Assessing the Prime S/4HANA Migration Strategy for a leading utilities provider

JNC has established a trusted and productive relationship with *Trivion, a leading European utilities provider, through years of successful collaboration on numerous projects. Our proven track record with similar initiatives made us the natural choice to assist with their most recent challenge. The JNC team have consistently maintained open communication with Trivion, offering regular industry updates. During one of these updates, Trivion identified a new concern, leading them to seek our expertise for a fresh evaluation of their strategy.

Trivion engaged JNC to assist in determining the optimal solution for their SAP migration—whether to choose S/4HANA On-Premise or S/4HANA Cloud. Trivion was transitioning many solutions away from SAP, which had significant licensing implications, particularly concerning Digital Access. This migration rendered their current contract much larger than necessary, both in the present and for the future.

Challenges

Facing several uncertainties, Trivion needed clarity and guidance to ensure a seamless and efficient transition.

Evolving Migration Paths: SAP’s significant changes in strategy necessitated a fresh evaluation to determine whether transitioning to the cloud would be advantageous from a contractual standpoint.
Licensing Implications: The migration created complex licensing implications, making their existing contract disproportionately large.
Changes in SAP’s Commercial Offering: The initial commercial incentive for migration was significantly reduced, requiring Trivion to reconsider their strategy.
Uncertainty and Roadmap Alignment: The client was uncertain about the available options, the most suitable solutions, and how their planned roadmap impacted the timing for contract migration.

The Solution

Following a structured and systematicprocess, JNC guided Trivion through the steps to ensure they could make an informed decision about their migration strategy, optimizing both their licensing and contractual positions with SAP.

Initial Assessment: Our consultants established an effective license position to understand the client’s current landscape and actual usage.
Strategic Workshops: JNC conducted workshops to discuss the client’s planned roadmap, identifying solutions that were being migrated away from SAP and those they intended to continue using.
Future Planning: We gained a clear understanding of the client’s current and future usage, along with approximate dates for planned technical migrations.
Bill of Materials Creation: The team developed an S/4HANA On-Premise Bill of Materials and an S/4HANA Private Cloud Bill of Materials, excluding S/4HANA Public Cloud due to security concerns.
Cost Mapping and Timeline Analysis: Our experts mapped the bill of materials to various timeframes to evaluate the costs associated with migrating over a 5-year period between 2024 and 2029.
Optimal Migration Timing: This analysis allowed us to pinpoint the ideal time for the client to migrate, considering their future plans, current assets, and SAP’s commercial offerings.
Negotiation Strategy: JNC developed a comprehensive negotiation strategy, detailing engagement tactics with SAP, leveraging points, necessary internal planning, key SAP contacts, and a timeline of events.

Conclusion

Through JNC’s thorough re-evaluation of the client’s migration strategy, our professionals focussed on the feasibility and benefits of moving to the cloud, providing a detailed analysis of the new contractual and licensing landscape. As a result, the client gained clarity on:

Which S/4HANA solution was right for them
When to plan the migration
The necessary preparations
How to engage effectively with SAP

Currently, the client is evaluating the move to the cloud as part of their roadmap, using JNC recommendations to investigate the feasibility of this transition. Given the nature of such a migration, which requires extensive planning and cannot be completed quickly, JNC’s role was crucial in helping the client understand their options and select the best solution for their unique circumstances. This comprehensive reassessment aligned the client’s strategy with SAP’s updated offerings and their long-term business goals, ensuring an informed decision-making process and optimized licensing and contractual positions with SAP.

*Protecting our clients’ confidence is of utmost importance at JNC. While our case studies are based on true projects, we have used fictitious names and removed or changed other identifiable details.