++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
UPDATED June 3, 2019
Discover phase - new EGI for SAP S/4HANA roadmapping & other key elements
Prepare phase - new replays & registration links incl. SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA
Full-phase learning journeys via learning room environments within SAP Enterprise Support value maps
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SAP Enterprise Support Academy has provisioned a conversion model for companies who choose to modernize their IT landscape, while still keeping the original nuts and bolts of their machine in place. Read more to find out what the Academy is doing to support customers during their brownfield implementation.
Modifying your landscape to sustain new system architectures could be compared to a car getting a massive performance upgrade. The engine stays the same, and all cylinders are running, but you want more and the most out of your IT landscape, so you drop the gear ratio of the differential of the car, throw in some compression and ignites in the cylinders, and widen up those tires, because your car is to become a high-performance machine! This is your brownfield implementation to SAP Business Suite 4 SAP HANA (SAP S/4HANA), and when the conversion is complete, you’re going to drive down the streets in your new ride! And when that green traffic light turns yellow, you’re going to make the light, before it turns red. And this is how.
First, its important to understand what makes an SAP S/4HANA conversion project different and you need to learn more about your performance upgrade, and what to do before, during, and after the conversion. See “It Takes Two” System conversion to SAP S/4HANA. And now a short glimpse at your performance upgrade. SAP S/4HANA is an entirely new generation of SAP Business Suite that is characterized by simplifications and massively increased efficiency because it is powered by SAP HANA. SAP S/4HANA moves away from the transactional system that merely records data toward giving you active decision support in real time that is based on data from both internal and external sources. SAP S/4HANA is built per the design principles inherent in the SAP Fiori user experience (UX) and powered by SAP HANA, empowering you with massive simplification, increased efficiency, and compelling features into intuitive foresights with planning and simulation options, which spearhead active decision support in real time.
SAP offers Expert-Guided Implementations (EGI) powered by the SAP Enterprise Support Academy, which are also included in the SAP Enterprise Support value maps, to cover each phase of your conversion project, aligned with the transition roadmap (Discover - Prepare - Explore – Realize – Deploy – Run).
All SAP Enterprise Support and PSLE customers that are registered to the support edition of SAP Learning Hub can use these, as well as additional offerings which are now included in the learning room environment of the SAP Enterprise Support value maps.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Illustration: EGI offerings for SAP S/4HANA conversion projects
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
By registering for the SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP S/4HANA you will find a tailored learning journey (see image below), over and beyond the EGI approach, to thoroughly guide you through all of the phases of the transition roadmap.
Reading further in this blog, you will learn how EGI's specifically will support you along your journey.
Illustration: full-phase learning journeys explicitly available via the learning room environment of SAP Enterprise Support value maps
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Discover
You are about to begin your conversion project, so this stage is all about getting familiar with the benefits of SAP S/4HANA and the value this brings to both you and your business, with the new and simplified functionality in SAP S/4HANA and the new user interface based on SAP Fiori.
In the SAP S/4HANA Roadmapping EGI's the benefits of SAP S/4HANA Finance are explained. Coming soon will also be the EGI on SAP S/4HANA Logistics (not available yet).
In addition to the EGI's, a prescriptive curriculum is also available to support you in the discovery phase and guide you in creating a clear roadmap for your SAP S/4HANA journey. See Key elements for your Digital Transformation Journey with SAP S/4HANA
From the very beginning, as you are planning your projects, it is important to keep in mind that there is a new user experience (UX) that comes with SAP S/4HANA. SAP Fiori is the new role-based, responsive, coherent, and delightful UX from SAP, focusing on what is important for the user role, with an ultimately simple and intuitive experience. SAP FIORI is the default UX for SAP S/4HANA and must be incorporated in planning all SAP S/4HANA projects from the beginning. The SAP UX Strategy for SAP S/4HANA EGI focuses on the considerations and deployment options of SAP Fiori when planning your SAP S/4HANA project.
