Transition to SAP S/4HANA

Implementation road map for:

• System conversion
• New implementation
• Selective data transition

Please always retrieve the newest version of this implementation road map from the internet:
Link to the Road Map Viewer
Link to Terms of Use
Link to Copyright Information

Published in Q1 2024
PUBLIC
What is the implementation road map for SAP S/4HANA?
The purpose of this road map is to support implementation projects of SAP S/4HANA to:

• Manage risk proactively

• Make implementation projects predictable
• Create a viable foundation through transparency of all activities and tasks.

This road map describes SAP S/4HANA implementations on-premise only. The roadmap applies if you
have your own data center or you use a cloud Hyperscaler with an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
contract. SAP offers dedicated road maps for SAP S/4HANA Cloud implementation projects (see
accelerator section at the end of this chapter).

The structure of this road map is release independent. Release specific information is given explicitly
where a certain activity or task is required for a dedicated release. Accelerators can be release-specific. In
this case, the link to the newest release is provided.

There are three implementation scenarios for SAP S/4HANA (as depicted in the figure below):

• New implementation: Reengineering and process simplification based on latest innovations

o Implementing innovative business processes with preconfigured content on a new
platform
o Performing initial data load
o Retiring old landscape
o Transfer data from third-party systems to SAP S/4HANA
• Selective data transition: Enabling the right balance between process redesign and reuse with
possibility of (selective) history migration
o You don’t want to fully redesign your ECC processes and also to fully reuse your ECC
processes but rather re-use some parts and redesign some other parts e.g. re-use
Logistics, redesign Finance
• System conversion: Bringing your business processes to the new platform
o A complete technical in-place conversion of an existing ERP software system in SAP
Business Suite to SAP S/4HANA
o Adoption of new innovations at your speed, and in smaller steps once the conversion to
SAP S/4HANA has been finished.
 Figure: Transition Scenarios to SAP S/4HANA

This road map covers all three implementation scenarios. Scenario information is given explicitly where a
certain activity or task is required for a dedicated scenario (for example, Central Finance Design for
selective data transition only).

The prerequisites for using this road map depend on your implementation scenario. If you will be starting
from an on-premise SAP ERP application, use selective data transition or system conversion. If you are
starting from a legacy system, use the new implementation scenario. For system conversion and selective
data transition, the start release may have an impact on the steps required to move to SAP S/4HANA. For
system conversion, SAP recommends a minimum start release of SAP ERP Central Component of 6.0.
Upgrades from older releases may be included in this change event. If you are already on SAP Business
Suite powered by SAP HANA, you can skip the operating system and database migration parts of the road
map.

The Selective Data Transition allows a tailored scope between System Conversion and New
Implementation with the flexibility to adapt data and processes in one step. The approach allows to
combine redesign of business processes with retaining historical data aligned to a new business reality.
Selective Data Transition involves transferring data from one or more existing ERP solutions into a new
SAP S/4HANA solution. The transfer is done by SAP or partners that provide similar specialized tools and
services. The data selectively transferred can include:

• ABAP repository of objects and development

• Configuration (customizing) data
• Master data
• Transaction data (historical closed items and open items)

The data is moved using SAP Data Management and Landscape Transformation (DMLT) toolset and
related services. For over 10 years, SAP DMLT have provided well established solutions for organizational
changes, acquisitions, divestitures, or harmonization of SAP landscapes. The software provides highly
automated processes that move large amounts of data between SAP instances quickly. Similar software
and services are provided by third party vendors.

Selective Data Transition supports the following customer needs:

• Organizational changes / restructuring or other transformation requirements

• Reduction of necessary pre-projects by using the “on-the-fly solutions”
• Necessary system split or system merge existing SAP ERP instances
• Process adaption and reengineering
• Select historical data e.g. not older than 2 years or only open items and balances
• Reduce re-implementation effort by re-using elements of the solution whilst re-designing others
• Go-Lives in waves (e.g. by country or business unit)
• Realization of data migration in limited downtime window – Near Zero Downtime (NZDT)

If you have multiple ERP instances and other connected SAP solutions, you may want to use a
combination of the approaches in a phased program. For example, do a System Conversion of one lead
ERP development system, use Selective Data Transition to merge in another ERP system and then do a
new implementation for certain parts of the solution.

