SAP S4HANA vs SAP ECC

If your company still uses anSAP ERP system and hasn’t upgraded to S/4HANA, now is the time to make the switch.

This is due to SAP’s announcement that it will extend the earlier date of 2025 but reiterate its view that ECC will no longer be maintained during the next five years by terminating maintenance and support of the system in 2027.

What is SAP ECC?

Since it covers the more frequently used modules like financials, Human Resources (HR), warehousing, and logistics, SAP ECC is the system that most companies have and are familiar with. Companies can also use SAP ECC’s modules for materials management, production planning, and facility upkeep.

Contrary to popular belief, SAP Business Suite does not include SAP ECC, the software’s main component. Along with supporting sophisticated or specialized tasks like customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM), SAP Business Suite goes above and beyond the essential components.

Like SAP ECC, SAP Business Suite can operate on external databases like MSSQL, IBM DB2, and SAP HANA.

What is SAP S/4HANA?

SAP S/4HANA is the fourth iteration of the SAP Business Suite.

To benefit from SAP HANA’s performance and data analytics capabilities, SAP completely revamped SAP ECC to produce SAP S/4HANA in 2015. That has both significant advantages and disadvantages.

While SAP ECC can operate on a third-party database, S/4HANA can only operate on SAP HANA.

Accely’s SAP S4HANA, as opposed to ECC and R/3, is made to handle more data and solve more complicated challenges. With SAP, Fiori improves the user experience and moves away from transactional systems that store data in favor of real-time information from both internal and external sources.

Why Businesses Should Make the Switch?

Businesses are advised by SAP to upgrade to the SAP S/4HANA platform, the most strong and complex ERP system created by the corporation and uses its proprietary HANA database. We anticipate that most SAP customers will eventually make that decision.

Migration to S/4HANA initially entails updating ERP systems while implementing a new database.

The sheer size of such a migration presents significant logistical difficulties and calls for professional assistance. ECC and S/4HANA have distinct system architectures in addition to the expected transformations and data flow.

This isn’t a simple upgrade; it involves purchasing and implementing a completely new system that will give you access to the greatest SAP technology available and help you secure your company’s future.

It’s also important to note that SAP is vigilant in supporting S/4HANA (it recently confirmed that support and maintenance for its premier solution will be available until at least 2040). So, businesses will need to carefully weigh their options and make appropriate plans with the 2027 deadline in mind with the help of an SAP implementation partner.

Differences Between SAP S/4HANA & SAP ECC

Comparing SAP S/4HANA with SAP ECC can be confusing, primarily because both solutions sound similar. Simply put, SAP HANA is the in-memory database system that powers the SAP environment.

The business suite S/4HANA was introduced as the next-generation SAP ERPthat will only process from SAP ECC to reduce costs and boost the efficiency of operations. This implies that the update has replaced some features while others have been clubbed or combined to form new features.

To get you started, the following list of five major differences between S/4HANA and ECC should be considered before beginning your migration:

Database

Third-party databases like Oracle, IBM DB2, and others can run SAP ECC. But only the SAP HANA Database can execute SAP S/4HANA. With SAP HANA and its in-memory processing capabilities in mind, SAP S/4HANA offers several advantages.

HANA makes in-memory computing possible. As a result, it is possible to read data straight from memory. This means that data is always present in the main RAM even when write operations take place on the hard drive. Therefore, SAP S/4HANA reads data faster than conventional ERPs, thanks to the HANA database’s quick data access.

Because searches only read the impacted columns, SAP S/4HANA can handle column-based databases more quickly.

Customer VS. Vendor

Managing operations for a cloud-based database is one of the core competencies of any ERP module. Interestingly, both SAP ECC and S/4HANA process this functionality in different manners.

SAP ECC maintains individual vendor and customer files when approaching operations. On the contrary, when it comes to organizations partnering with a company for the functions above, S/4HANA takes the lead. It combines the traditional data structure elements to create a business partner record.

The Merger of CO & FI

The CO primary cost elements in SAP ECC are linked to the FI General Ledger (GL) accounts. The GL accounts and the cost components are both maintained in the ACDOCA field of the Universal Journal in SAP S/4HANA.

General ledger (GL) accounts for primary and secondary cost elements are now established and kept in FS00 with the appropriate cost element type. In addition, due to developments in SAP S/4HANA, reconciliation, like in the case of CO to FI, is no longer required, and end of a reporting period, closings are now faster.

An Updated General Ledger

Both the “new” GL structure and the “old” GL structure are compatible with SAP ECC. Moreover, due to the data format, the new general ledger in SAP S/4HANA is theoretically identical to the general ledger in SAP ECC.

For new asset accounting, users using the traditional general ledger will have to switch to its dual ledger and its functionality.

Rebate

With SAP S/4HANA, CCS uses SAP HANA’s in-memory computing capabilities and offers a single solution to manage contract-related circumstances, enhancing flexibility and enabling you to build up various business situations and procedures.

In Conclusion

It is simple to understand why migration to S/4HANA is helpful and how, with the proper SAP migration scenarios, this move can be a straightforward procedure once you contact an SAP implementation partner and are aware of the fundamental changes between SAP versions.

Transformation to SAP S/4HANA is now more of a must than an option. This is due to SAP’s intention to discontinue all support for earlier iterations of their software by 2027. A better user experience, increased performance, and a lower total cost of ownership are just a few of the many advantages of transforming to S/4HANA.