On November 16, 2025, Altivate and Farabi Petrochemicals achieved a major milestone: the successful go-live of the SAP S/4HANA Upgrade, Migration, and Conversion project. This transformation marks a pivotal step in Farabi’s journey toward higher operational efficiency, improved system performance, and a modern, cloud-ready digital foundation.
The achievement was celebrated on Thursday, 20 November at Farabi Headquarters in KSA, bringing together leadership and project teams to mark the completion of a high-impact, mission-critical initiative delivered in record time: just 5 months.
About Farabi Petrochemicals
Farabi Petrochemicals is one of the Middle East’s leading innovators in the petrochemicals sector, known for its advanced production capabilities, large-scale operations, and commitment to continuous innovation. With multiple facilities, interconnected functions, and high-volume transactions across supply chain and operations, Farabi required a modernized ERP system capable of supporting growth while optimizing performance across its enterprise landscape.
The Challenges
Before embarking on this transformation, Farabi faced several technical and operational challenges that needed to be addressed with precision and speed:
- Cross-application integrations across critical functions and systems
- Third-party system integrations requiring re-alignment for S/4HANA Cloud
- Large-scale data migration from legacy HANA (on-prem, 2016) to S/4HANA Cloud 2023
- Migration of 8+ years of attachments to SAP BTP DMS
- Database size optimization to improve performance and reduce storage
- Very strict timelines, driven by business and operational dependencies
- Impact across multiple departments and operations, requiring alignment, testing, and readiness
- Upgrade and Migrate S/4HANA 1610 to RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2023 with embedded FIORI
Farabi needed a partner capable of executing this end-to-end transformation with speed, accuracy, and minimal disruption.
Why Altivate?
Farabi selected Altivate based on three core strengths:
- Deep SAP expertise in S/4HANA Upgrades, Cloud Migrations, and Integrations
- Proven track record in delivering complex transformations in Saudi Arabia
- A partnership-driven approach with strong governance, clear communication, and hands-on support
With seasoned SAP architects, cloud specialists, and integration experts, Altivate was uniquely positioned to manage the upgrade, ensure system stability, and deliver a future-ready environment aligned with Farabi’s strategic roadmap.
The Implementation Journey
The project commenced on April 27, 2025, and followed a highly structured transformation framework:
-
Assessment & Planning
Evaluating the legacy environment, identifying integration dependencies, planning the data migration approach, and designing the upgrade roadmap.
-
Conversion & Migration
Executing the system conversion from HANA On-Prem 2016 to SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2023, including database cleanup, code remediation, and custom object adjustments.
-
Integrations Redesign
Rebuilding and migrating integrations from SAP MII to SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI), ensuring stronger resilience, better monitoring, and alignment with SAP’s modern architecture.
-
BTP DMS Enablement
Migrating 8+ years of attachments to Cloud BTP Document Management Service, ensuring secure document access and optimized storage.
-
SSO Enablement
Configuring SAP Fiori SSO, SAP SuccessFactors SSO, and SAP GUI SSO to enhance user experience and strengthen security.
-
Testing & Validation
End-to-end testing across all operations and departments impacted by the upgrade, ensuring functionality, accuracy, and business readiness.
-
Go-Live & Support
Go-Live achieved on November 16, 2025, followed by steady-state hypercare support to ensure stability and adoption.
Outcomes & Business Wins
The results have been significant, delivering improvements across performance, scalability, and operational efficiency:
-
Record-Time Implementation: Just 5 Months
A full system upgrade, migration, and conversion delivered within a highly ambitious timeline.
-
MII to CPI Integration Migration
Seamless shift to SAP’s modern integration platform, enabling more stable, scalable, and future-proof integrations.
-
Future-Ready ERP Core
The upgraded environment is now compatible with SAP’s advanced offerings including SAP Ariba, SAP Master Data Governance (MDG), and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC).
-
Improved System Performance
Faster processing, better responsiveness, and increased stability across business processes.
-
65% Database Size Optimization
Significant reduction in database footprint, improving efficiency and lowering infrastructure load.
Celebration & Beyond
The Go-Live celebration on November 20 highlighted the strong collaboration between Altivate and Farabi teams. The upgraded digital foundation now positions Farabi to:
- Scale operations more efficiently
- Adopt advanced SAP solutions
- Improve analytics capabilities
- Enhance integration across functions
- Reduce operational risks through modern cloud architecture
Reflecting on the achievement, Mr. Muhannad Alzahrani, IT Manager at Farabi Petrochemicals, shared:
“With our digital foundation now in the cloud, we are positioned to accelerate capabilities across supply chain, data governance, analytics, mobility, and AI. The road ahead will be faster and more ambitious, because the groundwork is finally in place.”
Altivate will continue supporting Farabi through continuous enhancements, optimization, and future-phase innovations.
Lessons Learned
- Early data and attachment preparation accelerates migration success
- Strong alignment across departments reduces downtime and operational friction
- A structured, collaborative PMO ensures clarity and smooth execution
Beyond technology, this project demonstrated the power of unified teamwork, careful planning, and shared commitment to excellence.
This transformation underscores how a strategic SAP S/4HANA upgrade, guided by the right expertise, can unlock performance, scalability, and innovation. Together, Farabi Petrochemicals and Altivate have built a future-ready digital core — strengthening resilience and enabling long-term growth.
Elevating Performance, together.
