Enabling the Upgrade to SAP S/4HANA
The ERP system from the German company SAP is widely used around the world, with more than 400,000 customers in more than 180 countries. Around 9 out of 10 companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list, and 98% of the 100 most valuable brands in the world, such as Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola, Walmart, Burger King, and many others, use this technology to run the main processes of their most varied departments, such as: finance, production, HR, supply chain, services, purchasing, etc.
With the launch of its 4th version, S/4HANA, which introduces new features and functionalities, and the end of support for previous versions approaching, companies of all segments, sizes and locations are facing a real race against time to carry out projects to upgrade their SAP ERP installation to the latest version.
According to current research, only 30% of SAP customers have already upgraded to SAP S/4HANA. This means that 7 out of 10 customers are still in the planning phase of this move and are faced with two major problems: making a business case that makes the upgrade financially viable; and filling the knowledge gaps in their talent to carry out the projects and activities of a challenge of this size.
Although the SAP ERP system has been so successful precisely because it standardizes the processes of the various areas to the best market practices, it was quite natural that over the course of using this system, a series of customizations, modifications and additional solutions were introduced to meet specific business needs.
As such, no two SAP ERP installations are the same, which is why there are several alternatives for upgrading this system to its latest version. Regardless of whether you adopt a Greenfield approach (redoing the installation from scratch), Brownfield (updating the version with all the customizations) or Bluefield (choosing which customizations to include in the upgrade), it's clear that using Enterprise Low-Code technology, such as OutSystems', can not only help shorten the duration of SAP S/4HANA upgrade projects, but can also help make them viable.
The less standard the current SAP ERP installation, the more expensive and difficult a version upgrade project will be. More expensive, because not only will the upgrade project itself require more time and resources, but the SAP S/4HANA infrastructure needed to run the non-standard system will be much more expensive than that needed to run a standardized system. And more difficult, because the only possible approaches to the upgrade will be those that have to take into account all the complexity of the customizations, modifications and additional solutions that have been introduced over time.
It is therefore natural that any project to upgrade the version of the SAP ERP system, including this one now for S/4HANA, should consider a "dehydration" phase, i.e. a "re-standardization" phase of the current SAP ERP installation, moving the possible customizations, modifications and additional solutions to complementary platforms, such as OutSystems, before the upgrade itself is carried out.
In addition to the OutSystems platform having a modern architecture, based on micro-services, in the cloud, fully performant, resilient, scalable and secure, i.e. it is fully prepared to support the workload arising from the operation of any type and size of business, it features an application development approach based on Low-Code, which translates into faster deliveries and a better user experience, shorter project deadlines and costs, and accelerated training of new talent.
Using the OutSystems platform as a complementary solution to the SAP environment also allows us to easily create work processes that integrate with other internal and even third-party systems, giving companies more freedom to handle their business processes in a variety of ways, regardless of the version of the SAP ERP.
Although an SAP ERP upgrade project is complex, not only because of the technologies involved, but mainly because it deals with core processes and critical company information, there is a consensus that the fewer customizations, modifications and additional solutions implemented on the SAP environment to be upgraded, the more viable and feasible the upgrade project will be.
In this context, it is essential to consider the use of the OutSystems Enterprise Low-Code platform in projects to upgrade to SAP S/4HANA as soon as possible because, like the pressure from business areas, time is ticking and the discontinuation of support for previous versions is drawing ever closer.