SAP S/4hana: An Introduction

by Devraj Bardhan, Axel Baumgartl, Madalina Dascalescu, Mark Dudgeon, Piotr Gïrecki

Overview

Whether you're making the move to SAP S/4HANA, or just curious about what the suite has to offer, this introductory guide is your starting point. Explore your business processes in SAP S/4HANA, now optimized by AI: finance, manufacturing, supply chain, sales, and more. Get insight into SAP S/4HANA's architecture and key features for reporting, sustainability, extensibility, and artificial intelligence. Build your business case, choose your adoption path, and get ready for your implementation!-- Provided by publisher.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493226535
Publisher:	SAP Press
Publication date:	02/26/2025
Edition description:	5th Enlarged ed.
Pages:	744
Product dimensions:	7.37(w) x 10.12(h) x 1.69(d)

About the Author

Devraj Bardhan is an accomplished global leader for SAP Innovations at IBM. He has led several large transformation projects, driving business growth agenda through innovation and digital efficiencies. He is an established subject matter expert (SME) for SAP S/4HANA, SAP Ariba and SAP Business Technology Platform, growing IBM's digital transformation capability by designing and implementing global templates and intelligent workflows. He is part of the global SAP Center of Competence at IBM and works very closely with SAP incubating the next big idea. Devraj can be reached via Twitter @devbard or via www.linkedin.com/in/bardhan.

Axel Baumgartl is leading the transformation office for the Global Partner Organization of SAP. In his role, he focuses on accelerating the transformation of operations, processes, and applications to support the activation and enablement of the SAP ecosystem based on his 20 years of experience with SAP transformation projects. He is the author of several publications and books about SAP products and he developed a method for enterprise architecture blueprinting.


Nga-Sze Choi is the SAP S/4HANA sales and logistics expert working for SAP Business Transformation Services. She has more than 16 years of experience in global business transformation programs, leading the design and implementation of SAP solutions in the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay areas. Her main area of expertise is in the life sciences, consumer products, and industrial industries.


Mark Dudgeon is the Global SAP CTO of IBM Global Business Services, SAP Service Line. He has more than 23 years of experience in architecture design and delivery for some of IBM’s largest SAP deployments. Mark’s role also includes ensuring that IBM has the right partnerships, capabilities, and offerings to support its customers in their digital transformation journey with SAP. You can reach Mark via Twitter @MarkPDudgeon.


Piotr Gorecki is a program manager and enterprise architect working at IBM Global SAP Center of Competence. He has more than 20 years of experience in planning and delivering complex business transformation programs based on SAP solutions. Piotr has been working on global and local SAP projects in several industries, including consumer products, life sciences, retail, and telecommunications. In his current role, he helps customers define their road maps to SAP S/4HANA and identify new solutions and technologies that enable reaching their business goals. Piotr can be reached via www.linkedin.com/in/piotrgorecki/.

Asidhara Lahiri is an SAP Enterprise Architect in IBM India, working on complex SAP implementations for global clients in industries such as consumer products, oil & gas, airlines, and utility. She has more than 22 years of work experience, out of which 18 are in SAP. She advises client executives on digital road maps for their SAP landscape, and is a global subject matter expert (SME) in SAP HANA in IBM. She has also led the SAP HANA competency for IBM India, designing and reviewing client architecture, defining IBM services, and growing IBM's SAP HANA capability. Asidhara has filed two patents and is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology. She is also a coauthor for the book SAP Cloud Platform: Cloud-Native Development (SAP PRESS). Asidhara can be reached via Twitter @AsidharaL and www.linkedin.com/in/asidharalahiri.

Bert Meijerink is the SAP S/4HANA Finance lead in the IBM SAP Global Center of Competence. He has more than 35 years of working experience in implementing financial systems worldwide and over 25 years of experience in designing and implementing SAP global templates.


