This blog was co-authored by Chris Perry, M&A ERP Lead at West Monroe and Brandon Evans, VP Customer Transformation at NTT DATA Business Solutions. This is the second in a series of blogs by West Monroe and NTT DATA Business Solutions designed to help Private Equity and their portfolio companies manage their SAP ECC systems as we approach the withdrawal of standard support at the end of 2025.
SAP ERP Transformation Options for Portfolio Companies

SAP ERP Transformation Options for Portfolio Companies
In our first blog, we covered “Navigating SAP ECC End of Maintenance: Strategic Considerations for Private Equity.” Given the pressing timeline(s) of the end of SAP ECC Maintenance, private equity must begin evaluating and developing their plan for transitioning their PortCos technology stack from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA.
Operating Partners need to understand the options for transitioning to SAP S/4HANA during their hold period to properly prepare their Portfolio company for exit. A recent BCG Study claimed that 56% of respondents expect a 10 – 20 % reduction in the company valuation and negatively impact the exit strategy if the ERP is unsupported by the Software OEMt. The need to plan an ERP transformation is not just relegated to SAP ECC; all major Tier 1 suppliers are going through cloud transformations from legacy on-premise ERP platforms.
ECC To S/4HANA Transition Options
Navigating the transition to SAP S/4HANA can be complex, with multiple factors to consider, including risk, timeline, innovation adoption, value identification, internal resourcing, change management, and expense. In this section, we explore the different transition scenarios, highlight our Wayfinder program, and showcase our Zero Cost Move initiative.
There are three main scenarios for transitioning to SAP S/4HANA: Greenfield (new implementation), Brownfield (system conversion), and Selective Data Transition (SDT). Each scenario has its pros and cons in terms of risk, timeline, cost, and innovation adoption.
- Greenfield: A new implementation allows for complete process re-engineering and the opportunity to adopt new components without restrictions. However, it comes with a higher risk, project cost, and longer timeline.
- Brownfield: System conversion is a lower-risk approach with a shorter learning curve, lower project cost, and timeframe. However, it requires preserving all historical data, which might not be ideal for businesses looking to maintain a lean dataset.
- Selective Data Transition (SDT): SDT balances between Greenfield and Brownfield approaches, otherwise known as a hybrid approach, allowing for process re-engineering, changes during conversion, and data selection. This method has a medium learning curve, risk, project cost, and timeline. SDT transition tooling is required for any organizational, or data transformation (for example: Natuvion, LLC).
How to Guide Your PortCos to a Decision on S/4 Transition
Understanding the available SAP ERP transition options to the SAP S/4HANA Platform is the first step in the process of advising and cultivating a strategic transformation plan for ERP. Portfolio companies require a thoughtful examination of various criteria that will determine and influence the decision on their path to transition. During this planning activity, it’s good to realign to the original value thesis, and validate which technology capabilities inside or around SAP S/4HANA to help accelerate realization of those business outcomes. SAP transition evaluations include, but are not limited to the criteria below:
- SAP transformation/transition path strategy.
- Value identification and quantification.
- Risk profile comparison against value and innovation.
- Organizational change, impact, and approach.
- Technical systems analysis – IT estate impacts, business processes and development impacts, and transition feasibility.
- New business process capability adoption or process optimization.
NTT DATA Business Solutions has designed a ‘Wayfinder’ program to help businesses decide the best transition scenario based on their data, process, change management, and innovation objectives. With our expertise across various industries, NTT DATA Business Solutions guides you through the decision-making process, using modular solution packages to cover the essential components such as data migration, testing, training, and change management. Together with proven templates and accelerators, we aim to simplify the decision process and ensure high-quality program plan for execution. In Q1 2025, NTT DATA Business Solutions plans to digitize our knowledge and experience via a Digital Transition Guide, to accelerate decision-making vs. traditional labor-intensive advisory consultancy, which takes time, resources and budget with both internal and external teams.
Zero Cost Move Initiative
In addition to SAP S/4HANA transition advisory tools like NTT DATA Business Solution’s Wayfinder program, we also understand that transitioning to SAP S/4HANA may come with substantial costs. Our Zero Cost Move offering provides a no-consulting fee conversion or brownfield migration to RISE with SAP for qualified customers. This initiative has already helped fourteen (14) customers in just six months to begin their transition path, eliminating the major blocker of obtaining budget for a technical, non-value add software upgrade. Instead, they are able to focus planning and reserving future budgets on true value creation activities, which can be unlocked in the new tooling available on the SAP S/4HANA Platform.
Establishing your SAP ERP Cloud Transformation Playbook
Operating Partners need to begin the process of evaluating their PortCos with SAP ECC ERP as the backbone of their business and IT operations. Given the pending SAP ECC end of maintenance as mentioned in Blog 1, and external research by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), we anticipate a negative impact on sell valuations if the portfolio company has not transformed to SAP S/4HANA.
Finding the right balance during the SAP S/4HANA transition is crucial for managing risk, timeline, innovation adoption, value, and expenses. The Greenfield, Brownfield, and SDT scenarios offer different trade-offs, and the NTT DATA Business Solutions’ Wayfinder program helps evaluate the best option for your organization. Our Zero Cost Move initiative aims to make this transition more accessible to businesses and enable them to embrace the digital future confidently. NTT DATA Business Solutions is here to assist you throughout the journey, providing end-to-end support and ensuring long-term success.
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