Enterprise businesses across the African continent have a pressing need for agile and future-proof technologies to remain competitive in today's digitally innovative market. In Senegal, especially within the commercial centre of Dakar, organisations are moving from traditional ERP systems to SAP S/4HANA Migration to deliver higher levels of efficiency and transparency while strategically positioning themselves for growth. This transformation to SAP’s Next Generation Platform is transforming how businesses operate by streamlining operational processes to create new levels of operational excellence.

^{Why SAP S/4HANA Migration Matters in Dakar}

With a dynamic economy that includes banking, telecommunications, manufacturing, and logistics as key industries, Senegal is expanding its technological presence at an increasing rate. However, many industries still use old systems of ERP or business models that were created years ago. These old systems have difficulty keeping up with the need for real-time analytics and mobility. Also, they cannot easily automate or streamline all processes.

Enter the game-changing capabilities of SAP S/4HANA Migration. Unlike prior generations of ERP platforms, SAP S/4HANA has a next-generation architecture featuring an in-memory database, which allows for real-time access to data as well as real-time analysis of that data. For organizations in Dakar looking to remain competitive, the decision to migrate from legacy systems is not a question of “IF” but rather “WHEN.”

^{Challenges with Legacy System Upgrade}

Evaluating current business systems is central to successful digital transformation. Numerous companies in Senegal utilize outdated and legacy technology, such as SAP ECC or non-SAP solutions. These legacy systems create several barriers, such as:

Inflexible architecture, which limits innovation and the ability to adapt to change.
Expensive maintenance and day-to-day operational costs, which are costly and valuable use of financial resources.
Inability to provide real-time data usage to make informed decisions proactively.
Lack of integration with emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).

By upgrading from a legacy system to Legacy System Upgrade, an organization has not only made a technological upgrade but has demonstrated that improving organizational agility, compliance, and customer satisfaction are strategic priorities.

^{From ECC to S/4HANA: A Strategic Move}

For many organizations in Dakar, the most prevalent path of transformation is the migration from ECC to S/4HANA. Though SAP ECC has been effective for many years, its performance and data-oriented abilities do not match those of SAP S/4HANA. Migrating to S/4HANA gives organizations the following advantages:

• Real-time visibility to all operational data streams.
• Business processes are more streamlined, with improved usability through the use of Fiori Apps.
• Reduced data footprint and improved processing speed through the use of in-memory computing.
• Support of strategic initiatives, such as predictive analytics, machine learning, and automation using artificial intelligence.
• Creation of a platform to facilitate future innovation without major architectural rework.

However, migrating from ECC to S/4HANA is not as simple as just upgrading to S/4HANA; it is a transformation project that requires careful planning, a solid strategy, and, most importantly, the right expertise to execute successfully.

^{Planning Your SAP S/4HANA Migration Strategy}

A fundamental premise to be sure of your project’s success is that a complete SAP S/4HANA Migration Strategy needs to be holistic in nature and aligned to not only your organization’s business goal(s), but also IT readiness and future growth plans. For a migration strategy to be successful, several ingredients go into a good strategy:

^{1. Assessment of Current Environment}

The first step in any migration strategy is to assess your current environment and the existing system(s), including data quality, customizations, business processes, and technology components. Before you can get to where you want to be, you should understand where you are today.

^{2. Define the Migration Scope}

Define the scope of your migration, which can be a technical upgrade, redesign of business processes, or expansion of functionality. Many companies based in Senegal are defining their migration scope around items such as financial consolidation & reporting, supply chain optimization, and customer engagement modules.

^{3. Three suggested ways to migrate your SAP system are:}

Brownfield or System Conversion – This is best if you wish to keep your existing business processes intact while migrating them to SAP S/4HANA.

Greenfield or New Implementation – If you want to create a whole new set of business processes to optimise how you run your business, then the new implementation path is the best choice.

Selective Data Migration or Hybrid Method – A combination of the two methods listed above. You will migrate selected data and processes from your current systems and move them to SAP S/4HANA.

Each of these pathways has its own unique advantages and disadvantages. The best method for your organisation will depend on:

Your overall strategy for your organisation
How complex your organisation's data and processes currently are
How much change will your organisation will accept during the migration to SAP S/4HANA

^{4. The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit}

One of the tools that organisations use to help them transition data from their legacy systems into SAP S/4HANA is the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit. This tool allows organisations to perform:

Ease of transition to SAP S/4HANA by allowing organisations to transition their critical data at an accelerated rate.
Reduced manual processing through the use of guided templates to extract, transform, and load (ETL) critical data.
Supporting validation and mapping of critical data to ensure the integrity of the data.
Providing a repeatable migration process for every organisation to enhance accuracy.

By using the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit, organisations can reduce risk, increase the quality of data converted, and, therefore, improve the success of their migration projects.

^{Benefits of Migrating to SAP S/4HANA in Dakar}

S/4HANA provides valuable opportunities and benefits to enterprises operating in the vibrant economy of Dakar:

• Better decision-making capabilities through access to real-time data analytics allow organizations to take an anticipatory approach towards their overall operation.
• Operational efficiency is achieved by optimizing workflow processes to eliminate redundancies and minimize the costs of doing business.
• The native capabilities of S/4HANA to scale and prepare for the future allow organizations to leverage digital innovations such as Internet of Things (IoT) and predictive analytics, providing them with new competitive advantages.

Improved User Experience with SAP® Fiori® offers a consistent and intuitive user experience across all devices used within an organization.

^{Local Expertise with Global Best Practices}

You will need both technical skills and technical knowledge to migrate to SAP S/4HANA successfully. If you are a multinational company, a local company, or a growing small- or medium-sized company in Dakar, then you should team up with experienced consultants who can help make your migration smooth and aligned to your strategy, including initiatives such as SAP On-Premise to Cloud Migration.

Prompt Edify provides full-service SAP S/4HANA technology transformation services - strategy through planning, implementation, and post-migration support. With our extensive global experience and local intelligence, we develop innovative and future-proof ERP solutions that meet your specific industry requirements.