Content
The move to SAP S/4HANA is one of the most strategically important IT projects many organisations will face in the coming years. Data migration is a critical step in this transition, ensuring that master data and transaction data from legacy systems are transferred correctly, completely and consistently into the new system landscape. The quality of the data migration largely determines whether processes run reliably after go-live, reports provide accurate figures and users gain confidence in the new system.
I have already addressed the handling of master data in migration projects in the article Master data as a success factor for your S/4HANA transformation. In this article, I focus on the tool used for migration: SAP’s Migration Cockpit.
With the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit, provided via a Fiori app, SAP offers a powerful tool that combines predefined migration objects, validations and technical loading processes. Two modern approaches are particularly relevant: the use of staging tables and direct transfer from an SAP source system. Both methods offer clear advantages but also come with challenges that organisations need to consider carefully during their project.
Overview: The Migration Cockpit and its approaches
The Migration Cockpit provides a preconfigured migration object for every relevant business object, from business partners and material master data to financial data such as the balance sheet and profit and loss statement. Several technical approaches are available for transferring data, including staging tables and direct transfer.
In S/4HANA projects, this two methods have become widely established because they are scalable, efficient and suitable for complex system landscapes.
Staging Tables: High Flexibility and Control
With the “Migrate Data Using Staging Tables” approach, the Migration Cockpit creates staging tables for each migration object in the format required by SAP (similar to an Excel file). These tables are populated before the actual migration run from any source system – for example using ETL tools, custom extraction programmes, SAP Data Services or manual entry.
Advantages of Staging Tables
- Extensive transformation options: Complex adjustments, harmonisation, recalculations and mapping rules can be implemented cleanly within the staging environment.
- Transparency and quality assurance: Data is validated before loading, allowing it to be corrected and cleansed.
- Very well suited for large data volumes: Extraction, transformation and loading are decoupled and can be controlled flexibly.
Disadvantages and Challenges of Staging Tables
- Loading the files can be labour-intensive. Manual loadingis very time-consuming and error-prone for large data volumes. Custom extraction programmes that generate the required format can help.
- Extensive mapping definitions may be required when source and target structures differ.
- Multiple test migrations are necessary. Once data has been created, another attempt is only possible after deleting the previous load. SAP provides options for this, but caution is needed, and the effort involved can be significant depending on the data volume.
When Staging Tables are a suitable choice
- In heterogeneous landscapes with SAP and non-SAP systems (e.g. when implementing S/4HANA from a non-SAP ERP system).
- When data is heavily customised or has evolved over time.
- In cases of high complexity or significant cleansing requirements.
- When maximum control over transformations and data quality is required.
Direct Transfer: Fast, Efficient and Ideal for SAP-to-SAP
Direct Transfer uses RFC connections to move data from an SAP source system to S/4HANA without any intermediate step. The Migration Cockpit reads the data directly from the relevant tables in the source system. This approach is particularly suitable when the source and target data structures are very similar.
Advantages of the Direct Transfer
- Very fast migration, even for large data volumes.
- Minimal preparation required, as source and target structures are usually similar.
- High degree of automation, since many standard structures can be read directly.
- Ideal for SAP-to-SAP scenarios, especially in greenfield implementations.
Disadvantages and Challenges of the Direct Transfer
- Only works with compatible SAP source systems.
- Fewer options for extensive transformations or cleansing. Exclusions of certain data can, for example, be achieved through selection criteria.
- Risk of carrying over legacy data unfiltered.
When the Direct Transfer is a suitable choice
- In homogeneous SAP ERP systems without significant customisations.
- When the data is relatively clean and up to date, with no major changes required.
- When a fast technical transfer is the primary goal.
Steps to be performed in the Migration Cockpit
The process in the Migration Cockpit is almost identical for staging tables and direct transfer:
Data Cleansing before Migration: Tools for your support
PIKON has developed a multi-step process to cleanse master data using data science and machine learning. This five-step approach ensures clean master data and a solid foundation for an S/4HANA migration.
- Data Export and Extraction: Export master data (customers, suppliers) from ERP, CRM or other systems into a unified file.
- Data Analysis & Preparation: Analyse the data and apply standardisation and formatting (e.g., addresses, naming conventions) to create a clean basis for processing.
- Feature Engineering & ML Model: Generate features from the prepared data, enabling machine learning models to assess differences and similarities between records to identify potential duplicates.
- Detection & Result Presentation: The AI highlights possible duplicates and presents them in a way that allows responsible teams to review them.
- Manual Validation and Decision-Making: Despite automation, human review remains essential. Teams decide whether duplicates should be merged, deleted, or retained.
Workshop: Successful data migration in the SAP S/4HANA project
Learn about the strategic, technical, and organisational success factors of an S/4HANA data migration and develop your own migration strategy and roadmap.
More information
Typical pitfalls in S/4HANA Migrations
Regardless of the method used, certain challenges frequently arise in practice:
- Insufficient Data Quality
Incorrect, duplicate or outdated data can cause issues at go-live and increase the support workload. A systematic cleansing process should be planned early. AI can be helpful in this context. See our article Mastering Data Accuracy: Innovations in Duplication Detection for more details. - Lack of availability of Migration Objects
Not every migration object is available from SAP for both methods. This should be carefully checked in advance. Also evaluate the data volumes to be migrated and determine which method is best suited. For staging tables, consider how the data can be populated automatically. - Missing functionality in SAP Standard Migration Objects
Even if both methods are available, SAP standard programs may lack certain functionalities.
For example, we have experienced that SAP standard could not handle long texts in QM inspection plans. In PP routing plans, using Direct Transfer, reference operations could not be transferred. Initially, we reported these issues to SAP, but resolving them would have endangered our go-live, so we implemented our own solutions. For inspection plans, we migrated the texts via a custom program, and reference operations were added using LSMW.
Expect that not everything will work perfectly at first and plan for time buffers. - Underestimated Mapping effort
Field mapping can be time-consuming, especially when moving from a non-SAP system to SAP, as data structures may change, new fields may be added, and old fields may become obsolete. For complex objects such as Business Partners, sufficient time should be allocated to involve users early and create understanding, as the data must also be validated by the business during migration. - Not enough Test Migrations
At least two to three full migration cycles are essential, including validations, consistency checks, and performance tests. Carefully assess a realistic timeline for the migration. For large data volumes, data selection may take longer. If errors occur, selection and simulation may need to be repeated, which consumes additional time. - Incorrect Methodological Choice
If you realise early on that the chosen migration approach is not suitable, do not hesitate to change it. Often, teams stick to a method for too long because of prior investment in time and resources. In some cases, it is worthwhile to switch and start again.
Conclusion
Data migration to SAP S/4HANA is a central pillar of any transformation project. Staging tables and direct transfer provide two efficient and modern approaches, each with distinct strengths. While staging tables offer maximum flexibility, direct transfer excels in speed and efficiency for SAP-to-SAP scenarios.
The key is a thorough analysis of the starting situation: data quality, system architecture, transformation requirements, and project objectives should be evaluated early. With the right methodology, the path to S/4HANA can be implemented not only technically sound but also strategically effective.
Contact us!
Do you have further questions? Our experts will be happy to support you.
Arrange a web meeting with us or simply post your question in the comments section.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Active Campaign. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information
