It is time to move forward to the next generation of ERP – SAP S/4HANA. For organizations planning a new implementation (versus a system conversion), a data migration project will be necessary. And the scope of that project will depend on several factors, including the number and variety of data sources, the required data transformations and business rules, and the need to improve data quality, as well as the project’s team size and the resulting intensity of collaboration.
Let’s look at some of the SAP data migration technologies that are available to support your migration project to SAP S/4HANA and the common use scenarios for each.
The SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit is a sufficient solution for a migration with low complexity. The typical scenario would involve data being migrated from a single legacy SAP system to a new SAP S/4HANA environment with minimal data transformation requirements. The solution handles small to large volumes of data and includes pre-defined migration objects (content and mapping) for loading data into SAP S/4HANA. It also includes a migration object modeler for the creation of custom or to adapt existing migration objects. However, it offers very little in terms of data transformation capabilities and has no support for data cleansing or de-duplication.
The SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit comes free with SAP S/4HANA on-premise and cloud and should be used as the “last step” tool to load your data into SAP S/4HANA. Note that this tool is the only way to load data to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, extended and essentials edition.
SAP Data Services in conjunction with SAP Information Steward are recommended for migrations that range from a medium to high level of complexity. These solutions support both SAP and non-SAP data sources and are ideal when you will be migrating multiple legacy systems to SAP S/4HANA and data transformation and data quality improvements are needed. These solutions complement the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit by providing the following additional capabilities:
In addition, these solutions will continue to provide your organization value post-migration with reusable rules and transformation objects to support data quality monitoring and remediation to ensure ongoing information excellence within your new SAP S/4HANA environment and resolve any data issues that arise. SAP Information Steward is included in the SAP Data Services Enterprise Edition package, which also includes additional capabilities for data modelling and replication.
SAP Advanced Data Migration by Syniti is the perfect solution for highly complex migrations, involving the data migration of multiple legacy SAP and/or non-SAP systems to SAP S/4HANA and project management of the process is needed to ensure adequate collaboration and tracking across the data migration team and stakeholders. SAP Advanced Data Migration is also useful when the migration project will potentially span more than one phase or wave as the learning from one phase will significantly help subsequent phases. This solution complements the data profiling, assessment, extraction and transformation capabilities of SAP Data Services and SAP Information Steward along with the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit (again, for that “last step” data load into SAP S/4HANA). The advanced data migration solution is ideal for larger migration projects that require project management support and collaboration across a variety of stakeholders. There is powerful artificial intelligence functionality that tracks and learns from experience throughout the migration process, preserving knowledge for future use and improving execution and decision-making. The solution includes:
A general recommendation is that if your data migration project is complex enough to require at least five outside consulting resources, then leverage SAP Advanced Data Migration by Syniti for your project.
Interested in more details about data migration scenarios and solutions? Join us for an upcoming SAP Webcast: Choose the right tool for your S/4HANA migration on July 16, 2020.
To learn more, check out these additional resources:
Let’s look at some of the SAP data migration technologies that are available to support your migration project to SAP S/4HANA and the common use scenarios for each.
SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit
The SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit is a sufficient solution for a migration with low complexity. The typical scenario would involve data being migrated from a single legacy SAP system to a new SAP S/4HANA environment with minimal data transformation requirements. The solution handles small to large volumes of data and includes pre-defined migration objects (content and mapping) for loading data into SAP S/4HANA. It also includes a migration object modeler for the creation of custom or to adapt existing migration objects. However, it offers very little in terms of data transformation capabilities and has no support for data cleansing or de-duplication.
The SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit comes free with SAP S/4HANA on-premise and cloud and should be used as the “last step” tool to load your data into SAP S/4HANA. Note that this tool is the only way to load data to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, extended and essentials edition.
SAP Data Services with SAP Information Steward
SAP Data Services in conjunction with SAP Information Steward are recommended for migrations that range from a medium to high level of complexity. These solutions support both SAP and non-SAP data sources and are ideal when you will be migrating multiple legacy systems to SAP S/4HANA and data transformation and data quality improvements are needed. These solutions complement the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit by providing the following additional capabilities:
- Connectivity to a wide range of data sources, systems and data formats in support of data extraction and preparation
- Data profiling and assessment to identify possible data quality issues prior to migration
- Sophisticated data transformation and cleaning capabilities, easily implemented with no or little coding
- Data consolidation and de-deduplication across heterogeneous data sources
In addition, these solutions will continue to provide your organization value post-migration with reusable rules and transformation objects to support data quality monitoring and remediation to ensure ongoing information excellence within your new SAP S/4HANA environment and resolve any data issues that arise. SAP Information Steward is included in the SAP Data Services Enterprise Edition package, which also includes additional capabilities for data modelling and replication.
SAP Advanced Data Migration by Syniti
SAP Advanced Data Migration by Syniti is the perfect solution for highly complex migrations, involving the data migration of multiple legacy SAP and/or non-SAP systems to SAP S/4HANA and project management of the process is needed to ensure adequate collaboration and tracking across the data migration team and stakeholders. SAP Advanced Data Migration is also useful when the migration project will potentially span more than one phase or wave as the learning from one phase will significantly help subsequent phases. This solution complements the data profiling, assessment, extraction and transformation capabilities of SAP Data Services and SAP Information Steward along with the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit (again, for that “last step” data load into SAP S/4HANA). The advanced data migration solution is ideal for larger migration projects that require project management support and collaboration across a variety of stakeholders. There is powerful artificial intelligence functionality that tracks and learns from experience throughout the migration process, preserving knowledge for future use and improving execution and decision-making. The solution includes:
- A project management framework that include intelligent automation and prebuilt content with native integration with SAP Data Services
- A collaboration platform for the data migration effort in support of a variety of roles and stakeholders
- Support for end-to-end visibility and tracking to control data migration assets across multiple ERP systems, sites, and project phases
- Reuse of continuously captured knowledge and insights, turning each decision made into a content item that can be curated for future deployment scenarios and ongoing data quality initiatives.
A general recommendation is that if your data migration project is complex enough to require at least five outside consulting resources, then leverage SAP Advanced Data Migration by Syniti for your project.
Additional Resources
Interested in more details about data migration scenarios and solutions? Join us for an upcoming SAP Webcast: Choose the right tool for your S/4HANA migration on July 16, 2020.
To learn more, check out these additional resources:
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