You probably heard that SAP made an announcement that the future and great simplifier of high-performance analytics is S/4HANA. If you’re an SAP HANA customer, I’m sure you’re wondering what you need to do to get ready for this transition while protecting your existing data center investments. Here are the top four things you need to consider.

One of the first things you need to consider is that this is not a maintenance update; this is a transformation of the data center. That means that by investing in S/4HANA, you are making a strategic change in your business, one that embraces flexibility and competitive transformation.

The second thing centers around transformation – you’ll have to introduce Linux to your data center if you haven’t already. What this brings is lower cost, easier license management and quicker innovation.

S/4HANA itself offers a competitive advantage significantly reducing the time and scope of your projects. However, this will require a shift in how you look at your projects, the third thing you will have to consider – think creating active prototypes that can get spun up in months (instead of years – see, that really is pretty awesome).

This goodness comes with its own set of challenges. You will have to think about how to size S/4HANA for your SAP landscapes. Some of what you will have to think about will be how to rationalize total cost of ownership and total cost of acquisition among other sizing issues.

And how are you going to manage the additional complexity that will come with adding S/4HANA? What tools will you need to simplify operations and enforce your organization’s policies?

Finally, you’ll need to ensure security, availability and disaster recovery – the cornerstones of a data center that is truly mission-critical.

The good news is that you can get help from experts who have been working with customers to solve these challenges. Bluefin Solutions has been inspiring organizations around the world to prosper in the digital world by leveraging SAP technologies. Lenovo has years of experience providing mission-critical infrastructure solutions and accounts for more than 50 percent of the SAP HANA appliances shipped. And SUSE is the development platform that SAP uses to develop SAP HANA.

These three companies are coming together December 10, 2015 to discuss optimizing your data center today and preparing to take advantage of the capabilities of SAP S4/HANA. I invite you to sign up and learn more about how to size, manage and maximize your SAP landscape.

With S/4HANA being a new product from SAP it can be confusing for existing users/customers to understand how much of their existing solution can be converted into the new world of S/4HANA. As you will see the answer to that question is “quite a lot…if you want to”.

To give us a framework to work from, I have broken the solution down into the following layers :-

User Interface
Business Logic (SAP Delivered and Customer Modifications/Extensions)
Database
Interfaces

Below is a graphic that I have created to try to show the conversion impacts (grey boxes = change), and I will discuss these below.

User Interface

The biggest difference that a user will perceive when using an S/4HANA system (or seeing a demo) is the new user interface. In line with the SAP Fiori guidelines and the New-Renew-Enable User Interface Strategy, S/4HANA is accessed using the Fiori LaunchPad and has Fiori Apps for accessing both classic and new features (many new features are only available via Fiori Apps). The access is based on the concept of Business Roles, with each role having a number of Fiori Apps associated to it. In addition to the Fiori Apps, some features of the solution are available via the SAP WebGUI transaction codes, but these are accessed via Fiori LaunchPad so users have one place to access everything.

Technically you can also access these transactions directly or via SAPGUI for Windows (which could help with your initial change management efforts). However some transactions have been superseded so you can’t assume everything will work. You can review the list of superseded transaction codes in the simplification list via this link. A good example of supersede transactions are the Credit Management transaction from SD which are now replaced with the newer Finance Credit Management solution.

Owen Recommends: Start using Fiori as soon as possible in your current landscape as it will reduce the learning curve when adopting S/4HANA – see what you can use now in the Fiori App Library.

Business Logic

As you can see from the diagram SAP is doing a lot at the business logic layer of the solution, adding new features, optimizing old ones and removing features that are duplicated or redundant. To understand the impact this will have on your installation or options that you will have as you implement, you once again have to refer to the Simplification List, this will show you where things have changed and recommend what you need to do to adapt your systems.

For your Custom Code, you need to understand if it will run in the S/4HANA system. To assist in this SAP has provided a Custom Code Checker that uses the Simplification List and an extract of your custom code to highlight where changes may be required. This blog give details of how this works.

In addition to remediating your existing code SAP offer a number of alternative ways to “extend” your S/4HANA system – this blog gives a good overview. The first is a new User Interface extension tool that allows fields to be moved / hidden and for new fields / logic to be added to the system (all the way to table / interface level). More complex User Interface Extensions can be achieved using the SAP HANA Cloud Platform (HCP) to extend the solution using Web-IDE, public APIs and the Fiori App extension frameworks. The HCP platform also offers a wide range of other services that can be used to develop custom business logic / apps e.g IoT framework, HANA as a Database Service, Cloud Portal, Mobile Services etc etc. Find out more about the HANA Cloud Platform at HCP.SAP.COM.

Owen Recommends:Use the Simplification List to understand the changes and try to adopt as many as you can before the switch. Examples being New general Ledger, Material Ledger and Business Partner – which are all mandatory in S/4HANA but optional in Business Suite.

Owen Recommends: Stop worrying about your custom code and start looking into what you have and separate the wheat from the chaf. Much of your code will not be run anymore, of the code left see how much is about custom transactions (which could be done via the In-app extension framework or HCP) and how much is reporting (which could be replaced with the Multi-dimensional reporting tools). Where you find key unique features, consider if they can be built-top using HCP especially if you want to use the cloud edition. Finally learn HANA Cloud Platform and understand the SAP HANA Cloud Connector – register at HCP.SAP.COM

Database

At the database level we have 2 big changes, the first is that S/4HANA only runs on SAP HANA, so if you are not a Suite on HANA customer yet, you will need to switch database platform. The second is the rethinking of the data model to remove aggregates and redundancies, that has the double impact of reducing the size of the database and increasing the simplicity of the model that helps with reporting. In what is an impressive feat of software engineering, SAP have replaced most of the aggregates / redundancies with “Compatibility Views” which are calculated on the fly at run-time, but means that most of the application code carries on running. I think this is a bit like changing the engines on a plane whilst it carries on flying !

Owen Recommends: Start to understand SAP HANA as soon as you can, if you understand the HANA Platform you will be able to do more with your S/4HANA system than those that don’t. I think a great way to do this is to get yourself a “small” 32Gb HANA instance on the HANA Cloud Platform.

Interfaces

For the on-premise version of S/4HANA the impact of the changes have been minimized with most of the integration points into and out of the system supporting compatible data structures and protocols. Some remote functions have been blacklisted and will not longer work – the Simplification List covers these. One area you will need to consider is the adoption of the 40 character Material Number as this will need to be adapted into upstream and downstream systems – if the impacts of this are large you can choose to continue to use the classic 18 character feature.

Owen Recommends: Understand the methods you are using for interfacing into and out of your system. Try to migrate these to real-time interfaces using non-blacklisted API’s. If you are not using SAP Process Orchestration for this task I recommend taking a look at the features available – this blog gives a good overview of the features available.

Conclusion

With the introduction of the new product S/4HANA (Business Suite for SAP HANA), SAP have leveraged 40 years of Enterprise Application expertise and taken the opportunity to simplify and optimize. The result being that you can convert much of your existing investment into the new S/4HANA product, but I would strongly recommend that you take this once in a generation opportunity to do what SAP have done themselves and review what you do, how you do it and why you do it.

I will create a blog on what you need to do to transition to the S/4HANA Cloud Editions in the New Year.

Happy New Year !!! Wishing you all fantastic 2016…. !!!

As we all do (in one way or other), either at “eve of last day of old year” OR “NEW Beginning at first ray of NEW Year” - we all do take stock-of-things, identify and remove the old and unwanted, thus make space of the “NEW” and “Required” !!

I felt a similar “sense” when I “Study & Observe” the happening in SAP Product world….

Let me EXPLAIN:

Today, we see a number of products from SAP based on HANA platform. Yes at times it’s confusing and bit overwhelming to see “the old becoming obsolete” and “the NEW” being “pushed towards us” at “much-faster” pace.

However with a large-many-number-of-products in market ( SAP HANA BASED Products : SAP S/4HANA, SAP IBP, SAP Hybris, SAP FSCM, SAP Revenue Accounting & Reporting, SAP GTS, SAP Ariba, list-goes-on …………) it makes all the MORE sense to “take-a-stock of-current-solutions” and “clean-the-stack” keeping in mind the DEMANDS on Business – TODAY & years to come.

The current version and STATE of SAP HANA-BASED Products RIGHTLY projects the transition as all about

(a) SOLUTION -CONSOLIDATION

(b) Code-optimization to take benefit of HANA processing powers.

