20 Jan Letter From The S/4 Migration Front
We have prioritized return on investment while considering S/4 strategy with client partners over the last ten years. Rather than reacting to the latest technology, we encourage targeting opportunities for technical and business process improvements. With widespread adoption and more firm mainstream support end dates, this is an opportune time to revisit the approach and timing of pending S/4 migrations.
Industry surveys and experience confirm that the expected pitfalls of software implementation persist. Qualified implementation resources are in limited supply, projects are running significantly over both planned budget and duration, and promised benefits are not being realized. Several areas of focus consistently improve these outcomes.
Setting and communicating a reasonable scope, engaging in change management, and ensuring quality data are the cornerstones of project satisfaction. The optimal scope likely falls somewhere between complete redesign and lift-and-shift. Give your organization credit for the knowledge it has accumulated. There are undoubtedly many great elements of the existing organizational elements, master data, and business processes. S/4 unlocks new capabilities – some of which should be part of the initial project, while others can be layered in subsequently to maintain momentum.
Building a matrix of change elements with difficulty and return scores, as well as interdependencies, can aid in sorting what should be done now or in the future. Some concept changes (e.g. business partner integration) are mandatory and reasonable in effort. In-memory report redesign is consistently a top investment, but specific areas can be prioritized with an ongoing roll-out plan. Fiori offers some terrific user experiences, but carries technical effort along with screen real estate and browser compatibility considerations. Partial deployment is often the best immediate strategy.
Changes to the financial reporting model (e.g. multiple currency/valuation, custom dimensions, actual costing) and operational business processes are most efficiently deployed during the migration. Thorough design, testing, and communication must be considered for them to become effective. Without this dedicated effort, they may cause confusion more than adding their potential value. Striking a balance between missed opportunities and project stagnation is key to organizational success.
Our experienced and dedicated resources across many functional areas and technologies look forward to continuing this S/4 migration journey alongside our valued client partners.
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