BIG PLAYERS
In September 2019, Deloitte announced it has partnered with SAP for the migration to S/4Hana. Under this new partnership, SAP customers that use SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud can choose Deloitte as their default provider.
In October 2019, Microsoft announced it has partnered with SAP as its preferred partner for the cloud. Microsoft and its system integrator partners will provide road maps to moving SAP customers to Azure. Microsoft typically engages offshore labor to fulfill large project requirements.
In December 2019, Ernst & Young announced a more forceful way into the SAP migration game. It acquired AgilityWorks and renamed it “EY AgilityWorks.” AgilityWorks will provide support to clients who adopt S/4Hana. EY, just like Deloitte, tends to be an expensive solution.
S/4HANA
In 2015, S/4HANA was billed as SAP’s biggest update to its ERP strategy and platform in over two decades. While it has been available for nearly five years, many organizations have been reluctant to tackle the lengthy and complex upgrade. SAP has said it will end support for ECC on December 31, 2025.
ECC customizations and 3rd party integrations are the top SAP S/4HANA migration risk. Additionally, SAP ECC customers realize they will need automated testing after an upgrade. Updates for SAP S/4HANA will occur more frequently than for ECC, which makes manual testing too slow, costly, and inefficient. While organizations can and should use manual testing for some functions, automated testing must be a critical part of their SAP upgrade strategy.
WHAT’S AHEAD
Project work is coming! Both Deloitte and Microsoft provide two examples of how there will be an increase in project work for migrating to Azure. Deloitte rarely drops the ball when it comes to migrations, but they come at a considerable cost. Eventually, customers will seek a lower-cost solution; contract consultants.
Microsoft partners have been known to drop the ball. This often occurs when work is sent to offshore teams, where miscommunication to due language and culture, unconcise requirements, and time zone difference contribute to poor quality deliverables. To fix poor quality deliverables, organizations often look to contract consultants to help make corrections.
As the 2025 ECC support deadline approaches, more organizations will need to staff up, with both contract and permanent positions, to plan and execute migration to S/4HANA. Those with expertise in DevOps and automated testing will have an edge.
In summary, the demand for US-based SAP contract consultants and permanent employees with S/4Hana Cloud experience will continue to grow as the 2025 ECC support deadline approaches. US-based SAP contract consultants and permanent employees with Azure experience will also continue to grow in demand as organizations move to the Azure platform. In addition, there will be a growing number of project work opportunities to rectify errors introduced by offshore teams.
Precise Technical Staffing provides Direct Hire, Contract-to-Hire, and Contract Consultants to US-based SAP clients. If you would like to speak with me about current opportunities, please call me at 602-750-6209.
Jessica Lynn
Senior Associate | Precise Technical Staffing
P: 602-750-6209
E: Jessica@PreciseTechnicalStaffing.com
W: www.PreciseTechnicalStaffing.com
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