Agile SAP S/4HANA: A Complex Task Meets SAFe

Agile SAP S/4HANA: many myths

Agile S/4HANA implementations are rare – although SAP itself describes an agile approach. Typical phrases we often hear are:

• "The SAP Activate development method only provides for some agile sub-aspects - and those only in the build phase."

• "You can't make SAP agile. The tooling doesn't allow for it."

• "We're set up functionally, and we can't build end-to-end teams from that."

• "Our vendor does not provide for agile implementation."

• "We can't test in sprints."
  

Agile SAP S/4HANA: lots of potential

Projects like SAP S/4HANA migrations are large and complex. When we cut the size and complexity down to make it manageable, we achieve results sooner while keeping the big picture in mind. With the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) there are proven solutions for implementing such a large and complex project in an agile manner.

SAP S/4HANA and SAFe – that has a lot of potential:

• Regular deliveries, in the case of SAP with Solution Manager, which grow together to form one system, are the best way to reduce risk

• Project environment in which business and IT work together

• A standardized framework that gives people security and orientation – and that can evolve at the same time

• A framework that supports continuous development, where results can be delivered on demand and early, and that supports a seamless transition to operations
  

wibas offers concrete answers to the question: How does an agile S/4HANA program work?

Here's how we lead the way to your agile S/4HANA program: we design the Activate phases to be agile. We also build agile transformation into the phases to learn as we go. It may then look like this:

• Prepare: This is where we lay the foundation for SAP S/4HANA - and likewise for agility ("enablement" in S/4 and agile). This means creating the technical foundations and the capabilities so that the people in the project can use SAP S/4HANA and Agile.

• Explore: On the one hand, we come here from the generic "Model Company" to the specific manifestation in the form of the "Solution Map." Likewise, we move from a "Model Agile Setup" such as the Scaled Agile Framework to our specific agile project structure. At the end of the Explore Phase is a Solution Map - this is the S/4HANA Migration Backlog for implementation in the Build Phase. Even in this phase, it makes sense to deliver the solution map and the technical basis with multidisciplinary teams (from business and IT) in regular iterations - this way, results are regularly completed and fit/gap analyses are checked early on in stakeholder reviews.

• Realize: In the Realize phase, the Scaled Agile Framework offers exactly the right techniques to move from the solution map to regular releases in a defined rhythm (the "Planning Intervals"). The Scaled Agile Framework offers exactly the right techniques for this with Increments in the team and Increments in the program. Increments in the program implement the "waves" of S/4HANA. Through sprints/increments within the waves, the teams regularly deliver integrated, tested results that have been validated with users ("work packages"). Using the "Essential" level techniques from the Scaled Agile Framework, we establish agile coordination between strategy, program and team levels. Regular feedback loops continuously improve the quality of the solution map and make the S/4HANA program itself more efficient.

• Deploy and Run: With DevOps, we create a development framework so that the S/4HANA program can release early when needed, transition seamlessly into operations, and evolve continuously.
  

Agile S/4HANA – that's more than Scrum

Scrum is great at the team level: it helps teams with their focus and individual results. But if you want to leverage the benefits of agility for the program, for collaboration between teams and stakeholders, for joint planning for the overall system, it's worth thinking about agility at the program level with the help of the Scaled Agile Framework think.