Our experience with a Greenfield implementation to S/4HANA

In a context where innovation is essential to remain competitive, a Swiss company active in the mobility sector, employing more than 1,000 people, sought to modernize by migrating from a legacy ERP to SAP. It implemented a Greenfield approach for the implementation of SAP S/4HANA.

This ambitious project aims to build an entirely new and optimized ERP system to meet current and future business requirements while integrating best practices from the outset.

This initiative marked a significant step in their digital transformation strategy, aligning their processes with the most advanced standards in the industry. 

What is a Greenfield implementation ?

Greenfield implementation is an approach that allows companies to implement an entirely new SAP S/4HANA system, whether for those who do not yet have SAP or for those who already have it but want to start from scratch.

This method begins by creating a completely clean environment, providing the opportunity to fundamentally redefine business processes and integrate current best practices.

As a digital transformation project, the Greenfield approach requires strong involvement from business teams. They must play a central role in making critical decisions on process design and optimization, ensuring that the new system effectively meets the company's specific needs.

This approach promotes a complete and personalized modernization, while allowing you to fully exploit the innovations offered by SAP S/4HANA.

The stakes

During our Greenfield implementation project, several major challenges were encountered :

Business involvement and understanding: Creating a completely new system requires a conceptual mindset and a deep understanding of business processes. However, the available profiles were primarily oriented toward the day-to-day use of existing systems, not their design. This difference in perspective posed challenges in communication and collaboration to define and adapt the new processes.

Complexity of structural decisions: Although SAP offers standard processes and tools to facilitate implementation, the project proved to be very demanding. It involved numerous structural decisions, even in a standardized context, requiring specific configuration choices tailored to the business needs. The need to involve multiple functional areas added to the project's complexity.

Change management: While digital transformation was crucial, it was not the company's core business. Change management was therefore a challenge at all levels of management, requiring ongoing awareness and adaptation to overcome resistance and ensure a smooth transition to the new system.

Strict Go Live Date: Adhering to a Go Live date (January 1st) was crucial due to the complex accounting and payroll tax implications. Migrating mid-year would have led to significant complications in managing financial data and social security obligations, making this deadline all the more important./p>

The duration

The Greenfield implementation project spanned a total period of 2.5 years.

It began with a 6-month study phase, covering the "Discover" part of the SAP Activate methodology, and also included part of the "Explore" phase . This initial phase allowed us to define needs and plan the next steps.

Following this study, a public tender process was necessary to constitute the project team, which added approximately 6 additional months to the overall duration of the project.

After the team was formed, there were 6 months left to complete the "Explore" phase and 6 months for the "Realize" phase , before the Go Live date.

Although we managed to meet this deadline, the project required an extension of 3 additional months to ensure adequate hypercare and finalize certain features not available at Go Live.

In total, the project lasted 2 and a half years, from the initial study to the full operationalization of the solution.

Conclusion

Greenfield implementation is a strategic and ambitious approach for companies looking to establish a completely new SAP S/4HANA system, free from the constraints of existing configurations. While this method offers the opportunity to design optimized processes and leverage the latest innovations, it requires strong business team involvement and rigorous change management.

Our project illustrated these challenges: the need for a deep understanding of the business, the complexity of organizational decisions, and the challenges associated with digital transformation all played a crucial role. Despite the necessary extensions for hypercare and the finalization of functionalities, the successful completion of Go Live marked an important step in the company's modernization.

Experience shows that despite a challenging path, a well-orchestrated Greenfield approach can provide a solid foundation for a successful digital transformation, aligned with the company's strategic objectives and ready to integrate future developments.