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SAP S/4 HANA



SAP S/4HANA is an intelligent, integrated ERP system that runs on our in-memory database, SAP HANA. It is the successor of SAP R/3 and SAP ERP and is optimized for SAP's in-memory database SAP HANA. The S/4HANA product offering consists of two editions: SAP S/4HANA On-Premise and SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

SAP S/4HANA On-Premise is similar in terms of coverage, functionality, industry-specific support, and localization to the current SAP Business Suite (in 39 languages, 64 country versions).

SAP also offers SAP S/4HANA Cloud (in 18 languages, 33 country versions). SAP has emphasized the product as pivotal to its cloud shift.

It can help you to:

  • Address industry-specific requirements with proven best practices for 26 verticals and enable new business models as your marketplace evolves.
  • Revolutionize business processes with intelligent automation — supported by artificial intelligence and robotic process automation.
  • Make better decisions faster with embedded analytics, a conversational interface, and digital assistants.
  • Meet your IT landscape goals with hybrid, cloud, and on-premise scenarios that share a consistent data model, code line, and user experience.

Path to S/4 HANA



  • New implementation - This is a new implementation of SAP S/4HANA (green field): customers who are migrating from a non-SAP legacy system or from an SAP ERP system and implementing a fresh system that requires an initial data load. In this scenario, the SAP S/4HANA system is implemented, and master and transactional data are migrated from the legacy system, thus standard data migration tools and content has to be used.
  • System conversion - This is a complete conversion of an existing SAP Business Suite system to SAP S/4HANA (brownfield): customers who want to change their current SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA. This scenario is technically based on Software Update Manager (SUM) with Database Migration Option (DMO) in case the customer is not yet on SAP HANA as the underlying database.
  • Landscape transformation - This is a consolidation of current regional SAP systems into one global SAP S/4HANA system or a split out of different parts of a system: customers who want to consolidate their landscape or carve out selected entities (such as a company code) or processes into a single SAP S/4HANA system.

There are various ways to get to S/4HANA. This depends on a customer’s starting point. For example, new implementation, system conversion, and landscape transformation.

  • New implementation - This is a new implementation of SAP S/4HANA (green field): customers who are migrating from a non-SAP legacy system or from an SAP ERP system and implementing a fresh system that requires an initial data load. In this scenario, the SAP S/4HANA system is implemented, and master and transactional data are migrated from the legacy system, thus standard data migration tools and content has to be used.
  • System conversion - This is a complete conversion of an existing SAP Business Suite system to SAP S/4HANA (brownfield): customers who want to change their current SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA. This scenario is technically based on Software Update Manager (SUM) with Database Migration Option (DMO) in case the customer is not yet on SAP HANA as the underlying database.
  • Landscape transformation - This is a consolidation of current regional SAP systems into one global SAP S/4HANA system or a split out of different parts of a system: customers who want to consolidate their landscape or carve out selected entities (such as a company code) or processes into a single SAP S/4HANA system.

SAP Central Finance (CFIN)



Finance is complex … and not (digitally) connected

Signs of complexity

  • Extractions and transformations
  • Mappings and harmonization
  • Delays, anomalies, inconsistency's
  • Data reconciliation, data validation
  • Report provision (data-to-people)

Business issue(s)

  • Limited transparency
  • Throttled productivity
  • Pro-longed process execution
  • Service level challenges

Challenges in Reporting and Planning


What do I spend in my entire company on external consultants?
How well do I benefit from cash discounts across my entire company?
How does the aging of my payables overall look like?
What vendor groups are most overdue?
What customers are most overdue?
Why do customers not pay on time
  • No single source of truth
  • or very aggregated view only and without drill-down capabilities to operational lineitems
  • Lack of real-time view
  • Unharmonized master data (vendors, customers, accounts, payment terms, cost centers, profit centers...)

Challenges in Centralization and Streamlining of Processes

Cost of operations
  • Difficult to streamline processes—do it the same way in the entire company
  • Inefficiency in Shared Service Centers (many different systems for users to connect to)
  • High training efforts for different releases and software vendors
  • Complex interfacing with external partners (e.g. banks, rating agencies...)

