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Accelerate the SAP S/4HANA Journey with Automation

Accelerate the SAP S/4HANA Journey with Automation

January 28, 2021
 / 
by 
Iffat Ara Khanam

S/4HANA has been the biggest platform upgrade after SAP decided to take back support for SAP ECC in 2025 and getting there is sure not to be easy or cheap. The likelihood to add a major platform update is a challenging prospect for organizations, especially in a complex and highly custom SAP ecosystem where even routine updates can be painful to implement. Poorly planned migrations can lead to budget exceed, system downtime, security failures, and more serious business outcomes. Owing to these issues, an increasing number of SAP users are realizing that successful S/4HANA adoption will look more like an extended journey than a one-time IT project, which means greater cost, scope, and time before the full value is obtained.

The S/4HANA journey is an ideal opportunity to embrace a new way of managing change at SAP- one that is faster, easier, and less risky than the methods used by most teams today. In the blog, you will see how OpKey's AI-powered test automation can help you travel faster, with lower risk in your SAP S/4HANA migration journey.

The Migration Approach

Every organization's SAP landscape is different, with a combination of hardware, software, customization, and processes that have been built over time to meet specific business needs. The three main S/4HANA deployment methods can have significantly different implications for business processes, custom code, data, and transitions.

  • Greenfield Implementation

The Greenfield approach is a new implementation, a complete reengineering of a business’ SAP processes and workflows. Greenfield is also suitable for organizations new to SAP if they are moving their data from a non-SAP system. However, migrating all your data to a blank system can take some time. What's more, it's definitely a riskier maneuver than a different deployment strategy.

  • Brownfield Implementation

While greenfield is a complete overhaul, a brownfield approach is more like an upgrade or renovation of your SAP ERP. Brownfield allows users to reevaluate and edit their existing processes, and migrate those that are working. However, the probability of some technical issues is high that can fail the entire system. 

  • Hybrid Implementation

A combination of the above approaches, where large companies take advantage of new technology to redesign some of their system and workflows, although maintaining some critical customizations and solutions.

How OpKey can help

OpKey Surge has been incremental in providing the solution to customers at every step of their journey while moving to SAP S/4HANA, whether you are adopting a greenfield, brownfield, or hybrid approach.

Custom code migration

When migrating data from legacy systems to a new platform, it is critical for the business to ensure that no data is lost during the migration and that the migrated data is consistent with the source data. There can also be serious data integration issues with high risks of downtime and disruption. OpKey checks the readiness for conversion by analyzing the SAP solution, uncovering custom code, custom ABAP- stack-based code, and identifying how much of that custom code is compatible with SAP S/4HANA.

End-to-end integrations

Integrations between third-party applications and SAP systems can also threaten the progression of SAP migration plans. If these third-party integrations fail after the new system is up and running, it could disrupt your business process. OpKey Surge provides an end-to-end continuous testing platform for implementing SAP updates with 90% more efficient tests sustainable for migration and post-migration approach for SAP ECC and S/4HANA applications.

Identification of the most risky test objects

During the migration to S/4HANA, the existing test objects are also impacted. It is essential to test those test objects properly to avoid any risk before going to production. OpKey Surge supports continuous optimization of test suits for S/4HANA updates and reports on:

• Which test cases will break after migration and need to be fixed

• Which test cases become obsolete after migration and need to be removed

• Which test cases are missing and must be created to properly test the migration

OpKey Surge with its change impact analysis identifies the most-at-risk test objects and their relevant impact. 

OpKey is the automation technology that massively reduces the time and effort needed to execute SAP migration and testing. The AI-driven platform, ready-to-use test automation framework, pre-built test cases provide business agility and transformation that allows seamless implementation, upgrade, and migration for global enterprises.

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