Road to Success
Your success starts with having the strategy and tools in one place to help you through the SAP S/4HANA Cloud journey. We’ve taken the key knowledge, resources, tools, training, and support and organized them in a place you can always go to find what is critical to you and your organization. The SAP Activate methodology is designed to help you realize the promises of SAP S/4HANA Cloud: speed, productivity, scalability, and business impact. With a clear process of structured and solution-specific practices, phases, accelerators, and deliverables, we can work together to carry out a standardized, easy-to-consume, on-demand environment for adopting and extending new and differentiating capabilities.
1. Discover
Get started with SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Understand how your business will benefit from our cloud-based, next-generation ERP suite.
Build your success with critical phase priorities
- Build your business case and get your organization ready for the cloud
- Understand the solution scope and identify potential needed add-on scope items while reviewing your SAP Digital Discovery Assessment
- Review our lifetime customer success offerings, SAP Enterprise Support and SAP Preferred Success, and become familiar with our service-level agreements
- Choose an implementation partner that is knowledgeable and experienced by using the SAP Partner Readiness corner or contacting your local SAP representative
Find out More
- Review the “Discover” phase in SAP Activate
- Sign up for a guided trial of SAP S/4HANA Cloud
- Find informational assets, including features, on SAP Help Portal
- Visit sap.com/s4hanacloud for public information about SAP S/4HANA Cloud
- Evaluate our SAP Learning Hub learning options and subscription models
- Register for the “Discover” phase in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud value map
2. Prepare
Plan your implementation project
Initiate and plan your deployment, including quality and risk planning. Set up your starter system environment with SAP Best Practices and ready-to-run processes.
Build your success with critical phase priorities
- Select your team, support user enablement, and onboard your users
- Follow the starter-system provisioning process to confirm your infrastructure, receive initial systems, and provide access to critical systems
- Answer the Business Driven Configuration questionnaires and schedule Fit-to-Standard workshop
- Initiate and plan your project with a signed project charter, scope statement, and roles and responsibilities; access to templates and guidance; and use of a project schedule
- Confirm phase completion by executing the quality-gate checklist Find out more
- Review the “Prepare” phase in SAP Activate
- Utilize the SAP Best Practices Explorer
- Discover the SAP ONE Support Launchpad and understand how to report an incident
- Register to the SAP Activate Jam group. Once registered you can access the SAP Activate Jam group
- Access SAP Support Portal to learn about S-user ID assignments (S-User ID required)
- Download project management assets available in SAP Activate
- Evaluate our learning offerings and compare the SAP Learning Hub editions
- Register for the “Prepare” phase in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud value map
3. Explore
Perform a Fit-to-Standard analysis
Verify your solution functionalities while your system integrator explores your business. During our Fit-to-Standard workshop, you will identify the configuration and extensions that best meet your requirements.
Confirm the feasibility of your implementation
- Conduct a Fit-to-Standard analysis to review the functionality of SAP S/4HANA and identify configuration
- Take advantage of process diagrams and test scripts for your Fit-to-Standard
- Confirm phase completion with the quality-gate checklist and requesting your quality system
- Select appropriate data migration objects and prepare for data loads
- Plan for the execution of change management
4. Realize
Create an integrated business and system environment
Configure and extend your IT landscape together with your systems integrator based on prioritized requirements captured in the “Explore” phase. Perform short, iterative cycles, with regular validation and feedback from the business. Structured testing and data migration activities, help ensure the quality of your implementation.
Build your success with critical phase priorities
- Receive and activate your quality system, then request and receive your production system
- Allow your system integrator to plan and execute sprints to configure, extend, and integrate your solution, as well as set up output management and user access and security management
- Participate in solution walk-throughs and testing conducted by your system integrator
- Cleanse legacy data and perform data loads
- Confirm phase completion with the quality-gate checklist
Find out more
- Review the “Realize” phase in SAP Activate
- Get the latest tutorials to learn how to implement, configure, test, and load your data
- Check the SAP API Business Hub and software development kit
- Find embedded learning capabilities with SAP Conversational AI and user assistance
- Access more learning offerings with an additional subscription, including Learning Journey
- Use the SAP Extensibility Explorer
- Register for the “Realize” phase in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud value map
5. Deploy
Go live with SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Perform final preparations before cutting over to production to help ensure that your system, data, and users are ready for productive use before switching business operations to the new system.
Build your success with critical phase priorities
- Onboard new users and train more experienced users continuously with end-user enablement
- Execute your cutover plan from legacy to production system
- Ensure organizational readiness by communicating status before and after the go live, according to your organizational change-management plan
- Confirm phase completion with the quality-gate checklist
Find out more
- Review the “Deploy” phase in SAP Activate
- Visit the SAP Support Portal
- Engage with our SAP S/4HANA Cloud Customer Community
- Register for the “Deploy” phase in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud value map
6. Run - Adopt
Promote user adoption across the business
Access a range of upgrades, hot fixes, and emergency fixes to help ensure your implementation of SAP S/4HANA operates reliably.
Ensure fast, widespread acceptance of your implementation
- Onboard new users, support user enablement, and provide continuous learning
- Determine your process to adopt upgrades with the quarterly upgrade process and upgrade schedule.
- Perform routine actions to help ensure smooth system operations
Find out more
- Review the “Run” phase in SAP Activate
- Visit the SAP Cloud Trust Center
- Learn about the SAP Customer Influence site and use it to crowdsource product enhancements
- Use the SAP ONE Support Launchpad to report an incident
- Leverage our maintenance planner to help ensure your systems run smoothly
- Become familiar with our service-level agreements for SAP Cloud Services
- Re-evaluate our learning offerings and compare the SAP Learning Hub editions
- Register for the “Run” phase in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud value map
Run - Optimize & Expand
Innovate and leverage new functionalities
Implement new innovations – delivered on a quarterly basis – that are suitable for your business needs.
Build your success with critical phase priorities
- Review the road map for SAP S/4HANA Cloud and determine areas that need to be optimized
- Review the “What’s New” viewer for a complete overview of the new and changed features and functions in the most recent versions of SAP S/4HANA Cloud
- Get an early look into what’s coming with the upcoming release by joining our quarterly early-release Webinars
- Extend your solution, activate your new scope, and configure it for new countries, as needed
- Enable continuous system improvement based on business needs
- Get involved in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Customer Community
- Elect a contract extension to continue innovating and running your solution
Find out more
- Visit the SAP Innovation Discovery site to discover the innovations and features that you can turn into tangible value for your business
- Participate in opportunities, such as the SAP Customer Engagement Initiative program, to share your ideas for future innovations and become involved in the development process