A conversion with no interruption
SAP HCM was converted for more than 5,000 users without interrupting personnel administration or payroll.
Success story · Oil & gas · SAP HCM
SAP HCM on S/4HANA 2023
with payroll never stopping
A system conversion of SAP HCM for a major oil and gas company in the Republic of Kazakhstan, delivered in 6.5 months for more than 5,000 users.
Discuss a similar projectSAP HCM · SAP S/4HANA 2023 · SAP Activate · Payroll Control Center
ExploreIn figures
The project in figures
- 7,700+
- employees and external staff in scope
- 5,000+
- system users
- 1,500
- concurrent users
- 119+
- custom reports, print forms and developments
- 6.5
- months of delivery
- 18
- Telecon specialists on the project team
The project
Project overview
- Client
A major oil and gas company in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
- Project type
A comprehensive SAP HCM modernization, covering a technical upgrade, an SAP Brownfield system conversion and the move to SAP S/4HANA 2023.
- Timeline
28 November 2025 – 8 June 2026 (6.5 months)
- Scale
- more than 7,700 employees and external staff (agency personnel, specialists of partner organizations);
- more than 5,000 system users, including up to 1,500 concurrent users.
- Scope
- SAP HCM (OM, PA, BN, PT, PY, PCC);
- ESS/MSS self-services;
- corporate reporting;
- integrations with the JDE E1, Workday and DataLake enterprise systems.
- Telecon’s role
A team of 18 specialists was responsible for the full project cycle, from the pre-project assessment and solution design to go-live and post-go-live support.
The challenge
Starting point and objectives
The client used SAP HCM to automate its HR processes, including personnel administration, payroll and workforce management.
The company’s timekeeping was complex, shaped by shift-based work and rotation schedules. As official support for its SAP version was ending, the company began its move to SAP S/4HANA 2023. The existing system held a significant amount of custom functionality and historical data that were critical to business continuity. A Brownfield conversion was chosen as the modernization strategy, keeping the existing business logic while moving to a modern technology platform.
The main objectives of the project were:
- moving to SAP S/4HANA 2023 without interrupting personnel administration and payroll;
- keeping the existing business logic and historical data while improving the custom functionality and existing code;
- adapting more than 119 custom reports, print forms and developments to the new SAP version;
- keeping the solution compliant with current labor and tax legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
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- restoring and testing integrations with the company’s enterprise information systems;
- building a modern technology platform for the further development of the company’s HR landscape.
Delivery
How the project ran
The project followed the SAP Brownfield (System Conversion) strategy, which kept the company’s existing business processes and business logic while moving to the SAP S/4HANA 2023 platform.
The work covered the full cycle, from the pre-project assessment to go-live and subsequent stabilization. Within the project, the Telecon team
- ran the pre-project assessment, a series of workshops and a Fit/Gap analysis, defining the scope of change and the best strategy for the move to the new platform;
- designed the target solution architecture and prepared the system for the move to SAP S/4HANA 2023;
- completed five system conversion cycles following the SAP Activate methodology, from the Sandbox to the production system, verifying every change step by step, minimizing project risks and ensuring a safe transition to production;
- performed the technical upgrade of SAP HCM and adapted the existing custom functionality to SAP S/4HANA 2023, keeping critical business processes working;
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- modernized the key Organizational Management (OM), Time Management (PT) and Payroll (PY) processes and delivered the changes required by current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan; built and launched the Payroll Control Center (PCC) solution from scratch;
- restored and tested the integrations with the JDE E1, Workday and DataLake enterprise systems, keeping data flowing after the move to the new platform;
- organized multi-stage testing and trained key users, finding and removing potential issues before go-live;
- held a full go-live dress rehearsal, working through the cutover scenario in detail and reducing technical downtime at go-live;
- supported the system after go-live until it was fully stable, then handed the solution over to the client’s internal support team.
Constraints
Organizational and technical challenges
The team faced a number of organizational and technical challenges during the project.
The project ran without stopping the live SAP HCM system, which the client kept using. New legal requirements had to be implemented in the production system and synchronized with the project environment at the same time.
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The high operational workload of the client’s specialists called for detailed planning of workshops, testing and project work, which secured the business involvement the project needed without affecting day-to-day operations.
To manage change effectively, every key project decision went through the Architecture Committee and the Change Advisory Board (CAB). This kept business and IT working transparently together, allowed timely decisions and helped deliver the project on schedule.
Results
Results
119+ reports and developments working
More than 119 custom reports, print forms and developments remained compatible and working after the move to SAP S/4HANA 2023.
Compliant with Kazakhstan’s legislation
The system meets current labor and tax legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including the new mechanisms for calculating mandatory occupational pension contributions (OPPV).
SAP Fiori in three languages
Key HR processes and user services were modernized, including a move of the self-service interface to SAP Fiori in Kazakh, Russian and English.
Stable integrations
Integrations with the company’s enterprise information systems run reliably, with continuous data exchange between business applications.
A platform for what comes next
The technology risks of an outdated SAP version were removed, and a modern platform is ready for future upgrades and the development of the company’s HR landscape.
Outcome
Ready to be rolled out further
A comprehensive approach to planning, risk management and coordination made it possible to deliver the project on a tight schedule while keeping quality high at every stage.
The resulting architecture, integration landscape and localized time and payroll calculations are ready to be rolled out to the holding’s subsidiaries and other companies with similar operations.
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