Drive Process-centric SAP S/4HANA Transformation with SAP Signavio

[Ruud_Simons]

When organizations move to SAP S/4HANA, it’s never “just” a system upgrade. It’s a fundamental transformation of how your business runs – from technology and data, to processes and people. To succeed, organizations need clarity, alignment, and speed across all phases of the journey. This is where SAP Signavio plays a critical role.

In this blog, we will explore how SAP Signavio supports each phase of your S/4HANA transformation and why Business Transformation Management (BTM) should be treated as a continuous capability rather than a one-off project. Whether you’re starting fresh (Greenfield) or converting an existing system (Brownfield), SAP Signavio helps you build on a foundation of transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Greenfield vs. Brownfield: Why It Matters

Not all SAP S/4HANA transformations are the same. Understanding the difference is key to tailoring your approach:

• Greenfield means (re-)implementing SAP from scratch. You start fresh with new system configuration and process design. It offers maximum flexibility and transformation potential and eliminates legacy complexity.
• Brownfield is a system conversion from an existing SAP ERP to S/4HANA preserving data and processes.

Greenfield and brownfield are often presented as opposites, and for simplicity, this blog distinguishes between their classic forms. In reality, they represent strategic trade-offs rather than a clear-cut “right” or “wrong” choice, with many organizations operating in the grey area between them. Greenfield enables full process redesign and innovation but demands greater change management and alignment. Brownfield accelerates the transition by preserving existing investments yet may also retain legacy inefficiencies. In practice, many companies adopt a selective or hybrid approach to align with their business priorities and risk tolerance. Because each path differs in scope and objectives, SAP Signavio supports them in tailored ways—particularly during the discovery, preparation, and design phases. While both approaches are applicable to S/4HANA Private Cloud, Greenfield is the default choice for S/4HANA Public Cloud, as its standardized and constrained environment aligns best with a fresh, best-practice-driven implementation.

Process-Centric SAP S/4HANA Transformation with SAP Signavio

Using SAP Signavio in an S/4HANA transformation gives organizations clear visibility into current processes and data, enabling them to address key value drivers. It promotes adherence to standardized SAP processes by identifying custom transactions, deviations from best practices, and performance gaps. Signavio also drives process harmonization by exposing redundant variants and tracking outliers. On the data side, it helps reduce management costs by highlighting unused configurations, master data, and transactional backlog. Additionally, it reveals automation opportunities and areas of manual rework, supporting more efficient, scalable operations.

 SAP Activate is SAP’s implementation methodology designed to guide organizations through the deployment of SAP solutions. It’s clear, phased approach – from Discover to Run – provides a practical lens to explore how SAP Signavio supports each step of an S/4HANA transformation. By aligning SAP Signavio’s capabilities with Activate phases, you can see where and how to leverage SAP Signavio throughout the entire journey towards continuous improvement.

1) Process Performance and Execution analysis

In the Discover stage of an ERP transformation, SAP Signavio's process performance and execution analysis capabilities play a crucial role in building a data-driven foundation for decision-making. This will help bridge the gap between gut feeling and reality. It brings fact-based clarity to ERP transformation planning, ensuring that you don't just implement a new system—you improve how your business runs.

The goal of the discover stage is to understand business value, assess transformation readiness, and define strategy. SAP Signavio supports transformation initiatives by providing transparency into value identification, process analysis, and opportunities for improvement and harmonization. It also enables the definition of measurable goals and supports the evaluation, usage, and clean-up of current data.