This trend is seen across SAP Products based on HANA - be it ERP (S/4HANA Enterprise Management) or high-end products - CRM, SCM, as well as cloud based apps hybris, ariba, IBP and so on...

A trend clearly found in 201511 and continued to be experienced in 201602 / 201505 [ initial-releases....]

As per my understanding -->> This (Consolidation & HANA-OPTIMIZED code) is JUST a BEGINNING .... tip of an ICEBERG ..

TRUE benefits and business value will get REALIZED once SAP starts to "release" -- "NEW CAPABILITIES" & functionalities - e.g. like "using" the "output" of complex processing or predictive analysis "INTO the PROCESS"....

We can expect such functionalities in years & releases to come (may be 201611 & beyond releases).... a natural move, post the "consolidation of solutions-preparing platform for the same".... once SAP baselines the "Technical-version / compatibility" across the solutions to an "x-level" -

& this in a sense will be "TRUE" Business-Benefit / driving force for Businesscase

Well, when this base-lining will complete/happen in a year or two or so....Or may be earlier that an SAP insiders will require to tell.

Have you have seen/read any such functionality in any of ROAD-MAPS (SCM, IBP......) ??

The above (in blue) are "MY Expectations & projections" - & when this happens the "current turmoil and massive changes” will all FIT-in & make better sense.

The unanswered question is -->

1. HOW will MARKET & CLIENTS respond to current "transition-phase" & accept/reject this "much visionary & bold step" in HANA world?

2. Will market show / has "PATIENCE" to wait-and-watch to "see & understand" the "end-result" ?

3. "Is the EXPECTATION EXTREMELY HIGH" from first release itself, that it backfire (without reaching it's true potential)?

(of course, if things BACK-FIRE then one of the reason to point could be the Curiosity & HYPE created around 1511 or S/4HANA for that matter)

Well I do hope the "house-cleaning" is completed soon and we get a chance to "experience" the "REAL NEW" experience, real soon.

Once again, Wishing you an extremely fruitful and fecund 2016 !!

I look forward to your comments and views :-

SAP Activate is the implementation framework for SAP S/4HANA delivering ready-to-run business processes, tools for an assisted implementation of SAP S/4HANA and an agile implementation methodology.

SAP Activate provides

a faster and less service intensive initial implementation
a quick time to value
rapid adoption of SAP S/4HANA innovations throughout the entire product lifecycle
continuous innovation over time

The assisted implementation utility of SAP Activate - often referred to as Guided Configuration– is an integral part of the product SAP S/4HANA and is provided through the “Manage Your Solution” Fiori-application. It consists of the following elements.

Configure Your Solution

Your implementation project does not start from scratch. The initial configuration of SAP S/4HANA is based on a pre-configured system providing ready-to run business processes with sample data and marks the starting point for an implementation. Based on the pre-configuration, the initial setup of SAP S/4HANA is prepared using guided configuration. Guided configuration combines our vast experience and business best practices into a friendly and easy-to‐use tool that enables customers to get the right configuration for their needs. Time- and cost intensive blueprinting phases with match to software capabilities are highly reduced. Experiencing the pre-configured system while performing a fit/gap analysis and an agile implementation project is today’s approach for an S/4HANA implementation.

SAP Fiori-based, easy to use Self-Service Configuration UIs are provided alongside the phases of the implementation project in order to tailor the pre-configured processes to customer requirements. These easy-to-use UIs include only those configuration activities required for the preselected scope and are provided along the implementation phases of the project. With these UIs for example, adding a new subsidiary (company code) to the system, setting up a purchasing organization or adjusting approval thresholds in accounting is just a few clicks.

View Solution Scope

This feature provides you with a simple overview of processes that have been activated in your SAP S/4HANA solution. You can easily evaluate which business processes (scope items of the pre-configuration best practices) and which country versions are ready-to run.

Test Your Processes

Automated customer tests drastically reduce test – specifically regression test – efforts in the implementation project. The SAP S/4HANA solution does not only come with pre-configured business processes, but provides test automates and test scripts. With these tools and content, the test efforts (today a major portion of the efforts in an implementation project) can be reduced. You can create your own test plan, adapt customer data in the system and test the configuration changes that have been performed via the Self-Service Configuration UIs.

Manage Your Test Processes

You can administrate the test processes in this area. Here, you decide which processes should be available in the test tool and change existing or add new test processes. Adding new process steps can be done manually or via a recording of system activities.

Migrate Your Data

Execute data migration directly out of your solution for data migration objects proposed based on the selected pre-configured business processes. As an installed base customer you can connect your SAP Business Suite system using the Landscape Transformation tool while new customers can take advantage of a template based migration approach. With the first SAP S/4HANA Cloud releases, a limited set of data migration objects is supported (focus on project services edition). Support of further objects is planned.

User training & Onboarding

End-user training and on-boarding is another key effort driver in implementation and upgrade projects. A new user training and online help concept was introduced with SAP S/4HANA. Training material, help and documentation are now directly accessible from the application itself. The xRay framework in SAP S/4HANA provides this information as an overlay on each Fiori application and gives access to information right at the point where it is needed. The key characteristic of this approach is that it is very content centric. The drastic simplification can be achieved because content (configuration settings, documentation, help, and learning content, etc.) gets delivered with easy to use web-based tools together with the software itself across all deployment options including the cloud.

SAP Activate for SAP S/4HANA provides a central access point to learning content including "Getting Started" and "Guided Tours". Content can be chosen by typical user roles, such as Marketing Experts, Warehouse Clerks or Accounts Receivable Accountants.

Enterprise Structure of the Model Company delivered with SAP S/4HANA

Example of the on-premise enterprise structure delivered with SAP S/4HANA.

Instant access to a free trial system

It has never been easier to experience the solution, touch and feel the UI and test the processes of SAP S/4HANA. Less than a minute away from the initial landing page the users acquire access to a fully configured cloud trial system with sample data. Based on a selected role, interactive guided tours are offered, that demonstrate the benefits of S/4HANA in the trial system. The user can escape from these tours at any point in time and check out the solution in more depth.

Learn More

Product documentation for SAP S/4HANA on-premise edition 1511

Additional information about SAP Activate is available here:

In the previous blogs we have seen many use cases of how SAP S/4HANA is revolutionizing enterprise IT applications in manifold ways. And this is not only beneficial for Lines of Business (LoBs) managing business processes like MRP, inventory management, sales, finance or HR talent management, but also for the LoB IT that is running IT operations itself. In this summary, we will identify six areas where SAP S/4HANA is simplifying IT and, as a consequence, increases IT performance and reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO) of IT at the same time:

Simpler Data Footprint

With advanced in-memory compressions, data managed by SAP S/4HANA is optimized for processing, not for disk input and output. Data is compressed and cached locally, dramatically speeding access. Applications that run on the SAP HANA platform demonstrate data compression at factors ranging from 3 to 7. Solutions like SAP S/4HANA, which do not need materialized views or performance-related data duplication, are achieving even higher data footprint reduction rates. Apart from this, capabilities such as Dynamic Tiering built in the SAP HANA platform allow to optimize memory and storage size and access rates even further.

Simpler Data Processing and Operations

The new data model of SAP S/4HANA supports high levels of automation and parallelization which lead to radically simplified data management procedures. E. g., adding new fields happens on the fly – without the need for up-front data manipulation. Since no DB locks for updates are required anymore, parallel inserting is possible. A calculation engine embedded in the SAP HANA platform eliminates data load into the application layer. Business users can run real-time analytics on and simulations directly on transactional data, which enables real-time decision making. By reducing IT layers in this fashion, administrative tasks like data copying, ETL transformations, and post processing are reduced to a minimum.

Simpler IT Landscape

An IT department running SAP S/4HANA does not need to maintain separate systems to support OLTP and OLAP. The SAP HANA platform also includes shared libraries for tasks associated with e. g. business planning and prediction. This enables IT to reduce or eliminate the need to have separate applications and databases for executing these functions. Plus, features like multitenant database containers and virtualization capabilities allow to manage multiple databases on one platform to maximize resource allocation for applications, and additional system instances can be provisioned more quickly.

Simpler Setup

There are a number of deployment options that help simplify the setup experience for SAP S/4HANA. One option is the appliance approach: Preconfigured SAP S/4HANA software combined with well-cut hardware provided and delivered by our leading hardware partners. You can choose from a directory with hundreds of configurations, using SAP-certified commodity hardware components and supporting all sizes of businesses and use cases. Another option is the tailored data center integration concept. With certified components that align with your data center standards, you can leverage existing storage and network infrastructure and minimize IT costs. Finally, you can choose the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud service to deploy, maintain, integrate, and extend SAP S/4HANA applications in a private cloud environment without upfront IT investments. Of course, also hybrid deployments, combining on-premise and cloud solutions are well supported.

