Introduction

Since its inception in 2015 with the release 1511, S/4 HANA is evolving with rocket speed reaching major milestone with release 1610 (embedded Extended Warehouse Management and IS oil & gas), 1709 (embedded Transportation Management, HANA 2.0, and machine learning capability), and with the release 2020 it reached a state of completeness   and it is now far ahead compared to SAP ECC.

Right time to migrate to S/4 HANA?

Yes it is. With its current maturity of S/4 HANA 2020, there is no reason for any customer to wait or postpone their migration for further developments and innovations but there is a strong reason for customers,nothing but the end of mainstream maintenance support for SAP Business Suite 7 by 2027,to start their transformation to S/4 HANA. (SAP Note 2881788 – End of SAP Business Suite 7 mainstream maintenance). So it’s time for every SAP consultant to brush up their skills and gear up for the demand that S/4 HANA migration projects bring in.

Complex to handle?

Yes it is. Unlike technical upgrades from older versions of SAP to ERP 6.0, the upgrade from ERP 6.0 to S/4 HANA is very different because it is not just a technical change but also a change that can transform the ways of doing business from traditional approach to highly advanced digital approach. This is because of the fact that SAP not only has changed the backbone technology to the most advanced in-memory HANA platform but also has been re-architecting the solutions for the modern business process that the ever-increasing digitization of the world demands.

Transformation is the best word to describe the move from current ERP 6.0 platform to S/4 HANA because organizations may need to reconsider the current business processes and supporting ecosystems (such as SRM, CRM, and HCM etc.) and it requires very careful and comprehensive assessment when organizations embark on this journey.

ECC vs S/4 HANA

High level differences as explained in SAP website

What a SAP consultant should start with?

It’s time for every SAP consultant to brush up their skills and gear up for the demand that S/4 HANA migration projects bring in. Though it is not easy, it is not as difficult as you may think of it because plenty of free information and tools are available to get acquainted with the knowledge required for the migration projects.

Good trend is that SAP is becoming more and more customer centric and it is trying its level best to help its customers by providing a lot of remediation tools and comprehensive documentation to simplify and accelerate customers’ transformation towards S/4 HANA.

Don’t waste your time searching information in google as it makes your life hell with lots of information. Just start with legitimate and up-to-date information bundled in help.sap.com.