The clock is ticking for organizations still running on SAP ECC. With mainstream maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7 ending in 2027 (and optional extended maintenance until 2030), businesses must act now to define their S/4HANA migration path. At the same time, usage rights for many ECC compatibility packs expire at the end of 2025, further accelerating the urgency.
It is also important to recognize that SAP S/4HANA is at the core of RISE with SAP, the subscription-based program that combines S/4HANA Cloud with transformation tools, services, and infrastructure. Choosing the right migration strategy, whether Brownfield, Greenfield, or Bluefield (Selective Data Transition), is one of the most critical steps in shaping your journey to the intelligent enterprise.
Why This Decision Is Critical
Choosing the right migration path has long-term consequences:
- Wrong choice: cost overruns, business disruption, slower adoption.
- Right choice: future-ready processes, faster ROI, minimal risk.
This leads to the key question: Should your organization pursue Brownfield, Greenfield, or a Bluefield approach?
Understanding the Three Migration Paths
1. Brownfield Migration (System Conversion)
Brownfield is a system conversion of your existing ECC system into S/4HANA. You retain your current business processes, configurations, and all historical data while modernizing the system to meet S/4HANA requirements.
- Best for: Companies with stable, well-optimized processes that want to minimize disruption
- Advantages: Preserves customizations, historical data, and integrations. Downtime can be reduced with near-Zero Downtime Maintenance (nZDM) and Downtime-Optimized Conversion
- Challenges: Inherits technical debt and requires remediation of custom code. Adoption of new S/4HANA data models, such as Business Partner, is mandatory
Brownfield is also the typical path for moving directly to S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, under RISE with SAP.
2. Greenfield Migration (New Implementation)
Greenfield is a new implementation of S/4HANA. You build a fresh system, adopt best practices, and migrate only selected data, such as master records and open items.
- Best for: Organizations aiming for full process redesign and a clean-core approach
- Advantages: Enables rapid adoption of best practices, eliminates legacy complexity, and supports fit-to-standard strategies
- Challenges: Historical data is not migrated by default. It must be archived or accessed through SAP Information Lifecycle Management (ILM). Strong change management is required
Greenfield is the only option for S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition, which is included in RISE with SAP.
3. Bluefield Migration (Selective Data Transition)
Bluefield, also referred to as Selective Data Transition (SDT), is a hybrid migration approach. It allows you to migrate selected organizational units, processes, or historical data while redesigning other areas.
- Best for: Companies consolidating multiple ECC systems, going through mergers or carve-outs, or needing selective history migration
- Advantages: Combines flexibility with continuity, allows selective data migration, and minimizes downtime with specialized partner tools
- Challenges: Methodology varies by partner. The term “Bluefield®” is a registered SNP trademark, while SAP uses the neutral term Selective Data Transition
This approach is supported for S/4HANA On-Premise and Private Edition deployments within RISE with SAP.
Key Decision Factors
When selecting the right migration strategy, evaluate these factors:
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Cloud Model
- Public Edition = Greenfield only
- Private Edition = All three paths possible
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Downtime Tolerance
- Brownfield and Bluefield can leverage downtime optimization tools
- Greenfield requires longer transition planning
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Process Standardization
- Greenfield for reinvention
- Brownfield for continuity
- Bluefield for a mix of both
-
Data Strategy
- Brownfield = full history
- Bluefield = selective history
- Greenfield = minimal history with ILM for retention
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Customizations and Add-ons
- Heavy customizations favor Brownfield or SDT, but must be adapted to a clean-core approach
Decision Matrix
Altivate’s Advisory Approach: A Practical 6-Step Roadmap
At Altivate, we go beyond technical migration. We guide clients in choosing the best path through:
- Define your business priorities such as cloud model, downtime, and compliance
- Run SAP Readiness Check and Simplification Item Check
- Assess custom code and add-on compatibility
- Shortlist your path and test critical processes in a sandbox
- Choose your downtime optimization strategy (nZDM, DoC, or ZDO)
- Finalize your data retention strategy and ensure compliance
Your move to S/4HANA is also your move into RISE with SAP. Whether you choose Brownfield for continuity, Greenfield for modernization, or Bluefield for flexibility, the right migration path depends on your business priorities, data strategy, and transformation goals.
By aligning your S/4HANA migration strategy with your RISE with SAP roadmap, you ensure a smooth transition to an intelligent, future-ready enterprise.
👉 Altivate is here to guide you from decision to delivery.
Contact us Today to book your S/4HANA Readiness Assessment with a trusted SAP Gold Partner in KSA
