Picking an SAP S/4HANA Migration Strategy

SAP’s strategic decision to shift all SAP application environments to the Cloud has prompted customers to carefully evaluate which migration approach best suits their own business needs and resources. “Brownfield” approaches attempt to further utilize resources from existing non-Cloud-based SAP systems, while a “Greenfield” methodology seeks to fully leverage the power of the S/4HANA environment. The three major options for migration are:

Brownfield EEC 6 "lift and shift" upgrade to S4/HANA: In most cases, the customer retains the existing business processes and print infrastructure. While typically offering a simpler migration, this approach does not always bring maximum rewards. With regard to printing, any existing challenges will remain a constant business burden and negatively impact operational overhead. Brownfield upgrade of environment with existing Output Management platform: The use of an existing output management platform greatly simplifies the transition to S4/HANA.

Greenfield S4/HANA implementation: This typically leverages the full benefit of SAP's S4/HANA platform and provides the opportunity to standardize global business processes, resulting in improved operational efficiency and cost savings across the board.

Bluefield S/4HANA implemenation: This type of implementation is based on the middle field between Greenfield and Brownfield, migrating proven components and replacing obsolete ones to create a Hybrid environment, delivering the best of both worlds.

SAP S/4HANA: Implementation Considerations

WHERE?

Where will your application environment be hosted? On Premise, off Premise, or in a Private Cloud or a Hybrid type of deployment? Will S4/HANA be deployed under HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC), or will it be via an alternative cloud provider extension?

WHO?

Who will host your SAP application environment? Will you run the systems in-house, at an existing hosting partner, use an IT Outsourcer, or will you run the systems in SAP’s own Cloud environment? Each option brings its own set of advantages and challenges.

WHAT?

How do you plan to manage the documents generated by your SAP systems once your environment is successfully migrated to SAP S/4HANA? The nature of your existing print infrastructure will dictate how well document delivery will function once your systems move to the Cloud.

Before and After with LRS Output Management

SAP S/4HANA Print & Scan: Simple. Secure. Supported.

Migrating to S/4HANA can increase costs and complexity. SAP print setups often involve many servers and diverse print methods, complicating error troubleshooting. Special print requirements like barcodes or foreign languages may demand expensive printer upgrades.

LRS output management software replaces multiple print servers, SIMM/DIMM cards, and extra hardware with a certified, reliable software solution. It's scalable and can run on-premise or in various cloud environments, including the Rise With SAP S/4HANA private cloud platform.

USE CASE: Complex SAP print landscape at energy provider

Simplified SAP printing for improved savings and flexibility

A major petroleum company needed to migrate one of their US-based SAP ECC 6.0 landscapes to the SAP S/4HANA platform, which was deployed in an alternative IT outsourcer’s Cloud. This migration had to proceed quickly and without major infrastructure or security firewall changes. The new S4/HANA Cloud provider had no way to view the physical printers located in the customer’s many remote locations, which complicated matters. Without an effective output management system, they risked operational business downtime, resulting in petrochemical tankers stuck in refineries due to failed SAP print output.

LRS software enabled the new IT provider to route all SAP print transactions through the client’s existing ITO service provider’s Output Management service. This enabled a rapid migration to the Cloud and required minimal changes to the client or IT provider’s infrastructure, resulting in a timely project completion and a reduced TCO run cost.

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Simplify Print and Output Management for Cloud-based SAP S/4HANA and RISE with SAP environments. Don't migrate your legacy SAP individual language forms, printer tray configuration, printer definitions, and complicated printer servers. Eliminate them quickly and easily with LRS.

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