Changing Conversations

Get a Fresh
Start with
SAP S/4HANA
Greenfield
Transformation

A best practice guide to ensure this critical

transformation project runs on your terms.

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

Foreword Contents
A Greenfield transformation to SAP S/4HANA® is a land of 01 T
 he Greenfield Estate
opportunity for global enterprises. This particular approach may
require the biggest sacrifice for existing SAP users, who must
leave their old system (and with it all custom code) behind, but 02 T
 he big challenges of starting
the rewards can certainly be worth it. from scratch
It's important that every enterprise going through this transformation is
provided the necessary support. Basis Technologies has been helping the
world’s market leaders with SAP transformation projects for over 25 years. 03 C
 omponents of a Greenfield
We recognize that the immense pressure on businesses to meet the pace of transformation to SAP S/4HANA
industry change exacerbates the challenges and complexities that lay ahead
of them on their journey.

However, when carried out correctly – with the right support in place, 04 L
 earning from successful
organizations will reap the benefits of real-time business processes and Greenfield transformations
greater agility through a Greenfield transformation.

05 S
 upporting you wherever you are
David Lees, CTO on your SAP S/4HANA journey
Basis Technologies

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

01
The Greenfield Estate
There are four core motivations behind selecting a
Greenfield transformation:

For those planning an SAP S/4HANA transformation, the Greenfield 1. You have chosen to leave behind existing systems, perhaps due
approach is chosen by enterprises that want to rebuild their new to technical debt or wanting to replace old custom development
system from the ground up. with the latest SAP offerings

2. You are a net new SAP customer transferring over from

Greenfield: Building the entire SAP S/4HANA system from scratch, bringing another platform
over minimal custom development from existing systems, such as SAP ECC.

In most circumstances, businesses will have small elements of customization 3. You have an ECC system with certain add-ons (such as an
that they’ll need to bring across, but this would normally count for less than industry solution) which are not compatible with SAP S/4HANA,
10% of the system. Brownfield and hybrid migrations make far greater and a Brownfield transformation is not an option as a result
use of existing processes, either through a full system cutover or a mix and
match approach, respectively.
4. You are planning to use SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition

SAP Best Practices are available to help

optimize an organization’s operations,
however, whenever a customer does not 1. Selective Lift and 2. Make it compatible with 3. Design a brand-new custom
find an appropriate solution, there are Shift and remediate* ABAP Cloud to align with solution which could be based
three options to choose from: an existing ECC custom Clean Core Principles. on Key User Extensibility,
solution to be compatible On-Stack Developer Extensibility
*Many enterprises undertaking a Greenfield transformation with SAP S/4HANA. or Side-By-Side Extensibility
bring over a small amount of custom code

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Start from Scratch with SAP S/4HANA® Greenfield Transformation

During a selective Lift and Shift exercise for minimal custom developments,
Basis Technologies’ solutions identifies what usage (user groups and
interfaces) and relevant set of objects need to be moved for the system
to function as expected.

For any enterprise attempting to conduct a Greenfield transformation,

they must first consider these points:

Greenfield aligns more Be prepared for higher costs to Business-wide buy-in is required
with a complete process be incurred than Brownfield to ensure a seamless transition
transformation, rather than or Hybrid transformations, as with minimal disruption to each
technical upgrades. enterprises must build their department.
new system almost entirely
from scratch.

Consider which cutover option Businesses cannot bring any There is a need for greater
to use out of a big-bang historical data with them onto organizational change
cutover or a pilot followed the new system, just open management as there is
by waves. items such as purchase orders, greater disruption to users
sales orders, process orders, interacting with systems.
and open balances.

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

02
The big challenges of starting from scratch
1. 2. 3.
New forms of Potential need to Managing inflight
data migration upskill developers transports

1. Data migration 2. Upskill developers

Unlike Brownfield transformations, where you’re bringing across a pre-built Redesigning code requires specific expertise, which teams may currently lack.
system and reconfiguring it for the new platform, Greenfield migrations require The three different approaches for optimizing operations during a Greenfield
businesses to extract data from the existing system, transform it and then transformation require varying levels of developer upskilling:
upload into SAP S/4HANA. It requires complete understanding of data quality
and structure, given that the models with SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA greatly Selective Lift and Shift and Remediate an existing custom solution
differ. It’s therefore not as simple as moving datasets from one system to another. LEAST

Make it compatible with ABAP Cloud

MEDIUM

Design a brand-new custom solution

MOST

If the enterprise chooses to refactor with Clean Core in mind, developers will
need a specific set of skills. However, if they want to redesign from scratch, this
will require the most amount of upskilling to account for the business potentially
choosing to build the system in BTP, Javascript or something different to achieve
the same business result.
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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

3. Inflight transports There are different types of in-flight transport management to consider:

As well as taking all the necessary steps to make the integration as seamless
as possible with third-party applications and existing SAP models, enterprises Mandatory
must also handle all inflight transports while the new landscape is being built.
If migrating in waves, then each move will result in a change in both systems While the initial Greenfield landscape is being built out (development,
that must be managed correctly. testing and production all take place separately).