Andrew Worsley-Tonks is an IBM distinguished engineer and the global SAP S/4HANA leader for IBM Services. Andrew has led multiple complex SAP business transformation, modernization, and upgrade projects. In his current role, he leads the delivery of SAP S/4HANA projects while helping existing SAP ERP customers define their SAP S/4HANA adoption strategy and business case. You can reach Andrew via Twitter @A_WorsleyTonks.

Table of Contents

... Foreword from Matt Schwartz ... 19

... Preface ... 21


... Why Read This Book? ... 21


... Audience ... 22


... Structure of the Book ... 22


... Acknowledgments ... 24

1 ... Introduction: From Digital Transformation to the Intelligent Enterprise ... 27


1.1 ... Cornerstones of the Intelligent Enterprise ... 28


1.2 ... Integrated Intelligent Enterprise ... 36


1.3 ... Editions and Deployment Options ... 56


1.4 ... Summary ... 66

2 ... Finance ... 67


2.1 ... The CFO Agenda ... 67


2.2 ... Industry Pain Points and SAP S/4HANA Benefits ... 70


2.3 ... Key Finance Functionality ... 77


2.4 ... Finance in SAP S/4HANA Cloud ... 147


2.5 ... Outlook ... 149


2.6 ... Summary ... 149

3 ... Manufacturing ... 151


3.1 ... Industry Pain Points and SAP S/4HANA Benefits ... 151


3.2 ... Key Manufacturing Functionality ... 155


3.3 ... Manufacturing in SAP S/4HANA Cloud ... 167


3.4 ... Outlook ... 170


3.5 ... Summary ... 171

4 ... Supply Chain ... 173


4.1 ... Industry Pain Points and SAP S/4HANA Benefits ... 173


4.2 ... Key Supply Chain Functionality ... 176


4.3 ... Supply Chain in SAP S/4HANA Cloud ... 201


4.4 ... Outlook ... 202


4.5 ... Summary ... 204

5 ... Sales, Marketing, Commerce, and Service Management ... 205


5.1 ... Industry Pain Points and SAP S/4HANA Benefits ... 205


5.2 ... Key Sales Functionality ... 208


5.3 ... Key Marketing and Commerce Functionality ... 216


5.4 ... Key Service Management Functionality ... 218


5.5 ... Sales, Marketing, Commerce, and Service Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud ... 220


5.6 ... Outlook ... 222


5.7 ... Summary ... 223

6 ... Sourcing and Procurement ... 225


6.1 ... Industry Pain Points and SAP S/4HANA Benefits ... 225


6.2 ... Key Sourcing and Procurement Functionality ... 228


6.3 ... SAP S/4HANA for Central Procurement ... 237


6.4 ... Sourcing and Procurement in SAP S/4HANA Cloud ... 242


6.5 ... Outlook ... 244


6.6 ... Summary ... 245

7 ... R&D and Asset Management ... 247


7.1 ... Industry Pain Points and SAP S/4HANA Benefits ... 248


7.2 ... Key Research and Development Functionality ... 250


7.3 ... Key Asset Management Functionality ... 256


7.4 ... R&D and Asset Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud ... 260


7.5 ... Outlook ... 261


7.6 ... Summary ... 264

8 ... Analytics and Reporting ... 267


8.1 ... Evolution of Analytics ... 268


8.2 ... Operational Reporting ... 270


8.3 ... Enterprise-Wide Reporting ... 280


8.4 ... Reporting in a Hybrid Landscape ... 289


8.5 ... Cognitive Analytics ... 291


8.6 ... Big Data Analytics and Data Lakes ... 292


8.7 ... SAP Data Intelligence ... 295


8.8 ... Summary ... 299

9 ... Industry Solutions ... 301


9.1 ... The SAP Strategy for Industry Solutions ... 301


9.2 ... SAP S/4HANA Industry Sectors ... 305


9.3 ... Adapting to Global Change ... 314


9.4 ... Summary ... 315

10 ... SAP S/4HANA Cloud ... 317


10.1 ... Considerations and Value Proposition ... 317


10.2 ... Core Functional Capabilities ... 320


10.3 ... Deployment ... 325


10.4 ... SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Extended Edition ... 332


