Avoiding Moratorium / Change Freeze

In part 1 of this series, I highlighted the different conceptual approaches to an S/4 transition and talked about some of the things you might need to consider. In this post, I’m going to focus on understanding how long your journey will take and how to avoid a change moratorium / freeze during that period.

Planning the Landscape

Regardless of the approach selected, there will be a prolonged period between the creation of a new S/4 Development Environment (Phase 2 in the diagram below) and the eventual cutover of the business from ECC to S/4 (Phase 5). Between these phases, two landscapes will be in place.

Understanding Dual Maintenance

During the period when two landscapes, on two different platforms, are in place for the same business scope, it is necessary to keep them in synch. This is known as Dual Maintenance, as relevant changes need to be maintained twice. The longer the period from Phase 2 to Phase 5, and the higher the volume of change being managed, the harder it will be to ensure that there are no deviations or differences between the source (ECC) and target (S/4) landscapes when you reach the S/4 cutover. This is particularly important for key configuration or custom solutions (especially in Brownfield and Hybrid scenarios).

Avoiding a Change Moratorium

One of the easiest ways to manage risk during such a long transformation project is to minimize the amount of change which is taking place in this “in-flight” landscape. Options such as a moratorium on changes – typically seen around sensitive periods like year-end (fiscal or calendar) – can significantly reduce the risk. However, most businesses would find an extended change freeze unacceptable or even a risk to the overall success of the company. More typical is a mandate that there should be no freeze or slowdown in activity during the transformation project. As a result, a robust solution to govern and control the high number of changes and involved parties is needed.

Managing on-going projects, activities and changes

The diagram below shows a more detailed example of what the period from Phase 1 to Phase 5 might look like, in which I am assuming a Hybrid migration with a ‘big bang’ cutover. Greenfield and Brownfield will have certain variations (see part 1 of this series for more details). Phasing the migration – a more likely option for Greenfield or Hybrid – will lead to a more complex and lengthier dual maintenance process.

Types of projects to consider

Depending upon when a project starts and finishes in relation to the S/4 landscape build-out will determine how different projects should be handled.

Dual Maintenance complexity as part of an S/4 transformation

Dual maintenance has been around as a challenge for as long as customers needed to upgrade their SAP landscapes (3.0f -> 4.6c -> ECC 6.0). S/4 however, it brings with it additional challenges which need to be taken into account:

Summary

Clearly, it is imperative for most businesses these days to continue delivering business priorities despite lengthy IT-led initiatives such as the move to S/4. Regardless of what volume of change you will be managing, it is imperative to avoid the risk of going live on S/4 without some of the change that is required to operate the business, or of being unable to support what is already live.

ActiveControl from Basis Technologies is one of the simplest ways to govern and control this dual maintenance challenge with a maximum of automation and minimum of effort. Our automation platform provides the confidence to continue with your planned portfolio in parallel to your transformation to S/4. If fast, continuous, safe SAP change and release appeals to you, request a free demonstration to learn more about how our software can help you to achieve it.

In the final part of this series, I will cover the handling of custom code and managing a more complex, higher volume S/4 landscape in the future.

Other related Basis blogs:

• Considerations when moving to S/4HANA – Part 1
• Considerations when moving to S/4HANA – Part 3
• eBook: Accelerate Your S/4HANA Journey with Automation
• Why SAP Automation Is Crucial When Adopting SAP S/4HANA
• What to consider for your journey to SAP S/4HANA
• 4 steps to a clear S/4 HANA migration strategy
• Use a Dual-Track Approach to Make SAP Upgrades Easier and Lower Risk