Interview: Implementing SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition — Every Project Is Unique, but We Approach the Challenges with Confidence

Are you curious about how SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition implementation projects unfold with our customers? What do these projects have in common, and what challenges do we overcome along the way? We spoke with our colleague, Senior SAP ERP Consultant Tatiana Doležalová, who is responsible for the SAP Activate methodology, solution scope and architecture of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, and last but not least, communication with SAP.

Q: Tatiana, MIBCON has recently completed another SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition ERP implementation project, and you are now launching a new one. Has it become routine, or does every implementation still bring a bit of adrenaline?

A: Routine is definitely not a risk. Our customers operate across various industries — commodities, manufacturing, wholesale, and real estate. They each have different ideas about how to run their business processes within the system, which itself is highly flexible both in terms of configuration and extensibility. Customers select from hundreds of best practice processes those that best suit their needs.

In addition, SAP updates and enhances the Public Edition twice a year. Our team closely monitors these changes and always looks forward to new features that we can offer to our customers.

The Activate methodology is also continuously updated, keeping pace with new technologies and implementation approaches. In detail, it helps the entire project team deliver faster and more transparent implementations. While we follow the boundaries defined by SAP, every customer comes with unique requirements, and we always consider how to implement them in a way that ensures customer satisfaction.

Understanding SAP Best Practice Processes

Q: The public cloud version of SAP S/4HANA is particularly suitable for companies that want to move to standardized processes — in other words, to leverage SAP Best Practice processes that are preconfigured in the ERP system. Do customers understand the main benefits of this approach?

A: This can be quite a challenging area, especially for key and end users. Company leadership typically adopts the cloud mindset relatively quickly. However, key users need time to fully understand how standard processes work in the new system and what outputs they can expect. For many years, they have been accustomed to performing their work in a certain way, and now those processes are changing.

That is why introducing customers to standard processes — so they clearly understand what they offer — must begin even before the contract is signed, during the so-called Digital Discovery Assessment workshops.

Digital Discovery Assessment Workshops

Q: You mentioned DDA workshops. What is their objective?

A: During these workshops, suitable standard processes are selected based on the customer’s industry and business activities. This helps define the project scope, determine licensing requirements, and assess implementation complexity. At the same time, customers gain an initial understanding of how these processes function.

Customers begin to see the breadth of capabilities provided by the standard solution. They realize they will not only gain access to new technologies, but above all to integrated processes that handle data in a unified way. This allows them to obtain a comprehensive and timely overview of their business performance — which is often one of the most valuable outcomes for customers.

During DDA workshops, it is also essential to map the overall IT architecture of systems that will communicate with the new SAP ERP solution, as well as assess the state of the customer’s data foundation.

Hands-On Experience from Day One

Q: Can customers try out the cloud ERP system at the very beginning?

A: Not only can they — they must. Theory and abstract ideas are not enough. It is essential for key users to validate new standards through hands-on experience. From our experience, the biggest challenge is always changing mindset and approach, and that happens fastest through practical use.

Fortunately, key users have access to a live system from the very start of the implementation, where they can experience the standard processes firsthand.

Before signing the contract, this environment is called the Cloud Trial. At the beginning of the implementation, it becomes the Starter system. Users also have access to complete documentation of standard processes, available online directly within the system. Training materials are, of course, provided to explain the business value in the overall context.

Fit-to-Standard Workshops

Q: In the next phase of the project, Fit-to-Standard workshops take place. What do you address with customers during these sessions?

A: During Fit-to-Standard workshops, we explain best practice processes to key users. Users then actively participate in transforming their existing processes into standardized ones — in other words, they adapt to the standard.

These workshops take place during the Explore phase, when the Starter system is already available and consultants demonstrate and explain standard processes directly in the system. The Central Business Configuration (CBC) system and the project management tool SAP Cloud ALM are also available. This allows consultants to propose configuration options to customers right from the beginning of the project.

Users come to the workshop partially prepared, as they have already reviewed a demo recording — a tutorial — of the same process that will be explained in detail. After the workshop, they test the standard process themselves in the Starter system. Consultants collect user requirements, document them together with the customer, and evaluate them.

Configuration Flexibility

Q: Do customers sometimes request configuration changes to Best Practice processes to better fit their needs?

A: The SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud edition is preconfigured, but configurations can be extended or adjusted. Based on real project experience, we know customers do use this flexibility. However, we always remain within the standard framework. There are many configuration options available, and in most cases we can meet customer requirements through configuration alone.

It is understandable that different customers have different unique needs. In some projects, only about 10% of configurations require adjustment, while in others it can be as much as 80%.

Q: Is such a request for configuration a challenge from the implementer’s perspective?

A: If a customer requirement can be implemented using self-service configuration, it is a natural part of the system — similar to what we know from previous SAP versions. However, some configurations are not accessible directly from the front end. These are known as expert configurations. In such cases, we submit a request to SAP through the recommended communication channel in SAP for Me, acting as the partner representing the customer.