Prepare
Here you jump-start your project, setting up the project environment and creating the project management framework. The project manager sets up the project governance, clarifying the project team roles and responsibilities, and provides project standards. The project is planned at a high level for now, going into finer detail during the explore phase. An SAP S/4HANA readiness assessment should be performed on the SAP ERP system to identify aspects that could have a major impact on the system conversion project. And towards the end of this phase, the team will be setting up a sandbox system.
The Plan your conversion to SAP S/4HANA EGI helps you to understand the best practices and minimize the risks for your conversion.
A special on-top enhancement to the learning material you may already be familiar with is our extended private remote live session offering, which we call AIE for accelerated innovation enablement, also now available to support you in this phase. See Ready to start your SAP S/4HANA journey with SAP Enterprise Support
With the SAP Readiness Check Tool, you get information on what is installed on your system, how your system is being used, as well as its size. This is a self-service, to show you how your landscape will be affected, once you move from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA. A number of specifications will be listed, as well as business functions used at present that may have changed, and any add-ons that may no longer be compatible after performing the conversion. The SAP Readiness Check Tool for SAP S/4HANA EGI explains how to prepare and run the tool in both your SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) system and SAP Solution Manager, and how to evaluate the results and determine the impact on your conversion project.
See also On your mark, get set, go! for SAP S/4HANA deployment for on-demand replays and additional registration links to further support you in learning more about how to run the readiness check and understand the results in preparation for your deployment.
Explore
Having a clear understanding of the changes affecting your landscape, the project team reviews the solution functionality to confirm business requirements can be met with standard SAP Best Practices. Solution design workshops are also conducted to create process-oriented documents to illustrate how you intend to run your business using SAP S/4HANA. Requirements and gaps are then captured, prioritized, and documented in a solution backlog document, and the project team identifies and prioritizes affected custom objects that have to be adjusted as part of the system conversion project.
The SAP S/4HANA Custom Code Impact Analysis EGI helps you manage custom code that is affected by the transition to SAP S/4HANA.
The SAP Fiori Configuration for SAP S/4HANA EGI explains the required SAP Fiori configuration and demonstrates step-by-step how to build roles and authorizations to assign your users the apps they need.
Realize
In the realize phase a time-limited, iterative process is employed to incrementally build and test your entire solution environment, based on the business processes and requirements identified in the explore phase and captured in your backlog document. The SAP HANA: Data Modeling EGI explains the best practices when creating custom data models.
Deploy
At this point, you have just about everything you need to run your business. We began earlier in this read with the analogy of driving your car on the street with the approaching green light turning yellow, and now you are just moments away from getting through the next green light! This is where the final preparation for Go-Live begins. The project team ensures that the business is ready to perform the cutover activities and Go-Live. The following weeks after Go-Live the new system is in hyper-care, as it gets tightly tuned in stability and is further optimized. Now having the system tuned for highest performance, the transition project comes to a close, and operational responsibility is handed over to the production support team.
The following EGI's will help you prepare your team / infrastructure for cut over to ensure business continuity. These are the last steps where you will have different waves in functionality to tune in your now high-performance landscape.
- SAP HANA: Monitoring and Troubleshooting
- SAP HANA: Data Administration and Operations
- SAP HANA: Advanced Database Monitoring
- SAP HANA: Make Your Custom Code Ready
Run
Now that the traffic light is still green, don’t let it turn yellow. Run the green light! Your IT department is in good hands in being able to look after the system, so the aim here is to establish safe and efficient operations of your newly created solution. This includes the operations platform, core IT support processes, the setup, and the fine tuning of new and additional operations tools, and then completing the circle with the enablement of the operational support team. The E2E Monitoring & Analysis of SAP Fiori UX on SAP S/4HANA EGI introduces the capabilities of SAP Solution Manager for monitoring, alerting, exception management and root-cause analysis of SAP Fiori technology.
With your operational support team now enabled, you’re now running simple on SAP S/4HANA, good ‘ole engine with a massive uplift in performance!
- SAP Managed Tags:
