SAP ECC to S/4HANA Migration for a European Manufacturing Group
A European manufacturing group with 2,400 users across 8 countries needed to migrate from SAP ECC 6.0 to S/4HANA before end of mainstream maintenance, consolidating 8 legal entities and 340 custom programs without disrupting production operations.
Business Challenge
14 years of technical debt and a hard deadline
The client had been running SAP ECC 6.0 since 2010. With mainstream maintenance ending and extended support costs escalating, the board mandated a migration to S/4HANA within 18 months. The complexity was compounded by 8 legal entities operating on separate instances with divergent configurations.
Three previous migration attempts by other consultancies had stalled at the custom code remediation phase. ATMA Technology was engaged to rescue the programme and deliver a production go-live within the remaining 18-month window.
ATMA's Approach
Brownfield conversion with master data governance at the core
Landscape Assessment & Roadmap
Conducted a full custom code analysis using SAP Custom Code Migration Worklist. Classified 340 Z-programs into keep, remediate, and retire categories. Defined a phased migration roadmap with a brownfield conversion approach to preserve business logic.
Master Data Cleansing
Deployed SAP MDG to govern the master data remediation programme. Standardised material master classification, vendor and customer deduplication, and chart of accounts harmonisation across all 8 legal entities before technical migration.
Technical Migration & Testing
Executed 3 full dress rehearsal cutovers to validate migration scripts, data volumes, and cutover timing. Implemented a parallel run strategy for FI/CO to validate financial postings against the legacy system for 60 days post-go-live.
Hypercare & Stabilisation
Provided 8-week hypercare with on-site support across 3 primary sites. Delivered SAP Fiori adoption training for 2,400 users and established a Centre of Excellence for ongoing S/4HANA optimisation.
Technical Architecture
SAP Activate methodology with a data-first approach
The migration used SAP Activate's brownfield conversion path, preserving existing business processes while modernising the technical foundation. SAP MDG was deployed first to establish data governance before any technical migration work began.
The cutover strategy used a single-weekend go-live window with 72-hour hypercare on-site. Three full dress rehearsals validated the 6-hour cutover timeline before the production event.
Technology Stack
"Three consultancies had tried and failed before ATMA Technology. They came in, understood the complexity immediately, and delivered a zero-downtime go-live that our board had been told was impossible. The master data governance work alone has saved us hundreds of hours per month in reconciliation."
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