Simpler Code and Application Development

With rapid development tools, extensive use of views, and the elimination of aggregates and multidimensional cubes, the SAP HANA platform makes it easier to quickly develop sophisticated applications that drive business success. Developers benefit from embedded libraries of analytical functions that dramatically reduce and simplify the code base and minimize the chores associated with algorithm testing and maintenance. Meanwhile, an embedded application server with user interface services pushes execution to the database and reduces data duplication at runtime. And if you want to build your own innovative apps on SAP HANA in the Cloud, SAP HANA Cloud Platform, the open Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), enables you doing so instantly.

Simpler User Experience

SAP S/4HANA helps streamline the user experience. Data is delivered faster with real-time responsiveness for instant insight, fast action and simulation capabilities on current transactional data and with unprecedented performance. In addition, applications built on SAP HANA are role based and persona centric across lines of business and across devices. This helps improve efficiency, drive higher levels of performance, and ensure a great end-to-end user experience.

And all of this isn’t just theory or marketing, it is living practice among thousands of SAP customers. 95 of them testified the multitude of benefits they achieved by adopting SAP HANA technology across all these six areas of IT simplification, together with previously unseen IT performance improvements and reduced TCO of IT. Download and experience these testimonials right here.

Quite some years back I wrote a blog series named From Functional to Technical sharing experience of a functional consultant handling custom developments as part of his/her project work. Now I am wondering how and if that is going to change in future with S/4HANA coming in. The S/4HANA Enterprise Management Roadmap lays out the future. However On Premise edition of S/4HANA has traditional ABAP Application Server that we have been so familiar with so far. So developments (both existing and new) can still be done in ABAP but with caution and due consideration of "code push-down" possible in HANA as DB.

There are couple of blogs focused on S/4HANA extensibility topic including SAP's Whitepaper where Classic Extensibility is mentioned and is a must-read.

Assume there is a requirement to classify materials at plant in volume and variability context for further assignment of MRP Planning parameters like Lot Size, Safety and Target Stock principles. SCM 7 EhP 3 introduced ABC-XYZ Classification used for Statistical Forecasting optimisation and let's say we plan to use the same principle for classification of products by ABC-XYZ.

So in terms of the Functional Specification for this requirement we start with an approach to select the material set selection (can be by Material Group, MRP Controller etc.), the past data horizon to be considered for analysis and the ABC, XYZ cutoff values (defaulted to something like 70%, 20%, 10% but editable). The past data considered for analysis would typically be Delivery information that would maps to data from LIKP and LIPS. In S/4HANA SD Analytics (page 45 of Simplification List) suggests use of CDS (ABAP managed Core Data Services) instead of LIS. The complete set of SD objects have been delivered in 1511 but expected to be delivered in future release. So even though currently in 1511 one can write SELECT statement on LIKP and LIPS tables, in future this will be a call to CDS and OData service.

Once the source data set is collected the ABC and XYZ classification based on Volume and Variability (calculate Co-variance of each Material) is required. However for ABC Classification one should use existing SAP provided PAL (Predictive Analysis Library) ABC Analysis algorithm. The PAL documentation provides example of how to do API call that can be done surely from ABAP Application layer.

For XYZ Classification there is no standard algorithm so technical team need to write ABAP Managed Database Procedure (AMDP) for code push-down from application to HANA DB layer.

Further this output of ABC and XYZ Classification results need to be aggregated to classify the input material set into different output display option like a 3x3 matrix showing count of materials in each group AX, BX, CX .... CZ and/or list of Materials with the ABC-XYZ classification value. This can be managed in Application Server level using classic ABAP. But if the need is Fiori like app then it would need SAPUI objects maintained in front-end application server and OData services in backend application server to feed the data when invoked from Custom Fiori App. There is whole lot of useful content on this subject here.

This is my personal view based on reading and exploration done so far. Would be interesting to know viewpoint of Technical experts / Architects if this approach makes sense for the design approach of classic extensibility in S/4HANA world.

Hello,

I just wanted to bring your attention to a SAP TechEd presentation done by Stefan Elfner and Rudi Hois.

TEC206: Architecture and Components of SAP S/4HANA – SAP TechEd Lecture of the Week

Kind Regards,

Frank

Inspired by SAP Mentor Owen Pettiford’s blog Beginners Guide to Transitioning to S/4HANA 1511 On Premise edition for Existing SAP ERP 6.0x users, I followed his recommendation on Business Logic to “Use the Simplification List to understand the changes and try to adopt as many as you can before the switch.”

This led me to the excellent blog Upcoming Tools for SAP #S4HANA Migration – the simplification database by Sven Denecken and subsequent SAP Note 2185390 - Custom Code Analyzer.

From there on, there are many options how to approach making the S/4HANA Custom Code Analyzer work for you. Based on my experience, for a low footprint analysis, if you do not have a SAP NetWeaver 7.50 ABAP system already available yet

Frank recommends:

Install a temporary sandbox SAP NetWeaver 7.50 system. An easy way to do this would be to create a respective instance in Amazon Web Services via the SAP Cloud Appliance Library as described in Mahesh Sardesai’s blog How to get around the issue of being on older Netweaver version for Simplification DB and complete in less than one hour.
Upgrade that system to the latest Support Packages. At the time of this blog these were:
Create a temporary sandbox system as an as recent as possible copy of the production system you plan to analyse.
Install the respective support packages as per SAP Note 2185390 - Custom Code Analyzer for the release of the sandbox system you just created system AFTER following the manual preparation instructions:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Manuelle Vorarbeit |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|GÜLTIG FÜR |
|Softwarekomponente   SAP_BASIS                      SAP Basis compo...|
| Release 700          SAPKB70012 - SAPKB70032                         |
| Release 701          SAPKB70109 - SAPKB70117                         |
| Release 702          SAPKB70211 - SAPKB70217                         |
| Release 731          SAPKB73109 - SAPKB73116                         |
| Release 740          SAPKB74004 - SAPKB74012                         |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Open transaction SE80
- Select package BASIS
- Create subpackage SYCM_MAIN
- Use 'Custom Code Management' as description
- Use 'BC-DWB-CEX' as application component
- Use 'No Translation' as translation relevance (if this option is visible on the screen s it is relevant in SAP Systems only)
- Set the flag 'Package Encapsulated'
- Set the transport layer to SAP if you create the package in a customer system
- Select package SYCM_MAIN
- Create subpackage SYCM_ANALYSIS
- Use 'Custom Code Management: Analysis of custom code' as description
- Use 'BC-DWB-CEX' as application component
- Use 'Developer Tools' as translation relevance (if this option is visible on the screen as it is relevant in SAP Systems only)
- Set the flag 'Package Encapsulated'
- Set the transport layer to SAP if you create the package in a customer system
Prepare the sandbox system for the repository download by scheduling program SAPRSEUB – this might take a while to complete:
Create a variant of report SYCM_DOWNLOAD_REPOSITORY_INFO that reflects the customer namespace you would like to analyse. The namespace /0CUST/ represents customer development objects starting with Z* or Y*:
Execute the variant you just created as a background job. The execution should not take long at all:
Execute the same variant in SE38 to download the S4HMigrationRepositoryInfoSID.zip file:
Download the latest support package of the Simplification Database Content from the SAP Service Marketplace. At the time of this blog this was CCMSIDB00P_2-80001018.ZIP Simplification Database Content Patch 2:
Upload the Simplification Database Content into your NetWeaver 7.50 system with report SYCM_UPLOAD_SIMPLIFIC_INFO:
Upload your S4HMigrationRepositoryInfoSID.zip file with report SYCM_UPLOAD_REPOSITORY_INFO:
Finally run report SYCM_DISPLAY_SIMPLIFICATIONS to see the results:

Especially important are columns Simplification Category and SAP Note, that explains the details.

At TechEd last year, I welcomed you to the Future.

It was the day of Marty McFly’s time travel to the future of 2015. Today, it’s the Past already.

This week, it's time for another SAP TechEd Lecture of the Week.

So, welcome to 2016 and here it is: Transition Paths to SAP S/4HANA.

Why is this related?

2016 is the year of SAP's new Business Suite SAP S/4HANA which is now available, both in the cloud and on premise. This is here today, it’s the Present.

