Many organizations have stayed on the same SAP ECC 6.0 for over a decade. Now, that’s changing.
For many organizations, SAP S/4HANA represents access to automation, Internet of Things, and Robotic Process Automation. But, with support for SAP scheduled to end in 2027, making that migration is a race to finish implementation before the support deadline.
Starting your migration plan now with a roadmap and implementation strategy can help you to identify potential bottlenecks and obstacles, so your organization can make that deadline without incurring extra costs.
The original support deadline of 2025 was extended from 2025 to 2027. This deadline extension affects:
After this date, customers may choose to extend support until a maximum of 2030, for a premium starting at 2% above the existing support costs of 22%. While that extension gives customers more time to implement, there’s still title time left to scope and plan a migration.
While many organizations have adopted a policy of wait and see, with the intent of allowing the SAP S/4 HANA platform to mature, many simply don’t have the time to wait. That’s especially true for larger organizations, which take time to make strategic decisions. Creating a migration plan and strategic roadmap means aligning resources, budgets, manpower, and external consultants, all of which take time. Further, with SAP estimating a migration as taking 12-18+ months, migration itself is no easy undertaking.
Allocating Resources – Migrating to a new ERP takes time. Making the switch to SAP S/4 HANA means taking stock of the existing situation to see where you’re at and where you want to be. For example:
A good inventory consists of what tables are in place, which customizations have been made, and how they are being used. For example, you may have systems that aren’t used. You may have systems that rely on one specific database for processes. Understanding those overviews and implementations is crucial before starting a migration. Many companies have 10s if not 100s of SAP systems, and that takes time to assess and to understand the implications of migrating or merging them.
In addition, you have to start with checking if you have the necessary skills in-house to make these assessments. For example, can internal people make the internal inventory assessment of what you need to move? Can internal people assess how much time the migration will take?
Consultants – Many organizations simply do not have the SAP expertise in-house to implement SAP S/4 HANA. Hiring those implementation resources is crucial. However, the longer you wait, the more difficult it will become. The industry is currently facing a shortage of qualified consultants, because until the SAP S/4 HANA release, SAP was largely outdated. That’s changing and new people are entering industry – but many won’t have the expertise to offer added-value to a migration and implementation plan before 2027. That means locking consultants in sooner will ensure you have skilled people available.
Once you’ve inventoried your SAP environment, consultants step in to start your journey. You have to choose your hypervisor, cloud provider, and your packages. That also presents a unique opportunity to rethink business processes. For example, SAP S/4 HANA offers Fit-to-Standard with SAP Activate to offer prepackaged processes across most industries. With no need to reinvent new processes, organizations can quickly introduce standardized, Agile processes as part of the move to the cloud. And that offers immense value – providing you already know which processes you have to replace. Including those changes in your roadmap are essential.
If your organization isn’t starting its migration roadmap now, you could be incurring additional costs and complexities, as consultant shortages and the need for faster timelines affect your strategy. The sooner you get started, the better.
Gallop Pilot is a 3-month, live pilot utilizing real ECC data to assess and scope the full migration and its impact on your organization.
If you want to know more, schedule an appointment with a consultant now to learn about Gallop Pilot and creating your migration strategy.
Click here to pick a time now.
