The Voith Group is in the middle of its cloud transformation with SAP RISE. The technology company is gradually migrating its SAP systems to the HANA Enterprise Cloud – a strategic step to ensure innovation, scalability and efficiency in the long term.

The Voith Group is a global technology company with more than 150 years of history. The family company, headquartered in Heidenheim an der Brenz, offers a broad portfolio of systems, products, services and digital applications for various industries and is one of the leading global providers in its markets. A quarter of the energy generated from hydropower worldwide comes from turbines and generators from Voith Hydro – one of three corporate divisions alongside Voith Paper and Voith Turbo. A large part of the world’s paper production rolls on Voith paper machines.

As part of the group-wide “Journey to the Cloud” program, VOITH is currently migrating its existing SAP S/4HANA systems gradually into the cloud based on the RISE with SAP model. The goal is clear: Voith wants to operate a cloud-only IT landscape by autumn 2028.

Strategic realignment in response to changing market requirements

At the start of the project, VOITH operated around 110 SAP systems on-premises in its own data center – efficiently, stable and cost-optimized. “There was actually no pressure to suffer,” explains Dietmar Schmidt, Senior Manager Sales, Logistics & Central Apps at VOITH.

“Our SAP operations, including the supporting team, were excellent. Nevertheless, it was clear: in order to remain competitive, we have to strategically realign IT, away from the classic operator and towards the strategic enabler of digital business models.”

Dietmar Schmidt, Senior Manager Sales, Logistics & Central Apps at VOITH

By switching to SAP RISE, VOITH is pursuing the long-term goal of relieving IT employees of purely operational tasks and creating more time for value-adding tasks. “Important innovation topics such as artificial intelligence, integration via the Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) or digital service solutions require the freedom of our experts,” explains Dietmar Schmidt. “Last but not least, cloud migration offers us the opportunity to participate early on in technological developments such as generative and agentic AI or SAP Joule.

Reach your goal in three waves

The migration was organized in three waves:

• In the first wave (April to September 2024), VOITH Turbo’s S/4 SAP environment – including the associated BI landscape – was moved to the cloud.
• The second wave followed (October 2024 to June 2025), in which, among other things, the central HR system, a BI system from VOITH Hydro, the central MDG master data management system and the extensive ERP landscape from VOITH Paper were migrated.
• Currently, in the third wave (since July 2025), the remaining ERP systems from VOITH Hydro and Turbo are being merged and transferred to the RISE environment. The SAP RISE project is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2027.

“With this step-by-step approach, we have already managed to migrate a large part of the existing SAP S/4HANA systems almost 1:1 into the SAP RISE Cloud,” summarizes Peter Lexa, responsible for OTC Sales, Service, Logistics Applications, “i.e. without functional or procedural changes, but with a future-proof operating model.”

An external pilot for takeoff

The move to the cloud did not come without preparation. VOITH decided to appoint an external project manager for the first project phase – an expert with RISE experience. “Working with SAP in this new model was new territory for us,” says Peter Lexa.

“The roles and responsibilities at SAP – for example between the ECS operations team and the migration team – are complex. Thanks to the external expertise, we were able to get started quickly and in a structured manner.”

Peter Lexa, responsible for OTC Sales, Service, Logistics Applications

This decision has proven successful, explains Peter Lexa, also because the VOITH team was able to gather know-how in this way and take over project management themselves from the second wave onwards. A well-rehearsed team from IT, specialist departments and SAP ensured that the migration went on time and within budget: “We completed the first and second waves within the planned time frame while adhering to all qualitative requirements,” emphasizes the IT manager.

Communication as the key to migration success

The biggest hurdle in implementing the project was not technical, but human. “We had to take our team with us,” says Dietmar Schmidt openly. The internal SAP Basis team, which had been highly professional for years, saw its own areas of responsibility dwindle. Open communication helped build trust. “We have said clearly: Work is changing – but employees will not become superfluous,” emphasizes Schmidt.

“Routine tasks such as patching or security notes will no longer be necessary. Instead, new freedom will be created for topics such as SAP Fiori, cloud integration or the use of AI in the context of SAP S/4HANA.”

Dietmar Schmidt, Senior Manager Sales, Logistics & Central Apps at VOITH

From the operational organization to an innovation partner for the business

After the first two waves, Peter Lexa and Dietmar Schmidt draw a positive conclusion: the systems are running stable and performant, and in some processes even faster than before. By using the cloud, resources can also be scaled more flexibly. However, according to Lexa, there is still potential for optimization: “Ticket processes at SAP sometimes take longer than we were used to in our own operations – for example when it comes to changing system parameters or carrying out an upgrade. But we see that the processes are continually working out.”

The third and final wave of migration is currently underway (November 2025). In the third quarter of 2027, the remaining ERP systems of VOITH Turbo and VOITH Hydro are to be converted to SAP S/4HANA and consolidated into the future central “OneVoith” ERP in the RISE cloud. Then VOITH will operate its entire productive SAP landscape in the cloud: “VOITH IT will fundamentally change,” summarizes Dietmar Schmidt, “from the operational organization to an innovation partner for the business.” Looking back on the positive project progress, his conclusion for a successful cloud journey is: “SAP RISE is not a sure-fire success. But those who communicate openly, document clearly and bring experienced partners on board create the basis for a successful cloud transformation.”