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The Final Countdown to SAP S/4HANA: Simplify Your Journey with SDT

HalaStephan
Associate
Associate
3 weeks ago
0 Kudos
430

With the deadline for SAP ECC extended maintenance approaching, customers are planning their transition to SAP S/4HANA to lower the overall maintenance costs of their business solutions. To secure business support, they must build a compelling business case for a transition strategy that is cost-efficient, minimally disruptive, and tailored to their requirements. 

There are three main paths to transition to SAP S/4HANA: System Conversion, Selective Data Transition (SDT), and New Implementation. Some SAP customers rule out System Conversion due to unacceptable downtime requirements caused by the size of their systems, while others rule out New Implementation because it does not support the migration of historical data—only open items and master data. In these cases, Selective Data Transition offers a practical, tailored and effective approach, enabling customers to move to SAP S/4HANA in a way that meets both technical and business requirements.

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Using the SAP Readiness Check, customers can assess whether Selective Data Transition (SDT) is the most suitable approach for their SAP S/4HANA journey, based on several key factors:

  1. Pre-Projects and Prerequisites
    Many SAP S/4HANA transitions require prerequisite projects such as New GL Activation or CVI Implementation. With SDT, these can be integrated into the main project. SDT supports "on-the-fly" solutions such as for CVI conversion, Account-to-Ledger mapping (including document splitting), Chart of Accounts conversion, company code merges or splits, system consolidations, and cost center/profit center restructuring—all delivered within the scope of the project.
  2. Downtime Constraints
    For businesses with strict downtime limitations, SDT offers a shell conversion approach. This enables system upgrades—including simplification item handling and custom code remediation—early in the project. As a result, final cutover is limited to data migration and conversion only, significantly reducing the overall downtime window for the business. Performance optimization opportunities during the project can further shorten the downtime window.
  3. System Size and Data Volume
    Large system sizes—often caused by lack of archiving, redundant data from inactive company codes, or uncontrolled growth—can drive up infrastructure and licensing costs in both on-premise and SAP RISE environments. SDT allows customers to selectively reduce data volume (e.g., by time slicing historical data) based on legal and business retention requirements, helping control future system size and cost.
  4. Business Transformation Requirements
    SDT supports broader business transformation needs, such as financial process changes or structural data harmonization. These changes can be embedded directly into the migration, ensuring the new SAP S/4HANA platform reflects current and future business requirements. Using the Landscape Transformation Validation Framework, customers can decide on the number of test cases that they need to validate data between the ECC and their future SAP S/4HANA system. 

The reasons outlined above are key drivers for why SAP customers choose to transition to SAP S/4HANA using the Selective Data Transition (SDT) approach. Many customers also need to phase their global business transitions—due to specific operational requirements—rather than pursue a full 'Big Bang' system conversion. SDT enables this phased approach by allowing transitions by organizational unit (e.g., company code). Selecting this option requires a detailed rollout plan and dedicated resources from both the customer and their partners to ensure the successful and feasible execution of each rollout go-live. 

How does it work? 

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The Mix and Match approach is another SDT option that allows SAP customers to begin with a new SAP S/4HANA system, selectively migrating customizations, developments, and only clean data—historical data included if required.”

How does it work? 

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The transition to SAP S/4HANA should not be perceived as a technical deadline, but as a strategic opportunity to provide SAP customers with a stronger, future-ready platform that drives end-to-end business transformation and excellence. 

Delivering a Selective Data Transition (SDT) project gives SAP customers the opportunity to implement key business changes as part of the required data migration/conversion, ensuring their future platform is aligned with their strategic business goals.

For support or to discuss your specific business requirements, please don’t hesitate to reach out or contact DMLT directly via their global inbox sap_dmlt_gce@sap.com .