case studies

From SAP HCM on-premise to Employee Central Payroll: Sumol Compal’s successful migration

Q: Arago Success2Cloud

Success2Cloud is the project methodology for existing ECC customers who decide to move from SAP SuccessFactors (Core HR and/or Time and/or PY) to the cloud with SAP SuccessFactors or SAP HCM for SAP S/4HANA (H4S4).

Project objective

Sumol Compal, a major player in the drinks industry in Portugal and Mozambique, has partnered with Arago on a project to migrate its payroll to the cloud. The aim is to move away from a hybrid HR architecture combining on-premise SAP HCM and cloud-based SAP SuccessFactors, and to migrate the entire payroll process to SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll (ECP) across two countries with distinct regulatory frameworks.

Client background and challenges

A rapidly growing group, held back by a hybrid HR structure

Sumol Compal is a Portuguese food and beverage group specialising in drinks, operating in over 50 countries with a turnover of €371.5 million in 2023 (a 10% increase in volume compared to 2022). The company had been using SAP SuccessFactors since 2018 for core HR and talent management, whilst maintaining SAP HCM on-premise for payroll, creating a hybrid architecture that was costly to maintain and increasingly difficult to scale.

Before the migration to Employee Central Payroll, the organisation faced a number of challenges:

Two non-integrated systems: SAP HCM on-premise for payroll and SAP SuccessFactors cloud for core HR, resulting in data re-entry and an increased risk of errors.
A significant number of customisations have accumulated in SAP HCM, making any technical changes complex and costly.
A time management system (Time Off & Time Tracking) introduced in Portugal in 2023, involving a overhaul of internal processes and the adoption of an employee self-service system.
An organisation, Mozambique, with no prior experience of SAP SuccessFactors and requiring a full implementation and extensive support.
A deadline requiring the phasing out of SAP HCM before the end of its standard support (31 December 2027), making migration inevitable.

This situation exposed Sumol Compal to increasing operational risks in an area where no mistakes can be tolerated: employee payroll.

Key issues

The decision to migrate to SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll was driven by several converging strategic factors:

Unify the HR platform by migrating payroll to the same cloud environment as the HR Core, to create an integrated and consistent system.
Ensure payroll compliance across two countries with different social legislation (Portugal and Mozambique) whilst maintaining the continuity of payments.
Reduce the maintenance burden associated with an ageing and heavily customised on-premises architecture.
Modernise the employee experience through self-service and automation, notably via SAP’s Payroll Control Center.
Laying the groundwork for future innovations, including the roll-out of Joule, SAP’s AI assistant, by leveraging Arago’s ability to support this kind of pioneering project.

Solution and benefits

To support this critical HR transformation, Sumol Compal has chosen to migrate its payroll to SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll, implemented by Arago. This project was carried out in close collaboration between Sumol Compal’s IT and HR teams and Arago’s consultants, who were responsible for configuring the solution, integrating local requirements and managing the change process.

The migration adopted a brownfield (Lift & Shift) approach: an almost identical copy of the existing configuration in SAP HCM, preserving legacy business processes without having to rebuild everything from scratch.

A structured roll-out over 12 months across two countries

Arago supported Sumol Compal throughout the process using a structured methodology:

2023, Portugal: roll-out of Time Off & Time Tracking, overhaul of internal processes and launch of the employee self-service portal.
2024, Portugal: transition to Employee Central Payroll and deployment of the Payroll Control Centre to automate payroll validations directly within SAP SuccessFactors.
2024, Mozambique: full implementation of SAP SuccessFactors for an organisation that had never used the platform before, with enhanced support.
Change management integrated from the outset: the shift from a centralised model to a decentralised one involves a genuine cultural transformation for HR teams.

Measurable results

100% payroll in the cloud: first successful payroll run in ECP as early as December 2024, in Portugal and Mozambique.
0 payment disruptions: full continuity of salary payments, with no issues arising from the migration.
Unified architecture: removal of the on-premises SAP HCM layer; a single cloud platform for HR Core, time and attendance, and payroll.
Automated validation: the Payroll Control Centre reduces the need for manual checks and improves the traceability of the payroll cycle.
Two integrated countries: Portugal and Mozambique, each with their own legal frameworks, managed within a shared framework.
SAP Recognition: Sumol Compal was recognised in the ‘Go Live Leader’ category by SAP at the HR Connect 2025 event.

Go further with Arago

Why choose Arago for your migration to SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll?

Arago has been an SAP Gold Partner since 2010 and is one of the few integrators to cover the entire SuccessFactors suite (Employee Central, Time and EC Payroll). This dual expertise in SAP HCM and SAP SuccessFactors ensures a thorough understanding of both environments, minimising the risk of disruption during migration.

Our packaged solution Success2Cloud (S2C) is based on acceleration tools, pre-configured templates that comply with local legislation, and a Lift & Shift approach that preserves existing configurations. The process begins with an S2C Readiness Check, an in-depth analysis of your current SAP HCM landscape, enabling us to identify challenges, estimate costs and define the most suitable path forward for your organisation.

Contact our experts

Selected solutions

To address these challenges, Sumol Compal has chosen SAP SuccessFactors, implemented by Arago with the following modules:

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central

This cloud-based HR management system provides you with a central repository for employee data, streamlines your HR processes and allows you to manage your workforce more efficiently.

SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking

This is a comprehensive solution which allows you to track employee time and attendance accurately, streamlines workforce management, as well as optimising productivity in your organisation.

Arago Success2Cloud

Success2Cloud is the project methodology for existing ECC customers who decide to move from SAP SuccessFactors (Core HR and/or Time and/or PY) to the cloud with SAP SuccessFactors or SAP HCM for SAP S/4HANA (H4S4).