The “Transition to SAP S/4HANA” implementation road map is structured in project phases (x-axis) and
work streams (y-axis) as presented in the following figure. Each box represents an activity which needs to
be executed in the project as part of a certain work stream, and within a certain project phase. There is a
well-defined project start and project end. The Go-Live activity is named “Production Cutover”. Please
note that this road map uses the terms “activity” and “deliverable”. The latter comes from the SAP Activate
methodology.

Figure: Explanation of the road map structure

The “Transition to SAP S/4HANA” implementation road map is structured into the following work streams
(groups of semantically related activities):

• Project management – The project management team performs common project and quality
management tasks, including project planning. The technical quality manager (TQM) from SAP is
 part of this work stream and works together with the project manager (from your company, or the
implementation partner, or both).
• Solution adoption – This work stream covers the creation of the training strategy and the
learning paths, and the enablement of the end users to be ready for optimal use of the new SAP
S/4HANA solution. In addition, this work stream includes organizational change management
(OCM), and the enablement of the project team.
• Application design and configuration – In this work stream, you should identify and design
functional changes based on a Fit-to-Standard analysis and SAP S/4HANA functionality and
usability in the scope of the implementation project (e.g. Central Finance in the case of selective
data transition). Based on the design, the new solution gets implemented at a later point.
• Data Management –Depending on the scenario, business data needs to be migrated or loaded
from source systems. This may include loading and converting business data into the new and
simplified business data model and carrying out selective data transition.
SAP recommends that you should reduce data volumes before converting to SAP S/4HANA, to
lower the hardware resources and help reduce downtime in a system conversion scenario.
• Extensibility – Your existing code may need to be adjusted to function properly with SAP
S/4HANA. Firstly, you should clean up unused custom code, then affected custom code in
productive use must be identified, and finally, the necessary adjustments are planned and
executed in the work stream Application design and configuration. The full power of SAP HANA
can be leveraged by you with an optimization of your ABAP custom code for SAP HANA in
parallel to SAP’s optimizations within the SAP S/4HANA stack (e.g., by using Core Data Services
(CDS)). With SAP S/4HANA Key-User Extensibility Tools and the SAP Business Technology
Platform, you can extend SAP S/4HANA apps (e.g., with added/hidden fields or mobile Fiori UI’s)
in a de-coupled fashion, integrated with SAP and non-SAP Cloud solutions (like SAP
SuccessFactors, SAP Concur etc.) or build completely new solutions.
• Integration – The activities within this work stream ensure that the new SAP S/4HANA systems
(from sandbox to production) are properly integrated into the customer solution.
• Analytics – This work stream covers the analytics aspects of an SAP S/4HANA implementation
project.
• Testing – This work stream covers test planning and execution (integration, regression, user
acceptance).
• Technical architecture and infrastructure – Here you can plan the implementation of all SAP
S/4HANA systems (sandbox (copies of production); supporting nonproduction systems such as
development (already set up in the Explore phase), quality assurance, preproduction; and
production).
SAP S/4HANA has SAP HANA as the underlying database. The introduction of SAP HANA into
your data center must be properly planned based on your business and IT requirements. You may
also include connectivity to the SAP Business Technology Platform for integration or extension
use cases.
• Operations & support – IT operational procedures and tools need to be adjusted before going
live to help ensure safe operations. Additionally, IT support experts need to be trained.

The figure below shows all the activities of all the work streams. Please note that some of the items shown
in the structure figure below are “summary nodes”, which are bundling multiple activities. For instance,
“Fit-to-Standard” or “Configuration” map to many activities in project reality. All activities are documented
in detail in the SAP Road Map Viewer (see below).
Figure: “Transition to SAP S/4HANA” road map structure

Time wise, the SAP S/4HANA road map is structured into project phases, high-lighted with different
colours in the figure above. The phase names are according to SAP’s new implementation methodology
called “SAP Activate” (see accelerators section):

