Skip to main content

SAP Fiori Development and S/4HANA Migration Readiness

Energy and Utilities SAP ABAP SAP BTP SAP ECC

SAP Fiori apps and S/4HANA custom code readiness for a large public utility

A Large Public Utility Delivered 2023

Mindset built targeted Fiori apps that gave a large public utility clearer procurement and asset management workflows, then returned years later to map the utility's full custom code estate and clear the path to S/4HANA.

By the numbers

  • 2

    Distinct engagement phases spanning nearly a decade

  • 3

    Custom Fiori applications built for field and procurement users

  • 6

    Consultants on the S/4HANA custom code analysis team

Before

Workflow gaps and an unmapped migration path

  • Purchase requisition rejections gave users no notification and no visual feedback.
  • Field team handling backflow checks without a purpose-built SAP tool.
  • Years of custom ABAP code with no clear picture of S/4HANA compatibility before migration.

After

Working apps and a clear migration foundation

  • Purpose-built Fiori apps for procurement notifications and backflow checks, with production support.
  • Full custom code estate assessed and documented in Jira for S/4HANA migration planning.
  • IT leadership with a concrete, findings-backed view of what the S/4HANA migration requires.

Why this matters

A long-running utility relationship that started with fixing specific user experience gaps and came back almost a decade later to prep the same SAP estate for S/4HANA, showing what a sustained technical partnership looks like.

The challenge

A large public utility serving hundreds of thousands of water and natural gas customers ran its asset management and procurement workflows on SAP ECC. The experience had gaps. When a purchase requisition was rejected, users got no notification and no visual feedback. The field team handling backflow checks had no purpose-built tool for the process.

The utility didn't want a wholesale UX transformation. It wanted specific Fiori apps that fixed real problems for real users, with production support to keep them running. Years later, as the utility planned its move to S/4HANA, a new problem emerged: it had accumulated years of custom ABAP code and had no clear picture of how much of it would carry over and how much would need remediation before the migration.

What we did

Mindset's relationship with the utility spans nearly a decade across two phases of work.

In 2015 and 2016, Mindset delivered a set of targeted Fiori applications on a time-and-materials basis. The first was an enhancement that added end-user notification and visual feedback when a purchase requisition was rejected, replacing a workflow that left users with no information. The second was a custom Fiori app for backflow checks, built to match the field team's specific process. A Phase 1.5 extension followed, along with ongoing Fiori production support to keep the applications running as the environment evolved.

In 2023, the utility re-engaged Mindset for a BTP-based S/4HANA custom code analysis. Mindset fielded a six-person blended US and India team, combining backend development, Basis architecture, BTP architecture, and full-stack development skills. The team assessed the utility's custom ABAP estate on the BTP ABAP environment, using Cloud Connector to reach the on-premise system, and produced a clear picture of what the migration would require.

The outcomes

The Fiori work gave users working tools where there had been gaps. Purchase requisition rejection now surfaces clear notifications and visual feedback, and the field team has a purpose-built backflow-check app rather than a manual workaround.

The 2023 custom code analysis gave the utility's IT leadership a concrete view of the custom ABAP estate before committing to the S/4HANA migration. The team used a tracked Jira project to document every finding and flag items requiring remediation, so the utility could make an informed decision about timing and scope rather than discovering problems mid-migration.

If we built this today

Concept · not delivered scope

Custom code that knows its future.

This is a forward-looking concept, not the scope we delivered on this engagement. It is the build we would reach for now, grounded in SAP that ships today.

Deciding which custom ABAP carries to S/4HANA used to mean weeks of manual scans, so the modern build reads the estate and drafts the remediation call object by object.

The data product

Custom code and usage data product

A governed data product on SAP Business Data Cloud over the custom object inventory, usage telemetry, and S/4HANA semantics, so the agent reasons about how this utility actually uses its code, not a generic checklist.

Governed Data Product on SAP Business Data Cloud

The Joule agent

Custom Code Readiness Advisor

Reads the ECC custom ABAP estate against S/4HANA simplification rules and usage data, then drafts a remediation path per object so the team sees what carries forward clean, what needs a rewrite, and what can retire. A developer approves each call before anything changes.

SAP S/4HANA, SAP ABAP, SAP BTP · PROPOSE · Custom objects cleared for S/4HANA and remediation hours per object

The Fiori app

SAP custom-code analysis tooling (ATC and readiness checks)

The SAP readiness and ABAP Test Cockpit checks, surfaced through Joule in the launchpad, so a developer asks why an object flags and gets a drafted fix in the same place instead of digging through findings lists. This is SAP tooling, not a single OOTB Fiori app.

Reached through the Fiori launchpad with Joule embedded.

We'd map the real custom ABAP estate in SAP LeanIX first, trace the affected processes in SAP Signavio, and let MIND accelerators carry the old enhancements into the new app.

The Joule Agent Factory Process intelligence

What we built

  • Rejection notifications and visual feedback added for procurement users

    Purchase requisition notification Fiori enhancement

    An SAP Fiori enhancement that added clear end-user notification and visual representations when a purchase requisition is rejected, replacing a workflow that left users with no feedback.

  • Dedicated field app for backflow inspections

    Custom backflow-check Fiori app

    A purpose-built Fiori application for the field team's backflow inspection process, replacing a manual workflow with a structured, SAP-native experience.

  • Continuous Fiori production coverage

    Fiori Phase 1.5 extension and production support

    A follow-on Fiori extension and ongoing ad-hoc production support to keep the deployed applications running and extend them as the environment changed.

  • Full custom ABAP estate assessed for S/4HANA readiness

    S/4HANA custom code analysis

    A full assessment of the utility's custom ABAP estate on the BTP ABAP environment, using Cloud Connector to reach the on-premise system, tracking all findings in a Jira project and flagging items requiring remediation before the S/4HANA migration.

  • 6 consultants across US and India for the custom code analysis

    Blended US and India delivery team

    A six-person team covering backend development, Basis architecture, BTP architecture, and full-stack development, assembled for the 2023 migration readiness engagement.