Our consultants combine practical experience with certifications, enabling them to anticipate the impact of configuration changes and clearly explain them to customers. If customers rely solely on configuration changes, future upgrades — which occur twice a year — typically require testing only mandatory changes introduced by SAP. These changes are thoroughly documented by SAP, including their specific impact on the customer’s system.

Customers also have additional options. They may request extensions at the application level or even develop their own applications and business logic. However, these modifications increase the effort required during system upgrades, both in terms of testing and necessary adjustments to custom objects.

Staying Close to the Standard

Q: So in general, would you recommend staying as close as possible to the standard when using this ERP system?

A: Absolutely. The Best Practice process model is designed so that we can operate comfortably within its boundaries using standard adjustments. Once these processes are filled with customer data, they run smoothly — like water flowing naturally through a riverbed when no obstacles are placed in its way. The entire system then becomes more resilient to changes introduced by upgrades.

System Extensions

Q: Do you also address requests for system extensions?

A: We have handled virtually every type of extension — from simple custom fields and new applications to complex business logic and advanced analytical reporting adjustments. We can analyze when to use key-user extensibility, intended for non-developers, and when developer extensibility is more appropriate.

We also have an experienced development team that uses modern programming methods available for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. We have implemented developer extensibility directly within the SAP S/4HANA Cloud tenant, as well as side-by-side extensibility on the SAP Business Technology Platform.

Integrations

Q: What about integrations? I assume customers are interested in connecting the ERP system with other systems and applications they use.

A. Integrations are always an essential part of implementation planning. We typically integrate services on SAP Business Technology Platform using communication channels provided by SAP, extending the functionality of SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Connecting third-party systems is also straightforward.

We have experience integrating systems such as Endur, widely used in energy and commodities trading, Microsoft Dynamics AX, and solutions like DocFlow, Nugget, and FIDOO.

Integration with banks and public portals that provide information about business partner reliability is standard practice. We design the appropriate architecture based on customer needs, implement it, and continuously monitor it.

Our integration methodology is supported by the SAP Integration Solution Advisory Methodology, built around SAP Integration Suite. We use a library of standard integration packages provided by SAP. SAP Integration Suite enables integration of SAP and non-SAP applications, both cloud and on-premise, supporting various integration styles such as API-based integration, event-driven integration, and business-to-business integration.

It also offers more than 200 connectors for connecting applications. Using SAP Integration Suite, we can develop programs for data transformation.

Testing, Go-Live, and User Onboarding

Q: Are you in contact with customers during later project phases, such as testing and user onboarding before go-live?

A: I work closely with customers from their very first introduction to the product all the way through hypercare — the period of increased support after go-live.

At the beginning, I recommend how customers can quickly become familiar with both the product and the methodology. During the implementation, data migration must take place — first into the test system — so customers can test the system using their own data.

I also help customers create their own end-to-end scenarios based on the data variations they use. These scenarios typically combine steps from standard scenarios, arranged to reflect new processes in the new system.

The Biggest Challenges

Q: Large implementation projects bring many challenges for both parties. What do you personally consider the most difficult task when deploying SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition?

A: I see two major challenges.

The first is helping customers transition to a standardized process model. This depends heavily on how customers previously perceived their systems and the way they worked with them.

Company leadership is usually open to the cloud mindset and standardization, but we work closely with key users and process owners. Each of them must individually understand the value of the new solution and accept that data processing will be performed differently. As the implementation partner, we must support customers through change management and help them run their business within a standardized best practice model.

The second major challenge is data migration — although this is a challenge in every new system implementation. It is not primarily a technical challenge, as we have tools such as the integrated SAP Migration Cockpit with more than 250 migration objects and API-based integrations.

The real challenge is often data quality, especially when legacy systems have not been properly maintained. Another challenge can be changes to data structures, particularly in finance and controlling. We help customers transform data into the required formats for SAP S/4HANA Cloud and typically perform the migration ourselves. If customers prefer and have the capacity, we can train them to migrate certain objects independently.

Overall

Q: Has the overall experience been successful?

A: Yes, I am very satisfied. I work with a team of professionals, and whenever challenges arise, we always find a solution. We offer a system and services that clearly demonstrate technological innovation and integration with modern technologies. We continuously monitor SAP developments and strive to explain and apply them for our customers. It is interesting and inspiring work.

Q: You mentioned that your team is starting another implementation project. Is there something you would like to wish to everyone involved?

A: I hope that through patient work we can explain complex functionality to customers as simply as possible, so they truly embrace it. And ultimately, that they experience that “aha” moment — realizing that the new way of working is more beneficial for them.

That is a great wish. I will keep my fingers crossed that it comes true.

Thank you for the interview!

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