• “Discover phase”: Discover the value of SAP S/4HANA

In this phase, you should create an overall strategy for digital transformation and an
implementation plan. SAP S/4HANA will play a key role within this strategy; therefore, it is
important to recognize its benefits and value. In this way, you can identify the high-level areas of
the existing solution landscape that can benefit from a move to SAP S/4HANA. A “cloud trial” may
help shed light on any potential problem areas with the implementation based on your current
system state and usage patterns. Next, SAP recommends creating a value-based and company-
specific implementation strategy. This includes deciding on the implementation scenario (for
example, the decision to either convert the existing system or to install a new one) and creating a
high-level road map that sequences the innovation steps related to SAP S/4HANA on a time line.
In addition, transition to SAP S/4HANA provides an excellent opportunity to increase competitive
advantage and to drive agile innovations based on custom or partner specific extensions using
SAP HANA and SAP Business Technology Platform. Lastly, you should evaluate the impact on
the technical architecture and IT infrastructure, which together with the implementation strategy
serves as the foundation of the business case.
• “Prepare phase”: Plan, prepare and start the implementation project
Once the business case has been approved, the project is officially initiated in the “Prepare”
phase. A first version of an implementation plan includes the findings from the “Discover” phase
and sets the stage for the entire project. (Note: Some customers create an implementation plan at
an earlier point in time, as necessary input for the business case). Depending on the scenario,
there could be additional preparation activities (e.g. the “Customer Vendor Integration” in system
conversion) which are planned in detail, and ideally completed at an early point in time, to keep
the downtime during cutover short. Finally, general project preparation, such as staffing,
governance, and reporting requirements, is also carried out in this phase.
• “Explore phase”: Define all details
The to-be design of the SAP S/4HANA solution is defined and documented in the “Explore”
 phase. Delta requirements are documented, prioritized and validated as well. Ideally the Fit-to-
Standard workshops are performed with the help of pre-configured sandbox systems which
represent SAP’s Best Practice solutions. In the case of a system conversion, existing custom
code needs to be analyzed with respect to SAP S/4HANA readiness, and of course with respect
to business needs and requirements.
On the technical layer, a technical design of the to-be solution needs to be designed and
documented. This is the pre-condition to a technical setup of sandbox and the development
environment. Both systems need to be integrated into the solution landscape based on functional
requirements.
By the end of the “Explore” phase, all technical and functional aspects of the implementation
project (for example, solution scoping and content activation) are fully planned, documented in
detail, and ready to be executed.
• “Realize phase”: Implement technical and functional changes
In the “Realize” phase, you should prepare the technical architecture and infrastructure, and set
up for SAP S/4HANA. Supporting systems are either set up or converted according to Best
Practices and the implementation plan. Custom code is adjusted for SAP S/4HANA and SAP
Business Technology Platform. Application and analytics functions are implemented, configured,
integrated and tested. Integration validation supports this phase – for example, by solving
performance problems of key business processes. In parallel, IT can adjust operational tools and
procedures to prepare for SAP S/4HANA. Finally, end-user training, including project-specific
training material and team setup, is prepared as required. Key users are enabled to perform end-
user training.
• “Deploy phase”: Prepare to go live
The purpose of this phase is to finalize the readiness for SAP S/4HANA and business processes
for production go-live. This includes final testing, rehearsing the cut-over, and finalizing the IT
infrastructure and operations. End-user training sessions are delivered by the enabled key users
or by trainers from SAP. Finally, and depending on the scenario, the productive instance of SAP
S/4HANA is implemented or converted on the Go-Live weekend.
After going live, SAP S/4HANA is available for business users to log in and for productive use. IT
operations are further optimized (for example, bug fixing, system availability, and performance)
with the help of the project team and SAP. This phase is referred to as “hyper care” and occurs
before operational responsibility is fully transferred to the production support team.
• “Run phase”: Optimize the operability of SAP S/4HANA
Operations is further stabilized and optimized in the Run phase. The new SAP system is
continuously updated making latest innovations from SAP available to the Business. Finally, the
innovation cycle starts again.

How to work with road maps

The road map is first a structured documentation for customers. An “always up-to-date” version of this
road map is available to all customers in the SAP road map viewer in the SAP Business Technology
Platform – see accelerator section for a link. The screen shot below shows the entrance of the SAP road
map viewer. Check out the “Learn More” section to become familiar with the handling of the SAP road
map viewer in general, and how to sign in. Click “Explore All Roadmaps” and select “On-Premise Specific
Methodologies”. Select the road map “SAP Activate Methodology for Transition to SAP S/4HANA” (please
note: By clicking the star icon close to the road map, you can select your favorite road map, which
appears directly on the entrance screen of the road map viewer in future.
Figure: Road map viewer – Entry screen

The road map opens in an overview mode, where you get an introduction into the road map, and a
summary of all project phases. Click on “Content” to see all descriptions for activities and tasks.
Figure: Road map overview screen

Once you have opened the content section, you should filter on your scenario to hide all activities and
tasks which are not relevant to you. The following screen shot tells you how to do: Click the “View Setting”
icon, then select “Filter” and mark the scenario in scope.
Figure: Filter functionality on implementation scenarios in the road map viewer

SAP intends to update this road map once per quarter. The naming convention for the roadmap is as
follows: <Year><Quarter>, e.g. 23Q1. Although only the newest road map is published, you can find older
road map versions as PDF files in the accelerator section for offline use.

