Comparative Analysis of SAP S/4HANA Migration Strategies: Evidence from Published Industry Surveys and Implications for Finance Transformation

Abstract The transition to SAP S/4HANA requires organisations to choose how much of their existing enterprise resource planning environment to retain, redesign or selectively transform. Greenfield, Brownfield and selective data transition approaches are frequently discussed as competing migration routes, yet published industry surveys report different preference patterns across periods and respondent populations. This study conducts a descriptive comparative analysis of publicly available aggregate findings from three industry surveys: the PwC–LeanIX study (2018; 134 respondents), the Sogeti State of Worldwide Business Assurance for SAP Solutions study (2023; 501 respondents for the migration-approach question), and Kearney’s SAP S/4HANA cloud-transition survey (200 respondents reported in its survey materials). The analysis preserves each survey’s original denominator and category definitions and does not pool percentages across studies. Brownfield was the most frequently reported approach in the 2018 PwC–LeanIX and 2023 Sogeti findings, whereas Greenfield was the largest single category in Kearney’s more recent planned-migration results. This variation cautions against treating any route as universally preferred or superior. The reports also identify considerations relevant to finance transformation, including process improvement, legacy complexity, data quality, continuity, testing and confidence in business outcomes. However, the reviewed surveys do not provide a harmonised, independently verified measure of finance performance by migration route. The study therefore develops an evidence-informed decision framework linking route selection to process fit, data condition, control requirements, delivery capacity and post-implementation benefits measurement. The findings are descriptive and cannot establish causal relationships between migration route and business value.