Optional

During a selective Lift and Shift approach, some changes made in the old
platform prior to transformation are assessed for relevancy and potentially
incorporated into the SAP S/4HANA system (partial dual maintenance).

Optional

When migrating in waves, assess whether there are changes that need
to be orchestrated between the old platform and SAP S/4HANA during
the program.

Ultimately, building a new system from scratch is going to take time – lots of
it – which is why it’s important for enterprises to acknowledge each of these
challenges before embarking on their Greenfield journey.

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

03
Components of a Greenfield
transformation to SAP S/4HANA
Basis Technologies has identified the eight core stages of a Greenfield
migration to SAP S/4HANA. Allocating the necessary time and effort to
each phase will help organizations achieve a more seamless transformation.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Preparation Design and Realization and Testing Data Training Go-Live and Continued
and Planning Blueprinting Development Migration and Change Cutover Platform
Management Support

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

1 Preparation and Planning 2 Design and Blueprinting

Initial assessment: Business process re-engineering:

Evaluate the current SAP ECC environment, business processes, and requirements Redesign business processes to leverage the capabilities of S/4HANA and
for the new system. best practices.

Scope definition: Solution architecture:

Define the scope of the new SAP S/4HANA implementation, including which Design the technical and functional architecture of the S/4HANA system.
modules and functionalities will be used.
Blueprint development:
Project planning: Create detailed blueprints for each aspect of the implementation, including
Develop a detailed project plan, including timelines, resources, budget, and risk data structures, system integrations, and custom developments.
management strategies.

Team formation:
Assemble a project team with the necessary skills, including SAP S/4HANA
experts, functional experts, and technical staff.

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

3 Realization and Development 4 Testing

System setup: Unit testing:

Install and configure the SAP S/4HANA environment. As the landscape is being Test individual components for functionality.
built out, manage the transport lists, sequencing, deployment, etc throughout.
Integration testing:
Custom development: Ensure all components work together seamlessly.
For those areas where best practices cannot be used and a custom solution is
required, choose between three options (see page 5).
User acceptance testing (UAT):
Involve end-users to validate the system against business requirements.
Data migration strategy:
Plan and prepare for data migration, including data cleansing and mapping from
Performance testing:
Test the system’s performance under load.
the old system to the new structure in S/4HANA.

A Deep Dive How we can help you

At this stage, there will be significant parallel development and Automation eliminates the need for Excel sheets to manage SAP
configuration taking place, resulting in a high volume of SAP transports that transports, ensures all transports are deployed correctly, and identifies
need to be deployed into QA for testing, discovery of defects, fix and re- potential issues with dependences in real-time. Basis Technologies’
deploy. In many cases, there will be a high level of dependencies between solutions also enforce code scanning to ensure that development is
these transports and the sequence with which these SAP transports are compliant with Clean Core principles from day one. In fact, this can be
deployed is extremely important. Simple mistakes like getting a few SAP built right into the workflow.
transports out of order in the Excel sheet can delay the entire deployment.

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

5 Data Migration 6 Training and Change Management

Data preparation: User training:

Cleanse and prepare data for migration. Train end-users on the new system and processes.

Trial migrations: Change management:

Conduct trial runs to ensure data is accurately and completely transferred. Address organizational changes and ensure smooth transition to the new system.

Final migration:
Execute the final data migration, often during a cutover period.

How we can help you

Basis Technologies’ solutions verify an enterprise’s code quality along
with documentation and make sure standards are enforced during
the change lifecycle via automation and workflow management.
Customers can rest easy knowing that all changes are carefully
goverened, and will be integrated with requirements tools (like Jira).

