What's the difference between PCE and H4S4 – the two SAP bridge options?

SAP HCM for SAP S/4HANA On-Premise (more familiarly known as ‘H4S4’) is another variation, similar to the SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition (PCE) offering, for customers who wish to extend their current investment in SAP ERP HCM.  This solution was first introduced in our blog back in November 2021, titled What is SAP HCM for S/4HANA On-Premise (H4S4)? 

There are existing SAP customers who have made large investments in their SAP on-premise talent capabilities, including both on-premise SAP Learning Solution (LSO) and/or e-Recruiting. While it is recommended to move to the SAP SuccessFactors solutions, given that innovation is focused there, those who wish to extend their support for those talent modules in addition to their core HR (Personnel Administration and Organizational Management) now have a choice with this offering.  The differences between the options for customers are outlined in the table below. 

H4S4: The basics

• Based on SAP ERP HCM with comparable functional scope and business processes

• Running on SAP HANA DB with performance benefits

• UX, legal changes, continuous enhancements

This is not a new code line in on-premise SAP HCM; it is simply the existing code line that SAP has included in the S/4HANA environment for those customers moving to S/4HANA and wanting to continue to run the ERP HCM code line in the same instance as S/4HANA. It is a technical upgrade that will take customers to the latest version. It also includes performance optimizations, as well as other usability enhancements. However, customers will still need to implement and deploy the new innovations, the same as any other traditional system upgrade.

H4S4: Transition notes

• Upgrade with existing migration tools and services

• Customers can run HCM embedded in, or in a separate, SAP S/4HANA instance

• Any customer Enhancement Pack level is supported; however, they will end up on EhP8 (technical upgrade).

What is the difference between PCE & H4S4?

If you are not sure which path is right for you, and you are still deciding on how best to move to the cloud, and at what pace, you should start by reviewing the complexity and configuration of your current system which will impact your decision-making. 

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