When Clean Core Meets Resistance: How LeverX Helped a Chemicals Company Stop Customization Overload

A chemicals company protected its Clean Core with LeverX. 70% of customization requests were eliminated, millions in upgrade costs avoided, and SAP standard processes fully adopted through change management.

Challenge

A global chemicals company implemented SAP S/4HANA with a Clean Core strategy — keeping custom code to a minimum to reduce technical debt and simplify future upgrades.

But shortly after go-live, business users began demanding dozens of customizations to replicate legacy processes:

• Finance requested “old-style” reporting formats.
• Supply chain teams pushed for custom workflows “like in the old system.”
• IT faced mounting pressure to abandon the Clean Core principle.

Without intervention, the company risked:

• Losing Clean Core integrity,
• Facing rising long-term TCO from custom code,
• Undermining the agility promised by SAP S/4HANA.

LeverX Solution

LeverX applied its Change Management approach tailored for Clean Core transformations:

1. Process Alignment Workshops

• Mapped “as-is” vs. “to-be” processes with business users.
• Highlighted how SAP standard processes met 80–90% of requirements without custom code.

2. Standard vs. Custom Heatmaps

• Created a visual heatmap of customization requests.
• Flagged which requests were business-critical vs. “comfort zone” habits.
• Quantified the hidden costs of each customization over 5–10 years.

3. TCO & Upgrade Risk Communication

• Showed executives how excessive customizations increase upgrade costs and risks.
• Used real customer benchmarks to prove the cost impact of straying from Clean Core.

4. Change Champions in Each Function

• Built a network of functional leads to advocate for standard processes.
• Delivered targeted enablement to help teams master and adopt the new, standardized workflows.

Business Impact

Within six months of LeverX intervention:

• Over 70% of customization requests were eliminated, preserving the integrity of the Clean Core system.
• The company avoided millions in projected upgrade costs by reducing technical debt.
• Business users fully adopted SAP standard processes, shifting their mindset from legacy habits to modern best practices.
• IT maintained a scalable, flexible SAP landscape, ready for innovation and future updates.

Why LeverX

Clean Core is more than a technical principle — it requires strong change management
to succeed. LeverX combines:

• 20+ years of SAP experience in S/4HANA implementations.
• Proven frameworks for reducing resistance to SAP standardization.
• Data-driven tools (heatmaps, TCO models) to build a compelling business case for maintaining a Clean Core.

Facing resistance to Clean Core in your SAP program?

👉 Talk to LeverX experts to learn how our Change Management services keep your system lean, agile, and future-ready.