Issue

The number of system languages implemented in a SAP system significantly adds to the complexity of the initial system design, implementation, testing and continued maintenance with respect to master data, system configuration, development (reports, forms, system interfaces, etc.), process documentation, employee user interface, shared service functions and IT support.

There are currently 21 languages logon languages implemented in Syensqo. As a part of the ERP rebuild project there is an opportunity to simplify and standardize the language implementation.

Recommendation

Summarise the recommendation being made for the reader, leaving the pro/con evaluation and exact decision-making process to the subsequent sections.

Background & Context

Implementing multiple system languages in an SAP environment introduces substantial complexity across various stages of the system lifecycle. Here’s a detailed breakdown:

• System Design and Implementation: Incorporating multiple languages into an SAP system involves complex initial design and setup, including installing and configuring language packs and adapting custom developments to support various languages.

• Testing and Quality Assurance: Extensive testing is required across all supported languages to ensure functionality, data accuracy, and user interface consistency, which adds to the overall complexity and effort.

• Master Data and Configuration: Managing master data and system configurations in multiple languages requires careful translation and consistency, impacting data integrity and the configuration process.

• Development and Documentation: Custom reports, forms, and system interfaces need to be multilingual, and process documentation and training materials must be translated and maintained in all supported languages.

• Ongoing Support and Maintenance: Multilingual support impacts IT and shared services functions, requiring additional resources for support and regular updates in all supported languages.

Syensqo currently has around 23 languages installed, 21 logon languages and 2 languages without logon capability. Following are all the languages implemented in the As-Is system

Assumptions

• The Language assignment per each country in the section Employee Counts
• The SAAS systems will support the recommended languages
• Any additional language requirements for Sucess Factors will be incorporated as part of the Sucess Factors project 

Constraints

The employee counts are provided by Business based on the employee count in SF. The evaluation is done based on these employee counts and if there are any discrepancies, the evaluation needs to be repeated. See the Employee Counts section for the actual employee counts considered

Impacts

Describe the impact of the decision on other aspects such as other processes, infrastructure, other SAP modules or systems, data cleansing and migration, developments, automations, interfaces, in-flight projects, etc.

Business Rules

The decision may translate into business rules which enforce the decision and will require configuration. List these business rules here. For example, "An Outline Agreement cannot be created via the RFQ process. An awarded RFQ can only result in a Purchase Order". 

Options considered

List the options (viable options or alternatives) you considered. These often require a longer explanation with diagrams, or references to other documents (links are best, but attachments are also possible). Use enough detail to adequately explain what you considered so that a project or business stakeholder reviewing this decision will not come back and ask "did you think about...?"; this leads to loss of credibility and questioning of other decisions. This section also helps ensure that you considered enough suitable alternatives rather than just copy/pasting SAP's recommendations.

Following are the options considered for language implementation

Option A: Implement 4 Core Languages (English, French, Italian and Mandarin)

As part of this option, 4 core languages English, French, Italian and Mandarin are implemented. Additional languages Brazilian Portuguese, German, Spanish and Thai are implemented only for Manufacturing and Maintenance operations.

This gives about a coverage of 92.5% of employees (97.15% with additional languages). This option also covers 66 / 67 manufacturing plants across the globe. 

Option B: Implement 8 Core Languages (English, French, Italian, Mandarin, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Spanish, Thai)

As a part of this option 8 core languages are implemented. This gives about a coverage of  97.15% of employees and covers 66/67 manufacturing plants

Evaluation

	Option A - Implement 4 core languages	Option B - Implement 8 Core languages
Alignment to Design Principles	Adheres to Simplification and Standardization principle	Additional four languages increase complexity of system design, build and maintenance
Employee Language Coverage	92.5%. However, it goes up to 97% as the manufacturing and maintenance transactions are supported in 8 languages	97%
Ongoing Language Support Costs - Internal	High.
Ongoing Language Support Costs – shared service / IT helpdesk
Cost of resource base
SAP S/4 Hana languages coverage for User Interface
Data Translation Cost

Evaluation to determine the language options

A detailed evaluation is done based on the following parameters to identify the language options that are considered in the document

• Employee count (Including the contingent workers)
• Manufacturing plants and Distribution centers
• Revenue
• Official Languages
• Regulatory requirements

A detailed table of the actual analysis can be found below

See also

Insert links and references to other documents which are relevant when trying to understand this decision and its implications. Other decisions are often impacted, so it's good to list them here with links. Attachments are also possible but dangerous as they are static documents and not updated by their authors.

Change log

Workflow history