Change Management in SAP migration processes

[MRobalinho]

On 9 September 2025, Marta Mota spoke about migrating to SAP S/4HANA and emphasized the vital role of change management within such transformation programs. This event took place in the lectures that preceded SAP Inside Track Porto 2025.

The key points she covered include:

• The migration to S/4HANA is not only a technical upgrade but a major business and organizational change. It affects processes, roles, and ways of working.

• Successful migration depends on preparing people and organizational culture: “the human factor is often underestimated” when systems change. 

• She highlighted the need to engage stakeholders early, including executives, business units, IT, and end users, to build shared vision and commitment.

• Effective change management involves establishing a change network or champions within business units who can act as liaisons and multipliers for the transformation.

• Clear, tailored communication is crucial: the changes should be explained in terms of what they mean for each team and individual—not just the IT system.

• Training and adoption are not one-off tasks but ongoing journeys: users need not only to learn the new system but to adopt new behaviors and processes.

• She underlined that it’s key to link the migration project to business value and concrete benefits for users, so that change is not perceived as purely disruptive but as enabling.

• Among the risks she identified: insufficient readiness of the organization, lack of clarity in process change, and resistance from users who see the migration as a threat or overhead.

• She pointed out that change management should be integrated into the migration roadmap — not treated as a separate “soft” item but embedded in the project governance, timeline, and deliverables.

In short, migration to S/4HANA demands technical excellence, but equally the orchestration of people, process, culture, and change. Ensuring readiness, adopting change agents, and focusing on user adoption help the transformation deliver the expected value.

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsVZA1NoJjA