Overcoming the challenges of “huge data” in SAP R/3 to SAP S/4HANA migration

The upcoming end-of-support deadline for SAP ECC in 2027 has been instrumental in getting more SAP customers to move to SAP S/4HANA, with both SAP and its partners offering as many migration pathways as possible. 

But what if an organisation is still running an older system like SAP R/3 – which pre-dates SAP ECC – and wants to move to SAP S/4HANA? 

Vietnam-headquartered FPT Software recently completed an SAP R/3 to SAP S/4HANA migration with a utility company over close to two years. 

SAP R/3, first launched in 1992, was the predecessor of SAP ECC. It is also SAP’s first ERP that was classed as a client/server system, compared to the previous iterations that were classed as mainframe systems. 

FPT Software was tapped to migrate the utility’s system to SAP S/4HANA, improve user interface and user experience design, and make data management easier. 

“Migrating from R/3 to S/4HANA is a significantly more complex and challenging undertaking than moving from ECC to S/4HANA,” FPT said. 

“With R/3 being a legacy system, we had to consider data conversion, custom code, business process optimisation, time and cost, among many others.” 

The utility had large volumes of transactional data hosted in its SAP R/3 system and sought to move to SAP S/4HANA for its data management capabilities to help track invoices more easily. 

FPT said the company being a utility company presents “unique challenges” for a migration from SAP R/3 to SAP S/4HANA. 

“There are massive data volumes involved, and we also had to deal with real-time data processing work. Billing and revenue management was also complex,” FPT added. 

FPT’s plan of attack was to divide project delivery into seven “sprints”, or a time-boxed period where consultants focus on achieving specific targets, aimed to complete tasks with higher concentration. 

“While a sprint-based approach can be effective for many SAP system migrations, including R/3 to S/4HANA, its suitability depends on the project’s specific complexities,” FPT said. 

“FPT often incorporates this methodology into our migration projects, tailoring it to meet the unique needs of each client.” 

The migration was split into two phases, each with 30 consultants assigned to support different areas like SAP Finance and Controlling (FICO), Materials Management (MM), Sales and Distribution (SD), Project System (PS), Ariba, SuccessFactors, Document Management Systems (DMS), as well as the integration with 12 SAP and non-SAP systems. The first phase ran for seven months, and the second was conducted over 13 months. 

FPT used SAP Migration Cockpit to extract data from the legacy SAP R/3 system. The master and transactional data extracted were then migrated to the new SAP S/4HANA system, and FPT used data-ready templates to speed up the process. 

Fiori applications were also used to overhaul the new SAP S/4HANA system’s user interface and user experience, as the previous design was “complicated”, according to FPT, and was slowing down business processes. 

Following the migration, FPT said the customer’s new processes and systems performed faster and more efficiently, with SAP S/4HANA now able to handle larger data volumes and provide more computing power. 

FPT also reported improvements in financial data management, specifically with invoicing and reporting. SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) integration also unified data onto a single information platform. 

“A 20-month SAP R/3 to SAP S/4HANA migration is a significant undertaking,” FPT said. “Our proven track record in managing complex projects of this scale highlights our expertise in SAP migrations.”