One Year After Migrating to SAP S/4HANA, Here’s What Ericsson’s Journey Reveals

One year after migrating to SAP S/4HANA, Ericsson has given us a blueprint of how a large-scale ERP transformation can succeed—especially when you pay attention to data migration, process standardisation, and future-ready capability.

1. Data-Migration discipline enables speed

Ericsson executed its migration in only 54 hours, reducing project cost by around 30%. Their choice of SAP’s Downtime Optimised Conversion methodology allowed them to migrate legacy data sequentially, eliminating the need for a parallel system. For organisations gearing for S/4HANA, this reinforces a core truth: clean, well-governed data isn’t optional—it’s the pre-requisite for a rapid, low-risk switchover.

2. Standardized processes unlock agility

Ericsson now benefits from standard business support, real-time data and built-in updates across finance, supply-chain, HR and procurement. As a migration consultant, I’ve seen many projects bog down because of retained customisations and fragmented data. Ericsson’s lesson: aligning on standard process flows during migration frees the new platform to deliver agility instead of just change.

3. Migration as foundation for future innovation

With S/4HANA live, Ericsson has shifted focus toward financial standardisation, AI-driven analytics, compliance automation and fraud-detection capabilities. The big insight for enterprises: migration should not be treated as a finish line but a launch pad for next-gen value.

4. What others enterprises are achieving

Beyond Ericsson, other enterprises also show compelling gains. For instance, a healthcare provider improved user productivity by 25% and reduced total cost of ownership by 30% after migrating to S/4HANA. And a global professional-services firm rolled out S/4HANA Cloud in 40+ countries, boosting real-time data usage and process uniformity.

If you're responsible for a legacy-SAP landscape, Ericsson’s story is your calling card. Invest early in data quality and common process design, pick a migration method that minimises downtime, and frame your migration as the stepping-stone to automation and analytics. Do that and you won’t just upgrade your ERP, you’ll future-proof your enterprise.