As we know, all SAP customers are faced with the challenge that their SAP Business Suite solutions will be out of SAP mainstream maintenance by 2025. While this might seem far into the future, I think that it is important to use the remaining time to prepare the move to S/4HANA.
In my opinion, the imminent first step towards S/4HANA is to understand, where you are in terms of your S/4HANA readiness. Distilling what I learned at SAPPHIRE NOW this week, I think the following dimensions have to be considered:
Data Quality / Unicode / Archive: When transitioning to S/4HANA, data matters big time.
Integration / Interfaces: Real-time enterprise management does not work well with batch interfaces.
Versions / Patches: Your systems have to fulfil certain minimum release levels before transitioning them to S/4HANA.
Modifications / Enhancements: SAP have simplified some of their code. Therefore, your extensions would have to be checked for compatibility.
Configuration / Features: Not all SAP and 3rd party add-ons are S/4HANA ready yet. The ones you use, including industry solutions, would have to be checked for compatibility.
User Experience / Mobility: SAP Fiori is the strategic user interface technology for S/4HANA. Therefore it would help your journey, if you had already experience with it.