Creativity in detailed planning: An initial sandbox migration exercise provided insights into the major change impact areas across technical, functional and business streams.  We drew from it a granular, task-level plan, blending Cognizant’s experience on similar programs, the Mead Johnson program team’s understanding of their architecture and business, and SAP’s inputs from a product capability perspective. We regularly updated and published this plan to all stakeholders to ensure the project was tracked on timelines. 

Quality assurance: From the start, we identified foundational capability assurance as a key success factor for the program. We conducted various levels of testing, including unit testing, module testing, cross-system testing, user acceptance testing, stress testing, role testing and conference room testing, using manual methods as well as automated tools. The testing team and test strategy were embedded into the program from the beginning. We identified and published the initial version of the test plan and the test cases eight to 10 weeks before the planned systems integration testing (SIT) start date.     

Business user-centric change management: Effective change management was crucial as the ERP backbone is used by 4,500 employees. Working closely with Mead Johnson, we executed an engaging and carefully planned change management program that made optimum use of each business user’s time while ensuring everyone was on board with the upcoming changes. We used various change management channels—from mailers to flyers to SharePoint—to communicate to user groups across the spectrum. User engagement activities included a readiness survey, fun animated content, bite-size learning through 30-second GIFs, a dedicated SharePoint page, a leadership podcast and a launch starter pack containing training materials and contact information in a handy guide.

RISE platform configuration: We worked with SAP to configure the S/4HANA platform for Mead Johnson, building templates to ensure that the configuration of the legacy ECC solutions was replicated in S/4HANA. This would ensure users would encounter no major differences in the SAP environment when moving from the legacy platform to S/4HANA.

Data as the foundation for future innovation: Data hygiene and data footprint reduction would be crucial to a smooth and rapid cutover. Reducing the footprint was also a significant driver for cost savings, as the database was initially close to a size threshold which would be very costly if crossed. We worked with Mead Johnson to provide options for fine tuning the database footprint and deployed efficient bots to help with data reconciliation and awareness effort for the business. When it came to data migration to the new data warehouse in Microsoft Azure, we built 138 data extractors in S/4HANA and leveraged Datasphere for real-time data replication and to ensure data consistency.

Application of the latest technologies including generative AI: A core element of the project was the technical remediation of close to 3,600 custom objects. Done manually, this work could have taken months, with the added risk of human error. Pre- and post-migration data validation by the business would also have constituted a significant chunk of the planned downtime. To accelerate delivery, we built five bots to automate data validation and remediate a significant number of custom objects while keeping a human element in the loop to ensure oversight. The use of automation and gen AI delivered significant time savings while assuring code quality.

Application integration: Mead Johnson’s ERP environment included not only the SAP modules, but also 900 integrations to 62 connected apps—both internal and with external business partners such as third-party logistics (3PL) providers. The Business Technology Platform (BTP) Integration Suite enabled us to efficiently integrate Customer and Procurement business processes, fostering innovation and growth. To ensure we stayed within the cutover window, we brought the connected apps live in priority order, with critical applications accompanying the main go-live and others as they were needed.

Enhanced user experience with SAP Fiori, mobile-first and single sign-on (SSO): As a platform migration, the impact of the transformation on the end-user experience would be low. However, RISE with SAP included a new SAP Fiori user interface, which would bring extra user-friendliness to the screens that Mead Johnson employees use every day. We created user handbooks and worked with key super-users to ensure they had the right information and training materials to take back to their teams. Fiori also enabled us to take many workflows mobile-first, saving time for users and eliminating some licensing costs. The implementation of SSO simplified the authentication experience for users while enhancing security.

Cutover and trial runs: With only a 72-hour window for the final cutover, everything had to be in place to ensure its success. We conducted six dummy cutovers in preparation, progressively reducing the time taken from 128 hours down to around 53. During the cutover trial runs, the sequence and duration were fine-tuned to ensure the cutover was well drilled. When the weekend came for the real cutover, we achieved it from start to finish in just over 61 hours.