1 Introduction SAP S/4HANA is SAPs next-generation business suite.

As such, it is not a legal

successor of any SAP Business Suite product. It is a new product, built entirely on one of the most
advanced in-memory platforms today SAP HANA and incorporates modern design principles
through the SAP Fiori user experience (UX). SAP S/4HANA delivers massive simplifications (customer
adoption, data model, user experience, decision making, business processes and models) and
innovations (Internet of Things, Big Data, business networks, and mobile-first) to help businesses
Run Simple in the digital economy. Through its approach to building SAP S/4HANA, SAP is re-
architecting its solution for modern business processes that the ever-increasing digitization of the
world demands. Re-architecting a solution that has been growing over the past 25 years and has, at
points, evolved into different data structures and architectures means that we also have to decide
on one data structure and architecture as we move forward. This is the only way that we can
prepare the solution for increased simplicity and faster innovation cycles. Example: In the current
ERP system, we have two general ledgers: the classical general ledger and the new general ledger.
The new general ledger was introduced mainly as a result of the need to support multiple valuation
methods. As progressed in SAP S/4HANA, we naturally had to decide on one general ledger
structure. We went with the structure of the new general ledger, which offers much higher
flexibility. In most cases, SAP is pursuing the functional strategies that were already laid out in the
existing Business Suite world, where many innovations originate from (as in the example above).
Consequently, it is possible to prepare for the system conversion to SAP S/4HANA by already
adopting the future target capabilities in the classic SAP Business Suite. That being said, SAP is taking
on responsibility for managing the impact of these decisions. Many of the changes are purely
technical and will have no or only limited impact on peoples work; therefore, they will not trigger
business change management. Such changes will be mandatory when converting a system to SAP
S/4HANA. Other decisions are of a more strategic nature, determining which version of functional
support will evolve into the digital era and provide the capabilities that todays unstoppable business
process innovation demands. When these strategic directions demand change management through
adoption, SAP will generally keep the traditional capabilities available as compatibility scope,
enabling a predominantly technical migration of these processes and leaving the timing of change
management as a customer decision. Change management may

Simplification List for SAP S/4HANA 1610 FPS2

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therefore take place during the initial conversion or be postponed to a later point in time.