So while you’ve probably already given up on some of your New Year's resolutions, SAP has big plans with S/4HANA in 2016 and it’s still at the top of our list. To get there, we want to make your transformation as smooth as possible.

There are 3 different transition scenarios, depending on where you are coming from (SAP vs. non-SAP ERP), the reason for your move (getting latest features vs. starting with new business processes) and where you’re going to (cloud vs. on-premise deployment).

The 3 scenarios are:

New Implementation:
New implementation of SAP S/4HANA– e.g. customer migrating from a non-SAP legacy system or an SAP legacy system and implementing a net-new system that requires initial data load (aka green field approach)
System Conversion:
Complete conversion of an existing SAP Business Suite system to SAP S/4HANA– e.g. customers who want to change their current SAP system to SAP S/4 HANA (aka lift & shift)
Landscape Transformation:
Consolidation of current regional SAP systems into one global SAP S/4HANA system – e.g. customers who want to consolidate their landscape or carve out selected entities (like a company code) or processes into a single SAP S/4HANA system (aka System Landscape Transformation)

When customers are moving to SAP S/4HANA, whether their existing system is SAP ERP or they're considering implementing new SAP software, choosing the right transition path is important to mitigate the risk and reduce implementation costs. The strategy for this move and also some of your unanswered question are all addressed in this virtual session.

It’s just a click away.

What’s next?

Stay in touch with us by following my blog:

A better way to migrate your SAP data with Rapi... | SCN

New Implementation (Wednesday, January 20th, 2016) - including SAP Activate!
System Conversion (Tuesday, January 26th, 2016)
Landscape Transformation(Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016)

Watch The Data Migration Guys:

Introducing the Data Migration Guys | SCN

Data Migration Community Space:

Data Migration | SCN

More information about Data Migration:

SAP Service Marketplace - Home

Last week I got the chance to lay my hands on a S4 HANA 1511 OnPremise Edition system for the first time.

While waiting for our system to be available, I have read the Simplification List (I’m using version 1.5 for references) in detail, so I had some expectations what I will see (and maybe even more Important what I will no longer see). Here are some examples comparing the list and the system experience.

I’m accessing the system via the classical SapGui-functions (using Business Client 6.0), and see if I get my processes running that way. (Exploring the new Fiori UI is left to a later stage).

System – Status says:

Product-Version: SAP S/4HANA ON-PREMISE 1511
SAP_BASIS 750 0000 - SAP Basis Component
S4CORE 100 0000 - S4CORE
(there’s no SAP_APPL!)

2.1.1.1 Business Partner Approach - BP replacing vendor master and customer master

Calling VD01 leads me directly to BP, with the message “Redirection to transaction BP, as transaction VD01 is obsolete”. Same is true for XK01, MK01…

VD02 and VD03 let me select the customer before redirecting me to BP.

So this is what was announced in 2.1.1.1 Business Partner Approach -> all is done via BP.

I didn’t expect getting redirected if you try to use some of the old transactions (e.g. VK01) but consider it a nice service for people transitioning from ECC.

Interesting: KNA1 and LFA1 are still filled, when creating the corresponding BusinessPartner.

2.1.2.1 SD Simplified Data Models:

From 2.1.2.1 SD Simplified Data Models:

“Field length extension of SD document category: Data element VBTYP (Char1) has been replaced by data element VBTYPL (Char4)”

-> true, VBAK-VBTYP now has Data-Element VBTYPL, an it is 4 characters long.

“Elimination of Status Tables VBUK, VBUP: “

Well: VBUK, VBUP: they seem to still be there, but are not filled!

“Status fields have been moved to the corresponding header and item tables - VBAK and VBAP for sales documents, LIKP, and LIPS for deliveries, VBRK for billing documents”

true: VBAK now has the status fields (.INCLUDE VBAK_STATUS), same for VBAP (.INCLUDE VBAP_STATUS)

“Elimination of redundancies – Document Index Tables VAKPA , VAPMA, VLKPA, VLPMA, VRKPA, VRPMA”

well: they seem to still be there, and they are filled!

2.1.9.1 Data model in inventory management (MM-IM)

There now is a table MATDOC, and it’s filled.

MSEG and MKPF seem to still be there, and seem to be filled. They appear as Transparent Tables.

2.1.9.2 Availability of Transactions in MM-IM

“The following transactions for entering and displaying goods movements (material documents) - called "MB transactions" (below) are not available with SAP S/4HANA. […]MB01, MB02, MB03, MB04, MB05, MB0A, MB11, MB1A, MB1B, MB1C, MB31, MBNL, MBRL, MBSF,MBSL, MBST and MBSU”

True! MB03 redirects to MIGO, MB01, MB31, MBSF gives a message that it cannot be used: “Transaction MB01 is obsolete (see note 2210569 )”. -> ok.

2.1.4.11 Classic MM-PUR GUI Transactions replacement

OK, here’s the first time, that the Simplification List clearly seems to be lying:

“Transaction not available in SAP S/4HANA on-premise edition 1511:”

ME21

ME22

ME23

ME24

ME25

ME26

ME27

ME28

[and some more]

Well, I can use ME21 just fine, I successfully created a PO with it! I also used ME22 and ME23.

1.6 Elimination of tables - general

Using a SapGui point of view (SE11, SE16, SE16n) the tables that should have been eliminated seem to still be there. I cannot tell a difference between VBUK (should have been eliminated) and VBAK (should still be there).

I see two possible explanations for that:

The compatibility views (aka equally named views) are abstracting so well that I cannot tell them apart from “real” transparent tables.
Despite the simplification list saying so, they have NOT been eliminated.

[Edit: the first explanation now seems more likely to me, as I have tried writing into one of those Tables (MKPF) and it didn't work (update set is giving an RC = 4). ]

Another thing to note: some of the tables are still filled while executing business processes (like MKPF), others are not (like VBUK).

1.7 Elimination of Transactions / dead code

Some transaction (ME21) have not been eliminated at all. The others are either re-directing to a new Transaction (VK01 -> BP; MB03 -> MIGO), or giving error messages, that they can no longer be used (MB01).

But: The codebase is still there, it has not been eliminated. (I checked it on the example of MBSF -> SAPMM07M). So I have unused (dead) code in my system, which does not seem to be a good idea in regards to maintenance.

1.8 Outlook

Maybe you can give me some tips, to help evaluate my experiences?

E.g.

- what would be a good way to really look at tables (probably down on HANA DB-level?) an tell if the really have been eliminated or not.

- has maybe the 1511 cloud edition been more consequent in really elimination stuff, like promised (or threatened?) in the Simplification List? E.g. what happens, when you try ME21 in Cloud Edition?

- (how) will we get rid of the obsolete codebase in future releases?

I hope you enjoyed my blog, which in fact is my first one ever, so your feedback is very welcome!

There are lots of things to be aware of when you are thinking about moving to the new SAP S/4 HANA. You should be aware that it’s not an upgrade, we are talking about a suite transformation.

One of the most important innovations in the new SAP Business Suite, is the simplified data model, which has particular impact on the financials area of your existing suite.

Don’t be daunted, but be aware that there are some “todos” before your SAP S/4H go-live

1. Universal Journal, this massive simplification completes the circle that started with the initial simple finance add-on.

The classic R/3 structure could be represented as one single link, at a header level between FI and CO. That constraint created more complexity for reconciliation purposes in the first instance and secondly for interrogation of the information. The result being the creation of summarization and index tables.

The Simple Finance add-on was merely an intermediate step, including POSNR (Position Number) and AWKEY field for reconciliation purposes between the different financial tables and analytical areas.

With the Universal Journal, the simplification has gone much further. We are now in front one of the major simplifications thanks to HANADB and its in-memory capabilities.

Major impacts of this innovation are, from my perspective, at a change management and data governance level. Because the data model is different, the approach to some of the classic problems should be different:

Secondary elements are now G/L accounts.

Accounting principles are now at a company code level.

If the fiscal year differs, you will need to use ledgers to represent parallel accountings.

2. Only customers with customer/vendor integration in place can move to SAP S/4HANA.

To ensure a successful conversion to the new SAP S/4HANA, all customers and vendors should be first converted into business partners. This is also true for the business partners that are already in use. When the customer/vendor transformation process is triggered, the system posts all required fields into the business partner.

SAP OSS Notes that will help you through the process:

2211312

2216176

1623677

Major impact on the master data governance area.

3. The account based CO-PA switch should be turned on.

Don’t be afraid, but be aware that SAP allows to have both switches on. Therefore, you will only need to activate the account to start using SAP S/4HANA.

