Request a demo for it asset managerSAP is typically the most significant software investment an organization can make. So, it’s no wonder many organizations have asked, “What should we be doing before migrating to S/4HANA?”

Ivanti Asset Manager: Free Demo

Before migrating to S/4HANA, there are steps that an organization should take. These steps are imperative from a cost optimization as well as a security point of view. Cleaning up your systems before migrating to S/4HANA is also connected to new licensing methodology, which allows you to be well-prepared for the upcoming situation. Organizations that do not take care of cleaning up their systems before migration are destined to pay higher licensing costs and are exposed to security risks and further licensing fees in the future.

SAP had the upper hand when it came time to negotiate your initial contract because you had no usage data to consider or any idea how your organization would utilize SAP. Now, you can have a clear picture of how your organization is using SAP, which arms you with the critical data you need before moving to S/4HANA. There is no need to overpay for unnecessary licenses any longer.

Follow these 10 simple steps to optimize cost and security:

  1. Eliminate user accounts that are not in use — One of the most significant savings in the cleanup process is to identify and eliminate user accounts that do not use the SAP systems at all.
  2. Identify and delete duplicate user accounts — These user accounts are created for testing purposes or by human error and are occupying expensive licenses. Eliminating them saves costs and reduces security risks.
  3. Identify low-usage user accounts and eliminate some of these users — Some employees access the system once a month. These accounts can sometimes be replaced with other alternatives, depending on their specific activity.
  4. Eliminate user access rights that are not in use — This is a significant step in increasing security but is also connected to SAP licensing because it is now highly dependent on user authorizations. Less authorizations means a lower level license is required.
  5. Eliminate authorization roles that are not in use — All these activities are intended to increase security but also to reduce the level of licenses required for users who are attached to these authorizations.
  6. Identify modules and system functionalities that are not in use — These systems and modules should not be migrated to S/4HANA​. 
  7. Verify that the license type assigned to each user account is correct — A periodic review can verify that licenses are granted correctly or automatically grant the right license types to users. This step saves time and ensures the same licensing concept is being applied to all users.
  8. Create alerts when you have a potential risk of higher licensing costs — This should ensure you will not be surprised by expensive digital access licensing fees. Or when 3rd party applications start to retrieve information from SAP systems (even a simple Excel sheet), there might be a case of indirect access that needs to be licensed.
  9. Lock T-Codes that are not in use — Both SAP standard and own-developed. Locking T-Codes ensures that no user can use them and prevents security risks as well as further discussions about this activity level for licensing.
  10. Identify newly created user accounts — Verify that new accounts are classified to the right license type according to their activity in the system and the chosen licensing method.

If you implement these 10 steps before migrating to S/4HANA, not only will you be optimizing licensing costs but have added security. Whatever your strategy is for S/4HANA, one cannot deny these steps are crucial to ensuring you receive the best deal possible with SAP.

Ivanti Optimizer for SAP will allow you to implement these changes quickly and seamlessly with no changes to your SAP environment. It can help with the initial assessment and future maintenance. Don’t go into another SAP negotiation without this critical data.