Migrating to SAP S/4HANA is more than a technical upgrade—it’s a strategic transformation. It’s an opportunity to rethink how your organization manages data for performance, compliance, and cost efficiency. Yet, one critical area is often overlooked: data archiving.
Handled well, archiving can reduce database size, accelerate migration, lower licensing costs, and ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR. But when neglected or mismanaged, it can lead to delays, inflated costs, and operational risks.
Here are five common mistakes enterprises make—and how to avoid them:
1. Undefined Objectives and Retention Strategy
The Pitfall: Many organizations begin archiving without clear goals. Is the aim to reduce database size, improve system performance, or meet compliance requirements? Without defined objectives, projects lose focus and fail to deliver value.
Industry Insight: A missing data residence strategy—rules for how long data remains in the system—leads to inconsistent practices and compliance gaps.
Examples:
A global manufacturing firm archived data without aligning with legal retention periods, resulting in audit penalties.A retail company tried to reduce DB size but didn’t define scope—archived only 5% of eligible data.
How to Avoid It:
Set measurable goals (e.g., “Reduce DB size by 40% pre-migration”).Define retention policies aligned with legal and business needs.Document scope early (objects, years, entities).Engage compliance and audit teams from the start.
2. Treating Archiving as a Technical Task Only
The Pitfall: When archiving is seen as an IT-only initiative, business users often resist, fearing loss of access to historical data. This can stall progress or lead to partial rollbacks.
Industry Insight: Business trust is essential. If users don’t believe in the archive, they won’t support the migration.
Examples:
A finance team blocked archiving because they weren’t shown how to retrieve archived invoices for audits.A pharma company rolled back archiving after users couldn’t access clinical trial data due to poor communication.
How to Avoid It:
Position archiving as a joint business-IT effort.Communicate clearly: data isn’t deleted—it’s managed smarter.Offer intuitive access tools (e.g., ArchiveLink, OpenText viewers).Start with a pilot to demonstrate value.
3. Inadequate Testing and Validation
The Pitfall: Assuming archiving will work out-of-the-box can result in broken workflows and inaccessible documents post go-live.
Industry Insight: Lack of testing is a top reason for post-migration issues. Archiving needs the same rigor as any other system change.
Examples:
A healthcare provider couldn’t retrieve patient billing records due to missing archive links.A bank failed to validate tax reports post-archiving, triggering regulatory scrutiny.
How to Avoid It:
Build automated test cases for archive retrieval and reporting.Include business users in UAT.Test across systems (ECC, S/4, OpenText).Validate legal compliance outputs (tax, audit, GDPR).
4. Skipping Specialized Tools and Expert Help
The Pitfall: Relying on manual setups or inexperienced teams to save costs often backfires, leading to misconfigurations and audit failures.
Industry Insight: Expert guidance and specialized tools streamline the process and reduce risk.
Examples:
A consumer goods company used manual archiving and missed ILM rules—resulting in data retention violations.A financial services firm used PBS add-ons and reduced archiving time by 60%.
How to Avoid It:
Use policy-driven tools for retention and destruction.Engage consultants with proven S/4HANA migration experience.Consider add-ons like PBS, Neev, Auritas, or TJC for advanced capabilities.Automate archiving with ILM policies and scheduled jobs.
Archiving isn’t just a checkbox—it’s a strategic enabler in your S/4HANA journey. Done right, it:
Cuts migration time and costBoosts system performanceEnsures regulatory complianceBuilds user confidence in the new platform
Avoiding these pitfalls requires early planning, strong governance, and cross-functional collaboration. Make archiving a priority—not an afterthought.ar
Migrating to SAP S/4HANA is more than a technical upgrade—it’s a strategic transformation. It’s an opportunity to rethink how your organization manages data for performance, compliance, and cost efficiency. Yet, one critical area is often overlooked: data archiving.Handled well, archiving can reduce database size, accelerate migration, lower licensing costs, and ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR. But when neglected or mismanaged, it can lead to delays, inflated costs, and operational risks.Here are five common mistakes enterprises make—and how to avoid them: 1. Undefined Objectives and Retention StrategyThe Pitfall: Many organizations begin archiving without clear goals. Is the aim to reduce database size, improve system performance, or meet compliance requirements? Without defined objectives, projects lose focus and fail to deliver value.Industry Insight: A missing data residence strategy—rules for how long data remains in the system—leads to inconsistent practices and compliance gaps.Examples:A global manufacturing firm archived data without aligning with legal retention periods, resulting in audit penalties.A retail company tried to reduce DB size but didn’t define scope—archived only 5% of eligible data.How to Avoid It:Set measurable goals (e.g., “Reduce DB size by 40% pre-migration”).Define retention policies aligned with legal and business needs.Document scope early (objects, years, entities).Engage compliance and audit teams from the start. 2. Treating Archiving as a Technical Task OnlyThe Pitfall: When archiving is seen as an IT-only initiative, business users often resist, fearing loss of access to historical data. This can stall progress or lead to partial rollbacks.Industry Insight: Business trust is essential. If users don’t believe in the archive, they won’t support the migration.Examples:A finance team blocked archiving because they weren’t shown how to retrieve archived invoices for audits.A pharma company rolled back archiving after users couldn’t access clinical trial data due to poor communication.How to Avoid It:Position archiving as a joint business-IT effort.Communicate clearly: data isn’t deleted—it’s managed smarter.Offer intuitive access tools (e.g., ArchiveLink, OpenText viewers).Start with a pilot to demonstrate value. 3. Inadequate Testing and ValidationThe Pitfall: Assuming archiving will work out-of-the-box can result in broken workflows and inaccessible documents post go-live.Industry Insight: Lack of testing is a top reason for post-migration issues. Archiving needs the same rigor as any other system change.Examples:A healthcare provider couldn’t retrieve patient billing records due to missing archive links.A bank failed to validate tax reports post-archiving, triggering regulatory scrutiny.How to Avoid It:Build automated test cases for archive retrieval and reporting.Include business users in UAT.Test across systems (ECC, S/4, OpenText).Validate legal compliance outputs (tax, audit, GDPR). 4. Skipping Specialized Tools and Expert HelpThe Pitfall: Relying on manual setups or inexperienced teams to save costs often backfires, leading to misconfigurations and audit failures.Industry Insight: Expert guidance and specialized tools streamline the process and reduce risk.Examples:A consumer goods company used manual archiving and missed ILM rules—resulting in data retention violations.A financial services firm used PBS add-ons and reduced archiving time by 60%.How to Avoid It:Use policy-driven tools for retention and destruction.Engage consultants with proven S/4HANA migration experience.Consider add-ons like PBS, Neev, Auritas, or TJC for advanced capabilities.Automate archiving with ILM policies and scheduled jobs. Archiving isn’t just a checkbox—it’s a strategic enabler in your S/4HANA journey. Done right, it:Cuts migration time and costBoosts system performanceEnsures regulatory complianceBuilds user confidence in the new platformAvoiding these pitfalls requires early planning, strong governance, and cross-functional collaboration. Make archiving a priority—not an afterthought.ar Read More Technology Blog Posts by Members articles
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