Costing- based: groups costs and revenues using value fields
Account-based: it’s organised in general ledger accounts and is always reconciled with Finance.
Combinations: Costing- Based + Account based

Custom fields (equivalent to CE1XXX old tables) are still allowed, they need to be handled in the new universal journal table ACDOCA, which will give you instant insights and easy extensibility. Derivation rules are still available.

“The don’ts”, no option to include calculated fields as per example freight insurances.

4. Material ledger is mandatory for classic material valuation.

I’m aware or at least my experience tells me that the use of material ledger is not massively extended to Europe. For the new SAP S/4HANA this will be mandatory. This feature will give you the ability to carry material prices in multiple currencies/valuations, and the actual costings to your organization.

How will this impact my organization, once we activate material ledger?

New net customers can activate Material Ledger during migration/Go-Live.
Existing customers without ML can activate Material Leger during migration/Go-Live as well.  
For existing customers with active ML but not using transfer prices, migration program transfers data to the new S/4HANA tables.

Do I need to change material valuation strategy approach?

This is clearly a don’t. SAP still recommends the classic approach.

Another don’t: transfer prices are not yet supported in SAP S/4HANA.

(S- price) Standard price still recommended for manufactured goods. The major innovation is that parallel updates are supported and application logs removed.

(V- price) Moving average price will be used for purchased materials and services. Application locks are still in place to ensure continuous consistency.

(PU-price) Actual costing based on Material ledger

Balances per material and inventory account in up to 3 FI currency types: company code, Group, a third FI currency type.
All balances are updated in the new ACDOCA table.
Currencies defined for the leading ledger in Financial Accounting will be used.
No separate currency customizing in Material Ledger

Material Price Analysis will work as expected. However, displayed data from aggregated data sets (MLCD) and then drilled down to the document level (MLIT, MLPP) will be now read from the universal journal (ACDOCA).

5. Revenue recognition with SAP Revenue accounting

The existing SD-RR solution cannot be used for new IFRS15 accounting standards. This new solution includes enhancement in account determination to be compliant with IFRS15/ ASVC606.

SAP OSS notes

2225170 - S/4 HANA SD-Revenue Recognition 
2227824 - S4/HANA Pre-check for SD-Revenue Recognition

Custom code will no longer work in S/4HANA

Revenue Accounting determines the G/L accounts to be posted for order items using an extended account determination (OKB9)

Below is a useful link to review all the pre-checks necessary for your next step to digitalization.

https://uacp.hana.ondemand.com/http.svc/rc/PRODUCTION/pdfe68bfa55e988410ee10000000a441470/1511%20000/en-US/CONV_OP1511.pdf

Thanks for rating!

Stay tuned for more, xherce (@xherce) | Twitter

Digital economy has arrived in a big way and only a few people will disagree that it is here to stay. Digital transformation, which is fueling the digital economy, is rapidly disrupting the entire value chain in many industries. You need a digital core for your business to survive and thrive in such a fast paced digital economy. A digital core platform allows you to get connected with your customers, supply chain partners, social networks, devices and things, all at the same time. In other words, it enables you to digitalize and internet-ize your business. SAP S/4 HANA is a digital core platform designed and developed by SAP.

SAP S/4 HANA enables you to connect to the internet economy in the ways which could not be imagined just some time back. It helps you digitalize your value chain with all the value chain partners around 4 key digital transformation themes –

Omni channel customer experience
Supplier collaboration business networks
Workforce engagement, and
Internet of things.

There are 5 important innovations which underlie SAP S/4 HANA digital core platform -

Simple Data Model: With a simplified data model, SAP S/4 HANA is able to achieve upto 10x smaller data footprint. This also helps achieve a faster deployment time and overall a reduced total cost of ownership.
Modern User Experience: With SAP Fiori UX, the user experience is getting transformed from a cluttered, boring desktop user interface to a modern, inspirational user experience which is responsive and device agnostic
Innovative Business Solutions: With simplified and innovative solutions such as SAP Simple Finance, Simple Logistics, SAP Predictive Analytics – the businesses are able to leverage continuous waves of innovation without disrupting their existing environment
Choice of Deployment: SAP S/4 HANA can be deployed either On-Premise or on the cloud. This gives significant flexibility to the businesses depending upon their current landscape and future goals
Non-Disruptive Journey: SAP customers can start their journey to SAP S/4 HANA from wherever they are, which means there is a deployment path available even if you are a new SAP customer or an existing customer.

The last point mentioned in the above list needs further investigation as how existing or new SAP customers can adopt SAP S/4 HANA in a non-disruptive way to make it a digital core for their business. Let’s look at the 3 situations possible and discuss 3 deployment options which suit these situations.

There are 3 starting points as the customer journey to SAP S/4 HANA which are a) New SAP customer, b) Existing customer with SAP Business Suite on any DB and c) Existing customer with SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA. The On-premise deployment options vary according to each of these situations.

Starting Point A
New SAP Customers

This is a new implementation of SAP HANA on-premise edition. The customer journey includes 4 key steps (main steps, not the complete technical list) as mentioned below -

           Plan the scope and identify key business scenarios
           Install HANA and S/4 HANA: This would require installation of SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP 7.5 based on SAP HANA,                followed by installation of SAP S/4 HANA on-premise edition. After this, SAP Fiori for SAP S/4 HANA on premise edition needs to be installed
           Import data from legacy application as needed

Install exchange innovation such as SAP Simple Finance.

In summary, in this scenario, first SAP S/4 HANA implementation is done and then master and transactional data are migrated from the legacy system.

     2. Starting Point B
        Customers with SAP ERP on any database

        In this scenario, the customer wants to migrate from on-premise SAP ERP to SAP S/4 HANA, on-premise edition. The customer journey involves           6 key steps as mentioned below -

           Plan the scope and identify key business scenarios
           Update SAP ERP ECC6 to EhP7 and Unicode data types. This also includes updating to SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP 7.5
           Migrate the database to SAP HANA
           Install SAP S/4 HANA on-premise edition and install SAP Fiori for SAP S/4 HANA, on-premise edition
           Migrate the data from old data structures to the new simplified data structures
           Install exchange innovation such as SAP Simple Finance.

3. Starting Point C
Customers with SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA

In this scenario, the customer wants to migrate from on-premise SAP ERP powered by SAP HANA to SAP S/4 HANA. The customer journey involves 3 key steps as mentioned below –

Plan the scope and identify key business scenarios
Install exchange innovation such as SAP Simple Finance.

In case the customers want to start with SAP S/4 HANA cloud edition, the journey is going to comprise the following steps –

Try SAP S/4 HANA cloud edition and buy the subscription
Migrate the data to SAP S/4 HANA cloud edition from the legacy system
Integrate the applications with SAP S/4 HANA cloud edition as necessary
Test and use SAP S/4 HANA cloud edition.

Depending upon their starting point, the SAP customers can walk an appropriate journey path and deploy and run SAP S/4 as their digital core which can help them survive and thrive in the digital economy.

Why understanding the “END-RELEASE” is important!!

• Name SAP S/4HANA is associated (loosely used) with both release SAP S/4HANA 1511 & SAP S/4HANA 1503

• Optimizations in Finance Area can be realized using any of TWO ways :

o Simple Finance – S/4HANA 1503 aka sFIN 2.0 ( Suite on HANA + sFIN)

o Finance in S/4HANA 1511 RELEASE (S/4HANA 1511)

• Finance related optimizations are available in both releases. Hence, it is important to understand what is the difference in Finance as well as other areas in both these versions.

• with release of 1511, for work-in-Progress RFPs, Proposals & Projects in preparation phase – it is worth to REVISIT the “Proposed Solution” If the solutioning was done with base as SoH+sFIN 2.0 (aka 1503), then it’s suggested to revisit the decision – with respect to “End-Release” (i.e. 1503 or 1511…), project plan, efforts, functionalities and so on….

Comparing SAP S/4HANA 1503 vs SAP S/4HANA 1511 !!

Frankly speaking, actually comparing these two release is like comparing a horse to an Elephant … (I like both animals btw  so no offence)… however since the name SAP S/4HANA continues to be associated with both releases – 1503 & 1511, it becomes a necessity to compare these two versions – especially in the interest of clients & Projects

• Planning to adopt / migrate to SAP S/4HANA

• In-Flight Projects who are in Project-Preparation phase

• Want to know the functionality and technical difference between the two.

Who may prefer to OPT for 1511 (or future release) over 1503 !!

