One of our most exciting projects in recent times was the harmonization of the SAP systems of two corporations on a current S/4 HANA platform – this is definitely not part of everyday life! In order to implement such a mammoth project in line with targets, you need a strong team as well as leadership and expertise, because the initial situation presented us with major challenges:
Both companies had developed different processes and systems over the past decades, which is why different versions of the SAP system were in use at the start of the project and, also due to the expiring maintenance of the old R/3 platform of one of the companies, there was a technical need to introduce a standardized S/4 HANA platform. Due to the decades-long history of the existing SAP systems, the two systems contained completely different data, features and process-related characteristics that needed to be harmonized. In addition to technical and process-related challenges, it was also necessary to focus on the cultural and human components, as the corporate cultures of the two companies were very different at the beginning.
In retrospect, it was right and essential to establish a uniform project culture from the outset, as the project team members from the previously independent companies started as a joint team right at the beginning of the project in order to develop a template for the future uniform SAP solution based on an S/4 HANA platform.
The start of such a complex upgrade and integration project is always difficult. When companies want to implement SAP S/4HANA, there are basically two possible strategic approaches available to them: the greenfield approach (complete new implementation) and the brownfield approach (conversion, upgrade). In order to provide a clear direction, the functional and module areas to be harmonized as a priority within this approach were determined. A template that is as simple and uniform as possible should then be created for these areas, which can be rolled out to other Group companies in a subsequent second step with as few individual adjustments as possible.
However, the desire for a template that was as simple and uniform as possible was offset by a further dimension of complexity: Ultimately, the processes from two companies that had grown independently of each other for decades had to be merged and simplified. This had to be done without losing any relevant information. In order to overcome this challenge, intensive fit-gap workshops were held at the start of the project, before the actual implementation phase began, involving experts from both companies, in which the existing lead processes were compared individually and a harmonized target image was defined in advance. We particularly appreciated the heterogeneous composition of the teams with technical and specialist expertise from both worlds.
This approach was also continued during the project and became a critical success factor for the project. The teams worked together iteratively in a scrum team, supplemented by a technical product owner and a scrum master, and were thus able to adapt flexibly to changing framework conditions and dependencies. Due to the complexity of the project, the product owners of the various teams played a particularly important role. The large number of system and process interfaces required a high degree of coordination between the teams in order to pull together instead of unintentionally getting in each other’s way during implementation.
The efficient, agile organization consisted of more than ten Scrum teams responsible for different functional areas. In addition, there were cross-functional teams fully integrated into the iterative project structure in the areas of infrastructure, migration, testing and training. This operational Scrum structure was supplemented by classic project management, which was used in particular for reporting to the project management and for managing escalations. This structure ensured that the classic reporting structures remained functional in the usual way, but in particular enabled the teams to work autonomously and agilely according to the Scrum approach.
The individual iterations were organized in waves according to the SAP Activate method developed by SAP in order to be able to reach the milestones that are particularly relevant for SAP projects in a targeted manner and always maintain the target focus. Finally, we ensured comprehensive quality assurance of the end-to-end processes before the go-live by means of an intensive, multi-stage testing process.
Yes, because thanks to the iterative, agile way of working, we were able to constantly celebrate small successes over the entire duration of the project, which in total contributed to the successful completion of the project. These included, for example, the creation of robust target processes, the ability to flexibly incorporate requirements and their transfer into the project structure, as well as the functional implementation and final testing.
The teams managed to grow together on a personal and cultural level, embed agile working methods and thus create a modern project culture. Furthermore, the project was completed on time, on budget and to a high standard of quality, which is not a matter of course for a project of this size. A scalable template was created, which could now be rolled out to the other sub-companies.
