Implementing SAP S4HANA, on-premise with SAP Activate

Cookbook: SAP Activate

Getting Started with SAP Activate

SAP S/4HANA, the next-generation business suite is addressing the impact of complexity that enterprises are struggling with and is designed to help them run simple.

An area where customers dramatically experience this complexity is the initial implementation.

Getting started quickly with brand new innovations like SAP S/4HANA might sound difficult, but this is where SAP Activate comes into place.

SAP Activate expedites SAP S/4HANA implementations throughout the customer lifecycle by offering ready-to-run digitized business and technology processes, guided configuration and next-generation methodology.

• SAP Activate on SAP.com

SAP Activate builds on accelerators like SAP Best Practices that help customers get up and running quickly with pre-configured best practice scenarios and functionalities, followed up with continuous updates as new enhancements become available.

The SAP Best Practices Explorer: Experience the complete SAP Best Practices and SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions portfolio using the new web-channel.

• SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA on the SAP Service Marketplace 

• SAP Best Practices Explorer
• Blog on SAP Best Practices Explorer

SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA are integrated with other SAP cloud solutions, such as SuccessFactors Employee Central or Ariba Network, bringing guidance for all transition options. (for more info, check the SAP S/4HANA: Transition Options section in the Cookbook).

The knowledge and accelerators consolidated in SAP Activate help SAP partners and customers to be well-positioned to adopt new innovations faster than ever before

The SAP Activate methodology is a modular and agile framework for implementation or migration to SAP S/4HANA and other SAP solutions. The SAP Activate methodology supports project teams in the deployment of SAP solutions in the cloud, on-premise, or hybrid environments. You can choose to follow it yourself, with an SAP partner, or with SAP directly.

The SAP Activate methodology follows six phases to provide support throughout the project life cycle of SAP solutions. Underlying these phases is a series of value delivery and quality checks, reflected in the approach as quality gate checkpoints, to make sure that the solution delivers the value you expect. The SAP Activate phases are: Discover, Prepare, Explore, Realize, Deploy, Run.

The SAP S/4HANA implementation and specific methodology are extensively covered in the SAP S/4HANA roadmap.    The methodology content is organized into a three-level hierarchy: phases, deliverables, and tasks.  Each node in the hierarchy has a description that provides SAP’s advice and guidance.   Each node also links to documentation accelerators that may be generic, for example, an open issues template or solution specific, like the administration guide for SAP S/4HANA on-premise. 

You can view the roadmap in the roadmap viewer (link on the right side).  It is also possible to download the roadmap as a Microsoft Project plan, Excel or XML that can be uploaded into SAP Solution Manager 7.2.

As an added benefit, SAP Digital Business Services offers Value Assurance Packages for SAP S/4HANA projects that are built on the foundation of SAP Activate and enrich the approach. Value Assurance Packages provide services for analysis, advisory, and safeguarding, plus the functional and technical implementation of your SAP S/4HANA solution.

The Implement S/4HANA with SAP Best Practices Reference Guide describes how SAP Activate, SAP Best Practices and SAP Solution Manager 7.2 are used together to implement SAP S/4HANA on-premise or hybrid projects.  It provides detailed technical information based on what is possible with the current releases of software.  It provides granular knowledge for administrators of SAP Solution Manager 7.2, SAP Best Practices and the SAP S/4HANA systems.  Administrators might use content from this guide to brief project team members and some sections can be used by project team members directly.  It provides a recommended sequence of tasks organized into the SAP Activate phases.  It also includes annotated demonstrations that walk you through some of the key steps in the tools.

• SAP Activate Solution Brief  

• SAP Activate Overview  

• SAP S/4HANA Roadmap

• BLOG: SAP Activate – your way to SAP S/4HANA

• Value Assurance Service Packages
• YouTube video: Michael Kleinemeier on the S/4HANA Value Assurance Packages

• SAP Best Practices Reference Guide

This ‘’Discover’’ phase will help you consider and experience SAP S/4HANA before starting a project to implement SAP S/4HANA.

In this phase,  you develop the strategies and the roadmap you will use on the implementation journey.

Experience SAP S/4HANA with the preconfigured SAP Best Practices based Cloud and On-premise trials.

• Cloud and On-premise trials

Explore SAP S/4HANA, on-premise with a 30 days trial and evaluate digitized business processes such as order-to-cash or Procure-to-pay across your key enterprise functions.

