No more rewinding: Get future ready with Cloud Elevate

Remember the 'good old days' of VHS? Recording your favourite show while trying to miss out the adverts… the family arguments of which video to rent from your local video store on a Saturday night… and the fear of being found out for recording over someone else’s show?

Now, it's all digital, not a VCR player in sight. We've had to digitise our old recordings, securing their legacy, to be able to play them on our smart TVs on demand.

Digitising your old VHS tapes is like the migration from SAP ECC, or another ERP system, to SAP Cloud ERP; the data has to be prepared in the right format for the move. Then any historical data not required still has to be stored securely for access for regulatory reviews or audits.

As the deadline for ECC support termination approaches, and more organisations are considering their options for system modernisation, let’s explore the journey to SAP Cloud ERP.

The journey to SAP Cloud ERP

Find your old tapes | Identify your data

Before you start anything, you need to know exactly what you have. In SAP terms, this means understanding your current ECC or other legacy ERP system data landscape. Over the years, systems collect clutter, test data, outdated records, and transactions from long-closed business units. Much like digging through a box of tapes labelled ‘baby’s first steps’ and ‘Knight Rider’, you need a clear inventory. Only by knowing what’s there can you decide what’s worth transferring.

Decide what’s worth watching again | Select the active data to migrate

Not every VHS tape is a classic worth keeping. Some are blank, some are things you’ll not need to watch often; and some are precious memories you want in pristine digital quality. Similarly, not every piece of data in your ECC or ERP system needs to make the jump to SAP Cloud ERP. Migrating everything as-is can be expensive, time-consuming and chaotic. This is the stage to separate the critical business data from the historical records you only need for occasional reference.

Digitise it properly | Get your data in the right format

Here is where you need the right technology to do the job properly. Just as a poor-quality VHS-to-digital conversion leaves you with grainy, unwatchable files, a poorly executed data migration can create headaches in your new ERP system.

This is where Cloud Elevate^TM from EPI-USE Labs comes in. Cloud Elevate, a secure platform that integrates with SAP BTP, takes your valuable, active data and transforms it into the correct format for SAP Cloud ERP, ensuring it is ready to work perfectly in your new environment. It is the equivalent of having a professional service digitise your tapes into high-definition files that look great on any modern screen.

Put the rest in safe storage | Archive legacy data for compliance

There will always be tapes you cannot part with, even if you don’t plan on watching them often. The same goes for your legacy ERP data. You might not need to actively use it in your new system, but regulations, audits, and internal governance mean you cannot simply throw it away.

Cloud Elevate also provides a secure, compliant home for your legacy data, and can provide for subsequent archiving needs, future-proofing your data storage. It keeps it accessible for those times you need to pull up an old invoice for a regulator, or answer an audit query, without cluttering up your live system. And because it is designed to support data sovereignty requirements, such as the requirement to store and process data on servers within a certain geographic boundary, you can rest easy knowing your archived information is protected and compliant.

Make sure it plays on the new kit | Testing and validation

You wouldn’t digitise a VHS collection and then throw the tapes away before checking the files actually work. Test runs and validation are crucial for ERP migration, to ensure your data behaves as expected in SAP Cloud ERP before you switch over for good.

With Cloud Elevate providing a structured format for your data migration, when it comes to your own validation, you can test with confidence and limit disruptions to daily operations, giving you assurance when the final changeover happens.

Get rid of the VHS player | Decommission old systems

At some point, you can safely retire your old systems. This is the bittersweet moment of recycling your VHS player, freeing up space, saving on maintenance costs, and eliminating the need to keep outdated technology running.

By archiving what you need and moving the rest, your organisation can shut down your ECC environment without fear of losing critical business history.

Enjoy on-demand viewing | Reap the benefits of SAP Cloud ERP

Once you are in SAP Cloud ERP, the benefits are immediate. Processes are faster, updates are automatic, and you can access your business information from anywhere. It is the equivalent of streaming a favourite film in high definition instantly on your smart TV, instead of wrestling with finding, rewinding and playing a VHS tape of dubious quality.

And because Cloud Elevate handled the heavy lifting of migration and archiving, you have a clean, compliant and future-ready system from day one.

Why Cloud Elevate makes all the difference

Moving to SAP Cloud ERP is more than a technical upgrade; it is a chance to modernise the way your organisation works. But it is also a project with plenty of moving parts, and without a clear plan and the right tools, it can quickly become overwhelming.

Cloud Elevate from EPI-USE Labs is designed to make the process as simple and streamlined as possible. It ensures your critical business data is in the right format for the Cloud, while safely storing your legacy information for compliance and peace of mind. No rewinds, no lost footage; just a clean, high-quality migration.

If you are ready to swap the VHS headaches of your legacy ERP for the simplicity of SAP Cloud ERP, Cloud Elevate is your trusted conversion kit. Read more about Cloud Elevate on the SAP Store.