Future-Ready Enterprise Transformation with S/4HANA Greenfield:

The Client

The client was a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) enterprise based in West Africa, representing one of the region’s most transformative energy investments. With a focus on harnessing offshore natural gas resources, the company is committed to reducing flaring and driving both environmental and economic progress at a national level. Operating a world-class facility, it produces LNG, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), butane, and condensates for domestic consumption and international export. 

Market Trends

The global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by rising demand for cleaner energy sources, increased investments in infrastructure, and a strong push for operational efficiency. As countries seek to reduce carbon emissions and transition away from coal and oil, LNG has emerged as a strategic fuel for both domestic consumption and international export. In Africa, large-scale LNG projects are reshaping regional energy landscapes, attracting billions in investment and fostering economic growth. Companies are prioritizing digitalization, data-driven decision-making, and compliance with international standards to remain competitive and future-ready in a dynamic market environment.

Need for Change

Faced with evolving industry demands and the limitations of legacy SAP ECC systems, the client recognized the urgent need to modernize its operations and embrace digital transformation. Increasing data volumes, complex regulatory requirements, and the necessity for real-time insights were straining existing processes and infrastructure. To maintain its leadership in the LNG sector and support goals of environmental progress and economic development, the organization launched a strategic initiative to migrate to SAP S/4HANA. This move was essential to unlock advanced analytics, streamline workflows, enhance data quality, and ensure compliance with global standards—ultimately positioning the company for scalable growth, operational resilience, and innovation across its value chain.

Business Challenges

As the client embarked on its SAP S/4HANA transformation,it encountered several critical business challenges that needed to be addressed to achieve operational excellence, compliance, and future readiness. These challenges stemmed from the complexity of legacy systems, evolving industry standards, and the need for streamlined, secure, and scalable processes.

Fragmented Operations Across Entities

The client operated two distinct business entities, resulting in fragmented processes, duplicated efforts, and inconsistent data, which made synergy and unified decision-making difficult.

Tedious, Error-Prone and Complex Processes

Legacy systems and manual workflows led to slow, error-prone operations, increasing costs and reducing agility.

Excessive Customizations

Heavy reliance on custom solutions created technical debt, made upgrades difficult, and hindered integration with new technologies.

Non-standard Asset Hierarchies

Asset management practices were not aligned with ISO oil and gas standards, risking regulatory non-compliance and complicating asset tracking.

Manual Processes

Manual approvals and data entry increased the risk of errors, delays, and audit failures, impacting operational efficiency.

Security Compliance Risks

Inadequate controls around segregation of duties (SoD) exposed the organization to potential fraud and regulatory penalties.

Data Quality Issues

Concerns around data cleansing, migration quality, and audit readiness threatened the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of business-critical information.

Change Management Barriers

Resistance to new systems and processes among staff risked low adoption rates and undermined the transformation’s success.

LTIMindtree’s Solution

LTIMindtree led a Greenfield SAP S/4HANA implementation, consolidating two business entities into a single SAP instance on SAP RISE Cloud. By leveraging S/4HANA and SAP BTP, the client streamlined and standardized processes, automated workflows, and achieved seamless integration with banks, legacy systems, and third-party applications. This modernization reduced technical debt, improved data quality, and ensured compliance with industry standards. Early involvement in the “RISE with SAP” model enabled solution completeness and effective planning for delivery, budgeting, and team capacity. The transformation delivered greater agility, operational efficiency, and a scalable foundation for future innovation and growth.

Key highlights of the solution included:

Technical Architecture Diagram

Tech Stack

1. SAP RISE Hosting    

The client selected the SAP RISE platform for hosting S/4HANA to ensure a hassle-free, secure, and scalable cloud environment.

2. Fit to Standard Approach

Implemented a Fit-to-Standard approach, limiting custom developments to just 135, thereby streamlining processes and reducing complexity.

3. Leveraging BTP

Exchange Rate Service, Freeform Payment Service, DMS Repository, CPI-based Integrations, Seamless Bank Integration, PowerBI Integration, Encrypted Bank Communication, SuccessFactors, Concur Integrations, Cloud ALM Activation and Integration

4. Mobile Accessibility

All client approval applications are mobile enabled, allowing the business to manage approvals seamlessly on the go.

5. SSO Enabled

Both QA and Production client systems are fully SSO-enabled, ensuring secure and frictionless user access.

6. Landscape Modernization

Digital signature with seamless integration with DocuSign, SF to MIM integration removing S/4 dependency

Modernization of core business functions

The diagram below highlights how the S/4HANA transformation went beyond a standard greenfield implementation and modernized core business functions—including finance and planning, supply chain and procurement, and material and asset management—into a unified, intelligent ecosystem. By aligning with industry’s best practices and enabling real-time operations, this implementation empowered leadership with sharper decision-making capabilities, enhanced compliance, and fortified security across the enterprise.

Figure 2: LTIM Value Canvas Across Business Functions

Benefits

The S/4HANA transformation delivered measurable improvements across business operations. It enhanced user experience, streamlined processes, and enabled real-time insights. Key outcomes included increased efficiency, reduced operational costs, improved compliance, and full readiness for future digital innovations.

• Improved user experience.
  • 100% utilization of operational 1600+ Fiori apps.
  • 25% faster generation of management KPI reports through Analytical Fiori apps.
• 30% annual savings on operational and infrastructure AMC costs by consolidating and maintaining multiple ECC systems.
• Accelerated delivery through reusability resulted in 4,000+ hours saved across modules, significantly reducing effort and cost.
• Ensured compliance and audit-readiness across 120,000+ assets including equipment and materials. Streamlined these assets and related data structures in compliance with ISO standards 14224.
• Automated approval processes for contract and purchase orders with DocuSign (digital signature) that was fully integrated to legally and securely process approvals.
• 40% improvement in business operations, including contract management, refurbishment, maintenance planning dashboards, planning and budget control, and automated workflows.
• This transformation enhanced decision-making with Power BI solutions and analytics that leveraged real-time data flow across critical business systems including banking, finance, HR, mobility, asset management, improving reliability.
• Future-proofed the business with the ability to adopt the latest SAP business innovations and solutions including business specific AI and Gen AI infusion and adoption.
• Focused on applying audit controls during the project lifecycle so the system was audit ready and compliant.

Conclusion

This S/4HANA transformation journey reflects the power of strategic alignment, collaboration, and technology-led innovation in driving enterprise modernization. By embracing a future-ready digital core, the client has laid a strong foundation for scalable growth, operational resilience, and continuous improvement. The success of this initiative underscores the value of combining industry best practices with intelligent platforms to unlock long-term business value for sustainable success.