Case study: Aunt Millie’s
Aunt Millie’s reduced data from 6.8TB to 1.25TB in time for Cloud ERP
Industry: Consumer goods | Application: SAP archiving
At a glance:
- Over 80% reduction achieved in database size
- System cut from 6.8TB to just 1.25TB
- Final footprint 21% smaller than the projected 1.6TB
- Project delivered in 7 months
About Aunt Millie’s
Aunt Millie’s Bakeries is a family-owned company headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It operates a number of baking facilities that produce bread and other bakery products. The Aunt Millie’s brands are distributed throughout the United States, with primary distribution in the Midwest.
The challenge: Reducing system size for the move to cloud
After 13 years on SAP ECC6, Aunt Millie’s planned a brownfield move to SAP Cloud ERP Private Edition. To reduce the cost of the cloud contract, accelerate the migration, and deliver ongoing operational benefits, the team wanted to put robust data management in place beforehand.
Aunt Millie’s started the process of considering an archiving project, whilst they invited a number of SAP implementation companies to tender for the project, their SAP Cloud ERP implementation partner, AnswerThink (part of Hackett Group), recommended Proceed Group, who were appointed for their specialist knowledge and extensive experience.
The solution: Right-sizing through archiving
The project started in January 2025. Proceed aligned the workplan with AnswerThink’s migration timeline and began with a data assessment. The assessment showed the ECC production system could be reduced from 6.8 TB to 1.6TB.
Actions taken:
- Full technical and functional data management programme completed including SAP archiving and housekeeping
- SAP Office content migration delivered
To de-risk the migration, Aunt Millie’s asked to test S/4HANA with the expected post-archiving footprint. Proceed adjusted the sequence and worked first on a copy of production in a controlled sandbox. Within 2 months the sandbox was reduced by more than 80%, ensuring it was prepared before AnswerThink needed the system. Proceed then formalised the design, repeated testing in line with standard governance, and transferred knowledge to the internal team. The project ran for 7 months with Proceed providing ongoing support.
The impact
- Production data was reduced to 1.25TB, surpassing the 1.6TB projection
- Improved cost profile for the cloud contract due to a smaller footprint
- Faster system operations and a leaner basis for conversion activities
- Policy-aligned retention, with removal of data older than seven years underway
- S/4HANA programme on track
Proceed made what initially felt like a daunting SAP data archiving initiative remarkably straightforward. They listened carefully to our needs and created a clear, comprehensive blueprint that guided the entire process. When it came time to transition management to our internal team, they equipped us with a complete guidebook and test plan checklist. Everything we needed to succeed on our own. Their team was not only highly knowledgeable but also approachable, prompt, and supportive. Even after the hand-off, Proceed continued to be responsive and ready to assist whenever questions came up. Working with them was truly a positive experience, and we’re grateful for the expertise and partnership they provided.
Dean Willson, Vice President of IT
Future focus
With archiving and housekeeping now built into everyday processes, Aunt Millie’s is finalising production clean-up in line with its seven-year retention policy. The business is moving towards S/4HANA go-live confident in the reduced system size, with Proceed continuing to provide support as required.
For organisations planning Cloud ERP
This project follows an approach Proceed has used on many SAP estates. It starts with an evidence-based data assessment, then a tailored execution plan that fits partner milestones. The outcome is a smaller, faster, and more manageable SAP footprint that reduces cloud costs and eases migration effort without compromising compliance.
About Proceed
Proceed Group has been running data management projects for over twenty years – helping hundreds of customers worldwide. Our services include SAP archiving, content management as well as the decommissioning of SAP and non-SAP systems. This combined with our team of expert consultants and our range of state of the art products, is the key to delivering success for our customers.