ECC to S/4HANA Readiness Assessment
SAP has committed to mainstream maintenance for ECC 6.0 only until the end of 2027, with extended maintenance available after that at a premium. This scorecard gives program managers and CIOs a quick, honest view of where an ECC to S/4HANA move stands today. It takes about five minutes and produces a score, a band and a short action list.
1. Has an executive sponsor with budget authority committed to the S/4HANA program?
Programs without a funded business sponsor tend to stall at the first scope dispute.
2. Have you run SAP Readiness Check or equivalent analysis on your ECC system?
Readiness Check reports on simplification items, add-on compatibility, custom code and sizing.
3. How well do you understand your custom code (Z objects) and its real usage?
4. What is the state of your master data (customers, vendors, materials)?
Conversion to Business Partner and cleansing of duplicates are common critical-path items.
5. Have you decided your migration approach (greenfield, brownfield, selective)?
6. Are your third-party add-ons and integrations confirmed for S/4HANA?
7. Do you have a test strategy and business testers available for the program?
8. How ready is your SAP team and system integrator capacity for the migration?
9. Is the target infrastructure and hosting model decided (on-prem, RISE, hyperscaler)?
10. Have business process owners reviewed what changes (Fiori, Universal Journal, MRP Live, output management)?
How to use the scorecard
Answer each of the ten questions for your current landscape, not for where you hope to be. Choose the option that you could defend in front of an auditor or a steering committee. If you are unsure, pick the lower option, because unknowns are the usual source of schedule slips. Ideally have the SAP architect, the business process lead and the program manager answer together, since each tends to see a different part of the picture. Export the result to PDF and use it as the opening slide of a steering committee readiness discussion.
- Score as a group, not alone
- Pick the lower option when unsure
- Re-run the scorecard before each phase gate
What the ten questions measure
The questions cover the factors that most often decide whether an S/4HANA program lands on time: sponsorship, analysis tooling, custom code, master data, migration approach, add-ons, testing, skills, hosting model and process change. Each answer scores from 0 to 3, and the total is converted to a percentage of the maximum. The method mirrors how SAP Activate frames the Discover and Prepare phases, but it is a self-assessment and does not replace SAP Readiness Check, the Simplification Item Catalog or a system-level scan.
How to read your result
Below 36 percent means you are still in discovery: do not set a go-live date yet. Between 36 and 60 you have momentum but at least a few critical-path inputs are unknown. Between 61 and 80 you can plan a realistic timeline, and risk moves to testing and cutover. Above 80 the work is mostly keeping scope and business participation stable. Look at individual low answers rather than only the total: a single zero on sponsorship or custom code can matter more than several threes elsewhere.
Common mistakes
Teams often equate technical readiness with business readiness, running the Readiness Check but never briefing process owners on changes like the Universal Journal or MRP Live. Another frequent mistake is treating custom code as an afterthought, when remediation and retesting are usually among the largest effort lines. Finally, many programs underestimate master data: a Business Partner conversion with years of duplicate vendors and customers takes real cleansing time.
- Assuming IT readiness means business readiness
- Skipping usage analysis and remediating unused code
- Starting data cleansing after the build phase
- Not releasing business testers
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this replace SAP Readiness Check?
No. SAP Readiness Check analyses your actual system and reports on simplification items, add-ons, custom code and sizing. This scorecard assesses program and organisational readiness. Use both: the Readiness Check supplies facts, and this tool shows whether your organisation can act on them.
What is the ECC end of maintenance date?
SAP has announced the end of mainstream maintenance for SAP ECC 6.0 enhancement packages at the end of 2027, with optional extended maintenance to 2030 for an added fee. Always confirm the current dates with SAP, as terms and commercial conditions can change.
How long does an ECC to S/4HANA program take?
It depends heavily on approach and scope. Brownfield conversions for a single-instance, moderately customised system often run in the range of 9 to 18 months, while multi-country greenfield programs commonly run longer. Use your readiness score and Readiness Check findings to set a realistic range.
Who should fill in the scorecard?
Ideally a small group: the program manager, the SAP lead architect and a senior business process owner. Group scoring avoids optimistic answers from one viewpoint and surfaces disagreements early, which is useful in itself before a steering committee meeting.
If you want a second opinion on your score, we can review your Readiness Check output and custom code findings and discuss realistic sequencing. The scorecard works fully without contacting us.
Related Tools
SAP Greenfield vs Brownfield Assessment
Ten questions that point toward brownfield conversion, selective data transition or greenfield re-implementation for your S/4HANA move.
SAPS/4HANA Simplification Item Worksheet
An editable worksheet for logging simplification items from the Readiness Check, with decision, owner effort and cost totals.
SAPSAP Custom Code Remediation Estimator
Estimate hours, cost and calendar time for fixing custom ABAP code for S/4HANA, from object counts, usage and ATC findings.
SAPSAP S/4HANA Migration Cutover Checklist
A practical cutover checklist for S/4HANA go-live weekend, grouped from planning and freeze through validation and handover.