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NTT DATA Business Solutions
Brandon Evans | March 22, 2019

Work Ahead to Get Ready for SAP S/4HANA

sap s/4hana migration

Even if your business is nowhere near a decision to migrate to SAP S/4HANA, there are several things you can do now to get a head start on preparing for the future.

Taking a look at things like your database footprint and master data will allow you to take steps now to clean up and minimize storage requirements – and lower costs. You can also get a head start on making changes to how customer and vendor data is classified in the system, since SAP S/4HANA now refers to both types as ‘business partners.’ The work you do now will contribute to a smooth transition later.

Archiving Assessment

Figuring out how you may be able to reduce database size prior to migration can be a huge value. Conducting an archiving assessment is a great way to do this. By taking a look at your existing data footprint and creating an archiving strategy, you may find opportunities to minimize the size of your existing database – and that translates directly to reduced HANA license costs.

NTT DATA Business Solutions can help you craft a strategy to minimize the size of your existing database and reduce hardware requirements prior to conversion to SAP S/4HANA. Our archiving assessment includes the following:

  • Overview of archiving terminology and options
  • Review of existing database sizing and extraction of key table sizes
  • Instructions for archiving standard SAP objects
  • Projections on the cost, effort, and time required to complete the archiving process
  • Recommendations and next steps

By taking these steps prior to the conversion, you may also avoid additional downtime during the conversion process.

Business Partners

In SAP S/4HANA, the idea of using separate transactions to access customer or vendor data has changed. Both are now referred to as business partners. Taking steps now to convert your customers and vendors into business partners would be a good way to better position your existing system for a future conversion to SAP S/4HANA.

If you’re interested in getting started with this process, NTT DATA Business Solutions offers a Business Partner workshop that includes the following:

  • Education on business partner changes and how it impacts your organization
  • Review of business partner simplification in S/4HANA
  • Review of current customer and vendor configuration and data
  • Discussion of projected configuration and setup for business partners
  • Recommendations and action items to be taken immediately

Taking the time now to do this work will streamline and reduce your conversion project timeline when it’s time to migrate.

Master Data Cleansing

Master data is one of those things that no one really wants to deal with, yet it’s so vital for your business. Having quality data management is essential if you want your business to have smooth process execution and reporting accuracy.

Using manual processes to manage master data can be both error-prone and costly – and finding a good tool to automate master data management can be challenging. However, help is on the way.

NTT DATA Business Solutions has a solution — called it.mds — that was designed to automate master data management, leveraging your existing business rules. With it.mds, you’ll get the following business value:

  • Efficient Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
  • Rapid Time to Value (TTV) with packaged starter application implemented in weeks, not months
  • Significantly reduced data entry needs
  • Reduced data entry costs
  • Elimination of the need for data ‘clean-up projects’
  • Data quality improvement for reporting accuracy
  • Avoidance of process breakdowns due to data not being presentment during execution

By addressing master data cleansing now, you can help ensure that you’re bringing over quality data into your new SAP S/4HANA environment when you convert – and you’ll also reduce your conversion project timeline when it’s time to migrate.

More Practical Ways to Prepare for SAP S/4HANA Migration

Recognizing that our customers are at different stages related to SAP S/4HANA migration, NTT DATA Business Solutions has developed a framework, broken down into bite-sized pieces, to help you assess your current environment, learn more about how SAP S/4HANA will impact your business, and prepare for the transition.  You can choose to start wherever it makes the most sense for your business, and build from there at your pace.