With the 2027 deadline for SAP S/4HANA migrations fast approaching, organizations are accelerating their transition plans. According to recent research, 50% of organizations were planning to have migrated or started the migration to S/4HANA by the end of 2024, while an additional 30% plan to make the change in the next two years.
For organizations that intend to remain on SAP ECC in the near-term, the focus has shifted to improving operational efficiencies and meeting demands for faster cycle times. These efforts are essential to maintaining competitiveness while preparing for eventual modernization.
No matter where an organization is in its SAP journey, one theme is clear: The automation of SAP processes is crucial. In order to maintain agility, accelerate the speed of business, and build data integrity, organizations require robust process automation, fueled by accurate, consistent, and contextual data, to drive successful outcomes. Emerging best practices and challenges related to SAP automation will reveal key strategies companies are adopting to optimize their operations.
SAP S/4HANA Migrations Gain Momentum, Despite Ongoing Challenges
In less than three years, the S/4HANA deadline will have arrived and as a result, many organizations are moving forward with plans to start their migration journeys now, if they haven't done so already.
Transitioning from legacy SAP ERP systems to S/4HANA is a notoriously complex process. Oftentimes it requires both legacy and new systems to work in tandem and presents significant data management challenges along the way. The companies getting it right are relying on process automation to accelerate complex SAP business processes.
Process automation solutions are pivotal in expediting SAP migrations by streamlining data transformation and integration tasks. Automated processes enable organizations to create new master data and transaction data in SAP systems, update mass amounts of data throughout the SAP landscape using Excel and perform data migrations from existing systems to S/4HANA. As businesses start with pre-migration assessment and implementation plans, incorporating automation allows for the adoption of a more holistic approach to process redesign, leading to optimized business processes and a smoother transition to S/4HANA.
However, due to data, process, and organizational complexities, the move from legacy SAP ERP systems is often a multi-year process that requires detailed planning and analyses of its impact on business operations. As a result, businesses frequently operate both legacy and new systems in parallel as they work to avoid disruptions during the transition, but this approach can oftentimes compound the complexity of the migration to S/4HANA. While the transition may be difficult at times, the business benefits of this transition — including cloud deployment options, real-time reporting in SAP and a modern user interface — far outweigh the migration challenges
Rise in Automation Adoption Comes with Challenges
Automation is a critical component of any digital transformation strategy, but the implementation of automated solutions hasn't always been quickly adopted. This is particularly true when it comes to complex, and data intensive, SAP-centric business processes which create barriers to success. However, as more organizations realize the benefits of automation, adoption is increasing. In fact, research shows a 15% increase in the use of automation for migrations and digital transformation projects — from 43% in 2023 to 58% in 2024 — indicating that companies considering automation today are likely to begin adopting it soon.
Over the past year, there has been growth in companies maturing their levels of automation adoption, leveraging a mix of manual and automated processes to streamline operations, reduce reliance on manual intervention, and effectively manage high volumes of data. However, a high level of automation adoption remains difficult to achieve. This is due to three factors currently influencing the market:
- First, the impact of companies migrating to S/4HANA may slow improvements in automation growth and maturity. As organizations complete the migration process, they rationalize the potential impacts of this move on business processes.
- Next, digital transformation teams recognize that many simple or infrequent processes are more efficiently managed when done manually.
- Finally, growing recognition that success metrics based on business outcome value for an automation activity or process will vary from use case to use case from an organizational standpoint.
Barriers such as large data volumes and the intricacies of business processes take time to overcome. Many companies continue to cite integration with existing business processes as the biggest challenge when implementing process automation. These challenges are often exacerbated when companies take a case-by-case approach to automation, as this can increase overall complexity.
Scaling Automation Through Citizen Developers and Trusted Data
To navigate these complexities and fully realize the benefits, companies must recognize the value of citizen developers. They play a crucial role in the automation initiative process, leveraging the growing adoption of no-code/low-code platforms that assist business users at every level. Citizen developers also expand the pool of experts who can deploy automation within a company, and a majority of companies believe that these individuals are a crucial part of their organizations. As the use of low-code/no-code platforms grows, citizen developers will continue to drive the evolution of automation.
Despite its challenges, prioritizing best practices in SAP process automation ensures that a company's data is utilized to its full potential, improving business agility and accelerating the organization overall. To achieve this, companies must place automation at the core of their data integrity efforts. Data integrity is key — accurate, consistent, and contextualized data significantly ensures a smooth automation process. For example, ensuring customer records and data are error-free builds trust in the data, enabling the organization to make sound business decisions across all departments.
Automation is becoming a necessity for companies as they embrace digital transformation and the tools required to achieve it. SAP process automation is central to streamlining operational efficiencies. To ensure success, companies must effectively integrate data integrity solutions, as automation cannot succeed without trusted data. The inclusion of no-code/low-code automation tools also supports this goal by enabling broader impacts across the organization. While the automation process is complex, its outcomes — enhanced efficiencies, agility, and greater ROI — are invaluable for driving long-term success.