• Business where Sales, Manufacturing, Procurement processes are critical and important - e.g. Manufacturing Companies

• Business wanting benefits from Simplification and innovations in Logistics Area

• S&MB looking for adopting SAP S/4HANA and DIMP Processes

Who may prefer to OPT for 1503 over 1511 !!

• Business where Finance is a critical area and company looking for innovations and optimizations ONLY in Finance area!!

• Financial Reporting is a Key pain area and companies looking for a “Consolidated and Central” Financial reporting!!

Parameters to consider ??

So, What are the KEY Differences!!

(A) Finance Innovations in SAP S/4HANA 1511 (Over 1503)

(B) Other Difference between SAP S/4HANA 1503 & SAP S/4HANA 1511

http://scn.sap.com/community/s4hana/blog/2015/12/10/sap-s4hana-1511-key-principles-implementation-impact-solution-landscapehttp://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-68846

& now some feedback / questions which I would like to receive :

(a) Have you come across such a situation / query ?

(b) Should I have incorporated any other dimension ?

I would be glad to know your views and suggestions....

Maybe you have read the Simplification List about lots of tables(like MSEK, MKPF, VBUK, VAPMA …) being eliminated in S/4 HANA 1511 on premise edition. When looking at an actual system, have you been wondering (I sure have, see my previous blog ), why they still seem to be there?

-> You see them in SE11 as transparent tables and you can select data from them with SE16n.

Here’s how you can see what’s behind it:

In SE11, goto Menu -> Extras -> Proxy Object:

Here you can see what’s behind it: A CDS-view!

Like SE11 tells you, you can look at the CDS views with ADT (aka ABAP in Eclipse). Or just use report RUTDDLSSHOW2:

I hope you enjoyed this update, keep exploring! (I sure will!)

Best

Joachim

How to save time needed to import 36 languages for S4HANA 1511 New Installation with Best Practices

For S/4HANA 1511 New installation when using Best Practices, language import is needed as per note 2231568 - SAP Best Practices for S/4HANA, on premise edition U.S.A (USV1) and Admin Guide for Solution ImplementationSection 2.2 – Handling Language Import.

Using SAPINST - Each language is installed sequentially. This takes a long time. Just the install of French language took 3 hrs 15 min. considering average of 2.5 hrs the 36 additional languages should take 90 hrs which is approx. 4 days. You can use this procedure to save time when installing 36 languages or when there are many languages required to be installed.

1. PREPARATION:

Provide additional space of approx 100GB will be needed in /usr/sap/trans. There should be sufficient background jobs. Also, take a backup at this point.

The media directory structure is as shown below after extracting the zip files:

vhcals4hci:/media/51050422_LNG1/DATA_UNITS # ls

AR BG CA CS DA DE EL EN ES ET FI

vhcals4hci:/media/51050422_LNG2/DATA_UNITS # ls

FR HE HI HR HU IT JA KK KO LT LV NL NO PL PT RO

vhcals4hci:/media/51050422_LNG3/DATA_UNITS # ls

RU SH SK SL SV TH TR UK VI ZF ZH

Copy the *.PAT files into /usr/sap/trans/EPS/in with this single command

vhcals4hci: cp /media/51050422_LNG?/DATA_UNITS/??/*.PAT /usr/sap/trans/EPS/in/.

2. ADD LANGUAGES IN RSCPINST:

Execute tCode SE38, program RSCPINST

Click on Add Language

RtClick First Column and select Set Filter from Popup

Click on Multiple Selection

Select items from below for cut & paste

Click on icon below to paste all 38 language codes

Click on Execute and Ok

Click on Select All

You will get screen like this. Languages already installed will be shown

Click on Check and then Activate. You will get message below

3. SETUP MONITORING AT OS LEVEL:

While the languages are being imported in the next step you will see no job running in SAP.

But R3trans processes will be running. The following scripts will help to check progress:

Monitor CPU Consumptionm in one window command :
top
Count number of R3trans processes at OS level and they reduce in umber as the language import is completed.command :
ps -ef | grep R3trans | wc -l
Monitor Space at OS level in directory /usr/sap/trans with comma:
df -h
Count the number of files in /usr/sap/trans/tmp. The number of languages remaining to be imported are approx half the number of files here.
ls –l /usr/sap/trans/tmp | wc -l
Tail ALOG file in /usr/sap/trans/log. Find out the last ALOG file like ALOG1601 and tail the file to check current date to substitute MM, DD and execute command:
grep "S4H.ALL R 0004 2016MMDD" ALOG1601.S4H

4. ADD LANGUAGES TO SMLT:

enter tCode SMLT click on create icon. Assuming the box is not used for any other work, as you add each language watch the CPU utilisation and after you reach about 70%, wait for 5 minutes before adding next language.

5. REPEAT ABOVE STEPS FOR ALL LANGUAGES:

Add one by one language from below list shown here for Cut and Paste. Please pick the correct ones from the popup list one by one.

AR Arabic

BG Bulgarian

CA Catalan

CS Czech

DA Danish

DE German - Already installed

EL Greek

EN English--- - Already installed

ES Spanish

ET Estonian

FI Finnish

FR French

HE Hebrew

HI Hindi

HR Croatian

HU Hungarian

IT Italian

JA Japanese

KK Kazakh

KO Korean

LT Lithuanian

LV Latvian

NL Dutch

NO Norwegian

PL Polish

PT Portuguese

RO Romanian

RU Russian

SH Serbian(Latin)

SK Slovak

SL Slovenian

SV Swedish

TH Thai

TR Turkish

UK Ukrainian

VI Vietnamese

ZF Chinesetrad.

ZH Chinese

The screen should look like this. Please ensure the number of languages is 38.

6. IMPORT PACKAGES:

Against each language click on Import Package icon

Find Packages, Select and Execute

7. MONITOR THE JOB:

A job will be launched in SM37

8. REPEAT ABOVE STEP FOR ALL LANGUAGES:

Check the jobs scheduled

The process of adding and running all above can be completed in 30 mins

9. MONITOR PROCESSES AT OS LEVEL AND IMPORT STATUS IN SMLT:

After above jobs are completed, you will need to monitor R3trans processes as below. The number of R3trans processes reduces as language import is completed.

All above should be completed in 7 Hrs

Following is the typical order of import if you have added all languages in SMLT one after other in listed sequence, The first language to finish was CA – Catalonia and after that in 4 minutes language ET finishes and so on. Arabic Language finishes last.

CA 4hrs8min

ET 4hrs12min

LV 4hrs33min

NO 4hrs36min

FI 4hrs40min

SH 4hrs42min

SL 4hrs47min

HE 4hrs49min

UK 4hrs49min

KO 4hrs49min

HI 4hrs49min

HR 4hrs49min

SV 5hrs

VI 5hrs1min

PL 5hrs5min

RO 5hrs7min

KK 5hrs8min

EL 5hrs10min

NL 5hrs11min

HU 5hrs13min

DA 5hrs14min

LT 5hrs16min

ZF 5hrs17min

SK 5hrs18min

TH 5hrs20min

TR 5hrs22min

RU 5hrs26min

IT 5hrs28min

CS 5hrs35min

PT 5hrs36min

JA 5hrs38min

ZH 5hrs39min

ES 5hrs41min

BG 6hrs

AR 6hrs 10min

The above procedure can also be used in case there are many languages to be imported for other products.

Mahesh Sardesai

Product Expert

S4HANA Regional Implementation Group

S/4 HANA On-premise edition (1511 release) is out with hype. SAP clearly says ‘It is a new product’ and the path to S/4 HANA from ERP ECC is not an upgrade. Not sure whether existing SAP customers has any choice rather than switch to S/4 HANA at certain point in time, the moot question is When and How to move to S/4 HANA .

When: S/4 HANA is not fully released i.e developments are ongoing and will continue for more years. SAP has a road map, but no completion date. So, should the transition be started when it is fully released? SAP’s marketing person says to start the journey as SAP is releasing its functionalities over time.

How: SAP says 3 transition paths as in below screen shot.

If it is migration (System conversion or Landscape transformation), then probably all old (and redundant) custom codes, existing order types also will be carried over, then will the innovations or simplicity really be achieved? Is new-implementation a better option to come out of legacy or changed business processes? Or a mixed approach ( like System conversion for core ECC functionality and then new implementation for IBP) is better?.There is no straight answers to ‘When’ and ‘How’ questions. But the most important is to analyze the Simplification (or restriction) list as in URL https://uacp.hana.ondemand.com/http.svc/rc/PRODUCTION/pdfa4322f56824ae221e10000000a4450e5/1511%20000/en-US/SIMPL_OP1511.pdf , understand the impacted functionalities on conversion to S/4 HANA and then decide considering the complexity , custom developments , dependency with other SAP applications , feasibility of streamlining businesses, industry specific solution , minimal disruption to business etc . Highlighted below some of the On-premise functionalities which will be different (and/or not available) in S/4 HANA and must be pre-checked for migration or transition before deciding the path for S/4 HANA journey.

