---
title: How Customer-Vendor Integration (CVI) smoothens the migration to S/4HANA
date: 2023-08-16T12:02:00+02:00
author: Flexso
canonical_url: "https://www.flexso.com/en/insights-blog/customer-vendor-integration-s4hana-migration"
section: cp.sections.blog
---
![Flexso CVI SAP S4 HANA migration SAP ECC](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271360%27%20height%3D%27544%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E)

**In SAP ECC, you’ve always worked with Customers, Vendors and Contact Persons. In the modern SAP S/4HANA system, this distinction has been replaced with the more general term ‘Business Partners’: (groups of) persons and organizations in which your company has a business interest. To convert the master data between the legacy system and S/4HANA, SAP introduced Customer-Vendor Integration or CVI. Here’s what you need to know to support your S/4HANA conversion.**

## Business Partners: A key step in your S/4HANA migration

In [SAP S/4HANA](https://www.flexso.com/en/solutions/sap-erp-software/sap-s4hana-roadmap), the term “Business Partners” is used to include all the leading master data objects like **Customer, Vendor, Contact Persons as well as Employees.** A Business Partner can therefore be seen as a person, an organization or group of persons/organizations with **a unique identification code**. As a result, a business partner in S/4HANA could be a vendor and a customer at the same time, using the same data object number.

But what are the **benefits** of using "Business Partners" in S/4HANA?

- **No more redundant data**, as there are no longer multiple data objects representing the same party.
- It’s **easier** to make certain calculations, e.g., the total net spend for a specific partner.
- Easy **integration with** [**SAP CRM**](https://www.flexso.com/en/insights-blog/get-the-most-out-of-your-sap-cloud-crm), as this solution was the first to use the concept of Business Partners as leading objects.
- By cleansing and migrating your data upfront with CVI, you can accelerate your [migration to S/4HANA](https://www.flexso.com/en/solutions/sap-erp-software/sap-s4hana-roadmap) and ensure a smoother transition.

![Flexso Business partners S4HANA customer vendor integration](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27867%27%20height%3D%27%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E)

## Ready to facilitate your SAP S/4HANA conversion?

Take a headstart by initiating your cleansing and data migration track.

[Book your CVI demo](https://www.flexso.com/en/contact)

## CVI supports your SAP S/4HANA migration

Since Business Partners are **mandatory in SAP S/4HANA**, all Customer and Vendor master data in SAP ECC needs to be converted before your[ SAP S/4HANA migration](https://www.flexso.com/en/solutions/sap-erp-software/sap-s4hana-roadmap). This is where SAP’s Customer-Vendor Integration process comes in.

Sounds like a really big deal? It’s not!

A CVI project can be run **in SAP ECC as a separate project** before the actual S/4HANA project starts off. As a result, the **synchronization of business partners** will no longer be a **critical point** in your conversion journey. This also means it won’t have any impact on your day-to-day business after go-live of the CVI project, since the synchronization happens entirely in the background. You can still use Customers, Vendors and Contact Persons with their respective transactions as well.

## 3 major CVI considerations

- CVI projects provide a great opportunity to review your current setup of Customers, Vendors and Contact Persons .
- While CVI doesn’t take a lot of time, it is quite technical. A CVI project requires a lot of focus, analysis and error handling of master data. Think about that when preparing your S/4HANA conversion.
- Since migrating to SAP S/4HANA is a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, take into account what the final setup will look like from the start.

## How CVI ensured a smooth S/4HANA migration for INEOS

Because every organization has its own setup and use of Customers, Vendors, and Contact Persons, a tailored approach is often necessary. With the right insights and expertise, however, you’re sure to even seize a couple of opportunities along the way. Just ask **INEOS**.

"**CVI ultimately determines your path to SAP S/4HANA**,” says Koen Van Audenrode, Project Manager S/4HANA at INEOS. “Sure, it is a mandatory step in the preliminary phase. But it urged us to conduct a major master data exercise and clean-up in SAP ECC. After the initial setup of CVI, we successfully deployed **a complete S/4HANA sandbox in just 5 months**. Despite the summer period in between, we were able to work exceptionally time- and cost-efficient.”

> ![Koen Van Audenrode INEOS](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27156%27%20height%3D%27156%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E)"Sure, it is a mandatory step in the preliminary phase of an S/4HANA migration. But it urged us to conduct a major master data exercise and clean-up in SAP ECC.”

“Flexso helped us with accurate, step-by-step explanations, clear visualization of options, and prompt feedback on questions. So, we were able to swiftly navigate through the CVI project. The migration of INEOS to S/4HANA has already started off **very smoothly and cost-effectively**.”

## Which benefits offers Customer vendor integration to your business?

Let our experts map your Master data needs and guide you towards a smooth S/4HANA conversion.

[Book your CVI demo](https://www.flexso.com/en/contact)

---

Written by

![Thomas de Sutter 1](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%2794%27%20height%3D%2794%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E)**Thomas de Sutter**

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