Preparing Your SAP S/4HANA Master Data Migration Strategy

Master data management can have a big impact on streamlining data for large programs, like SAP implementations. Many companies may have multiple instances of the same system across different locations or different systems running in different locations. Often, the data created and maintained in one of the systems may have different meanings or uses in the other systems. This makes it difficult to pull insights out of the data, which then hinders the ability to use the data to determine actions – which increases the difficulty of tasks within global financial consolidation and global reporting. It also makes it much harder to ensure that you have the right data for good decision making. 

It can take anywhere from days to weeks to gather the data across the different systems, make any necessary translations, and finally consolidate the data into meaningful information. With all the manual processes typically required to complete these steps to gather insights, there are many areas at high-risk for mistakes to be made. However, with master data management and a set master data migration strategy, data has the same meaning from one system to the next, allowing it to be more easily compiled, and therefore ensuring that it can be more trusted. 

When it comes to migrating to SAP S/4HANA specifically, a comprehensive master data migration strategy is important because there is no single path to data success, particularly given the emerging nature of the technology and the relatively limited number of qualified resources who have significant S/4HANA data migration experience. 

The Data Migration Process

Data migration in an S/4HANA transformation needs to be treated and planned differently than data migration for ERP implementations. The data migration process is different from any previous SAP ECC data migration projects. Also, the data migration strategies do vary drastically between the cloud and on-premises editions for S/4HANA because of implementation requirements. Leveraging SAP best practices will be a very useful way to improve your chances of a successful implementation. 

Important Elements of a Master Data Migration Strategy

To have a clear path to migrate your master data into S/4HANA, there are a few important things to consider, including: 

• Determining how to fit your data migration plan to an agile approach with the new SAP’s Activate Methodology. 

• Identifying how to effectively use the SAP accelerators in the new Activate Methodology which replaces Business Requirement Documents (BRDs) and Technical Requirements Documents (TRDs). 

• Selecting and identifying migration tools for different business objects from the list of SAP’s best practices for on-premises and cloud implementations. 

• Identifying the best course of migration simulation loads or practice loads, if you have only a single non-production client on cloud implementations. 

• Designing and building the process for data extraction and transformation from SAP and non-SAP legacy system, before loading via the migration templates using migration cockpit. 

• Planning and executing the customer/vendor integration, if your version needs customers and vendors to be converted into business partners. 

• Qualifying the data to be migrated and the data reconciliation process. 

• Establishing a good data governance process, especially if there is not a current process in place, will also be a key going forward. 

Three Examples

Data Migration Strategy for S/4HANA in a New Implementation

The data migration strategy for a new S/4HANA implementation (greenfield) can be relatively complex. Clients who are migrating from a non-SAP ERP system or from an SAP ECC system can implement a fresh, new S/4HANA system and migrate the master and transactional data from the legacy system using S/4HANA’s standard migration tools and practices. 

Data Migration Strategy for S/4HANA in a System Conversion

Often called the “lift and shift” method, determining the data migration strategy for a system conversion into S/4HANA (Brownfield) is critically important.  Generally, companies who want to change from their current SAP ERP system to S/4HANA can use the Software Update Manager (SUM). If the legacy ERP system is not on a HANA database, the company could use the Database Migration Option (DMO). 

Data Migration Strategy for Landscape Transformation (SAP LT)

Companies who want to consolidate their multiple regional SAP ERP landscapes into one global S/4HANA system, or who want to carve out selected entities or processes into an existing S/4HANA system (Bluefield), should use the SAP Landscape Transformation (SAP LT) as the path to S/4HANA migration. 

Final Thoughts

Designing a master data migration strategy and solution for S/4HANA can vary a lot from one company to the next. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for this, and it must be planned and executed carefully. If used effectively, Migration Cockpit, Migration Object Modeler, and Rapid Data Migration are some of the best practices and accelerators available to speed up your data migration process. However, additional planning and design work will be required across implementation types and objects. More due diligence will be required to design the full solution for your data migration needs, based on the company’s requirements and processes. 

Contact us for more information and best practices on master data migration for SAP S/4HANA. 

This piece is an adaptation of this piece published by a partner in our business ecosystem, Clarkston Consulting. Learn more about Clarkston here.