ECC to S/4HANA
Brownfield
Migration

Brownfield (System Conversion) converts your existing SAP® ECC system to S/4HANA in-place. All historical data, custom code, configurations, and organisational structures are carried forward. Greenfield is a completely fresh implementation where everything is rebuilt from scratch. Brownfield is faster, cheaper, and far less disruptive — making it the right choice for most organisations that have a mature, working ECC system. Greenfield makes sense only when a company wants to completely re-engineer their processes or has a very simple ECC landscape.

Yes — for well-scoped, mid-market ECC systems with a focused core (FI/CO, MM, SD, PP). The 16-week timeline applies when the ECC landscape is reasonably clean, custom code volume is manageable, client resources are available for UAT and workshops, and there are no external dependencies (e.g. waiting for third-party vendor APIs). We perform a free readiness assessment before confirming your timeline. Complex multi-company, multi-country, or highly customised landscapes may require 20–28 weeks. We will tell you the honest timeline at the assessment stage.

No. Brownfield migration converts the entire database — all transactional data, historical records, master data, and documents carry forward unchanged. We perform multiple validation checks and reconciliations throughout the process, and our cutover runbook includes a formal data integrity sign-off. Selective data archiving (of aged open items) may be recommended as a best practice before cutover, but this is always a client decision — nothing is deleted without your explicit approval.

SAP® supports brownfield migration from ECC 6.0 EHP 6 and above (EHP 7 and EHP 8 are the most common). If you are on an older EHP, we typically perform an upgrade to EHP 7/8 as a pre-step. Being on a recent support package level also reduces the number of pre-processing steps. Our assessment phase will confirm your exact starting point and identify any prerequisite steps before the main conversion.

Custom code does not automatically work on S/4HANA without review. We run SAP®'s Custom Code Migration Workbench during the assessment phase to identify all impacted programs. Most custom code can be adapted to work correctly on S/4HANA with minor to moderate changes (typically syntax corrections and adaptation to new S/4HANA data models). We include custom code remediation in our fixed-scope package up to an agreed number of objects. Code that cannot be adapted is flagged early so you can make informed decisions.

Brownfield conversion requires a production downtime window — typically 24–48 hours depending on database size and system complexity. We schedule this over a weekend or public holiday to minimise business impact. Our cutover simulation in Phase 4 rehearses the exact steps so we know the downtime to the minute before the actual go-live. We aim to reduce downtime through careful pre-processing, parallel preparation, and optimised conversion scripts run during the pre-go-live window.

No — and this is one of the major advantages of brownfield. Business processes, transaction codes, and workflows remain largely the same. The main change for end users is the new SAP® Fiori user interface, which is more modern and intuitive than the classic SAP® GUI. We include role-based Fiori orientation training and key user sessions in our package. Most users are productive within a few days of go-live. There is no need to re-learn core business processes from scratch.

S/4HANA delivers significant improvements: Real-time analytics and reporting directly in the system (no separate BW required for standard reports), a simplified Finance data model (Universal Journal) that eliminates reconciliation effort, faster period-end close, embedded AI and predictive analytics, SAP® Fiori for a modern user experience on any device, tighter integration across modules, and a platform ready for SAP® BTP extensions. Most clients see measurable improvements in month-end close time and finance reporting speed within the first quarter after go-live.

The ~40% cost saving is achieved through three factors: (1) Our offshore delivery model means you get senior consultants at lower blended rates without compromising quality, (2) Our proprietary accelerator toolkit — pre-built templates, test scripts, and automation — reduces the hours required by 30–40% compared to building everything from scratch, and (3) Fixed-scope engagements mean we have refined our delivery to eliminate waste. We are not adding junior staff to pad hours; our senior-led model is efficient and outcome-focused.

We include 4 weeks of dedicated Hypercare support as part of the migration package — a dedicated support team, daily status calls, and priority resolution of any production issues. After Hypercare, we offer a structured transition to our Application Management Services (AMS) model, where the same team that did your migration continues supporting your S/4HANA system. This ensures zero knowledge transfer overhead and continuity of care. Our AMS contracts are month-to-month with no lock-in.