The road map in the SAP Road Map Viewer is for reading purposes. You cannot alter the structure of the
road map in the viewer, but you can filter on certain parts of the road map (e.g. filter on a certain phase, or
work stream). Some activities and tasks have been grouped to make read-through easy. It contains many
accelerators helping you to execute a certain activity or task. One of the accelerators is a project file
template which has a similar structure; however, the activity and task level can be modeled differently,
and with a higher level of detail. You can download the project file template and import it into IT Portfolio
& Project Management in SAP Solution Manager. Alternatively, you can use the activities and tasks of
a road map directly in SAP Cloud ALM. The “Transition to SAP S/4HANA” implementation road map is a
superset of activities covering all three implementation scenarios. The template therefore serves as a
starting point for project planning and must be tailored and maintained continuously as part of the project
planning and execution activities. Right at the beginning you should remove all activities from the template
which are not related to your specific implementation scenario (e.g. the activity “Custom Code Impact” is
not required in case you newly implement SAP S/4HANA). See accelerator section for a download link.

Accelerators may link to resources which require either upfront registration (e.g. SAPs online learning
platform openSAP, or the SAP Learning Hub), or require a certain support status. For instance, the access
to documents and trainings in the SAP Enterprise Support Academy requires SAP Enterprise Support
status. The visibility of accelerators within the road map depends on the user as well. For instance, links to
SAP Notes are only visible to SAP customers.
How SAP can help
The business transformation agenda varies from customer to customer. Some would like to understand
their options first and the opportunities for benefits. Other customers have already decided to start the
transformation to SAP S/4HANA. In every case, SAP does everything to ensure that your expectations are
properly addressed with a meaningful number of offerings that allow sufficient flexibility to support an agile
transformation.

To support customers executing the SAP S/4HANA transition successfully, SAP has developed several
service offerings. The offerings are structured for:

• SAP Standard Support and PSLE

• SAP Enterprise Support
• Implementation Services: SAP Value Assurance and SAP Advanced Deployment
• Premium Success Engagements: SAP Active Attention and SAP MaxAttention

SAP Enterprise Support customers still have access to the value map for SAP S/4HANA (registration
required), which lists service offerings and learning modules as well as offers a community environment
for blogs, discussions and asking questions to SAP topic experts. The structure of the value map for SAP
S/4HANA is exactly the same as the road map presented here.

The value map content for SAP S/4HANA is currently re-structured into learning journeys in the SAP
Learning Hub. One learning journey corresponds to one project phase. All learning journeys are bundled
in the learning room “SAP S/4HANA On Premise Value Map - SAP Enterprise Support”. SAP Enterprise
Support customers need to sign up for access to both the SAP Learning Hub and the learning room. This
road map lists individual SAP Enterprise Support offerings in the section “How SAP can help” throughout
this road map.

SAP Value Assurance supports customers on their own or partner-led projects for a limited time with
dedicated planning, design support, and functional and technical safeguarding services orchestrated by
the technical quality management (TQM) approach and embedded in the service center concept but does
not provide any implementation or delivery services. In addition, the SAP Advanced Deployment service
offering also contains execution services for the Realize phase of the project and is delivered by SAP
Professional Services in case of SAP prime projects. This road map does not distinguish between
SAP Value Assurance and SAP Advanced Deployment, but simply lists services which help executing
a certain activity or task.

All service components from SAP Value Assurance are available to Premium Success Engagement
customers (SAP MaxAttention and SAP ActiveAttention) as well. However, new SAP MaxAttention
customers do have access to a broader set of support service offerings like enterprise architecture
planning. Where appropriate, those services are listed in this road map as well.

