How Accurate Was SAP About S/4HANA and a Simplified Data Model?

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Executive Summary

For years SAP has said that that S/4HANA has a simplified data model.
In this article, we review the accuracy of this claim.

Video Introduction: What SAP Said About S/4HANA and a Simplified Data Model

Text Introduction (Skip if You Watched the Video)

SAP Stated that by SAP changing the S4HANA data model to being column oriented means the database has been greatly simplified, which would result in benefits ranging from implementation to business process to maintenance. This claim took advantage of the fact that only a small percentage of IT decision makers understand what makes a simpler data model, and secondly if there is a direct relationship between a simpler data model and a smoother or faster ERP implementation. You will learn how accurate SAP was in their claims around S4HANA having a simplified data model.

Our References for This Article

If you want to see our references for this article and other related Brightwork articles, see this link.

Notice of Lack of Financial Bias: We have no financial ties to SAP or any other entity mentioned in this article.

This is published by a research entity, not some lowbrow entity that is part of the SAP ecosystem.
Second, no one paid for this article to be written, and it is not pretending to inform you while being rigged to sell you software or consulting services. Unlike nearly every other article you will find from Google on this topic, it has had no input from any company's marketing or sales department. As you are reading this article, consider how rare this is. The vast majority of information on the Internet on SAP is provided by SAP, which is filled with false claims and sleazy consulting companies and SAP consultants who will tell any lie for personal benefit. Furthermore, SAP pays off all IT analysts -- who have the same concern for accuracy as SAP. Not one of these entities will disclose their pro-SAP financial bias to their readers.

What is the Truth About S/4HANA’s Data Model?

We disputed these claims in the 2016 article Does SAP S/4HANA Have a Simplified Data Model and Faster Reconciliation?

And in the 2017 article, How Much Has HANA Really Been Simplified?

Falling into the category of “pants on fire” lie not is the primary claim. That S/4HANA has a simplified data model false (some dimensions of a column-oriented database are simplified, but others are made more complex, and overall the complexity with HANA is far higher). Furthermore, all of the ancillary claims related to the implementation of a business process are utterly false.

Conclusion and Calculation

SAP receives a 10% accuracy rating on S/4HANA, having a simplified data model and the supposed simplified data model resulting in various implementation, business processes, and maintenance benefits.

Link to the Parent Article

This is one of many research articles on a specific topic that supports a larger research calculation. For the overview of the research calculation for all of the SAP topics that were part of the study, see the following primary research A Study into SAP’s Accuracy.