5 Key Principles for Implementation of SAP S/4HANA Cloud

The latest ERP solution SAP S/4HANA has been significant in empowering digital transformation across multiple industry verticals. Its solution holds the potential to prepare firms to lead into the digital future. However, switching to an all-new ERP system can be challenging for most businesses. Careful planning, intelligent execution, and a strong business case are needed for ensuring the successful implementation of SAP S/4HANA solution. With proper planning, you can look forward to minimizing the overall risks, driving user engagement, and generating early wins.

One of the primary concerns while implementing SAP S/4HANA is the ability of generating a quick ROI or return on investment. Organizations look forward to incorporating company-wide innovation with the help of SAP S/4HANA at a rapid pace while leveraging the benefits of the high-end solution at the soonest. In this scenario, it is imperative for organizations to work in coordination with a reliable SAP implementation partner to obtain the desired outcomes.

Source: https://www.predictiveanalyticstoday.com/

What are the Best Strategies for Implementing SAP S/4HANA?

Those who have been working on SAP are now aware of the functionalities offered by SAP S/4HANA -the latest business suite made available by SAP. As enterprise-based customers are ensuring a strategic move towards the SaaS (Software as a Service) and cloud solutions, it is understood that SAP has started offering this solution in the form of a cloud-based service.

A wide range of customer expectations, use cases, and requirements of businesses will decide the right deployment option for migrating to SAP S/4HANA in your organization. Some of the best strategies to consider are:

Source: https://blogs.sap.com/

• Fit-to-Business or Fit-to-Standard Approach

SAP S/4HANA is frequently used for delivering added features and functionalities. Both the SAP-powered solutions enable a fit-to-standard approach while following the agile delivery model to the respective ERP solutions. SAP Activate was built on the given concept. With the help of fit-to-standard approach, the motive is to be close to the standard solution ensuring minimal customizations. It helps in ensuring a faster implementation along with improved ROI and a minimal ownership cost through the adoption of the SAP best practices within business processes.

Still, in several instances, customers are looking for specific customizations or changes in the standard solution. It is because they find it difficult to follow the standard practice of business processes. You can look for solutions to this issue by following the fit-to-business approach. In this approach, changes are linked to the respective business value. The available changes are given priorities depending on criticality of the issue to the respective brand and the expected business value. Moreover, these changes remain isolated within the layer of user experiences of the particular solution while ensuring that the core S/4 solution is not hampered.

It also helps in offering the primary benefit with respect to agility because it ensures future additions of the newly-launched SAP processes as well as enhancements quite rapidly. It is because SAP has already managed the bulk of work in your favor while making sure that integrated processes continue working.

• Utilizing Pre-Configured Solutions

Along with the adoption of SAP standard features and functionalities, using pre-configured solutions in addition to pre-built collateral developed by a reliable SAP implementation partner will go a long way in delivering access to faster implementation. Instead of starting everything from scratch, when you have access to a pre-built working solution, it helps a running start to the project experience. In turn, it results in a faster rollout of the entire solution. The configured solution is expected to feature supporting documentation, business processes, and relevant tools according to the planned scope. In turn, it helps in saving a lot of time.

With a reliable SAP implementation partner, with in-depth domain expertise in SAP industries and implementation practices, you can come across IFS or Industry-focused solutions based on S/4 for a wide range of industry verticals -including consumer goods, fashion, and retail. Workshop materials and pre-built user stories are eventually utilized towards identifying core areas wherein consumers might still expect a change. This will minimize the need for custom development or testing -thereby, reducing time significantly.

• Agile Methodology

A proven agile methodology for the Realize phase of the SAP S/4HANA project is also crucial for achieving instant implementation. The use of an agile methodology helps in implementing high-end functionality in iterative cycles or shorter sprints with robust cross-team collaboration as well as improved business user-centric hands-on engagement. It helps in generating rapid results while also monitoring the overall progress comprehensively.

The delivery of smaller increments in terms of functionality will also allow organizations to understand as well as adapt to the ever-changing business needs quickly while creating positive notion for the entire program.

• Engagement of Change Management and Quality Engineering Quite Early

Even with the best-ever methodology, the right tool kits, and pre-configured solutions, SAP S/4HANA implementation can end up failing in case change management concerns are not addressed in a proactive manner.

A focused engagement for change management quite early into the implementation project will help in improving user engagement as well as participation in the overall design & development of the respective solution. Ultimately, it will lead to improved engagement as well as adoption and increased ROI throughout.

• Adopting the Right Customer Mindset

While the presence of pre-configured tools and proprietary methodology support rapid deployment of SAP S/4HANA solutions, a company will also require prioritizing the overall transformation. The overall importance of the implementation project to the future of the organization along with the ability to compete in the existing complex digital world is expected to be understood from the industry experts.

The overall willingness and dedication of the organization to align with the standard procedures quite closely will help in ensuring faster implementations. The customer should also be willing to do away with the processes that are no longer relevant in comparison to the robust solutions offered by SAP S/4HANA.

In Conclusion

To ensure maximum utilization of the wide array of features and functionalities offered by SAP S/4HANA Cloud solution, you can take help from a reliable SAP implementation partner. To know more about SAP S/4HANA and its use cases for your business, you can reach out to us now!