Especially relevant for Greenfield

• Collect all your insights and reveal which processes and how they actually run in the source ERP system based on real transactional data
• Identify inefficiencies and automation opportunities in key processes that impact performance, compliance, or costs – such as bottlenecks, rework, or delays. Example: Find delayed invoice due to manual corrections leading to an automation effort that cuts invoice cycle time.
• Identify opportunities to harmonize process variants across regions or business units to reduce complexity. Example: Compare invoice approval processes across 8 countries and unify them into a single variant, improving transparency and compliance.
• Benchmark your current process KPIs against industry standards to identify where you underperform, highlight practices worth scaling across your organization. Example: Discover that the touchless order rate is lagging, prompting process standardization across regions.
• Define target process KPIs to track improvement over time and define transformation goals (e.g., reduce throughput time by X%).
• Conduct root cause analysis to identify what drives inefficiencies or deviations – like delays, rework, or long cycle times. Example: Uncover that purchase order approvals are delayed due to missing documentation, which was fixed by introducing mandatory checklists.
• Evaluate current processes to determine what to retire, reimagine, or automate as part of your new design.
• Define transformation initiatives based on desired outcomes and quantify their potential value to support data-driven decisions over intuition.

Relevant for Both Greenfield and Brownfield

In this blog, we explore the extreme opposite scenarios, but in practice, several of the Greenfield activities could be relevant for both approaches.

• Identify and clean inconsistent or outdated master, configuration and transactional data to avoid migrating legacy issues and reduce transformation risk. Example: Detect fragmented supplier records, which were cleansed before project kick-off, improving procurement reliability.
• Detect and retire unused or obsolete transaction codes, simplifying your system before conversion. Example: Reduce the transaction code catalog pre-migration by identifying codes unused for over 12 months.

Especially Relevant in Brownfield

These actions help you make informed improvements within your current system constraints.

• Pinpoint quick wins that can be implemented without disrupting existing operations – such as automation, harmonization, or policy changes.

2) Process Design, Collaboration and Governance

In the Prepare and Explore stages of an ERP transformation, SAP Signavio’s Process Design, Collaboration, and Governance capabilities serve as the bridge between understanding what needs to change and aligning on how to change it – across teams, geographies, and business units. These capabilities ensure that your transformation is not just technically sound, but also business-led and collaborative.

Prepare sets the foundation for a successful project launch, while Explore focuses on validating business requirements and defining the to-be process landscape. SAP Signavio translates insights from Discover into future-state designs, aligned with enterprise architecture and supported by strong process governance.

Relevant for Greenfield

• Design a centralized governance model from the start, defining roles, responsibilities, and approval workflows to govern (target) process design and manage process ownership at scale. Example: Set up a process transformation governance to enable faster decision-making and accountability during the rollout of new global templates.
• Model and validate your current processes using real performance data, linking business understanding with operational reality. Example: Map current invoice handling process and discover a performance drop in a specific region.
• Align business processes and IT architecture by integrating process models with LeanIX avoiding misalignment between what the business needs and what IT delivers. Example: Avoid costly system gaps by linking its claims process design directly with enterprise architecture components.
• Explore industry specific Reference Business Architecture models to define a target operating model in order to align stakeholders around standardized processes and scope accordingly. Example: Use SAP Signavio’s reference content to design a unified global sales process across four countries.
• Design your target processes and standardize based on SAP best practices in fit-to-standard workshops, adjusting only where business value clearly justifies it. Example: Import standard billing processes, accelerating workshop preparation and reducing workshop time.
• Analyze actual system usage to inform solution decisions, including where T-code-based activities can be replaced with modern Fiori apps. Example: Identify that a legacy transaction used by many users could be streamlined via a Fiori app, improving UX and reducing training costs.
• Document required gaps and deviations and define their rationale clearly, so configuration and development efforts are tightly scoped. Example: Identify required gaps in the process and log each with annotations and ownership.

3) From Target Design to Implementation

In the Realize and Deploy stages of an ERP transformation, the focus is on configuring the system based on approved processes and preparing the organization for adoption. SAP Signavio’s Process Management and Governance capabilities – integrated with SAP Cloud ALM – help turn design into reality.

During Realize, SAP Signavio provides the validated to-be process design as a baseline for defining the solution design in SAP Cloud ALM. Centralized documentation and governance support process validation, traceability, and consistency throughout the implementation.

In Deploy, the emphasis shifts to go-live readiness and this is where training and adoption starts. SAP Signavio enables clear communication of process changes, supports training, and fosters alignment between business and IT. Post go-live, governance provides accountability and a strong foundation for continuous improvement.

