Recent changes in the digital evolution of companies operating in West Africa have greatly affected both the development of new companies with their business strategies and the direction of current operational efficiencies. As a result, the City of Abidjan, in the Ivory Coast, is establishing itself as a centre of excellence for enterprise modernisation. There has been a shift in how many companies manage their key processes; i.e., finance, supply chain, customer relationship management, and reporting. This change in managing core processes is primarily due to the increased adoption of SAP S/4HANA Migration as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which will benefit organisations competing in the digital economy.

^{The Rise of SAP S/4HANA Migration in Abidjan}

Organisations in Abidjan find themselves under enormous pressure to assess their current systems due to the rapid growth of the economy across a variety of sectors (e.g., telecommunications, banking, energy, and manufacturing). Most organisations are leveraging traditional solutions (like SAP ECC (ERP Central Component) or previous generation Legacy Platforms), which cannot deliver real-time analytics, provide a volume of data and connect with complex integrations.

Due to this, there has been a significant increase in demand for SAP S/4HANA Migration services as businesses try to capture the performance, scalability and intelligence that can only be realised with S/4HANA. The benefits of improved decision-making and efficient operations are too great for organisations investing in the future to ignore.

^{Why Organisations Are Upgrading from Legacy Systems}

Businesses are being hindered by legacy technology in various areas:

1. Limited Performance Capabilities: Traditional databases and systems designed with no in-memory capability don't have performance or analytical abilities that rival those of SAP S/4HANA.
2. Continuous Maintenance Costs: The ongoing costs associated with maintaining legacy environments, as well as their high cost to scale, are proving challenging.
3. Outdated Reporting Ability: Legacy systems are unable to deliver on real-time reporting, predictive capabilities, and integrated analytics, which are critical components to remain competitive within today's marketplace.

As a result, organisations are beginning to initiate Legacy System Upgrade (LSU) projects with the goal of future-proofing their operations while enhancing overall performance. By leveraging SAP S/4HANA, organisations throughout Abidjan will gain access to a single platform that can accommodate current business needs and support their digital transformation journey.

^{The ECC to S/4HANA Journey}

A large number of corporations have moved to a complete transformation of their core processes from ECC to S/4HANA through a modernisation plan called an SAP S/4HANA migration. Moving to SAP S/4HANA is not only a technical enhancement but also results in a transformation of how the company operates. Many companies that previously used ECC as their main system now understand that they must modernise their business to be able to compete effectively in the global marketplace—this requires real-time data processing, easier to read and use data models, and better ability to analyse business performance—all advantages of SAP S/4HANA.

The migration from ECC is complex and will require detailed planning, rigorous testing, and well-structured execution. Experienced SAP migration partners can help businesses navigate these phases of transformation through expert guidance.

^{SAP S/4HANA Migration Strategy: More Than Just Implementation}

Strategy must precede the actual installation of an SAP S/4HANA migration for it to be successful. An effective SAP S/4HANA Migration Strategy will also provide a path to meet organisational business objectives, reduce disruptions and provide faster returns on investment than if no strategic planning was done. The following are important components of a good migration strategy;

• Assessment of the existing landscape: Review existing applications, interfaces, data quality/properties, and customisation.
• Roadmap Development: Identify your transformation approach: Greenfield (new implementation), Brownfield (system migration), or Hybrid (combination).
• Improving Business Processes: Before completing a migration, organisations should critique and update their current business processes in an effort to eliminate wasted effort.
• Strategic Planning for Data Migration: Data should be cleaned, organised, mapped and ready for use in S/4HANA.
• Risk Management: Identification of potential problems with the migration to S/4HANA and planning for a solution should be developed before starting the migration.

Having a solid strategy and executing on that plan will provide a more seamless migration and help organisations maximise the capabilities of SAP S/4HANA.

^{SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit: A Powerful Tool for Success}

The SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit is an integral enabler for the migration process because it contains a set of specialised tools provided by SAP for performing data migration tasks. The cockpit provides intuitive user interfaces and pre-configured migration templates, enabling the following for businesses:

• Extract data from their existing legacy systems
• Transform and map their data into a format suitable for use in SAP S/4HANA
• Perform data validation and load the data into SAP S/4HANA
• Obtain real-time visibility into the progress of their migration

As a result, the use of the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit significantly reduces the amount of manual effort required, minimises the risk of error, and accelerates the transition from a legacy system to a fully integrated S/4HANA platform.

Local Expertise and Global Best Practices

Digital transformation is rapidly progressing throughout the country of the Ivory Coast, increasing the demand for trusted partners that have an appreciation for the local market as well as knowledge of global best practices in implementing SAP solutions. Businesses located in Abidjan require more than just technical capabilities; they also need advisers who can connect their business objectives with technology results, including initiatives such as SAP On-Premise to Cloud Migration.

An SAP S/4HANA service provider that has experience can combine both extensive technical expertise and their strategic consulting experience to provide companies on how to navigate the complexities of their business environments, align their migration projects with their business priorities and provide them with a more predictable road to success.

The Business Impact in Abidjan

SAP S/4HANA's advantages for companies in Abidjan are numerous:

• Higher agility: Ability to respond more quickly to market changes through real-time visibility and quicker reporting.
• Greater efficiency: Automation of business processes, which means less time and fewer resources needed to complete tasks.
• Data-driven decisions: Companies have access to richer analytics and in-memory processing to help them make better business decisions.
• Cost savings: Companies save money on maintaining systems and utilising resources more efficiently.
• Scalability: An ERP solution that is built with today’s requirements in mind, but also can support future growth, both through acquisitions and innovations.

The ability of companies to migrate successfully to SAP S/4HANA enables them to compete globally and respond to the changing marketplace.