to reduce
migration by using the right tools. only helpful before and during the migra- the amount of resources, time and effort
tion, but also after the fact, serving as a spent on daily IT operations.
Build your future guide for maintenance and development The distinction SAP makes in its guide-
of S/4 Hana environments. line for S/4 Hana migration between open
The fourth phase is called “Build Your Fu- Irrespective of the migration approach processes and operational data on the one
ture” and kind of completes the circle. It that customers choose – whether they de- hand and historic data on the other is sho-
furthermore leads to a continuous optimi- cide on a system conversion, a new imple- wing customers the right way. The docu-
zation cycle. The implementation of S/4 mentation, or selective data migration and ment states that, “Like a race car driver,
can only act as a foundation for the future transformation – the existing legacy data you need to understand when this data is
– an innovative and intelligent foundation, and documents play a key role in the deci- fuel and when it’s ballast.”
though, answering the following ques- sion-making process. SAP therefore re-
tions: commends for customers to decide on the Historic data
Have all goals set for the migration and extent of data migration “as soon as pos-
transformation been met? Can new pro- sible”. Historic data are defined as completed
cesses be flexibly adapted to changes in transactional data as well as completed
corporate strategy or new market trends? Agility versus stability and fully paid sales and maintenance con-
Are IT staff able to extract information and tracts or orders. Furthermore, historic data
insights from data, thus advancing busi- This recommendation doesn’t just pertain encompass documents like delivery notes
ness, unlocking value and eventually esta- to the S/4 migration per se, however. After even if they only pertain to part of the
blishing a new business model? Is the IT all, companies are operating in a very dy- overall delivery, meaning the order itself
landscape able to quickly and flexibly sup- namic environment. In many industries, has not been completed yet. For legal rea-
Selective data migration keeps S/4 Hana lean, reduces costs and increases agility – before, during, and after the migration.
E-3 April 2020 59
MANAGEMENT SAP Move
A standardized approach and continuous optimization accelerate S/4 Hana migrations and lead to intelligent enterprises.
sons, these historic data have to remain the data selection during the migration to Such an environment can also become
immutable. If users can only access them S/4. This additional expenditure can even part of the new system environment with
with read-only privileges, however, it be turned into a net saving. Prerequisite is S/4 at the core. If historic data is conti-
doesn’t make much sense to migrate them the mostly automated data transfer from nuously and automatedly transferred to
to the new software landscape. legacy systems. Furthermore, the selecti- the new environment, operating systems
Historic data therefore need stability. on criteria for transferring the selected stay lean and agile in the long term, which
Migration to S/4 Hana with complete or data need to be created and relayed in a positively influences total operating costs.
selective data migration, agile business format that the SAP Migration Cockpit can Moreover, the historic data remain 100
scenarios, long-term reduction of operati- read. The format also needs to be compa- percent accessible and consequently allow
onal costs – in all of these cases, the dicta- tible with tools of the provider group cal- an overview of business information and
ted immutability of historic data poses the led “SAP S/4 Hana Selective Data Transiti- history with e.g. customers or suppliers.
question of what will happen to legacy on Engagement”. If these requirements This leads to better and sometimes even
systems. Continuing to operate them in- have been met, the data migration effort completely new business insights.
creases costs. Because data have to be sto- can be cut in half.
red with their corresponding business con- Reducing operational and migration Fuel for continuous optimization
text, traditional data archiving solutions costs is just one benefit of decommissio-
are not enough. ning legacy systems, however. Transfer- The aforementioned solution for selective
ring historic data to their own environ- data migration in S/4 Hana transformation
Stability and legacy systems ment also supports the aforementioned projects supports all phases of SAP’s Move
agile use cases and business scenarios. program. Furthermore, the value the solu-
The question of what to do with legacy Consolidation and harmonization projects tion unlocks can be integrated in a conti-
systems stays relevant regardless of which concerning applications and subsidiaries nuous optimization cycle for long-term
migration path companies choose, becau- can be accelerated and simplified. IT staff benefits.
se the challenge of data stability is univer- is also able to more quickly and cost-effi- This approach and the platform for in-
sal. Furthermore, the approach of selecti- ciently tackle mergers and acquisitions formation management behind it, JiVS
ve data migration threatens to increase because they can decommission acquired IMP, have proven themselves in over 1,000
project costs for S/4 Hana migrations. In systems and third-party solutions as well projects worldwide. Certified by auditors,
its migration guide, SAP is emphasizing as quickly extract data that buyers need in the newest generation of the platform is
this fact as well – a fact that remains true a neutral format. Furthermore, a separate available in special SAP editions that sup-
unless the historic data can somehow be environment for historic data is able to port the Move program in all its phases,
extracted from legacy systems and stored support optimization of data quality and both in technological and business as-
immutably and accessibly in a cost-effi- ensure that only clean and complete data pects. This way, historic data always act as
cient environment. Only then can legacy sets are transferred to the new environ- fuel and never as ballast.
systems be completely decommissioned. ment or software generation.
This option would open up new possibility A separate environment for historic Please also have a look at the
Community Info page 70
in phase three of the Move program. Expe- data also ensures legal certainty if the
rience shows that operational costs can data stored within are subject to rigorous
generally be reduced by 80 percent com- retention management. The require-
pared to the continued operation of le- ments of the European General Data Pro-
gacy systems. These savings are to be set tection Regulation (EU GDPR) then seem
off against the additional expenditure for less daunting concerning historic data.
60 E-3 April 2020You can also read
