News in the Channel - issue #8

ERP IMPLEMENTATION

model, but in the cloud: essentially a business opts to maintain its own SAP system, with complete customisation flexibility. Business differentiation Both the public and private cloud editions of S4/HANA are appealing to the growing numbers of companies that are questioning the level of customisation in existing ERP deployments. Why incur the cost and complexity of customisation, especially when the core functionality meets a business’ needs? Avoiding the upheaval and investment associated with creating, maintaining and upgrading customisations completely changes the total cost of ownership associated with an ERP investment. With SAP’s Best Practice Explorer, companies can quickly gain access to a range of best practice scenarios across several areas, such as purchasing or procurement. It is the way the business uses the ERP and the information that enables business differentiation, rather than specific customisations. Of course, not every company will find all the features it needs in any ERP. For those companies with specific requirements – such as field services support – the private cloud approach with RISE provides customisation options. But even here, the advice is clear: avoid customising the core, and instead use SAP’s Business Technology Platform to support the creation of specific apps that can be integrated with S4/HANA. With this approach, companies can successfully add functionality without adding the cost and complexity of testing every single change in the core product. New consultancy attitude A cloud-first ‘adopt not adapt’ model is very different. But it provides a fast-track route to innovation. There are no long drawn-out implementations; no hugely expensive and disruptive upgrades. Indeed, with smooth, faster deployment, companies should never experience that ‘post ERP’ hiatus, when planned investments and changes are not achieved because the business needs to recover from months of upheaval. Consultants will, therefore, play a different role in the implementation – and that is key. How many SAP partners are actively changing their consultancy skills and mindset to support the cloud-first, standardised approach? From Fit to Standard workshops that

demonstrate the power of the core product to ensuring the business remains on standard implementations, a good consultant can shorten implementations and reduce costs. Plus, of course, by streamlining the approach, a consultant can help the business to create a commitment to continuous improvement, leveraging tools such as BTP to create business differentiating apps and explore other cloud solutions such as analytics that can add value.

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With SAP’s

Best Practice Explorer, companies can quickly gain access to a range of best practice scenarios across several areas, such as purchasing or procurement.

Conclusion Growing numbers of businesses are

embracing this cloud-first ‘adopt not adapt’ approach. Very few are opting to convert their existing ECC systems, with their existing customisations and data, into S4/HANA. Instead, they are embracing the chance to simplify, to move away from complex and unnecessary customisations and achieve a streamlined, effective and manageable ERP deployment. They are embracing a standard model, in the cloud, to create the foundation for seamless, incremental change that should give a business confidence to innovate and achieve continuous improvement. Through partnering with the right SAP consultancy, they can ensure that they choose the most appropriate model with the best migration path to achieve the optimal results as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.

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