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Understanding SAP S/4HANA

Modules

December 18, 2018 Curtis Gaska - Solution Architect

SAP HANA and Big Data

Discussing SAP S/4HANA modules without rst de ning SAP

HANA and the evolution of SAP Business Suite is a bit like eating
dessert before the appetizer. The modules are an innovation
that arrives atop a series of foundational shifts in the nature of
SAP products. To understand S/4HANA modules, it’s rst
necessary to review how SAP HANA and S/4HANA came into
existence.

What Does S/4HANA stand For?

SAP S/4HANA is the next generation of ERP software from SAP.
It is a simpli ed version of SAP ECC, built to take advantage of
SAP HANA and other new age SAP software products

What Are S/4HANA Modules?

SAP S/4HANA modules are individual components of an
S/4HANA implementation. Each offers functionality for a
speci c business purpose like General Ledger, Logistics,
Materials Management and so forth. They essentially break the
relatively monolithic SAP suite into simpler, more manageable
components.

Simplicity was one of SAP’s major goals in the creation of

S/4HANA modules. Over decades, SAP ERP had transformed
frequently. It was updated to take advantage of new computing
capabilities, third party applications and business use cases. The
result of this approach was a great deal of customization. The
further result was a tendency for these one-of-a-kind SAP
landscapes to be challenging to update. Modules make the
process of changing SAP quite a bit easier.

SAP S/4HANA modules harness the full power of the underlying

SAP HANA database, but at the same time, they standardize the
technology stack. Upgrades become easier. Customers can thus
quickly take advantage of new features as soon they are
released by SAP. They can also integrate third party applications
without the kind of project that usually entails with legacy SAP
landscapes.

S/4HANA Modules List

S/4HANA modules are proliferating. There are literally dozens
of them, under a handful of categories. One of the most popular
is SAP Finance. This was previously known as Simple Finance. It
streamlines nancial processes, making possible real time
nancial data analysis. In S/4HANA, with the database
integration, SAP Finance enables “single source of truth”
between nancial and non- nancial data. Additional modules
include:

Plant Maintenance (PM)

 Product Life Cycle Management (PLM)
Human Capital Management (HCM)
Production Planning (PP)
Project Systems (PS)
Controlling (CO)
Sales and Distribution (SD)
Investment Management (IM)
Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Logistics Information Systems (LIS)
Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Customer Service (CS)
Materials Management (MM)
Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)
Treasury
NetWeaver
Environment, Health and Safety (EHS)
Industry Solutions, e.g. Aerospace, Automotive, etc.

SAP ERP Modules

Several S/4HANA modules t into the Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) category. For example, under the Material
Management Module, the following sub-modules are available:

Extended Warehouse Management

External Services Management
Inventory / Valuations
Inventory Management
Invoice Veri cation
Logistics (General)
Logistics Information System
Materials Planning
Purchasing
QM in MM
Warehouse Management
Work ow

 
The Right Implementation Partner for
SAP S/4HANA Modules
While the SAP simpli cation strategy is bold and helpful, it does
not cover every use case. Nor does it deal with the full scope of
SAP deployment. Beyond basic adoption of modules, there are
decisions to be made regarding hosting, support, security,
compliance and so forth. Factors that affect outcomes include
competencies, investments, timelines and budgets, industry
trends, even the corporate culture.

The right SAP partner can help nd cost-effective and

competitive options. It can follow through with and successfully
implement S/4HANA modules as part of a broader migration to
S/4HANA. This migration encompasses an assessment of the
current SAP landscape, creating a roadmap, thinking through
the architecture, training and ensuring connectivity with third
parties.

An effective business partner will make a difference in planning

and realizing the use of S/4HANA modules. Make sure your
provider brings experience in cloud and hosting, IT
consulting and SAP managed services and that they are known
for working closely with clients on every phase of the journey.

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Curtis Gaska - Solution Architect

Curtis Gaska is a solution architect on
Symmetry's expert SA team, delivering
complete SAP® technical solutions from
upgrades to complex landscape
implementations. Curtis pairs his sound SAP
technical expertise with sales skills to
knowledgably advise clients, and prospective
clients of Symmetry’s services and product
 offerings throughout each stage of the sales
cycle.

Curtis has a unique ability to deliver

technical knowledge to create customs
solutions per the client requirements, by not
only taking the technical speci cations into
consideration but also the business drivers
particular to that organization in turn
creating an optimal SAP environment. This
skilled approached includes scoping,
planning, and execution of various projects
including Migrations/Upgrades/Installs,
Hosting and ongoing Managed Services. He
also stays abreast of the latest technologies
such as road mapping solutions for client’s to
leverage SAP HANA® in their current
environment to then be hosted in
Symmetry’s state-of- the -art Datacenter.

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