10.5 ... Content Lifecycle Management ... 337


10.6 ... Summary ... 339

11 ... SAP S/4HANA and the SAP Landscape ... 341


11.1 ... Sourcing and Procurement: SAP Ariba ... 342


11.2 ... Contingent Workforce Management: SAP Fieldglass ... 350


11.3 ... Travel and Expense Management: SAP Concur ... 353


11.4 ... Human Resources: SAP SuccessFactors ... 356


11.5 ... Customer Experience: SAP Customer Experience ... 362


11.6 ... Master Data Management: SAP Master Data Governance ... 372


11.7 ... Supply Chain Planning: SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain ... 376


11.8 ... Billing: SAP Billing and Revenue Innovation Management ... 381


11.9 ... Summary ... 384

12 ... SAP S/4HANA Architecture ... 387


12.1 ... The Journey from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA ... 387


12.2 ... SAP HANA Platform ... 402


12.3 ... Hyperscaler Architecture ... 430


12.4 ... SAP S/4HANA Security ... 431


12.5 ... SAP S/4HANA Core Data Models ... 435


12.6 ... User Interface and User Experience ... 436


12.7 ... Data Lifecycle Management ... 439


12.8 ... Development and Operations ... 441


12.9 ... Summary ... 448

13 ... Extensions ... 449


13.1 ... Business-Driven Development ... 449


13.2 ... SAP Business Technology Platform ... 454


13.3 ... Extensibility Options for the Intelligent Enterprise Suite ... 457


13.4 ... SAP API Business Hub ... 466


13.5 ... Summary ... 467

14 ... Intelligent Technologies ... 469


14.1 ... The Intelligent Enterprise and SAP Business Technology Platform ... 469


14.2 ... Internet of Things ... 472


14.3 ... Artificial Intelligence ... 477


14.4 ... Blockchain ... 483


14.5 ... Data Intelligence ... 484


14.6 ... Intelligent Technologies Use Cases ... 488


14.7 ... Summary ... 493

15 ... Adoption Paths ... 495


15.1 ... Assessing Your Adoption Options ... 497


15.2 ... New Implementation ... 504


15.3 ... System Conversion ... 511


15.4 ... Selective Data Transition ... 536


15.5 ... Housekeeping Activities ... 540


15.6 ... Summary ... 541

16 ... Implementation Method and Accelerators ... 543


16.1 ... What Is SAP Activate? ... 543


16.2 ... SAP Activate Methodology ... 547


16.3 ... SAP Best Practices ... 553


16.4 ... SAP Activate Tools ... 556


16.5 ... SAP Model Company ... 559


16.6 ... Summary ... 564

17 ... Building the Business Case ... 565


17.1 ... Common SAP S/4HANA Business Case Challenges ... 566


17.2 ... Value Dimensions ... 568


17.3 ... Alignment to Stakeholders and Business Outcomes ... 573


17.4 ... Proven Process for Building a Case for Change ... 575


17.5 ... Develop Your IT Roadmap ... 591


17.6 ... Valuable Lessons Learned ... 596


17.7 ... Summary ... 597

18 ... Customer Case Studies ... 599


18.1 ... Multinational Industrial Company ... 599


18.2 ... Multinational Service Company ... 604


18.3 ... Manufacturing Company ... 608


18.4 ... Food Industry Group ... 610


18.5 ... Automotive Company ... 612


18.6 ... Life Sciences ... 614


18.7 ... Global Telecom Provider ... 615


18.8 ... Global Automobile Maker ... 617


18.9 ... Summary ... 619

... The Authors ... 621


... Contributors ... 623

... Index ... 625