CIO / CTO / Chief Digital Officer

Platform Transformation:
From Custom Code Burden to Composable Architecture

SLB's IT estate carries 94 custom ABAP objects, 60 integration interfaces across 14 systems, and 12 Neo applications on an end-of-life platform. S/4HANA with RISE and BTP transforms this from a maintenance burden into a strategic, AI-ready platform — with CapEx converted to OpEx and upgrade cycles measured in weeks, not years.

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Cost Savings ↓

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Cost Avoidance ↓

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New Capability ↓

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Total Opportunity ↓

Cost Savings

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Custom code, integration platform, infrastructure, FTE

Cost Avoidance

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Technical debt accumulation, security exposure, vendor lock-in

New Capability

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AI platform, ESG reporting, composable extensions, BTP ecosystem

CapEx → OpEx

RISE with SAP: single subscription contract covering infrastructure, S/4HANA, BTP, and support

~30%

Infrastructure cost reduction typically seen in large RISE programmes vs. on-premise ECC operations

Continuous

Upgrade cycle: quarterly enhancements replace 18–24 month ECC upgrade projects. SAP manages upgrades.

One Contract

Vendor consolidation: infrastructure, database, application, integration, analytics — single SLA and commercial

SLB IT Estate — Current State Snapshot (Live Data)

Custom ABAP objects — $902K/yr to maintain, 808 developer days of technical debt

Active integration interfaces across 14 systems — $950K/yr platform + 6 FTE ops team

47/100

Sierra Readiness Score — significant remediation opportunity, clear transformation path

Neo applications on end-of-life SAP BTP Neo environment — must migrate to Cloud Foundry

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IT Cost Before vs. After — SLB Specific (Annual)

Custom ABAP Maintenance

$902K/yr — 94 objects × 8 maintenance days × $1,200/day

$221K/yr post clean core

Saving: $681K/yr · Objects retired, fit-to-standard, or moved to BTP side-by-side

Integration Platform

$950K/yr platform licence + 6 FTE operations ($1.08M fully loaded)

$350K/yr BTP IS + 3 FTE ($540K fully loaded)

Saving: $1.14M/yr · Standard BTP connectors replace custom middleware adapters

SAP Upgrade Cycle

18–24 months per major upgrade · $3–8M programme cost · Business freeze

Quarterly cloud updates · Managed by SAP · No downtime

Avoidance: $3–8M every 2–3 years in upgrade programme costs

BDC BI Tool Consolidation

Multiple BI tools: Tableau, Power BI, custom reporting, BW — fragmented landscape

SAP Datasphere + Analytics Cloud — single platform

Saving: $800K/yr · Licence consolidation + 4 FTE analytics team reduction

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Before vs. After — IT Platform Outcomes

IT Capability	Before (ECC Today)	After (S/4HANA + RISE + BTP)	Strategic Impact
Application Architecture	Monolithic ECC with 94 custom objects embedded in core. Every upgrade requires regression testing all customisations.	Clean core S/4HANA + BTP extensibility. Custom logic moved outside the core — upgrade-safe by design.	Upgrade projects eliminated. Innovation cycles accelerated. Technical debt no longer accumulates in the core.
Integration Architecture	14 systems, 60 interfaces — mix of custom ABAP, legacy middleware, point-to-point connections. 6 FTE to maintain.	SAP BTP Integration Suite — standard managed connectors. Event-driven for real-time data. API-first design.	3 FTE freed. $600K/yr platform saving. New integrations take days, not months. Vendor fragmentation eliminated.
AI & Analytics Infrastructure	No enterprise AI platform. Custom ML initiatives disconnected from S/4 data. BI landscape fragmented across 3+ tools.	SAP AI Core + AI Services on BTP. SAP Datasphere as data foundation. Analytics Cloud for enterprise BI. All integrated.	12 identified AI use cases deployable without custom infrastructure build. $15.3M/yr AI value by Year 3.
Neo → Cloud Foundry Migration	12 business-critical apps on SAP BTP Neo — end-of-life platform with no SAP roadmap investment.	Migration to BTP Cloud Foundry: 10 apps compatible, 2 need minor changes. 6 months to complete.	Time-critical risk eliminated. CF apps access full BTP service catalogue including AI, events, and data services.
Data Architecture	15 Z-tables outside SAP data model. 15 data products fragmented across ECC, SCADA, field systems, spreadsheets.	SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC): governed data mesh, 15 data products, HANA Cloud, Datasphere integration.	AI use cases get clean, governed, real-time data. Reporting no longer depends on custom extracts. $800K/yr BI tool saving.
Security & Compliance	Custom ABAP creates security surface area. Audit trails fragmented. SOX controls manual and periodic.	S/4HANA embedded controls. Continuous compliance monitoring. SAP GRC integrated. RISE includes SAP security operations.	Reduced audit cost and effort. Continuous SOX compliance vs. periodic manual review. Security SLA covered by SAP.