SAP S/4 HANA
Transforming Administration, Research, and Academic Operations Through Project ISTAR
SAP S/4HANA at IISc is a unified digital platform powering Finance, Research Administration, Human Resources, Procurement, Academics, and Institutional Operations.
From the inception of Project ISTAR to the successful upgrade to SAP S/4HANA 2025, IISc continues its journey towards a modern, integrated, and future-ready digital enterprise.
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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Initiative Overview
SAP User manuals, Training materials and FAQs
Whats New? – Features and Release Updates
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Initiative Overview
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) decided to implement a state-of-the-art Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution to meet the requirements of the Institute, which include administration, finance, purchase, HR, payroll, and academic activities. The Institute decided to structure the procurement process for the total turn-key solution into two phases:
- Phase 1 involved identifying an Enterprise ERP solution to meet the stated requirements of the Institute and to also look at either a hosted model or the SaaS model for implementing the solution.
- Phase 2 involved identifying a suitable System Integrator (SI) to implement and customize the solution, wherever needed, to meet exactly the Institute requirement and provide the necessary support for the application administration and management during the subsequent phase of the life cycle of the project.
SAP S/4 HANA, which is SAP’s latest offering, was selected as the platform by the Institute. SAP Cloud-Infrastructure partner, CtrlS was selected as the service provider for cloud infrastructure services. Having selected the platform, an RFP was issued in September 2017 for selecting a System Integrator. Following a detailed techno-commercial bidding process involving four major vendors, Wipro Technologies was selected as the Implementation Partner for SAP S/4 HANA ERP for the Institute.
To know more about ERP, please follow the link – What is ERP?
Project ISTAR
The SAP ERP Implementation project has been code-named ISTAR (Implementation of SAP for Transforming the Administration and Research). ISTAR is a prestigious, major project of DIGITS and is short for Implementing SAP S/4 HANA for Transforming Administration and Research. Project ISTAR was executed in two waves by DIGITS:
- WAVE 1: Finance & Accounts; Sponsored Projects; HR & Payroll; Stores & Procurement which went live on June 3, 2019
- WAVE 2: Academics; CCMD; Hostel & Mess Management which went live on 8th Jan 2021.
- SAP S/4HANA 2025 Upgrade and Infrastructure Modernisation – Building on the success of Project ISTAR, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has successfully upgraded its enterprise SAP landscape from SAP S/4HANA 1709 to SAP S/4HANA 2025. This milestone reflects IISc’s continued commitment to leveraging modern technology to enhance administrative efficiency, support research excellence, and deliver a seamless experience to the Institute community.
The upgrade enables IISc to take advantage of the latest innovations in SAP S/4HANA, including enhanced performance, improved user experience through SAP Fiori, strengthened security and compliance capabilities, advanced analytics, and long-term platform support.
As part of the upgrade initiative, the underlying infrastructure was also modernized to meet the requirements of SAP S/4HANA 2025. CtrlS Datacenters, IISc’s cloud infrastructure partner, played a key role in the infrastructure upgrade and environment readiness activities, providing a robust, scalable, and resilient foundation for the upgraded SAP landscape.
The technical migration and upgrade activities were carried out with the support of SAP, whose experts provided guidance, best practices, and technical expertise throughout the migration journey. Through careful planning, extensive testing, and close collaboration among IISc, SAP, and CtrlS teams, the upgrade was completed successfully with minimal disruption to institutional operations.
Benefits of the Upgrade
- Access to the latest SAP S/4HANA 2025 capabilities and innovations
- Improved system performance, scalability, and reliability
- Enhanced user experience through modern SAP Fiori applications
- Stronger security, governance, and compliance features
- Advanced analytics and reporting capabilities for informed decision-making
- A future-ready digital platform to support IISc’s academic, research, and administrative functions
This successful upgrade represents the next phase in IISc’s enterprise transformation journey that began with Project ISTAR. By modernizing both its SAP platform and supporting infrastructure, IISc has strengthened its digital foundation and positioned itself to take advantage of future innovations while continuing to support the Institute’s mission of excellence in education, research, and innovation
Related Links
- SAP Portal – https://sap.iisc.ac.in
- Solution Manager Portal – https://solman.iisc.ac.in
