Introducing BLUEFIELD: pushing the limits of S/4HANA migration

But before your business can reap the benefits, you need to make the journey. The good thing: you have a number of migration options, including greenfield, brownfield, and – the newest approach – BLUEFIELD™, through delaware’s partnership with SNP.

Start from scratch vs. building on what you have

A greenfield S/4HANA implementation may seem like the easiest way to get started, as there is no legacy system to deal with and you have complete freedom in redesigning your business processes. A greenfield implementation may look more appealing, it also is costlier due to the fact that everything needs to be rebuilt, even the elements that were still serving important purposes. Leaving your historical data behind is a downside, as such data still contains valuable insights.

With a brownfield approach, your business can keep important aspects of the existing system – with the option of introducing the superior user experience offered by SAP Fiori. This approach is only a fraction of the cost of a greenfield implementation and doesn’t disturb your ERP system, but it has to be done all at once. It’s also important to note that the SAP S/4HANA  setup is a bit more rigid, since it follows the framework of your old system.

Seeing blue: faster, more flexible and hassle-free

Today, thanks to our partnership with world-leading digital transformation and data migration solution provider SNP (Schneider-Neureither & Partner SE), we can offer you an additional SAP S/4HANA migration option: the BLUEFIELD approach.

This approach combines the most valuable elements of the greenfield and brownfield approaches in a single implementation, powered by SNP’s CrystalBridge® software. This software enables the system to be separated from its data, which simplifies the migration process and allows for much greater flexibility than a traditional brownfield implementation – without the hassle of redesigning business processes. In fact, this approach makes it possible to change your organizational structure and transform your data during the move.

The freedom to do what you want with your data

The BLUEFIELD™ approach offers other important advantages as well. For example, critical data stays available throughout the entire implementation, which is comparatively short and prioritizes business continuity. You can also select exactly which data you wish to migrate, thus avoiding an extensive and expensive data archiving initiative.

With so many options, now is the time to start thinking about your own migration. Our e-book ‘Making the move: S/4HANA migration made simple’ is a great starting point.