Process Discovery for SAP S/4HANA Transformation

The term “transformation”,  previously quite commonly used in mathematics, geometry, genetics and politics, has recently become popular in the context of changing IT systems. Also at SAP we increasingly talk about transformation in relation to migration from SAP ECC systems to SAP S/4HANA. And we don’t mean just a technical change of the database engine to SAP HANA but a comprehensive project that includes a transition to Fiori applications and new functionalities available in S/4HANA (e.g. embedded analytics or flexible workflow).

In enterprises, managers are faced with the question – is this transformation good for the company? Will it bring benefits? How will staff responsibilities change and how will they respond to the change? How long will the project take?

The first step that should be taken to answer the above questions is the use of Process Discovery for SAP S/4HANA Transformation (formerly Business Process Discovery for SAP S/4HANA Transformation), a tool developed by SAP to provide information about current SAP usage, automation opportunities, and S/4HANA features supporting business development.

Will the transformation to S/4HANA deliver benefits?

Two products provided by SAP as part of this service give executives insight into more than 80 KPIs (from a standard catalog of more than 1,300 KPIs), with reference to the average level of a given indicator in the industry (benchmarking). Examples of such indicators include the number of automatically created or released production orders or the number of overdue invoices.

The indicators can be analyzed through the prism of six business lines or seven core business processes.

The report allows you to identify where there is the greatest potential for optimization and at the same time indicates specific SAP S/4HANA functions that can be helpful.

The example provided bellow shows that the percentage of automatically released production orders is well below the industry average. Potentially, this is due to employees’ distrust of data or production planning outside of the SAP system. To improve this process step, SAP suggests using the Production Control and Production Execution functionalities available in S/4HANA.

By analyzing the indicators with the largest negative deviation from the average, you can assess whether the processes are being implemented optimally and, based on this, decide whether changing them can bring the company real business benefits, such as lower costs.

Analysis of Process Discovery for SAP S/4HANA Transformation

How will employees’ responsibilities change?

The report also provides information about the process steps that employees spend the most time on. This allows you to identify the potential to automate and use the system to perform repetitive tasks, while freeing up employee time and competencies for tasks that require more creativity.

How will employees respond to the change?

As in any project, a parallel organizational change management project must be planned in the project of transformation to S/4HANA. Coordinated communication, transparency of project goals, and employee engagement are key elements to consider here.

How long will the project take?

The report obtained through Process Discovery for SAP S/4HANA Transformation helps you decide on the scope of the project. With the information provided in the report, you can focus on the most important indicators in the first stage of the project, leaving the next ones for further stages and planning them based on the current needs of the company.

Based on the data from the report, experienced All For One Poland consultants will be able to suggest an appropriate methodology, support you in choosing the most suitable functionalities and Fiori applications and, on this basis, estimate the time necessary to complete the project.

On the road to development

It seems that this one, rather simple step to take can provide a lot of important information about the current state of the company’s business processes and help build a business case for the transition to S/4HANA. However, even if you decide not to carry out the transformation – the information about weak points will be a valuable input on the way to further development of your company. So, maybe the risk is worth taking?