SAP Migration
Mainstream maintenance for SAP ECC ends in 2027, so the question is no longer whether you move but how.
Why It Matters
A typical ECC system carries thousands of Z objects, and the usage evidence usually shows that well over half have not run in years. Remediating a dead report against the simplification database costs the same as remediating a live one.
The technical conversion runs through SUM with the Database Migration Option, and the honest answer on business downtime is 30 to 50 hours for a normal system. Downtime-optimised approaches can pull a large system under 24 hours.
SAP Readiness Check on the live system, simplification items reviewed and the route decided.
A real conversion on a copy in 4 to 8 weeks, which produces the true effort and timing.
Business Partner and CVI work, finance preparation for ACDOCA, custom code remediation.
Two or more timed runs of the full runbook on production data, with the window measured.
A weekend freeze, the SUM run, reconciliation, then hypercare through the first close.
The SAP Readiness Check output read back to you in plain terms, with the blockers separated from the noise.
Every relevant simplification item assessed against your configuration, with the consistency checks run and cleared.
A retirement list built from usage data, then fixes for the objects that stay, tested in the converted sandbox.
Number ranges, groupings and the Customer Vendor Integration mapping, run and reconciled before the technical conversion.
Greenfield and selective data loads built in the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit, repeatable and reconciled per object.
A timed task list with owners, the posting freeze, the SUM sequence, validation checks and the rollback point.
Brownfield, greenfield and selective data transition, so the recommendation is not driven by what we can deliver.
A real conversion on a copy gives the effort number. Quoting a programme without one is guesswork.
Deleting an unused Z report is cheaper than remediating it, and we bring the usage evidence to prove which is which.
ACDOCA, ledgers and currency setup are decided with your controllers, not retrofitted after conversion.
A sandbox conversion takes 4 to 8 weeks and tells you what you are actually dealing with. A full programme through sandbox, development, quality and production usually runs 9 to 15 months for a single production system, and longer if you are consolidating several. Custom code volume and the state of your finance data move that number far more than user count does.
If your configuration still fits the business and you want to keep history and open documents, a system conversion is the cheaper and faster route. If your ECC carries 15 years of workarounds nobody can explain, a new implementation costs more up front and saves you from rebuilding the mess in a new database. Selective data transition sits between the two and suits groups that only want certain company codes carried across.
Plan for a weekend. A production run using SUM with the Database Migration Option typically takes 30 to 50 hours of business downtime, and downtime-optimised options can bring a large system under 24 hours. We do not promise zero downtime, because nobody delivers it. We shorten the window with at least two dress rehearsals and agree the posting freeze with finance in advance.
It is analysed against the SAP simplification database before anything is touched. On most ECC systems more than half the custom objects have not been executed in years, and retiring them is far cheaper than remediating them. We use runtime evidence from the ABAP Call Monitor and Usage Procedure Logging to separate live code from dead code, then fix only what survives that cut.
In a system conversion, yes. Documents, balances and configuration convert in place, and financial history lands in the Universal Journal table ACDOCA. In a new implementation you re-migrate what you choose, normally masters, open items and opening balances, with older records kept read-only in ECC or in an archive. Selective data transition lets you pick a history window, such as the last two fiscal years.
It runs against your live ECC system and returns the simplification items that apply to you, custom code findings, the add-ons and business functions that block a conversion, a data volume profile and a sizing estimate for S/4HANA. It is the cheapest way to get a real scope, and we run it in the first two weeks, before anyone quotes a fixed price.
No commitment. A practical first look at your S/4HANA conversion.
