Background

The customer’s SAP ERP ECC system had nine company codes with the following modules: Finance (FI), Controlling (CO), Materials Management (MM), Sales and Distribution (SD), Human Resources (HR), and Project System (PS).

To remain an innovative company and expand its capabilities, the customer decided to transition to a more advanced and modern SAP S/4HANA platform.

Business Challenge

Our task is to migrate the corporate SAP ERP ECC system to the new SAP S/4HANA platform using the Brownfield approach and SAP Activate methodology enhanced with our unique S/4HANA experience. Another task was to make maximum use of the standard capabilities of the new system to improve the efficiency of business processes.

Solution

The project was implemented in two stages:

1. test conversion
2. production system conversion

We completed all the necessary preparation procedures, mitigated project risks, improved system downtime, and prepared the customer’s SAP ERP ECC system for the transition.

Afterwards, a production system conversion was carried out, during which our team completed the following tasks:

• We conducted all required pre-project activities for the conversion: corrected conflicting business functions and add-ons, configured CVI, and converted Customer and Vendor data to Business Partners and more;
• We reviewed and adjusted custom code on the SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA end to comply with SAP S/4HANA architecture;
• We adjusted the authorization concept;
• We completed the necessary settings to address functional gaps: internal statistical reporting, cash management, and others;
• We provided training for customer employees, and prepared user manuals and operational documentation;
• We converted transactional and master data under the SAP S/4HANA data model;
• We conducted integration testing together with the customer.

The project team consisted of 9 professionals with SAP S/4HANA implementation experience.

Result

Production conversion was completed in the shortest possible time: downtime for business users was minimized to less than 24 hours. The first operating periods (closing the first month, quarter, and year) were successfully closed without system errors and raised tickets from the customer.

The transition to SAP S/4HANA was completed successfully. Now the customer has access to all innovative functions.

Acknowledging our successful cooperation and trust in the quality of our services, the customer entitled us to another project – a system currency transition to the euro.

Background

A global corporation of more than 250,000 employees implemented SAP FICA. However, this module fell short in efficient management of the output at an organization of such magnitude. In a strategic move to address the limitation, the company chose to enhance their SAP FICA capabilities with the expertise of a dedicated team of IBA Group’s SAP consultants and ABAP developers.

Challenges

The existing SAP FICA did not support complex invoicing processes for each of the 25 countries individually. Moreover, it lacked vital functionality related to output control, including multiple time-shifted outputs per invoice within one correspondence container, customized output determination, print preview, output log, and archiving capabilities.

Solution Highlights

To address these challenges, IBA Group embarked on SAP S/4HANA FICA, developing additional functionality. We successfully replicated the output control functionality from SAP ECC SD and seamlessly integrated it in SAP S/4HANA FICA. This encompassed output determination customizing that includes requirements and access sequences.

We also introduced a user-friendly Fiori-based application for output monitoring, print preview, and a comprehensive archive viewer.

Eventually, this customized SAP solution underwent a thorough audit by SAP to ensure its effectiveness and reliability.

Key Results

The new SAP solution played a transformative role for the customer. It led to a significant decrease in the costs associated with mass invoicing processes, particularly in the realm of output control.

The modified Fiori-based user interface allowed the customer to shorten the time spent on invoice generation and access to archives, and substantially improved user experience.

Most importantly, the solution prevented an expensive overhaul in the invoicing process, which could be detrimental to the accounts receivable turnover ratio.

Reusing well-established processes, we minimized any negative business impact that could stem from oversimplified invoice processing in standard SAP FICA.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The customer requirement was to minimize the cost of migration to SAP S/4HANA for their distributed systems. Technical assessment is usually conducted before the migration for this purpose. It allows the customer to evaluate the amount of work for migration services, make up a list of improvements and draw up a project budget.

SOLUTIONS HIGHLIGHTS

Initially, the company’s IT-department planned to conduct a technical assessment on their own. After special programs and utilities have been launched, SAP administrators received a list of 17 000 errors. Due to the lack of competencies, the customer decided to hire a contractor. Among the main requirements was the knowledge of the German language and the ability to work on site in Germany.

The migration plan includes the conversion of nine distributed SAP systems into S/4HANA between 2020 and 2025. 40 person-days were allocated for the technical assessment. Using two out of nine customer’s systems as an example, experts from IBA Group estimated the upcoming migration and made recommendations for all project participants.

RESULTS

The customer has received documentation containing a range of work on the migration, a list of improvements and recommendations, budget forecast and project timelines.