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

7 Go-Live and Cutover 8 Continued Platform Support

Final preparation: Keep SAP S/4HANA current:
Complete final checks and preparations for going live. Assess the impact and manage the deployment of Feature Pack Stacks and
SAP S/4HANA Upgrades (during N+1 landscape management).
Cutover execution:
Switch operations from the SAP ECC system to the new SAP S/4HANA system.
Go-live support:
Provide intensive support immediately after go-live to resolve any urgent issues.

A Deep Dive – Deploy to Run

As the Deploy phase starts, the team will now hand over the system to
Global e-commerce company VistaPrint deployed Basis’ ActiveControl
Operations to be managed in Run phase. When this happens, project-based
to automate
Keep change and
SAP S/4HANA release Assess
current: as part ofthe
its Greenfield
impact and transformation.
managing the
workflow governing the movement of the SAP Transports will transition
In doing so, the business:
to Business-as-Usual (BAU) mode with different workflows governing deployment of Feature Pack Stacks and S/4HANA Upgrades (N+1
different types of changes. Change management is hugely important at landscape management
Maintained dual maintenanceduring)
path between ECC production and S/4HANA development
this stage and, in many cases, the tools being used will change, causing Cut 3-week SAP release cycle to achieve business goal for daily production releases
unnecessary confusion. Ultimately, companies need a seamless transition Gained ability to detect and resolve issues early in the lifecycle
to Run phase with minimal impact to users. Received efficient requirements backlog management via JIRA integration

“We deploy changes to production every weekday morning. [Basis

Technologies] gives our developers, configurators and technical-
How we can help you engineering teams the confidence they need to deploy successfully
without impacting production capabilities.”
Automation eliminates unnecessary manual work and ensures all
Mukul Agrawal – Director of Technology, VistaPrint.
relevant activities are carried out before or after the SAP transports are
deployed. It also notifies the right person at the right time to carry out
Learn more about VistaPrint’s migration story here.
each activity to ensure a seamless transformation.

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

04
Learning from successful Greenfield transformations
Simplified business processes is a critical driver of Greenfield migrations, and
73% of US enterprises reported a huge improvement in this area after an SAP
S/4HANA transformation, according to Basis Technologies research.

Honda Motor Europe partnered with Basis Technologies to help

Additional benefits include: manage change during and after its Greenfield transformation:

“Agility is crucial to Honda Motor Europe and only Basis Technologies

Improved compliance (62%) could provide us with the tools to manage change with confidence.
ActiveControl provides the balance we need between the right
New functionality offering competitive advantage (49%) functionality, ease of use and simple maintenance.”
Andrea Schaum – Manager SAP System Services, Honda Motor Europe.

Simplified landscape architecture and operational

Learn more about Honda’s migration story here.
costs (49%)

Real-time reporting and analytics powering business

decisions (49%)
Why do companies choose Greenfield?
Avoidance of tech obsolescence (38%) The improved functionalities delivered by a smooth Greenfield SAP
S/4HANA transformation set enterprises on a path towards a more agile
way of working; one where they can power innovation, drive growth and
reduce business risk. By starting from scratch, businesses can rid themselves
of inefficiencies that have become embedded in the very foundations of their
operations and align themselves with new best practices.

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Get a Fresh Start with SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation

05
Supporting you wherever you are on your
SAP S/4HANA journey

Not started Nearing completion

Automation technology for SAP is key to a smooth SAP S/4HANA transition. Basis Technologies can support teams regardless of where they are on the
Organizations embarking on the move can greatly accelerate and de-risk the SAP S/4HANA transformation.
journey by introducing automation tools and processes, which will allow them
to run without interruption during development and after go-live. Organizations using Basis Technologies’ automation in their SAP systems
have reported:

Basis Technologies' solutions help:

50% reduction in the cost of delivering changes
Enable high volume transport management and automation

Deliver technical change co-ordination 95% reduction in error-prone manual effort

Seamlessly move from Realize to Deploy and to Run

Assist with landscape build-out and phased implementation 50x faster delivery of new features
Ensure security, governance and compliance

Provide traceability from requirements to implementation

70% reduction in production system downtime

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About Basis Technologies
Basis Technologies is trusted by the world’s best-performing organizations to unlock their
full potential with SAP. Our industry-leading solutions help businesses drive transformation
with confidence, achieving the freedom to outpace competitors while safeguarding critical
systems that maintain business continuity.

We help the likes of P&G, Honda, Boeing, and Booking.com lead the way by bringing
actionable insights and automation to SAP change.

Find out how Basis Technologies can help you, wherever

you are on your SAP S/4HANA transformation journey.

Talk to an expert consultant

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