Relevant for Greenfield

• Define configuration blueprints based on approved to-be process models, syncing directly to SAP Cloud ALM or other tools to guide consultants and developers and create a shared language between business and IT. Example: Avoid costly configuration rework during testing or misinterpretation using BPMN models as a single source of truth for developers and consultants.
• Generate training materials directly from your approved process models, streamlining onboarding content creation and accelerate user onboarding for new ways of working
• Package process visuals and guidance by role, using Collaboration Hub to share only what’s relevant to each team. Example: Ensure warehouse, procurement, and finance teams each receive tailored documentation, leading to faster adoption and fewer errors.

4) Value realization, monitoring, and continuous improvement

In the Run phase of an ERP transformation, SAP Signavio’s capabilities help organizations monitor operations, uncover inefficiencies, and drive continuous improvement. This phase ensures that the transformation delivers sustained value – not just once, but over time.

The Run phase focuses on stable operations and ongoing optimization. With real-time data and process mining, SAP Signavio enables business and IT to detect performance gaps and compliance risks, and act quickly to improve efficiency and user experience. Like some of the activities in the Explore phase. With these insights, organizations can take targeted action to enhance process efficiency, realize value, improve user experience, and adapt to evolving business needs.

By aligning improvement efforts across teams and regions through governance and collaboration, SAP Signavio turns transformation into a lasting capability, supporting a culture of continuous improvement – where processes don’t just support the business, they drive it forward.

Relevant for Both Greenfield & Brownfield

• Monitor live process performance to track whether your key targets are being met – like lead times, automation rates, or exception volumes. Example: Track delivery lead times post-go-live and identify a delay in one region, enabling immediate intervention.
• Track conformance: check whether users are actually following the new processes or reverting to legacy workarounds. Example: Discover that 38% process variants in a specific country were still done using a variant not being part of the baseline. After a targeted enablement push, Fiori app adoption rose.
• Identify process bottlenecks or cost drivers and launch data-driven improvement initiatives using drill-down analysis.
• Continuously track transformation goals and assess how effectively value is being realized by monitoring process performance, identifying deviations, and aligning improvement actions with expected business outcomes.
• Track system usage patterns over time – including adoption of new tools and apps – to guide training, support, and change management. Example: Identify underused Fiori apps and prioritize those for follow-up training during the quarterly enablement cycle.
• Track data over time – identify and clean inconsistent or outdated master, configuration and transactional data to avoid migrating legacy issues and reduce transformation risk.
• Track transaction code usage over time – detect and retire unused or obsolete transaction codes, creating understanding of how the system is used and how processes are adopted.

For Brownfield, many of the activities done during a Greenfield transformation can be applied post go-live. Such as target process design, value identification, process harmonization etc.

Transformation Is Ongoing: Treat it as a Capability

Business Transformation Management (BTM) is essential for organizations undergoing complex change, such as an SAP S/4HANA transformation. It ensures that strategic goals are effectively translated into operational reality through structured governance, cross-functional alignment, and measurable outcomes. Without BTM, transformation efforts risk becoming disjointed, short-lived, or misaligned with business goals.

SAP Signavio plays a key role and is more than just a tool for managing a transformation project – it is a strategic enabler for ongoing transformation. A successful SAP S/4HANA go-live is not the finish line, but the start of a new way of working. To sustain value, organizations must embrace Business Transformation Management (BTM), and Business Process Management (BPM)as long-term capabilities embedded into everyday operations.

By embedding BPM into the DNA of daily operations, organizations gain the ability to continuously align strategy with execution, monitor real-world performance, and foster a culture of data-driven, collaborative improvement. At the same time, BTM provides a structured approach to govern change, manage complexity, and ensure cross-functional alignment throughout the transformation journey.

SAP Signavio empowers businesses to embed these capabilities into their core operations – keeping processes up-to-date, performance-driven, and flexible. This foundation enables organizations to navigate change confidently, foster ongoing innovation, and maximize the long-term value of their transformation and future initiatives.

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