What’s the best approach to S/4HANA implementation? ERP Today talks to SNP about greenfield, brownfield, and that Bluefield in the middle.
Taking things back to their origins, the terms “greenfield” and “brownfield” for describing software implementation approaches have been commonly used since the late 1990’s, having been borrowed from the urban planning and construction industry.
It’s a helpful comparison in a sense – with real-world bricks-and-mortar construction and land development being a great analogy for building on an organization’s software ‘landscape’.
Explaining the terms briefly here – greenfield is the tabula rasa approach – a ‘clean slate’ take – to implementation, so without utilizing any legacy coding or infrastructure. Brownfield, meanwhile, is focused on modifying or upgrading software already in use by an organization and is guided by that pre-existing code and infrastructure.
An alternative approach with SNP’s Bluefield
The alternative ‘Bluefield approach’ was pioneered in the late 2010s by system integration partner SNP, and marketed as a trademarked hybrid green and brownfield solution in SNP’s CrystalBridge platform. Said to allow for a more selective transformation, organizations can choose which elements of their legacy processes to retain while also having the option to introduce new functionality or enhancement were useful.
As a data management tool for analyzing, archiving, restructuring and migrating data securely and quickly to new systems or cloud environments, the CrystalBridge platform has proven particularly useful for SAP users looking to undergo shifts from ECC to S/4HANA.
There is said to be an array of benefits to this approach: by enabling selective migration of data and processes businesses can avoid a complete greenfield overhaul if it’s not needed and reduce the risk of unnecessary business disruption while also completing the project faster by dodging a full rebuild. With a custom flexibility of which parts of the ecosystem to upgrade, it can offer greater functionality where needed compared to a brownfield approach.
Is the grass always greener?
As to whether the Bluefield approach is really the Goldilocks zone of implementations? As with most things in software, the answer is – it depends. Speaking to SNP, what’s clear is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, with pros for each, and the way forward being dependent on each business’ setup and software goals. That’s why SNP likes to keep its offerings open to all three for SAP customers, as SNP’s CTO, Dr. Steele Arbeeny, explains to ERP Today:
“At SNP, we recognize that every business has its own complexities and goals. That’s why we offer flexibility across greenfield, brownfield, and our Bluefield approach. Bluefield provides a selective transformation path, allowing companies to retain what works while modernizing where needed – without the disruption of starting from scratch.”
Take a global manufacturing firm for instance, with operations in different countries that all use different customized versions of SAP ECC locally, with a lot of outdated and mismatched processes. To standardize operations across the globe and benefit the most from an S/4HANA cloud-hosted platform, the firm might want to opt for a greenfield approach for a fresh and unified start to expand on.
Imagine then a large wholesaler that has heavily customized ECC for its inventory and supply chain management. Happy with the customizations that work for the business already, it might opt for a brownfield approach to keep operations as intact as possible and with minimal disruption, downtime and costs, while gaining the technical performance and integration improvements of the s/4HANA upgrade.
Lastly, picture a multinational medical device company, with a stable SAP ECC setup, that wishes to shift its financial operations to the S/4HANA Finance module, without disrupting its supply chain operations to implement changes. Opting for a Bluefield approach would enable the company to be selective with its migration, shifting finance data and opting for new HANA capabilities, while leaving its existing ECC supply chain and manufacturing functions in place for the time being, thereby gaining value now in priority areas AND leaving other systems intact and at less risk of disruption.
Whatever the need, taking a “comprehensive approach” to SAP upgrades is something that Götz Lessmann, vice president of product development at SNP vouches for to get the greatest value from the software, he said: “Our solutions not only cover the technical aspects of SAP transformations but also focus on business agility and compliance. This comprehensive approach ensures that your SAP landscape transformation is aligned with your business goals, resulting in a seamless transition with minimal operational disruption.”
So, though Bluefield is no doubt a useful approach for software implementations, choosing the ‘just right’ fit for your business’ needs comes down to how you take your porridge – or rather, processes.
