By Arun Natesan, Chief Architect at JDC Group
Where business process alignment meets solution design.
The Explore Phase of the SAP Activate methodology marks a critical turning point in your Cloud ERP journey. It replaces traditional blueprinting with a modern, agile approach—Fit-to-Standard (F2S) workshops—which allows organizations to design their business processes using SAP’s proven best practices as the foundation.
What is the Explore Phase?
In the Explore Phase, the goal is to validate the solution against business requirements using SAP’s pre-delivered processes. Rather than starting from a blank slate, you assess and adapt what SAP already offers, helping accelerate timelines, reduce complexity, and promote cloud mindset adoption.
Objective: Align your business processes with SAP standard functionality and determine where, if necessary, extensions or integrations are required.
Core Objectives in the Explore Phase
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- Conduct Fit-to-Standard (F2S) workshops across all key workstreams
- Identify required scope items from SAP’s best practices content
- Validate configuration values and highlight any delta (gap) requirements
- Define the approach for addressing functional gaps
- Finalize key deliverables for configuration, data migration, and technical design
Key Focus Areas During the Explore Phase
- Shift from Blueprinting to Fit-to-Standard
Traditional ERP implementations relied on custom blueprinting sessions. SAP Activate introduces a smarter, faster alternative: Fit-to-Standard workshops. These sessions focus on reviewing pre-configured SAP processes, using the Starter System, and assessing their fit for your organization. Leverage SAP’s best practices to accelerate design and decision-making.
- Identify and Confirm Scope Items
Scope items represent packaged business processes available in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. During workshops, teams walk through these end-to-end flows to determine which ones align with their business. Use the SAP Best Practices Explorer to navigate scope items by industry, line of business, or geography. This includes identifying Data Migration Objects and data sources as well.
- Capture Configuration Values and Delta Requirements
As you validate each process, capture necessary configuration settings and identify any delta requirements—areas where the standard solution may not fully meet business needs. Clearly document required changes, noting which can be handled via standard configuration and which will require further enhancements.
- Addressing Gaps: Extensions, Integrations, or Side-by-Side Apps
Not every gap requires deep customization. Instead, SAP Activate promotes targeted solutions like:
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- In-app extensions using key-user tools
- Side-by-side extensions on SAP BTP (Business Technology Platform)
- Third-party integrations for specialized functionality
Determine the best-fit approach based on technical feasibility, impact, and future maintainability.
- Utilize the Right Tools
To support your Explore Phase activities, SAP offers valuable tools:
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- SAP Best Practices Explorer: Your central resource for SAP scope items and process documentation
- SAP Business Process Modeler (within SAP Signavio): Helps visualize, simulate, and refine business processes collaboratively
These tools enable teams to work efficiently and maintain clarity across workshops.
Key Deliverables from the Explore Phase
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- Validated list of scope items for implementation
- Documented delta requirements and agreed handling approach
- Initial configuration values and decisions captured in Fit-to-Standard templates
- Workshop summaries and action logs for follow-up
- Updated project plan and resource alignment for the Realize Phase
Takeaway: Design with Speed and Clarity
The Explore Phase is where your future state starts to take shape. By embracing Fit-to-Standard, leveraging proven SAP processes, and thoughtfully addressing gaps, your project builds momentum without losing direction.
This is the third entry in our SAP Activate blog series, guiding you step-by-step through each phase to ensure your S/4HANA Cloud implementation is informed, structured, and successful.
Coming Up Next
In Post 4, we’ll enter the Realize Phase—where the solution is configured, tested, and readied for deployment. It’s the engine room of your implementation. Stay tuned!
Click here to read the previous part of this series – the Prepare Phase.
Click here to read the next part of this series – the Realize Phase, Part 1.
