Cloud is rapidly shifting from an innovation driver to a business necessity, with analysts like Gartner noting that by 2028, most competitive enterprises will have already migrated. In that model, cloud becomes the default operating environment.
For SAP® customers, this transition is centered on SAP S/4HANA. Around three-quarters are expected to migrate within the next five years. It delivers a major leap in ERP performance—simpler architecture, faster processing, and improved functionality compared to legacy SAP systems—while enabling new end-to-end business processes.
Because SAP S/4HANA is cloud-based, organizations also benefit from continuous updates, enhancements, and improved scalability, making it a key foundation for modern enterprise operations.
The Challenges Of Change
The criticality of SAP ERP means migration to cloud will be both complex and challenging—not least to ensure data consistency and to map core business processes to the new system.
SAP S/4HANA uses a different underlying architecture than previous SAP systems and requires a re-architecting of data models and business logic. And the data often needs to be cleaned and transformed—which can be a complex and risky endeavor.
As users are all too aware, most SAP systems are also extensively customized. When migrating to SAP S/4HANA, all that custom code needs to be assessed for compatibility. It may even have to be rewritten.
Then there are integration considerations. With up to 77% of the world’s business transactions touching an SAP system, SAP S/4HANA often needs to integrate with a vast range of applications. Making sure these integrations are maintained or re-established in the new environment can be a major technical challenge.
In common with all cloud migrations, technology leaders want to mitigate the costs of downtime and lost productivity during the switch—something SAP estimates will take between 12 and 18 months. Keeping a tight rein on project timelines and budgets to avoid overruns and unexpected costs will be key.
Creating a clean core
A move to SAP S/4HANA is far more than a transition to a cloud operating model. It represents one of the rare opportunities for enterprises to take a deep, structured look at their existing applications and business processes and drive meaningful long-term improvement.
During this transition, organizations can shed unnecessary customization, reduce technical debt, and redesign inefficient workflows. It also creates the conditions to adopt an “automation-first” mindset that supports continuous value creation over time.
In SAP terms, this is where the concept of a clean core becomes critical. A clean core reflects a strategic shift in ERP thinking—balancing the need for flexibility with the benefits of standardization and simplicity. By minimizing customizations, enterprises can reduce complexity, streamline testing, break down silos, and improve overall system performance.
At the same time, a clean core doesn’t limit innovation. Instead, it enables it by allowing organizations and partners to build extensions and differentiated capabilities on top of standard SAP functionality. This makes systems easier to evolve as business needs change.
Ultimately, a clean core turns an S/4HANA migration into more than a technical upgrade—it becomes a chance to modernize, simplify, and build a more agile and scalable enterprise foundation.
The positive impact of automation
Automation plays a critical role in both preparing for and accelerating the transition to SAP S/4HANA.
It can significantly simplify the discovery and redesign of existing business processes that are often deeply embedded in legacy systems through extensive custom code. Rewriting this code for compatibility with the new environment is typically time-intensive and costly. By introducing an automation layer that decouples these customizations, organizations can model, adjust, and optimize processes through low-code or drag-and-drop approaches—reducing the need for heavy redevelopment and ongoing maintenance.
Automation also improves the accuracy and speed of data migration. By handling data mapping and transformation systematically, enterprises can ensure consistency and integrity as they move into new SAP S/4HANA structures.
Importantly, automation doesn’t need to wait for the migration to begin. Implementing it early frees up skilled teams from repetitive operational work, allowing them to focus on higher-value transformation initiatives. This proactive approach helps reduce costs, minimize errors, and create a smoother, faster migration journey.
However, automation’s value extends beyond migration itself. The automations built during this phase can be reused post-migration to drive continuous operational improvement. In doing so, they help establish an “automation-first” operating model that reinforces the clean core in SAP S/4HANA and enables ongoing end-to-end process transformation.
To the cloud and beyond
Get to SAP S/4HANA faster with UiPath
We are strengthening our SAP partnership to enhance migration support and help customers fully realize the innovation lifecycle that follows a transformation to SAP S/4HANA.
The objective is to enable organizations to operate in a continuous state of innovation—not only leveraging automation to support migration, but also identifying and unlocking broader opportunities for improvement using the full capabilities of the UiPath Business Automation Platform.
With UiPath, enterprises can transition to SAP S/4HANA more smoothly, minimizing disruption to day-to-day operations and reducing the impact on both employees and customers. At the same time, they can accelerate time-to-value by automating across virtually any combination of applications, enabling new pathways for innovation and growth.
Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that every cloud journey begins on the right foundation. Organizations should not only reach a modern, optimized SAP S/4HANA environment, but also continue to derive ongoing value from it. With UiPath supporting the journey, they can achieve both a seamless migration and sustained, long-term transformation.