Episode 32: SAP S/4HANA Big Bang Without Big Chaos - Javier Ruiz Iza & Bernhard Rother

Guests:  Javier Ruiz Iza - Director Digital Finance & Performance Management - WärtsiläBernhard Rother - Consulting Director - cbs corporate business solutionsHost: Alexander Greb - Consulting Director - cbs corporate business solutionsIn this episode of Transformation Every Day, Alexander Greb talks with Javier Ruiz from Wärtsilä and Bernhard Rother from cbs Corporate Business Solutions about Wärtsilä’s move from a highly customized SAP ECC landscape into SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud using a selective transformation approach.This is not a polished marketing story. It is a very open conversation about the real challenges behind large-scale ERP transformation programs: stakeholder management, expectation overload, clean core discussions, selective data migration, testing strategies, business continuity, and the constant tension between innovation and operational stability.One of the strongest takeaways from this episode is that successful S/4HANA programs are usually not the ones trying to change everything at once. Wärtsilä deliberately focused on getting to S/4HANA fast, keeping the business stable, and postponing non-critical innovation to later value-driven initiatives.Javier shares why “testing, testing, testing” became one of the key success factors of the entire program, how internal trust and organizational credibility shape transformation success, and why clean core should be treated as a design principle rather than a standalone project.Bernhard explains why protecting a program from overload is critical, why organizations need clear transformation guardrails, and why ERP transformation should never be treated as just another IT upgrade.Topics include: SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud  Big Bang vs phased transformation  Selective data transition  Clean Core strategy  Business continuity during go-live  Stakeholder and expectation management  AI, analytics, and future innovation  Post-go-live operating models  Testing and cutover best practices A practical and refreshingly honest discussion about how to create fast value from SAP transformation without getting lost in transformation.Follow Jaiver here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-ruiz-iza/Follow Bernhard here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernhard-rother-6a456377/Follow Alexander: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergreb/Follow Johannes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanneslangguth/Thanks to Steven Spears for lending his voice for our podcast intro.Theme music by Luis Álvarez a.k.a. Fourth Dogma