Use case · SAP S/4HANA migration

SAP S/4HANA migration: the ERP gets a new core. Users need new habits.

An SAP S/4HANA migration from ECC often means moving from SAP GUI to SAP Fiori, redesigning processes and finding familiar transactions in new places. Users who worked from muscle memory have to relearn on cutover day, with month-end close right around the corner.

My HomekSTEP 1 / 3Open the Manage Supplier Invoices app.ProcurementAccounts PayableInventoryAnalytics
Supplier Invoice 5105600931Post
SupplierNorthern Fasteners Inc.Purchase Order4500018232PO ReferencekSTEP 2 / 3Match the invoice to the purchase order.kSTEP 3 / 3Post the price variance to the right account here.Price Variance$18.40Previous transactionMIRO
2027end of mainstream maintenance for SAP ERP 6.0; optional extended maintenance runs through 2030
54%of DSAG members still run SAP ECC or an older Business Suite release in 2026
17,000Workday users guided by a leading wine and spirits group, a comparable case: training costs down 55%
The short answer

How do you get end users ready for an SAP S/4HANA migration?

Let them find their usual steps in the new screens before cutover, then guide them inside those screens. It plays out in three phases.

Before cutover · K-STUDIO

Replay processes on a replica

Purchase order, supplier invoice, period close: each step replayed in the new apps, with no training client.

At go-live · K-NOW

Find the transaction in Fiori

Guidance shows where a familiar step lives now, the moment a user hesitates.

During hypercare · K-VALUE

Track stabilization

Apps where users stall, processes left unfinished, entities falling behind.

The problem

The project converts the data. Habits don’t convert themselves.

An S/4HANA migration is planned around data conversion, technical testing and process testing. End-user training often comes late, on a training client that is expensive to keep refreshed, with materials written for SAP GUI.

×Cutover by surprise
  • Last-minute training on a training client that needs a refresh every test cycle.
  • Transaction codes known by heart that no longer lead to the same place in Fiori.
  • A first month-end close that slips while everyone hunts for their screens.
  • Super users buried in tickets during hypercare instead of stabilizing processes.
✓Cutover, prepared
  • Exercises on a replica, with no training client to set up per environment or language, as Michelin did on Oracle EBS.
  • Guidance inside the ERP that connects the old transaction to the new app.
  • Lower training costs: down 55% for 17,000 Workday users at a leading wine and spirits group, a comparable case.
  • Multilingual content: that same Workday rollout runs in 32 languages.
What the numbers say

SAP’s deadline forces the migration. It doesn’t force adoption.

2027Mainstream maintenance for SAP ERP 6.0 ends in 2027. Optional extended maintenance runs from 2028 through the end of 2030.SAP Support, Clarity and Choice on SAP Business Suite 7
37%of DSAG’s ECC customers plan to move to S/4HANA by the end of 2027.DSAG, Investment Report 2026
49%of organizations cite changing business processes as a migration challenge; 37% cite organizational resistance.Precisely and ASUG, 2026 Trends and Challenges
ERP rollouts at scale

Michelin trains ERP users worldwide, without training clients.

To standardize finance processes on Oracle E-Business Suite, Michelin built K-STUDIO simulations that replicate the ERP. Learners enter data just as they would in the live system, without touching it. First used for the Backbone ERP, the program was extended to the D2C rollout. The same approach applies to a multi-country S/4HANA migration.

Consistent training

The same exercises in every region, whatever the local culture.

No training client

No training environment to build per country or per language.

K-Studio
Exercise 2 of 8Score 100%
Simulation
InvoiceSupplierStatus
INV-24-1180Southern Tire SupplyValidated
INV-24-1181Western Rubber Co.Pending entry
INV-24-1182Northern LogisticsOn hold
INV-24-1183Eastern SteelPaid
Invoice Workbench · INV-24-1181Validate
SupplierWestern Rubber Co. ✓Amount€8,240.00GL account401100Next stepMatch the invoice to the purchase order
iYour turnEnter invoice INV-24-1181, received this morning.!AlmostThat’s INV-24-1180: it’s already validated.✓Well doneRight invoice. Check the GL account before you validate.

See also:brownfield vs. greenfield (in French)our cutover definition (in French)

SAP S/4HANA migration timeline

Three phases, three groups, three ways to delay month-end close.

Before cutover, every user needs to find their steps in the new apps. Over cutover weekend, super users validate the migrated data. In the first month, close deadlines arrive, and every hesitation pushes them back.

The method

Four steps to get users ready for SAP S/4HANA.

Map what changes

Transactions replaced by Fiori apps, redesigned processes, new roles: who is affected, and how.

Replay before cutover

K-STUDIO exercises on a replica of the apps. Related: go-live training.

Guide through hypercare

K-NOW shows where a familiar step lives now, in the right app.

Measure stabilization

K-VALUE shows where users stall, app by app and entity by entity.

FAQ

SAP S/4HANA migration: what teams ask us.

When does SAP ECC support end, and when should an SAP S/4HANA migration be done?
SAP provides mainstream maintenance for SAP ERP 6.0 through the end of 2027, then optional extended maintenance through the end of 2030. According to DSAG, 37% of ECC customers plan to move to S/4HANA by the end of 2027.
What changes for end users in an S/4HANA migration?
Often the interface, as users move from SAP GUI to SAP Fiori apps, and some of the processes. Transaction codes people knew by heart give way to apps with different screens and different landmarks.
Brownfield vs. greenfield: what’s the impact on users?
In a brownfield system conversion, processes stay close to what users know, but the interface changes. In greenfield, processes and screens change at once. Either way, users need to rehearse. See our definition of brownfield and greenfield (in French).
Do you need an SAP S/4HANA training client?
Not to learn the steps. A K-STUDIO simulation reproduces the apps with no system to refresh. Michelin took this approach on Oracle EBS to avoid setting up training clients for every environment and language.
How do users find their old transactions in SAP Fiori?
In-app guidance shows where each familiar step lives now. K-NOW displays it on the relevant screen, with no development in SAP.
How do you shorten hypercare after an S/4HANA go-live?
Answer recurring questions with in-app guidance instead of tickets, and spot the apps where users stall. See our definition of hypercare (in French).
How do you measure user adoption after an SAP S/4HANA migration?
Track behavior, not course completions: apps where users stall, processes left unfinished, time per task by entity. K-VALUE reports it app by app, so you can see which entities are ready to exit hypercare.
Your S/4HANA migration

Name a process. We’ll show you its dress rehearsal.

A purchase order, a supplier invoice, a period close: we take a real screen from your future S/4HANA system and show you both the simulation and the in-app guidance.