The Guide for Digital Transformation with S/4HANA

What is SAP HANA?

First released in 2015, SAP HANA is the next-generation, in-memory relational database technology that serves as the essential backend of modern SAP systems.
The benefits of SAP HANA include superior performance, efficiency, optimum data management, system simplification, and accelerated innovation capabilities.

What is SAP S/4HANA?

SAP S/4HANA is the latest version of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from SAP, built to run exclusively on the proprietary SAP HANA database.
Benefits of SAP S/4HANA include an improved interface that leverages the SAP Fiori design language and significantly increased performance powered by the SAP HANA in-memory database architecture.

What is Digital Transformation with SAP S/4HANA?

Digital transformation with SAP S/4HANA refers to the strategic modernization of business processes utilizing SAP’s next-generation ERP engine to enhance productivity and deliver customer value.

Many organizations are currently planning or executing a transformation to SAP S/4HANA. Organizations must upgrade to SAP S/4HANA before the 2027 maintenance deadline to avoid the risk of business-critical operations running on outdated and unpatched software. Moving enterprise architecture to the cloud is a complex process, prompting the introduction of the SAP RISE Business Transformation Program. This program transforms organizational elements and eliminates deployment complexity.

Organizations utilizing SAP systems rely on developers to write custom code and build applications tailored to specific operational needs. To ensure secure execution in the cloud, developers must audit custom code and remediate vulnerabilities before deployment into the new environment. Integrating security at the beginning of the code development process, known as shifting left, introduces security validation at the moment of code creation rather than during final testing. This proactive approach allows enterprises to identify and neutralize risks before they leave the development environment, preventing structural flaws from entering the cloud architecture.

Benefits of Digital Transformation with SAP S/4HANA

SAP S/4HANA automates business processes and establishes the foundational architecture required to utilize intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The platform provides advanced data management and analytics capabilities while supporting agile application development and secure integration.

Challenges with SAP S/4HANA Digital
Transformation Projects

As CIOs and IT leaders evaluate whether digital transformation projects make sense for their organization, security can often be viewed as a blocker. In fact, not focusing on security from the outset, can lead to costly delays:

The percentage of digital transformation projects that fail to deliver positive results.
The percentage of digital transformation initiatives that crash and burn completely, wasting enterprise budgets.
The average cost of a failed, delayed, or scaled back digital transformation project

Navigating an SAP S/4HANA or SAP RISE digital transformation journey typically involves the following core challenges:

Transformations involve the most important enterprise assets. Project teams must ensure that deployed SAP S/4HANA applications support business operations as expected, without service interruptions.

Accelerated modernization paces create intense pressure to avoid project delays and control expanding costs.

Even well-staffed organizations struggle with bandwidth constraints and conflicting priorities. Internal teams frequently lack familiarity with new system components, such as the HANA database or Fiori design language.

Organizations lacking internal resources often rely on system integrators or third-party developers. Validating external work using manual reviews is difficult and time-consuming.

SAP S/4HANA transformations frequently bring SAP environments under the purview of the CISO. This presents a challenge because standard security tools relied upon by CISO teams generally lack SAP-specific capabilities.

Get ahead of the blockers by starting with security in mind and anticipating risk for every step of the way during your SAP S/4HANA or SAP RISE transformation.

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Considerations for Each Stage of Digital Transformation with S/4HANA

The Following Stats Reflect Key Issues Encountered During the Planning Stage of SAP RISE Projects

of organizations consider existing customizations as problematic to their path to S/4

of organizations expect to face security challenges during their transformation

To effectively mitigate these risks and address the concerns highlighted by these statistics, businesses must follow these essential steps:

  • Understand SAP Application Security Best Practices: Establish a clear understanding of foundational security frameworks for SAP applications.
  • Assess Legacy Systems and Custom Code: Identify legacy system vulnerabilities and custom code issues prior to migration that could negatively impact a RISE deployment.
  • Clarify Security Responsibilities: Establish clear security obligations for system integrators and explicitly outline requirements in request for proposal (RFP) documentation.
  • Optimize Testing Efficiency: Maximize testing efficiency throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Prepare Internal Teams: Prepare operations teams to navigate the shared security model required by RISE with SAP.
  • Protect Legacy Systems: Keep legacy systems protected and productive while the new environment is established.

The Following Stats Reflect Key Issues Encountered During the Implementation Stage of SAP RISE Projects

of organizations are concerned that the skills deficit will slow down migration

hrs

New systems deployed in IaaS environments are exploited in as little as 3 hours.

