SAP ECC to S/4HANA conversion in 7 months without violating GMP

Initial situation

Our client was faced with the decision to move to S/4HANA. All available paths were analyzed:

Public Cloud – this choice was blocked from the outset by GMP requirements. Quarterly, mandatory SAP upgrades prevented control over system validation after each change.


Private Cloud on a hyperscaler – FUE’s minimum licensing thresholds are well above the company’s actual scale, so this choice would be economically unjustifiable.


On-premise – technically available path (latest version S/4HANA 2025 with mainstream maintenance until 2030), but SAP no longer commercially promotes this solution and focuses all sales on cloud solutions within RISE with SAP.

Client independently arranged the on-premise contract. Our role was to perform the technical conversion from ECC to S/4HANA on the infrastructure provided by Herbapol.

Why Brownfield?
In pharmacy, data history isn’t an option to consider. Data traceability is a strict regulatory requirement. Greenfield would risk losing serial documentation continuity and require revalidation from scratch. Brownfield (system conversion), on the other hand, preserves the full history of operations and limits the scope of revalidation to technology-driven changes.

Project Stages

Audit and GMP Impact Analysis
Environment and Documentation Preparation
Technical Conversion
Qualification and Hypercare

Z-Solutions—The Biggest Concern
“The biggest unknown before the project began were the Z-solutions, which often cause delays during conversions. In our case, all non-standard solutions worked immediately after the conversion was completed.”
Edyta Sapijaszko, IT Department Manager, Herbapol

Results

Full serial data continuity
All Z* solutions worked without modification after the conversion
Total Project Time: 7 months
Budget maintained within the assumptions

We have extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry and a thorough understanding of the requirements related to GMP validation. The project completed for Herbapol confirms our ability to conduct conversions in a regulated environment without compromising documentation continuity and within the assumed budget. Our continued collaboration with the client on the reimplementation of the WM and QM areas is the best proof of their trust in us. This applies both to our technical competence and the direction of system development we recommend.

A time that no one should postpone!

SAP ECC mainstream maintenance ends on December 31, 2027. In regulated industries, the validation process can take months. Therefore, the decision to start a project should not be left to the last minute.

Marek Karch — CEO of INMAR, SAP consultant in the production area