SAP Migration Checklist: Planning Method and Checklist

Decision context

Migrating SAP ERP systems involves complex dependencies across code, data, processes, and infrastructure. Without rigorous planning and evidence-driven checkpoints, projects risk costly overruns, data loss, or operational disruptions. This SAP migration checklist focuses on the critical artifacts and decision gates needed to govern a successful transition using Adranum’s governed modernization approach.

Adranum integrates diverse SAP evidence sources such as ABAP code readiness, ATC results, DDIC consistency, process-event mappings, and data quality metrics. This checklist guides teams to verify coverage, identify unsupported inputs, and confirm that remediation or replacement decisions are documented and approved before progressing.

The checklist covers preparation steps from initial readiness assessment through to cutover coordination, reconciliation, and exact-state recovery. It emphasizes maintaining customer control over source data and credentials while leveraging Adranum’s capabilities to generate reviewable code proposals, impacted test sets, and signed implementation packages.

Pre-Migration Readiness Assessment

Begin by collecting and reviewing all relevant SAP readiness evidence including ATC (ABAP Test Cockpit) results, DDIC (Data Dictionary) consistency reports, and abapGit repository status. Confirm that all custom code and dictionary objects have been analyzed for compatibility with the target SAP version or platform.

Assess process-event and requirement mappings to ensure business processes are fully documented and traceable. Identify any unsupported or missing inputs that could impact migration scope or quality.

Document keep, replace, remediate, or retire decisions for all code and data objects. This documentation must be reviewed and approved by accountable architects or business owners before proceeding.

• Collect ATC and DDIC reports for all custom developments
• Verify completeness of abapGit source repositories
• Map business processes to SAP events and requirements
• Identify unsupported inputs and document gaps
• Record remediation decisions with stakeholder approvals

Data Quality and Migration Scope Definition

Evaluate data quality metrics to identify cleansing or enrichment needs prior to migration. Data profiling should detect anomalies, duplicates, or incomplete records that could affect downstream processes.

Define the migration scope by categorizing data objects and interfaces according to their criticality and complexity. This helps prioritize remediation and testing efforts.

Establish clear criteria for data retention, archival, or retirement aligned with compliance and business policies. Ensure that these criteria are reflected in migration plans and implementation packages.

• Perform data profiling and quality assessment
• Categorize data objects by criticality
• Define retention and archival policies
• Align data scope with business and compliance requirements

Code and Configuration Proposal Generation

Use Adranum to generate reviewable code and configuration proposals based on analyzed evidence and remediation decisions. These proposals must be compiled and validated within customer-controlled environments to ensure correctness.

Ensure that generated code is treated as a proposal until it passes compilation, runtime, and test validations. This prevents premature deployment of incomplete or incorrect changes.

Track all changes through content-addressed implementation packages that include impacted tests and dependencies. This facilitates traceability and rollback if needed.

• Generate code proposals from ABAP and DDIC evidence
• Compile and validate proposals in customer infrastructure
• Include impacted tests and dependencies in implementation packages
• Maintain traceability with content-addressed packages

Testing and Approval Coordination

Coordinate testing activities including unit, integration, and regression tests impacted by migration changes. Use Adranum’s generated test impact sets to focus testing efforts efficiently.

Record human approvals for code, data, and process changes at predefined checkpoints. This formalizes governance and ensures accountability.

Monitor test results and remediation history to confirm that all issues are resolved before cutover. Maintain detailed evidence of test receipts and reconciliation outcomes.

• Plan unit and integration tests based on impacted test sets
• Capture formal approvals for changes
• Track remediation and test results
• Maintain test receipts and reconciliation evidence

Cutover, Reconciliation, and Recovery

Plan cutover activities with coordination of system downtime, data reconciliation, and continuity measures. Adranum supports exact-state recovery to restore systems to known good states if needed.

Use reconciliation evidence to verify that migrated data and configurations match expected states. This helps detect discrepancies early and avoid operational issues.

Document continuity plans to maintain business operations during cutover and post-migration stabilization phases.

• Coordinate system downtime and cutover steps
• Perform data and configuration reconciliation
• Implement exact-state recovery procedures
• Document continuity and fallback plans

What the workflow must cover

• Evidence Ingestion and Coverage Reporting. Adranum ingests authorized SAP readiness, ATC, ABAP, DDIC, and process-event evidence to provide comprehensive coverage reports highlighting unsupported or missing inputs.
• Dependency Mapping and Decision Support. Automatically maps observed and inferred dependencies among code, data, and processes to support keep, replace, remediate, or retire decisions with traceable documentation.
• Proposal Generation and Validation. Generates reviewable code and data proposals that require customer-controlled compilation and runtime validation before deployment.
• Implementation Package Creation. Creates content-addressed implementation packages bundling code, data changes, impacted tests, and dependencies for controlled migration execution.
• Approval and Governance Tracking. Records human approvals at key checkpoints ensuring formal governance and accountability throughout the migration lifecycle.
• Cutover and Recovery Coordination. Coordinates cutover activities including reconciliation and exact-state recovery to minimize downtime and ensure operational continuity.

Implementation workflow

Start with a bounded customer scenario and explicit acceptance criteria. Preserve native SAP permissions and accountable review while the software creates a repeatable evidence chain.

1. Collect all SAP readiness evidence including ATC, DDIC, abapGit, and process mappings
2. Assess data quality and define migration scope with retention policies
3. Document remediation decisions and obtain stakeholder approvals
4. Generate code and data proposals and validate in customer environments
5. Plan and execute impacted tests capturing results and approvals
6. Coordinate cutover activities with reconciliation and continuity plans
7. Perform post-migration recovery and reconciliation to confirm success

Evidence to require

A transformation claim should resolve to observable artifacts, decisions, and execution receipts. Ask for the following evidence in a representative evaluation:

• ATC (ABAP Test Cockpit) scan reports
• DDIC consistency and integrity reports
• abapGit source repository snapshots
• Process-event and requirement mapping documents
• Data quality and profiling reports
• Remediation decision logs with approvals
• Generated code and configuration proposals
• Content-addressed implementation packages
• Impacted test sets and test receipts
• Cutover and reconciliation evidence

Boundaries and non-claims

Adranum separates analysis, proposal, human review, package creation, customer-local validation, and production execution. A later state never rewrites the evidence that supported an earlier decision.

• Does not replace SAP licensing or Basis administration responsibilities
• Generated code proposals require customer compilation and runtime validation
• Does not substitute specialist testing tools for all test scenarios
• Customer remains responsible for production system ownership and final cutover decisions

Public comparison sources

Competitor statements are limited to current public materials. Verify them during procurement because products and packaging change.

• ERP migration checklist: Key strategies for success
• Migration Checklist
• The Ultimate SAP Data Migration Checklist for 2026
• SAP Data Migration Checklist: Everything to Prepare ...
• SAP Migration Checklist

Buyer checklist

• What SAP readiness reports are required for migration planning?
• How are unsupported inputs identified and addressed?
• What approvals are needed before code or data changes proceed?
• How is data quality assessed and remediated?
• What testing scope and coverage are recommended?
• How are implementation packages structured and controlled?
• What cutover and recovery procedures are supported?
• How is traceability maintained throughout migration?