Once the implementation phase begins, security teams must deploy continuous monitoring to prevent disruption. Consider these steps to reduce risks and ensure a smooth transition:

  • Provide Accurate Security Updates: Maintain team awareness with regular, accurate updates regarding the security and compliance status of the migration.
  • Utilize SAP Threat Intelligence: Monitor the latest SAP threat intelligence from trusted sources, such as Onapsis Research Labs.
  • Validate System Integrator Output: Ensure all work delivered by system integrators and contracted developers meets strict security and quality standards.
  • Avoid Business Disruption: Protect existing legacy systems from operational disruption during the SAP RISE implementation.
  • Secure Customer Responsibilities: Ensure all areas of customer responsibility under the RISE with SAP shared model remain secure during deployment.
  • Monitor Continuously for Threats: Monitor network traffic and application logs in real time for emerging security threats during the implementation phase.

To Effectively Mitigate These Risks and Address the Concerns Highlighted by These Statistics, Businesses Should Follow These Essential Steps:

hrs

The number of hours exploit activity can be observed after an SAP patch is released

USD

The average annual cost of business disruption due to non-compliance

To effectively mitigate these post-deployment risks, businesses must follow these essential steps:

  • Identify Missed Issues: Review and remediate any security gaps missed during the digital transformation process.
  • Measure Potential Risks Over Time: Continuously assess and communicate evolving risks impacting the new SAP systems to ensure proactive management.
  • Stay Informed and Protected: Monitor the latest SAP security vulnerabilities through resources like Onapsis Research Labs to ensure continuous protection.
  • Automate IT Controls Testing: Automate compliance testing for regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks, integrating directly with SAP Process Control.
  • Prevent Issues with DevSecOps: Implement DevSecOps practices to prevent the introduction of security issues during ongoing maintenance and development cycles.

Important Reminders for the SAP S/4HANA Journey

Address Legacy Vulnerabilities:

For organizations migrating legacy applications to SAP S/4HANA (brownfield implementations), preventing legacy problems from entering the new environment is critical. Operations teams must fix security problems, remove outdated code, and resolve misconfigurations or permission issues before migration.

Build Security Into Development:

For greenfield implementations, organizations must build security assessments into the development process via custom code and transport analysis. Finding issues early in the development lifecycle prevents greater negative consequences in production environments.

Validate Third-Party Work:

Organizations frequently utilize system integrators to write custom code, configure environments, and manage ongoing patching. Deploying automated vulnerability, code, and transport assessments provides a necessary mechanism to validate external work.

Eliminate Manual Efforts to Accelerate Timelines:

Relying on manual reviews for code audits, user role checks, and patch validation slows down transformation projects. Utilizing automated solutions eliminates manual workloads, accelerates project timelines, and ensures accuracy.

Reduce Risk and Avoid Security Roadblocks on Your Journey to SAP S/4HANA with Onapsis’s Automated solutions designed for SAP

faster code reviews
faster patch validation
faster vulnerability remediation
automation of controls testing
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline to migrate to SAP S/4HANA?

SAP has set a primary deadline of 2027 for the end of mainstream maintenance for legacy ERP systems, requiring organizations to migrate to SAP S/4HANA to maintain vendor support. Failing to migrate before this deadline leaves critical business operations running on outdated infrastructure, significantly increasing the risk of security breaches, compliance failures, and operational downtime due to a lack of official security patches.

What is the difference between SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA?

SAP HANA is the underlying in-memory database technology, while SAP S/4HANA is the comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) software suite built exclusively to run on that database. Organizations utilize SAP HANA to process massive volumes of data in real time, whereas SAP S/4HANA provides the actual business applications (such as finance, supply chain, and human resources) that leverage that database speed.

What is the RISE with SAP shared security model?

The RISE with SAP shared security model dictates that while SAP secures the underlying cloud infrastructure, the customer remains fully responsible for securing application-level configurations, custom code, and user access. Organizations migrating via SAP RISE must actively manage the application security posture. Relying solely on the cloud provider for total security often leads to critical vulnerabilities at the application and data layers.

Why is securing custom code important during an SAP S/4HANA migration?

Securing custom code during migration prevents legacy vulnerabilities, structural flaws, and compliance violations from entering the new, modernized SAP S/4HANA environment. Implementing automated code analysis allows development teams to identify and remediate security issues early in the software development lifecycle, ensuring that only hardened, secure applications are deployed into production.

How does Onapsis secure SAP S/4HANA digital transformations?

Onapsis secures SAP S/4HANA transformations by automating vulnerability assessments, analyzing custom code for security flaws, and continuously monitoring the application layer for active threats. Deploying the Onapsis Platform allows organizations to accelerate migration timelines by replacing manual security reviews with automated validation, ensuring the new SAP landscape remains protected from the planning stage through post-deployment maintenance.