SAP S/4HANA – new ERP generation seeks new mindset
Britt Bürgy
Well over 400,000 companies worldwide are currently considering how to make their ERP system fit for the future. Each of them is using either SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) or its predecessor SAP R/3. More to the point, each of these companies also knows that support for these systems – pillars of their IT strategy – will end in 2027. Although SAP’s new ERP generation – SAP S/4HANA – has been ready to go since 2015, only a few companies had made the switch until recently.
However, as the Lünendonk Study 2021 shows, things are beginning to change. The coronavirus pandemic brought new challenges for business. The pressure to digitalize has suddenly gone through the roof, and this, in turn, has exposed how cumbersome most of the installed SAP systems are. As a consequence, SAP S/4HANA is no longer primarily seen as a “take it or leave it” offering in the style of a Hobson’s choice, but instead as a real opportunity to implement long overdue updates to processes, workflows, services and business models.
