Al-Futtaim Automotive partners with IBM Consulting for migration to SAP S/4HANA
Al-Futtaim Automotive, the automotive arm of Al-Futtaim, has successfully completed the complex migration from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA on RISE. The programme was delivered by IBM Consulting in collaboration with partners SAP, Proaxia, and SNP.
Following the adoption of SAP S/4HANA on Microsoft Azure through RISE with SAP, Al-Futtaim Automotive has been able to strengthen its end-to-end operations, positioning the company as a leader in the mobility sector.
With its modern digital core, Al-Futtaim Automotive has managed to improve integration across its supply chain, accelerate financial closing, and enhance financial insight across the business. The migration also empowers the group to more effectively adopt emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Highlighting the success of the project, Himanshu Shrivastava, Chief Technology Officer at Al-Futtaim, remarked: “At Al-Futtaim, our commitment to innovation and excellence drives us to unify our operations through advanced technologies. Establishing our new SAP S/4HANA Digital Core is a pivotal milestone that enhances our ability to innovate, operate with agility, and deliver world-class services across all our business units.”
The programme
Implementation lead IBM Consulting delivered the programme with less than 48 hours of downtime, saving the business 8-10 days of potential operational losses, despite the scale and complexity of the task. The transformation involved consolidating more than 2 billion records (nearly 20 terrabyte of data), remediating 50,000 authorisation objects, modernising 17 years of historical data and custom code, and validating over 27,000 test cases.
During the migration, more than 550 integrations between SAP S/4HANA and other systems/applications were tested and re-established.
Al-Futtaim Automotive took advantage of IBM Consulting’s Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA methodology, which allows selective data transition so customers can leave behind obsolete records and configurations. Predefined templates guide each step, while automation tools reduce manual effort, creating a predictable, faster path to go-live.
Reflecting on the programme, Lula Mohanty, Managing Partner of IBM Consulting in the Middle East & Africa, said: “Successfully migrating such a large and complex automotive business directly to SAP S/4HANA on Microsoft Azure with Rise showcases the combined expertise and precision of this collaboration.”
“By working side by side with Al-Futtaim and our ecosystem partners, we have created a resilient and future-ready digital backbone that unlocks new opportunities for efficiency, innovation, and customer-centric growth.”
This milestone marks the latest phase in Al-Futtaim’s S/4HANA on RISE journey. A previous phase, covering Al-Futtaim Retail and other business units, also went live with no business disruption. That programme was also supported by IBM Consulting.
