In today’s tech world, the most important aspect of digital transformation is changing our way of thinking and our approach toward it. Despite the fact that many organisations recognise the importance of transitioning from old system versions to current updated intelligent systems in this digital era, they are still unsure of which methodology to use. As a result, the “SAP Activate methodology, including the Fit-To-Standard Approach” was introduced, allowing businesses to adopt SAP S/4HANA more quickly and securely. Want to know more? Then continue reading this blog until the end if you’re curious about how and where the “Fit-To-Standard” Approach works.

Now let’s see, what exactly is the “Fit-to-Standard Approach” all about?

What is Fit-to-Standard Approach?

The “Fit-to-Standard Approach” is a process that aims at identifying changes to the standard SAP Best Practices. This process takes place during the exploration phase and enables cloud solutions that have to be implemented in the company more quickly and cost-effectively than traditional on-premises systems. This approach creates a new environment based on the “best practices” approach tailoring the implementation to fully utilise all new features and ensure optimal integration with an eye toward the future.

When it comes to following the processes within Fit-to-Standard Approach, all implementations are based on adopting a “why not” rather than a “why” attitude. Rather than allowing previous decisions to influence the transition programme, the Fit-to-Standard Approach seeks to leverage the full range of capabilities in the new technologies that are being implemented in the current tech world.

The Standard business processes are reviewed during this workshop, and the fit of the solution is discussed between the consultants and the customer. Also, during this process, SAP customers have access to the initial system and can run the available processes multiple times to gain more insight apart from the workshops. These iterations of fit-to-standard continue until the customer and consultants are satisfied with the new processes and how this approach meets their business requirements.

Understanding Fit-To-Standard Approach

To understand the Fit-To-Standard Approach, we must first know the purpose and goal of the workstream in which this process takes place. (i.e., Application: Design and Configuration Workstream). The overall goal of the Application: Design and Configuration Workstream is to assist the customer in planning, preparing, and implementing the solutions as planned by adding value to their business needs. Let’s see how this process is done:

• To help the customer understand the value of an SAP solution for their business, they must know the scope of running the processes.
• They must then decide and plan how they want the solution and business processes to be optimised in order to meet their requirements.
• Finally, they must configure the solution to fit their needs and then they must implement the solution into their network.

This is how the overall objective for the Design and Configuration Workstream is met. Also, this methodology takes very less effort and has a shorter timeline than the blueprinting method, which is a boon to many of us!

Now that you know how this approach is done, let’s compare the Fit-to-Gap vs Fit-to-Standard Approach.

Fit-to-Gap vs Fit-to-Standard

When you consider Fit-To-Gap Approach, let’s take a client’s business requirements. In that, we will be customizing their conventional system around the new fit-to-gap on-premise system environment. Whereas, in Fit-To-Standard Approach, when we will be aligning it with SAP’s best practice methods in the cloud. As a result, a significant upfront effort is required to ensure that the business is aligned and ready to adapt to SAP’s best practices.

Now, where does the Fit-To-Standard Approach fit in?

• Fit-to-standard aims to accelerate the SAP S/4HANA Adoption. SAP recommends this implementation strategy to improve quality, simplify and accelerate the conversion process.
• Rather than starting everything from scratch, this approach considers standardising customer processes to meet a pre-delivered solution.
• Fit-to-standard is woven throughout the SAP activate workstream. Its main aim is to achieve ERP standardisation, including at the core solution level.
• To get the most out of Fit-to-standard, it’s also important to follow industry best practices and use S/4HANA applications correctly. Furthermore, through change management initiatives, business leaders must provide employees with the support they require to adopt new systems and processes.

Benefits of Fit-To-Standard Approach

With key operations becoming more standardised, the Fit-To-Standard Approach offers organisations numerous benefits when designing future business process flows. The cost of ownership is reduced because less testing is required within your organisation as it has already been tested with the rest of the solutions. Since the configuration work is often minimal, the approach allows for faster implementation and easier upgrades. Also, even in terms of change management, newly hired employees with prior SAP experience (the ones who are already familiar with the standard processes) would be more likely to be effective in their roles, resulting in less training.

Key Takeaways

• The emphasis is on “Why not best practices?”
• Early impressions of software and how it functions with rapid deployment
• Future enhancements and upgrades are simplified and accelerated.
• Reduced deployment costs and time
• Maintenance and support are simple.

Conclusion

To get the most out of S/4HANA implementation, businesses must identify and use all of the additional standard features and functions that are available to them. This must be done early in the solution design phase because it will allow the company to land on a much higher plane in go-live and realise value benefits much faster than usual.

Feel free to contact us to learn more about how your organisation can use the fit-to-standard approach in your digital transformation journey!