Finance :Migration from classic G/L to new G/L (using ledger to update particular valuation) is mandatory. Secondary cost elements will now be G/L accounts and need to migrated to chart of accounts. Existing functionality of parallel valuation needs to be adapted due to merger of FI & CO tables into universal journal. Activation of material ledger is mandatory . Account based COPA is now the default option though Costing based COPA is still available.Actual costing is optional. Some migrations are also needed if source system is already active with material ledger.

Business partner : Customer and vendor master data will be replaced by Business partner . Customer / vendor integration (CVI) is a Pre-requisite for transition to S/4HANA. Custom fields or code (if any) for auto creation of customer or vendor master data etc need to adapted to Business partner.

Material number extension : Material number can now be 40 characters from existing 18. It is a optional feature. Impact of this extension on custom coding, interfaces, other SAP applications need to be evaluated before switching on 40 characters.

Foreign trade: Functionality of foreign trade under SD (Sales & distribution) has been deprecated with SAP’s GTS (Global trade service). There is an option to integrate GTS natively in S&4 HANA or it can be separate application / instance. Existing foreign trade processes need to be analyzed.

Change in SD data model : There are several changes in SD data model including pricing (which is the heart of existing applications). SAP has provided some migration options to move data from existing tables to new tables, however it needs to be evaluated the impact of amendment / append of existing tables.

Credit management : SD credit management is replaced by Credit management under Financial Supply Chain Management (FSCM).

SD revenue recognition: Revenue recognition is not supported. SAP's Recommendation is to migrate to ‘Revenue accounting and reporting’. Not all functionalities of revenue recognition are available in release 1.1 of Revenue Accounting and Reporting

Rebate: SD Rebate Processing (excepting SAP CRM Trade Promotion Management (TPM) is replaced by Settlement Management. Existing rebate agreements must be closed by a final settlement before migration.

Billing : Contract billing is not supported . Existing billing output (through NAST ) needs to be migrated to Adobe , Smart forms etc.

Variant configuration , BOM Version: Certain functionalities are not supported

MRP : Material Planning only on plant and MRP area is possible , but not on storage location level (as a part of simplification) . MRP will be run through MRP Live (optimized for HANA). Net change planning is not supported.

ATP & Scheduling : APO’s GATP & PPDS functionalities are expected to be bundled in future release of S/4 HANA for Availability check and production scheduling. MRP live is pre-requisite for PPDS functionality in S/4 HANA.

S&OP : Sales and operational planning will be replaced by IBP (Integrated business planning). Some functionalities of APO are also being made available in IBP.

Product catalog : SAP is positioning Hybris for web / internet processes , Product catalog will not be in target architecture.

SRM : S/4 HANA will have SRM bundled within it . Only limited SRM functionalities are included in 1511 release.

Quality management : ITS services for results recording , quality notifications & certificates are not supported .

Project system : PRT (Production resources and tools) , texts , claim , Easy cost planning (ECP) , Work force planning , project reports , OpenPS , cProjects will not be supported. Many transaction codes will not be present as a part of simplification . Existing CJ20N is being enhanced for navigation to different reports. Needs huge knowledge transfer to users. Archiving needs to be done through central SARA transactions i.e not by individual transaction like CN80 etc.

Warehouse management : Standard WM functionality is available though it is not in Target architecture. Existing warehousing (WM) functionality will be replaced by EWM (Extended warehouse management). Migration for existing EWM (running separately) customers to natively integrated S/4 HANA also needs to be evaluated. QIE within EWM also will be made obsolete. It is not clear how quality functions of existing EWM will work within S/4 HANA.

Transportation : Existing Logistics execution transportation (LE-TRA) is also not in target architecture and may be replaced by TM (Transportation management). TM has several advanced functionalities on transportation planning , optimization , freight charge / settlement, carrier selection & procurement, but has huge master data requirement. Is TM an overkill for customer (Shipper) with simple distribution requirement?

There are obvious advantages in unifying several applications within S/4 HANA as highlighted in other blog in URL http://scn.sap.com/community/s4hana/blog/2015/11/19/sap-s-road-map-for-supply-chain-solution-with-s4-hana-and-its-expected-benefits , however the implementation of EWM in place WM , TM in place of LE-TRA are separate projects by itself. So, the warm up (Pre-check) for move to S/4 HANA will be a huge project spanning several years. SAP’s innovations may be in right direction, but the journey towards unified digital platform will not be that simple and that is probably the reason for changing the name for ‘Simple finance’ to ‘S/4 HANA Finance’ or ‘Simple logistics’ to ‘S/4 HANA Logistics’.

So this weekend is Super Bowl 50, and the San Francisco Bay Area is expecting over one million visitors as a result. For those of you outside the US, it's hard to explain the level of excitement and amount of detail that is going into this experience happening in just a few days. Think of it like the World Cup, just with more helmets and a ball that gets thrown more than kicked.

American football is celebrated more on Super Bowl day than any other day of the year, and SAP will be right there in the middle of the action! SAP technology is powering the "Fan Energy Zone" in downtown San Francisco where fans can play virtual football games and have their performance tracked and ranked in real-time. These games measure skills, reward players that collaborate, and process game data in real-time. You can read all about it here, including details on the 50-foot wide by 15-foot tall Fan Wall that updates fan scores and leaderboards.

This is all powered by SAP HANA, SAP's platform for next-generation applications and analytics. Regardless of the use case (fun times at a football game or inventory optimization at a warehouse), SAP HANA is designed to accelerate database processing, deliver more intelligence, integrate all types of data, and simplify the IT environment. And that last point is what I really want to stress next. Often times businesses get nervous about the costs or other unforeseen pain points associated with transitioning or migrating to a next-generation technology like this.

But SAP's already thought through the most common scenarios and has put together SAP Activate, what we like to call our "innovation adoption framework" for enabling a path for any SAP customer (or potential SAP customer) to implement SAP S/4HANA, SAP's next-gen business suite built on SAP HANA (the advanced in-memory platform mentioned earlier that's powering all the fun stuff at Super Bowl 50). The idea is for you to be able to take advantage of SAP S/4HANA quickly, regardless of your starting circumstances and without having to worry about what it takes to get there.

So that's why I'm happy to announce our latest openSAP course: SAP S/4HANA Implementation. It's a free course open to anyone interested in learning all about the most popular adoption scenarios for getting to SAP S/4HANA. It features lots of system demos and walkthroughs and includes everything you need to know to get started on the topic. The course is only four weeks long and requires just 2-3 hours per week for you to be able to complete it successfully.

Learn more details and sign up on the landing page here. Looking forward to seeing you in the course and, until then, enjoy the Super Bowl!

Last year at SAP TechEd in Las Vegas I had the pleasure to talk about SAP S/4HANA. The focus was on how SAP S/4HANA enables the digital transformation of businesses. Companies need to be prepared to seize a business opportunity the moment it comes into sight. The way to achieve this agility is with a flexible, digital core at the heart of every organization.

With SAP S/4HANA we are redefining business applications in an era of in-memory computing and big data. In my session I explained why SAP S/4HANA is a game changer for our customers, how the roadmap looks like and how our customers can get there. We simplified the data model taking out all aggregates and indices on the one hand and also simplified the user experience on the other. With SAP S/4HANA we are offering a complete Business Suite for all lines of business including choice of deployment. You can run it in the cloud or on-premise.

To get an overview of SAP S/4HANA delivering end-to-end, digitized operations through simplified IT I encourage you to watch the replay of my keynote. This gives you a comprehensive introduction into the topic.

Watch the Lecture Replay

Customer Adoption: Three-digit number of live customers

As adoption numbers are changing rapidly I would like to give you an update. SAP S/4HANA has to-date significantly over 2,700 licensed customers worldwide with a three-digit number of live customers. With that we truly have a global reach and we proofed that this new solution is stable. The fast adoption shows how fast the time to value is our customers can expect. This is a huge success given the fact that this new solution was only launched in February 2015 – a real team effort by SAP and its entire ecosystem.

