cbs Corporate Business Solutions
Approach-agnostic and Holistic Migration To S/4 HANA

Jettisoning old legacy systems or upgrading them with newer editions is inevitable while attempting to augment business outcomes and drive efficient digital transformation. An archetype of this is the introduction of SAP S/4HANA back in 2015. At the time, the only options to migrate to S/4HANA were greenfield (new implementation) or brownfield (system conversion). Unfortunately, these transition paths could not address the diverse migrations requisites of different businesses. Corporate Business Solutions (cbs) renders an innovative solution to this challenge.

cbs is an end-to-end SAP consultancy firm that offers approach- and software-agnostic services to businesses seeking to migrate to S/4HANA. cbs offers its System Landscape Transformation (SLT) services–which address data migration scenarios–to empower such organizations to execute selective data transition (SDT). cbs formulated a highly efficient hybrid approach to migrate to S/4 HANA by combining the best aspects of both approaches. With SDT they reuse 80 percent of the existing configuration and process flows the focus on optimizing the remaining 20 percent. cbs is a founding member of the SAP Selective Data Transition Engagement Community, a community of SAP partners who assemble to review the newest projects in the SAP arena.

“By migrating and updating SAP systems on the database level, we provide our customers high levels of flexibility and customisation when they embark on their digital transformation journeys,” says Lorenz Praefcke, CEO of cbs America. The company is well-equipped with all the knowledge to guide enterprises in their migration journeys, empowering them to leverage S/4HANA to the maximum and incur minimum costs while executing their merger, acquisition, or general digital transformation strategies.

While consulting with clients on their migration strategies, cbs identifies specific use cases and suggests the most appropriate approach, whether Greenfield, Brownfield, hybrid, or a blended version. The company then harmonizes and standardizes the various components of the SAP system and prepares an transformation program for the long run. cbs can significantly reduce business disruptions and the impact of transformation programs on day-to-day operations by leveraging a near-zero downtime (NZDT) approach. In addition to its full suite of SAP consulting services, large corporations and global enterprises cbs also offers a fully managed e-invoicing solution for B2G scenarios around the world.

cbs’ ET capabilities enable value-based approaches to data selection, allowing the transfer of data regardless of its status and offering

businesses complete flexibility regarding their cutover scenarios. Elaborating on this, Holger Bock, Managing Director of cbs APAC, adds, “ET functions entirely in the SAP landscape. Our project efforts are minimal since we already have standard content available for ECC to S/4HANA migration. Our team of internal developers ceaselessly upgrade the solution to holistically address all challenges of data integration and migration.”

cbs has a dedicated team of nearly a thousand SAP transformation specialists. The landscape transformation and functional SAP consultants have vast experience and a thorough understanding of SAP ecosystems, processes, and applications. With an operational footprint in the US, Europe, and APAC, cbs goes far beyond the market standards and sets international quality benchmarks of SAP consultancy, tailoring its services to meet the requirements of its diverse clients. Using a customercentric approach, cbs has garnered the businesses of many international corporations and enterprises. One such brand is SPS Companies, a North American steel products manufacturer that partners with cbs to streamline data integration and migration of its M&A operations.

By migrating and updating SAP systems on the database level, we provide our customers high levels of flexibility and customisation when they embark on their digital transformation journeys

SPS Companies decided to use the M&A activities as a launching pad for their transition to S/4HANA. Having acquired two companies that were implanted on S/4HANA and utilized conflicting system configurations, the client realized there was no way to merge the two systems using traditional methods. cbs, then, managed to substantially reduced the client’s database size by migrating only 15 of their 30 company codes and only five years of historical data from their existing ECC environment. cbs executed a complete company code and time slice of their ECC environment and merged it into an upand- running private cloud environment. Such success stories are a stark representation of the added value cbs provides to its customers, a clear substantiation of why 70 percent of market leaders in Germany avail its SAP consultancy services. Upholding the strong foundation it has formed in the European country, cbs expanded its operational footprint in the US over 5 years ago, enabling several businesses in the region to kick start their digital transformation expedition. Looking ahead, it is evident that cbs Corporate Business Solutions will continue to enable massive digital transformation across several industries, allowing businesses to reap the benefits of SAP solutions and serve their customers better.