SAP ECC vs SAP S/4HANA – Why the Difference Matters

🔍 What is SAP ECC?

SAP ECC (ERP Central Component) is an ERP system that served as a powerful solution for decades. It’s designed with a monolithic architecture—all modules are tightly integrated, and changes in one area can ripple through others. This makes it robust but also complex.

Each module, such as finance, HR, and logistics, is dependent on the others, requiring careful planning when upgrading or customising features.

While ECC has been effective, its rigidity can limit scalability and the speed at which businesses can adopt new technologies.

SAP ECC can run on multiple non-sap databases such as Oracle and MS SQL.

Currently, SAP’s ECC versions up to and including EHP5 will become unsupported by SAP in 2025, the remaining ECC suite EHP6 up to and including EHP8 will become unsupported by SAP in December 2027.

There will be options for 3rd party support beyond the deadline, however, this will come with a risk and a premium. Any support failures could cause a knock-on consequence for business operations, even those outside the 3rd parties' control.

🔍 What is SAP S/4HANA?

SAP S/4HANA, on the other hand, is a modular and flexible system designed for today’s dynamic business environment. Built on the HANA in-memory database, it provides real-time analytics and faster processing.

Its modular architecture allows businesses to add or update components (such as AI, machine learning, and automation) without overhauling the entire system.

The separation of processes into more independent, streamlined modules reduces complexity, speeds up upgrades, and increases agility.

SAP S/4HANA simplifies and reduces the data footprint for example combining FI and CO as well as merging vendors and customers together as business partners and enabling new capabilities such as Extended Warehouse Management (EWM).

SAP S/4 HANA can only run on a HANA database either on-premise, private or public cloud or in a Hybrid environment. This makes S/4HANA a future-proof solution, adaptable to the needs of modern businesses.

Why is this important?

See post Bridging the Gap Between SAP ECC & S/4HANA – A Deeper Look coming on 31/10/2024