• SAP S/4HANA, on-premise trial  

See first hand how the personalized user experience allows instant insight-to-action from any device to drive on the fly business decisions and immediate execution

Access the SAP Activate Use Cases ans Project Recommendations to learn what is the recommended approach to deploy SAP S/4HANA with SAP Activate and what are the covered use cases.

Read this asset that asset outlines recommendations for decision support on the implementation approach for

S/4HANA on-premise installations using SAP Best Practices content for:

• Initial configuration
• Adoption of new content

Secondly, this document discusses manual processes and recommendations for Content Lifecycle Management for SAP S/4HANA 1511 FPS01 and higher.

• SAP Activate Use Cases and Project Recommendations

• Recommendations for Use of SAP Best Practices Content

Next, it’s time to initiate and plan the project. In this step, you finalize plans and assign the project team so you can start the project optimally.

Find out what are the options to implement SAP S/4HANA, see how you can get started with SAP Best Practices, how you can activate SAP Best Practices with SAP Solution Builder and how to get started with the SAP Solution Manager 7.2.

Listen to the Introducing SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA, on-premise

• access the SAP Best Practices documentation on the SAP Service Marketplace
• find information about SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA, on-premise
• use scope items
• find step-by-step documentation about using the software
• use the documentation for testing your software

• Introducing SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA, on-premise

Listen to the Activation of SAP Best Practices with SAP Solution Builder recording to learn how to:

• import reference content
• create a customer solution
• scope the customer solution
• activate the customer solution automatically

• Activation of SAP Best Practices with SAP Solution Builder

Access the Getting Started with SAP Activate and SAP Solution Manager 7.2 and find out how to load SAP Best Practices into Customer Solution Manager instance, adjust and manage change projects

• Implementing S/4HANA on-premise with SAP Best Practices Using SAP Activate and SAP Solution Manager 7.2

Read the Licenses dependencies for SAP S/4HANA Best Practices to get an upfront overview of what software licenses requirements exist for usage of the SAP Best Practices for S/4HANA on-premise.

Take a look at the Get started with S/4HANA Appliance to see how to accelerate your on-premise project with a ready-to-activate software appliance with software components already installed.

• Licenses dependencies for SAP S/4HANA Best Practices

• Get started with S/4HANA Appliance

Find out useful information and tips on topics like how to set up the S/4HANA appliance, how to access the SAP CAL (cloud appliance library), how to setup of the initial system or how to setup users.

SAP S/4HANA offers a wide range of how fast and individual the solution can be implemented especially in a new implementation project. On-premise customers set the focus on a better control and flexibility for individualized processes, the scope evaluation starting with FIT/GAP analyses.

This represents the most efficient and fastest scope validation and replaces blueprints of traditional projects.

Access How to approach Fit/Gap Analysis (on-premise) to get a detailed approach of conducting a fit/gap analysis from preparing the environment for Fit/Gap to validating the solution, conducting Delta Design Workshops and preparing the Release and Sprint plan.

• How to approach Fit/Gap Analysis (on-premise)

While in the "Explore" phase the scope of the project has been determined and finalized, the "Realize"-phase focuses on the transfer of business requirements to a working configuration of the system. This includes not just the pure configuration of the system, but also the realization of identified integrations scenarios and the migration of data.

The System Conversion for Logistics and Finance gives an overview of the SAP Best Practices for Migration to SAP S/4HANA that provide existing SAP customers who are looking to benefit from the SAP S/4HANA innovations with proven migration methods and technology reducing risk in critical projects.

• System Conversion for Logistics and Finance

Access the Integration Capabilities of SAP S/4HANA to SAP Cloud Solutions for an overview of what you need to know when it comes to SAP S/4HANA integration.

• Integration Capabilities of SAP S/4HANA to SAP Cloud Solutions

Access the Reference Guide How to localize with SAP Best Practices SAP S/4HANA, on premise 1511 FPS 01 to find out how to carry out country localizations by leveraging SAP Best Practices.

Find out how to carry out the customizing activities in the transaction SPRO (implementation guide IMG) for special legislations and business practices.

This document provides you with the following information about localizations: New features of SAP Best Practices, Scope coverage of SAP Best Practices, Localization objects per Business Priority

• How to localize with SAP Best Practices SAP S/4HANA

Deploy. Now you set up the production environment. When you’re ready, you conduct the cutover activities and switch business operations to the new system.

• Find out what are the deliverables and accelerators you can leverage in the 'Deploy' phase.

You’re ready to run! With the new system operational, you apply SAP operations standards and SAP Solution Manager 7.2 to run the environment and optimize operations.

• Find out what are the deliverables and accelerators you can leverage in the 'Run' phase.