If you have been a consultant implementing SAP ECC solutions, transitioning to S/4 HANA projects would require recalibration in a few areas. These are not necessarily related to the solutioning aspect of the product. Rather, more to the people aspect and how to realign customers’ expectations on S/4HANA projects.
SAP ECC projects have predominantly adopted the waterfall delivery methodology. This means that projects started with the requirements gathering phase. Subsequently, it was followed by system build and the user acceptance testing (UAT) that preceded the go-live cutover activities. S/4HANA projects, on the other hand, mostly follow the agile methodology. However, most system integrators tend to use what they are comfortable with; or shift to a ‘hybrid agile’ methodology.
In the agile methodology, projects start with an Exploration stage, followed by the Discovery stage. A scientifically proven design thinking which follows a collaborative approach to identifying the specific pain points and their potential solutions. The subsequent Design and Deliver stages respectively, consist of designing the best possible solution followed by a series of iterations through rapid prototyping. Finally, the Run and Scale stage involves testing to arrive at a solution that would eventually be accepted by the user. This marks a significant departure from the traditional project management approach. This also means SAP consultants need to embrace the idea of design thinking and agile delivery.
Secondly, user discussions in SAP ECC implementations are centered around business functions. If you were a Materials Management consultant, your focus would be on processes and movement types that need to be configured. They would need to be configured based on the organization’s inventory and costing approach. However, with S/4HANA, customers can now adopt a user-centric approach to implementing the ERP application as opposed to a process-centric one. For example, a service process involving a field service technician might need inputs from the maintenance department. It also needs to align with the customer relationship department. This is to ensure all relevant information is available to the field service technician during service delivery. For this to happen, the solution implementation also needs to ensure that data is not restricted to silos. Instead, it must be provisioned across functions to make the organization more efficient. Implementing such a solution needs a shift in the mindset of solution consultants. This is because they would need to involve stakeholders from different parts of the business in composing a solution.
At Mindset, we understand the impact of exceptional user experience and its influence on the adoption of solutions by end-users. With our UX/CX-centric design focus, we provide you with a simplified digital experience enabled by SAP S/4HANA. As an established SAP Build, Services, and AppHaus Partner, we provide services focused on design thinking, innovation, and technology-enabled business transformation. In addition, our expertise spanning Fiori App development, SAP Cloud Platform (SCP), and SAP Business Transformation Platform (BTP) offers you seamless capabilities throughout the development lifecycle in a swift, holistic, and human-centered digital transformation experience.
RISE with SAP provides a starter pack for businesses to adopt the SAP Business Network that allows organizations to collaborate with external business partners. This is a paradigm shift in ways S/4HANA enables organizations to optimize processes by sharing information across organizational borders. As SAP ECC consultants, working across organizations is something that does not come naturally. However, this change in mindset is crucial for consultants to enable their customers to realize the true value from cross-organizational collaboration with S/4HANA. For a better understanding of the ‘RISE program’ read this blog written by Adam Anderson, our very own SAP S/4HANA guru.
With the RISE with SAP license, you can tap into a range of solutions and services in the following areas
- SAP S/4HANA Cloud Suite – Through the SAP S/4HANA Cloud suite, you have access to solutions that cover a range of Lines of Businesses (LOBs). Moreover, it gives access to real-time business statistics and analytics.
- Embedded Tools and Services – You also get access to a range of tools and services that aid in managing the implementation project lifecycle efficiently.
- System Hosting Options – You now have the choice of hosting your SAP S/4HANA Cloud either on SAP servers or on hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, Google, etc.
- SAP Business Network Starter Pack – Get connected with various stakeholders in the source-to-pay process through the SAP Business Network Starter pack.
- SAP BTP Consumption Credits – With ‘RISE’, you get a set of credits that you can use in different areas of the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).
- Business Process Intelligence – The ‘RISE’ program gives you access to a range of end-to-end functionalities that help manage your solutions and services.
Tune into our Mindset Nebula podcast to hear our experts decode the Rise program and its offerings further.
