HAMBURG WASSER: Towards SAP S/4HANA

Someone in Hamburg turns on the faucet and out comes fresh tap water. What sounds simple is the result of countless complex processes running in the background, all of which are managed by HAMBURG WASSER.

To manage these processes, long-time SAP customer HAMBURG WASSER uses an SAP ECC system that has become increasingly complex over the past 20 years—but also increasingly ineffcient and difficult to maintain. Consequently, the company has faced a challenge, particularly
with the end of support for SAP ECC in mind: How can the transition to SAP S/4HANA succeed under these circumstances?

In 2023, HAMBURG WASSER and GAMBIT Consulting began their collaboration by conducting a preliminary study (roadmap program) for SAP S/4HANA. It quickly became clear that, in HAMBURG WASSER’s case, the upcoming implementation could not be viewed as an individual challenge.

“Right from the start, we identified three areas that we wanted to examine separately,” says Christopher Lim, project manager at GAMBIT Consulting. “First, the core of the ERP system—that is, the central SAP processes. Then the SAP IS-U industry solution for utility and waste management companies. And finally, the SAP HCM module for Human Resources.”

The goal of the preliminary study was therefore not to identify a single, all-encompassing path to SAP S/4HANA, but rather three distinct paths—tailored to the requirements of each area. “The goal, however, was the same in all three areas,” says Markus Fischbach, Project Manager at HAMBURG WASSER.

“It was to harmonize and standardize our business processes, make our ERP system more efficient and faster overall, and improve our data quality. GAMBIT’s task was to help us lay the groundwork for well-informed and goal-oriented decisions.”

For the migration to SAP S/4HANA, the end of support for SAP ECC and the desire for greater efficiency were not the only requirements HAMBURG WASSER had to keep in mind. As the second-largest municipal water and waste management company, the group must observe the City of Hamburg’s requirements. Among other things, this meant that the new system needed functional interfaces with the city’s systems. In addition, it was important not to lose sight of the group’s own context— and to optimally design internal interfaces as well.

The GAMBIT Roadmap Program has proven successful time and again—with a wide variety of clients. At HAMBURG WASSER, the consultants put the various migration options to the test, separately for ERP Core, IS-U, and HCM. Through strategic interviews with top management, they first examined the group’s strategic direction, documented the requirements and expectations for the new system, and identified potential areas of conflict.

As part of the preliminary analysis, GAMBIT’s consultants conducted a fit-gap analysis for the various paths to SAP S/4HANA, as well as the operating models that are possible with SAP S/4HANA: On-Premise, Private Cloud, or Public Cloud.

“Ultimately, we determined during the study that it made sense to examine the three areas individually,” says GAMBIT project manager Christopher Lim. “Our recommendations differ for each area.”

• For the ERP core processes, the Private Cloud with a Greenfield approach achieved high standard fit scores.
• For the IS-U industry solution, GAMBIT recommended an implementation in the Private Cloud using a Brownfield approach.
• Based on the preliminary study, HAMBURG WASSER can choose between migrating to SAP SuccessFactors in the Public Cloud or migrating to SAP HCM for S/4HANA (H4S4) On-Premise to replace the currently used HCM solution, with the option to also migrate HCM to the Private Cloud solution if economies of scale arise.

The roadmap program provided HAMBURG WASSER with clear and well-founded facts.

Above all, a Greenfield implementation of SAP S/4HANA for ERP core processes would align business processes closely with SAP Best Practices and boost efficiency. This would also improve data quality—a key foundation for meaningful KPIs and fact-based decision making.

“GAMBIT analysed our processes and provided us with precise recommendations,” says Markus Fischbach. “Now the decision is ours. Thanks to the collaboration between GAMBIT and our project team, we can now make decisions based on facts and to the best of our knowledge – which seemed impossible just a few months ago. This takes us a big step forward — closer to the future we’ve envisioned for ourselves.”