SAP Value Assurance has been structured into three service packages:

• Plan and Safeguard: This package is for customers who would like to create a transformation
strategy, and to properly plan the digital transformation together with SAP, and who would like to
get safeguarding support throughout the implementation phase until Go-Live. The project
execution is supported by SAP but executed by the customer or the implementation partner or
both. A TQM supports the customer project manager throughout the project and builds a bridge to
the mission control center MCC at SAP. The technical and functional implementation is done by
the customer or the implementation partner or both. Identified delta requirements can be
validated, and the functional design evaluated by SAP.
SAP has added a Plan and prototype option to this package. The prototyping approach enables
you to evaluate the solution in a short time frame with your real business scenarios using your real
data, thereby enabling you to quickly validate the value addition, identify and mitigate risks, if any,
at an early stage and efficiently plan your IT investments.
 • Business-ready: On top of ”Plan and Safeguard”, SAP actively supports customers in the design
of a “close-to-standard” implementation. The implementation is done by the customer or the
implementation partner or both.
• Business-optimization: On top of ”Business-ready”, SAP supports customers in the design of
optimized solutions adapted and custom-tailored to customer business requirements. The
functional implementation itself is in the responsibility of the customer, or the implementation
partner, or both.

All SAP Value Assurance service packages can be tailored to your requirements. A description can be
found in the “accelerators” section.

The SAP Value Assurance service packages help you to quick-start your transformation with a defined set
of services, and are pre-calculated based on minimum scope, requirements and SAP involvement. Further
characteristics are:

• The scope can be easily extended as required

• Further optional services can be added for a higher hands-on involvement of SAP
• The technical quality manager will manage the extension together with you.

The following services have been designed to support customers in an SAP S/4HANA implementation:

• Architecture Transformation
• Architecture Point of View
• SAP Business Process Insights and Improvement
• Planning the Digital Transformation
• Build Design
• Build Execution
• Data Migration Design
• Data Migration Execution
• Analytics Design
• Analytics Execution
• Custom Code Management
• Replatforming Support to Make the Core Clean
• SAP Extension Suite to Keep the Core Clean
• Integration Design
• Platform Design
• Platform Execution
• Transition to Cloud Operations
• Safeguarding the Digital Transformation
• Value Assurance Foundation

Please ask your SAP contact (e.g. SAP Client Partner) for more information.

The following figure maps the services to the “Transition to SAP S/4HANA” road map. The overlay
indicates the activities which are addressed by a certain service.
Figure: Mapping of SAP service offerings to activities

A service consists of one to many service components (SAP Value Assurance), or scope options (SAP
Professional Services). For simplicity reasons, this road map uses the term “service component” only. This
road map provides information about how a certain service component supports the implementation of an
activity or task. See the accelerator section for a description of services and service components. If you
are interested in SAP Value Assurance service packages, you can either contact your main SAP contact
person (TQM or client partner). Alternatively, you can also ask for a tailored offer based on a scenario-
specific scope (see accelerator section for contact form details).

SAP has created “scenario decks” – presentations grouping services into so-called “modules” which
address certain customer requirements during transformation to SAP S/4HANA. See accelerator section
for scenario L1 and L2 presentations for more details.

Accelerators:
• SAP S/4HANA
o SAP S/4HANA Product Road Map
o SAP Online Help Portal for SAP S/4HANA
• SAP S/4HANA Value Assurance and Advanced Deployment Packages
o SAP S/4HANA Value Assurance service packages detailed information
o SAP S/4HANA Value Assurance - Level 2 Customer Presentation
o SAP Value Assurance - Description of Services and Service Components
o SAP Advanced Deployment – Level 2 Customer Presentation
o SAP Advanced Deployment - Description of Services and Service Components
o Contact Form to Request Service Package Offer
o Forrester Study: The Total Economic Impact (TEI) of SAP MaxAttention
• Premium Engagement Business Scenario: Take the Journey to SAP S/4HANA
o Take the Journey to SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition (including
RISE with SAP) - Overview
o Take the Journey to SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition (including
RISE with SAP) - Strategy
o Take the Journey to SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition (including
RISE with SAP) - Brownfield
 o Take the Journey to SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition (including
RISE with SAP) - Greenfield
o Take the Journey to SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition (including
RISE with SAP) – Selective Data Transition
• SAP Enterprise Support Value Maps
o SAP Enterprise Support page for SAP S/4HANA
o SAP Enterprise Support Value Maps
o Next-Generation SAP Enterprise Support Value Maps - SAP S/4HANA
• SAP Activate
o SAP Activate - General Information
o SAP Activate Community
• Roadmaps
o SAP Webinar: Take the tour and play the Road Map Game
o Road Map Viewer
o “Transition to SAP S/4HANA” Road Map – Online version
o Project File Template