Central Finance as a Solution

To minimize the risk of migrating to an SAP S/4 HANA solution, the central finance deployment approach has been introduced. CFIN as it is popularly called allows SAP customers to run on S/4 HANA while keeping or planning roadmap for the legacy SAP/NON-SAP system.

THE non-disruptive step towards system consolidation Real-Time repost financial transactions into Central Finance instance.

Transaction-level data replicated into instance with latest SAP innovations, HANA optimizations and cutting edge UI

Existing systems remain untouched

Benefit from harmonized master data for processing, planning, consolidating, and reporting

Overview of Central Finance Functionality:

  • Replication of Clearings
  • Mapping Maintenance (mass uploads)
  • Reconciliation Reports
  • Improvements in Error Handling (AIF)
  • Tools Supporting the Initial Loads
  • Support of Mismatching Currency Decimals Definition

Central Finance Reconciliation or “check” reports provide different levels of analysis:

Level 1 – FI/CO Documents count: Are all FI and CO documents, which should have been replicated from a source system to a Central Finance system, replicated as expected?

  • Show number of documents successfully replicated, not replicated, in the AIF tool.
  • Jump to the AIF tool.

Level 2 – FI/CO Balance Comparison: Which G/L accounts (cost elements) have different debit or credit totals in a source system and a Central Finance system?

  • Show debit/credit/balance per G/L account.
  • Jump to the FI/CO documents.

Level 3 – FI/CO Documents Comparison: Which FI (CO) documents have a different amount in a source system and a Central Finance system?

  • Show document data per FI/CO document and G/L account.
  • Jump to the FI/CO documents.

SAP Activate methodology




What is SAP Activate Methodology?

SAP activate methodology is one simple, modular and agile framework for implementation or migration to SAP S/4HANA.

  • We can use methodology on our own, with an SAP Partner or with SAP Directly.
  • Its built on its predecessors ASAP Methodology and SAP Launch Methodology.

There are 3 main components to SAP Activate methodology.

1.Best Practices: Readily configured business processes based on industry best practices.

2.Methodology: SAP Guidance to accelerate implementation and optimization.

3.Guided configuration: Tools to help activate best practices content and make customized adjustments.

SAP Activate is available for on-premise and cloud editions of SAP S/4HANA and supports all 3 types of transactions.

  • New Implementation
  • System Conversion.
  • Landscape Transformation

Stages in Activate Methodology:

SAP Methodology consists of Discover, Prepare, Explore, Realize, Deploy & Run phases.

SAP Activate - Discover

  • This Discover phase will help you consider and experience SAP S/4HANA before starting a project to implement SAP S/4HANA.
  • In this phase, you develop strategies and road-map you use on the implementation journey.
  • Experience SAP S/4HANA with preconfigured SAP Best practices-based Cloud and On-premise trials.

SAP Activate - Prepare

  • Project is initiated and planned, including quality and risk plans.
  • System environment is set up, including best practices with ready to run processes.

SAP Activate - Explore

  • Customer team explores SAP solution functionalities while the system integrator explores customers business.
  • Together, they use fit/gap workshops to identify the configuration and extensions that best meet the customers’ requirements.

SAP Activate - Realize

  • Together, teams configure and extend the system based on prioritized requirements captured in explore phase.
  • Configuration and build are done in iterative cycles with regular validations and feedback from business.
  • Structured testing and data migration activities help ensure quality.

SAP Activate - Deploy

  • Final preparations before cutover to production help ensure that the system data and users are ready for transitioning to production environment.
  • The transition to operations includes setting up and launching support, then handing off operations to the organization managing the environment.

SAP Activate - Run

  • Purpose of Run phase is to continue adoption of implemented solution across the organization. During this phase, customer adds new users, enables their business users to execute the business transactions, manages regression testing for quarterly upgrades, and activate additional functionality as required.