The Greenfield implementation approach involves starting fresh, migrating from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA by completely reengineering an organization’s SAP processes and workflows. Any customizations in SAP ECC are wiped out during this process.
For legacy enterprises with complex, heavily customized workflows, a Greenfield approach can provide the opportunity for a fresh start, reducing complexities and simplifying the system. Whether on-premises or in the cloud, Greenfield implementations allow predefined migration objects, resulting in a lower total cost of ownership and quicker time-to-value.
The main advantage of this approach is that it begins with a clean slate, allowing organizations to drive standardization, simplification, and flexibility. In theory, the core elements of SAP S/4HANA can be up and running in about three months, though migrating all data can take longer due to its complexity.
However, this approach is riskier, as it requires redeveloping essential system customizations, which can be time-consuming. A selective Greenfield strategy may be used to start fresh in certain areas, simplifying processes and integrations.
