Migrating to SAP S/4HANA: Operating Models, Migration Scenarios, Tools, and Implementation

Should be considered as a Bible for Migration to S/4 Hana . Explains all the approaches of S/4 Implementation along with detailed description of data Migrtion tools

I bought this book as a gift for a US colleague in S/4HANA consulting and looked at it before handing it over. I already own the original German version and saw that there was no big difference between the two. I read one comment that says: “I hope the authors know more about SAP than grammar.” I was first amused, but then found that comment unfair. The term “on-premise” has been best practice in IT for years. SAP also calls their product “on-premise” and not “on-premises”, and SAP employees must follow strict branding guidance even if it is grammatically incorrect. A book review should review the content and its usefulness, not rate the ungrammatical use of an IT term. But saying that, I should follow that principle and write a review on the book and stop reviewing a reviewer. So here it goes! I like the book! It explains the different S/4HANA Cloud and on-premise products and the names that SAP uses for their S/4HANA product family. Knowing that SAP renames its products more often than other people change their underwear, that information is helpful. In my opinion this should have been placed more at the beginning of the book, but it is good to have. I also liked that they restructured the new English version. The first English/previous German edition were divided into chapters for the on-premises product(s) and the cloud product. Now it is structured in a way that explains the different ways on how to migrate to S/4HANA. The first part explains S/4HANA and its differences from SAP Business Suite, as well as the underlying technology such as Fiori, HANA database, and different operating models. It provides enough to understand the basics. It also includes a lot of links to some good blogs to get more info. That’s why I bought the German version as a bundle (printed book and e-book) on the publisher’s page. It is nice to read the book and then directly click links to get more information. The second part concentrates on different migration options: brownfield and greenfield and how to determine the scenario that fits best for you. That is interesting for products based on the S/4HANA version build for on-premises and used in S/4HANA and S/4HANA Cloud, private edition. Here, both approaches can be used where-as the S/4HANA Cloud product only supports the greenfield approach. The book also explains, on 3 pages, the concept of selective data transition that is offered by consulting companies as the bluefield approach. I would have liked to read more about that concept. Part three is on brownfield and the preparation and execution of a system conversion. It is well explained and in more detail than the previous edition. The last part then concentrates on greenfield. The implementation method SAP Activate is explained and followed by a small chapter that explains the installation of on-premises products. It is short but gives a good overview on the necessary steps/tools. The last chapters explain the new Fiori based migration cockpit that is available with S/4HANA 2020+ releases and with S/4HANA Cloud, the LTMOM and the old rapid data migration package that is based on SAP Data Services. They are all good to read and explain the different functions and use cases. This book is currently the only book on the market that explains the new migration cockpit in all details. All the others only explain the old migration cockpit before 2020. This is a must have for Cloud customers as well as for customers using the cockpit with S/4HANA releases above 1909. Last but not least the book compares the different SAP tools (including LSMW) used for data migration and data migration modelling. That was really useful. Next time the book should further explain the selective data transition and some other topics in more details. It’s a good choice for managers to get an overview on the whole topic and for consultants to have all aspects described in one place. As most books on the market only explain the on-premise versions, this book is one of the few that also covers S/4HANA Cloud in a detailed way. I hover between 4 and 5 stars with a trend to 5, and I really recommend the book as it is worth one’s salt.

Se puede usar para un conocimiento general antes de llevar a cabo la migración de un sistema SAP (o no SAP) a S/4HANA. En algunos puntos es complejo de seguir si no se tiene conocimiento suficiente de SAP, pero en general, está bien.

I've read the first 100 pages of the book and on almost every page I've seen this misuse of the language. I couldn't ignore it further. I'll keep this review updated as I read through the book. I'm somewhat amused (and disenchanted) by the improper use of the term "on premise" when the authors should use the term "on-premises". A "premise" is a statement referenced to draw a conclusion. It is not a building on your property that houses a computer. The data center on your property is "on-premises" (I would also allow for "on-prem" if you need to shorten it). I know we're not English professors and I'm reading the book for the content, but I find this is a common mistake made too often by a lot of highly paid professionals.