One of these customers is Airbus DS Optronics. The system conversion to SAP S/4HANA as Airbus DS Optronics’ digital core marks a major milestone within the group’s financial digitalization initiative. As part of the project, SAP HANA replaced the database previously used by the company (see SAP News for more information).

Another customer is Swiss Property, a real-estate developer that buys land, designs apartment houses and builds them. Swiss Property is transforming their business model from running the entire value chain in Switzerland to sourcing and pre-fabricating abroad, transporting parts, then assemble the building in Switzerland.

Stay tuned for more updates on SAP S/4HANA. We will be present at various events around the world. Visit the SAP booth at this year’s CeBIT in Hanover or SAPPHIRE in Orlando. In the meantime, if you are itching to learn more I would suggest the following resources for you.

Selection of other SAP S/4HANA related SAP TechEd lectures that should give you together with my lecture an holistic overview:

Link	Presenter
SAP S/4HANA: Transforming Your Business Aspirations into Real Value	Sven Denecken
TEC116: Key Use Cases for SAP S/4HANA and How to Enable Them Technically	Sven Denecken
TEC206: Architecture and Components of SAP S/4HANA	Rudi Hois
TEC103: SAP S/4HANA Overview, Strategy, and Road Map	Rudi Hois
BA214: Reporting with SAP S/4HANA: From Operational Reporting to Insight-to-Action	Thomas Fleckenstein

Want to learn more?

Website: www.sap.com/s4hana (EN); www.sap.de/s4hana (DE)
Roadmap on SAP Service Market Place (Login required)
FAQ
SAP S/4HANA on SCN
Simplification List
You can get started on your digital journey with the IDC Digital Transformation Benchmarking tool and put your transformation in motion for the coming year.
- En: https://sap.dx-idcmaturityscapesnapshot.com/
- De: https://go.sap.com/germany/cmp/dg/crm-de15-1it-plt-bk01/index.html und http://discover.sap.com/germany-digital-transformation

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FPS1 Update

With SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 (initial shipment stack) I published a Blog explaining the status of dedicated Business Functions and their behavior within the system conversion: SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition system conversion: Additional remarks regarding Business Functions

With SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 Feature Pack Stack 1 (FPS1) there are some changes which I want to make available within this blog. More or less the text of the blog is similar to the initial blog - I´ve updated the figures with the current FPS1 state.

Kind Regards,
Frank

___________________

Introduction

As a first step within the SAP S/4HANA, on-premise system conversion the customer will execute the Maintenance Planner. The Maintenance Planner checks the system with regards to business functions, industry solutions, and add-ons. If there is no valid path for the conversion (for example, the add-on is not released yet), the Maintenance Planner prevents the conversion.

For more details see Conversion Guide (SAP Help) or the related SCN Blog (The System Conversion to SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 - Technical procedure and semantic adaption tasks SCN Link).
It is recommended to get familiar with the SAP S/4HANA system conversion basic information.
The following SCN Blog provides specific information about the role of Business Functions within SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 and is based on the basic understanding of the system conversion process.

Business Functions

A business function is a building block of a business function set. From a business perspective, it represents a self-contained function that you can switch on. From a technical point of view, it is a set of switches that assign repository objects to the business function. Business functions are switched on at a system level. For more details regarding Business Functions see SAP Help: Link

Business Functions Sets

The business functions are grouped in business function sets in your ABAP-based ECC system. There are two types of business functions sets:

For most Industry Business Solutions, there is one business function set for each industry. You use this to change your clients of an ECC system over to the applications and solutions tailored for an industry. This business function set covers all industry business functions that can be used for an industry solution to be used exclusively on one system/one instance.
In addition to the industry-specific business function sets, there is a general business function set. This contains the Enterprise business functions and the Enterprise Extensions. These contain functions for the standard applications of Accounting, Logistics, Human Capital Management, and some additional industry-specific applications.

A business function set is activated when you have activated at least one of the related business functions. We therefore recommend that you activate the business function set when you start configuring your system, since the required industry-specific view of your Implementation Guide is only created once you have activated the related business function.For more details regarding SAP ERP Business Functions and Industry Business Solutions see SAP Help:Link

Business Functions Status in SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511

Business Functions can have the following status:

Always on,
Customer switchable,
Always off.

During the system conversion to SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 the following figure gives an overview about the handling of different status of Business Functions.

Start Release (SAP Business Suite)	Target Release (SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511)
State	SAP S/4HANA, on-premise state	Conversion	New State	Remark
ON	ALWAYS_OFF	NO	--	See SAP Note 2240359
OFF	ALWAYS_ON	YES	ON	See SAP Note 2240360
ON	Customer_Switchable	YES	ON
OFF	Customer_Switchable	YES	OFF

ALWAYS OFF in SAP S/4HANA

If a business function was switched“ON” in the Business Suite start release system, but defined as “always_off” in the SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition target release, then a system conversion is not possible with this release (for Business Functions where the status cannot be reverted on start release). See aswell SAP Note 2240359 - SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 Feature Pack Stack 1 (FPS1): Always-Off Business Functions

Find attached the list of Business Functions which are in state ALWAYS_OFF in SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 FPS1 (as well included in SAP note as attachment):

Note 1:
In this constellation it is not possible to convert this system and start a conversion program with the target of productive use. If the intention is a proof of concept to experience SAP S/4HANA it is possible to convert the system by applying a workaround in a non-productive testing environment.

Note 2:

The status of following Business Functions which are currently (SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511) in state “always_off” are planned to be changed. Find attached the list of Business Functions which are planned to be changed.

ALWAYS ON in SAP S/4HANA

If a business function was switched "OFF" in the start release system, but defined as "always_on" in the target release, then the business function will be activated during the conversion. See aswell SAP Note 2240360 - SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 Feature Pack Stack 1 (FPS1): Always-On Business Functions. Find attached the list of Business Functions which are in state ALWAYS_ON in SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 FPS1 (as well included in SAP note as attachment):

Note 1: See SAP Help Portal: http://help.sap.com/s4hana_op_1511 --> Conversion Guide

CUSTOMER SWITCHABLE in SAP S/4HANA

If a business function is defined as "customer_switchable" in the target release (SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511), then the business function status remains unchanged from the status on start release.

Future roadmap and related Business Functions

For the following applications and industries there is a future roadmap. See additionally the following SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management Roadmap: Link

Commodity Management
Additional Industries:
- Healthcare
- Retail / Fashion
- Oil & Gas
- IS-U (WASTE) - (*Roadmap still to be defined
- IS Media (*Roadmap still to be defined)

The Business Functions related to these applications and industries are accordingly as well on a roadmap to be adapted. Find attached the list of Business Functions which related to these applications and industries.

Related information sources

Guides/Documentation

SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 documentation	Link
Conversion Guide for SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511	PDF
Simplification List for SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511	PDF
The System Conversion to SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511 - Technical procedure and semantic adaption tasks – SCN Blog	LINK

Related SAP Notes

SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511: Release Information Note	SAP Note 2189824
SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511: Restriction Note	SAP Note 2214213
SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511: Compatible Add-ons	SAP Note 2214409
SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511: Always-Off Business Functions	SAP Note 2242524
SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511: Always-On Business Functions	SAP Note 2242526

SAP has just launched an update of the Business Scenario Recommendations for SAP S/4HANA. This new version includes the latest information on the new wave of simplification and innovation in SAP S/4HANA Material Management and Operations (SAP S/4HANA 1511 shipment) in addition to the SAP S/4HANA Finance recommendations already available.

The Business Scenario Recommendations report identifies the most valuable digitized business scenarios – running on SAP S/4HANA – for customers, based on their current SAP usage information. Customers can browse the report by line of business and review their individual business scenario details and benefits. It explains the business context, challenges addressed, values, business drivers, as well as, innovations provided by SAP HANA and SAP Fiori for every recommended business scenario. Furthermore, it includes high-level technical prerequisites, information on how to implement SAP S/4HANA and much more.

The report has been enriched with numerous additional business scenarios including many simplified logistics scenarios. It includes new links to Solution Explorer and thousands of new transaction mappings, which improve the accuracy of the analysis.

Discover how SAP S/4HANA can help you become a digital enterprise: In just five minutes you can order the new, enhanced Business Scenario Recommendations for SAP S/4HANA and get your personalized report within approximately five business days. It will help to identify the most valuable digitized business scenarios for your enterprise.

Business Scenario Recommendations for SAP S/4HANA explained in 4 Minutes (video)

Order your free Business Scenario Recommendations report now, download a sample report or find out more information at www.s4hana.com.