In the era of Industry 4.0, digital technology trends are revolutionizing the way companies do business. Technologies like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud computing, and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are enabling organizations to achieve enhanced productivity, transparency, agility, automation, and better decision-making. One significant player in integrating these technologies into the organizational value chain and accelerating digital transformation is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). In this article, we will explore the various layers of Digital Innovation Using Rise With SAP and the transformation scenarios it offers to customers.
The Business Network Layer
The Business Network layer of Rise with SAP encompasses various cloud software services that facilitate seamless collaboration and real-time information sharing among supply chain partners.
Ariba Network, SAP Asset Intelligence Network, and SAP Logistics Business Network are hosted by SAP and provide supply chain partners access to relevant transactional data, fostering transparency and collaboration.
For instance, a manufacturing customer can use the SAP Asset Intelligence Network to automatically update maintenance partners on equipment usage, enabling proactive procurement of parts and service staff for predictive maintenance.
Business Process Intelligence
SAP Process Insights is a valuable tool for understanding customer pain points and benchmarking process indicators against industry peers.
This tool, previously known as SAP Business Scenario Recommendations, analyzes data records from existing SAP ERP or S/4HANA systems and offers customer-specific recommendations for transforming current operations.
For example, a customer struggling with high Days Sales Outstanding can utilize SAP Process Insights to identify industry benchmark values and implement recommendations for better receivables management, such as setting up dunning procedures or automating payment matching.
Another aspect of Business Process Intelligence is process mining, modeling, and governance using Signavio. Signavio provides functionalities such as process modeling, process intelligence, process management, collaboration hub, and workflow acceleration. By analyzing data loaded from SAP to Signavio, customers can identify target values for process indicators, manage process flows, automate workflows, and share KPIs across the organization.
The Application Layer
The application layer of Rise with SAP consists of two components: the Intelligent Suite and Industry Cloud.
Intelligent Suite
The Intelligent Suite serves as the digital core of SAP S/4HANA, capturing end-to-end processes in finance, logistics, human resources, and project systems. Depending on the complexity of the processes involved, customers can either standardize their processes in SAP S/4HANA Cloud or customize complex processes in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition. The Intelligent Suite can also be integrated with external applications or native cloud offerings such as SAP Ariba, SAP SuccessFactors, and Hybris.
Industry Cloud
The Industry Cloud provides vertical solutions for specific industries, such as automotive, consumer products, manufacturing, retail, public sector, and utility. Customers can leverage industry best practices based on SAP Model company content and extend their current business processes. Additionally, partners can build vertical-specific solutions with an open integration layer on the Business Technology Platform (BTP).
Cloud Deployment Options in Rise with SAP
Rise with SAP offers two cloud deployment options: Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud and Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud private edition.
Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, previously known as SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, provides a standardized ERP solution based on best practices content. It covers selected lines of business and industry scenarios, offering a comprehensive ERP scope. Customizations, third-party integrations, and native integrations can be done via APIs, allowing businesses to tailor the solution to their specific needs. The deployment is on a multi-tenant server, ensuring regular updates for innovations and agility.
Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition
Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud private edition offers the full scope of SAP S/4HANA on-premise, providing customers with access to the on-premise extensibility framework. This edition supports in-app and side-by-side extensions, code enhancements, and modifications. It covers extended lines of business processes and 25 industries. Customers have the flexibility to choose their data center for deployment.
Transformation Scenarios with Rise with SAP
Rise with SAP offers three transformation scenarios to cater to different customer needs.
1. Greenfield Implementation to Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Customers who are open to adopting standardized industry and lines of business best practices can opt for a greenfield implementation. With quarterly release cycles, customers benefit from regular updates on regulatory changes, innovations, and best practices. Customer enablement and organizational change management play crucial roles in these projects, as this deployment mode involves process redesign and standardization. Rise with SAP provides a single contract that includes the cloud solution, technical services, and enablement tools like access to SAP Learning Hub. Accelerators are provided to support organizational change management based on the customer’s cloud readiness assessment. SAP Cloud ALM, a cloud-based Application Lifecycle Management tool, helps track implementation and day-to-day business operations in the cloud environment.
2. Brownfield Implementation to Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition
Customers currently using SAP ECC can opt for a brownfield implementation to migrate to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the private edition. This approach involves a selective data transition to SAP S/4HANA using the Data Migration for Large Transformations (DMLT) tool. It allows customers to choose the organizations, master data, and transactional data to be migrated to the cloud. Functional scope and customizations can be retained, providing flexibility and allowing customers to plan for innovations at their own pace. Organizational change management and customer enablement are gradual in this approach.
3. Greenfield Implementation to Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition
This approach is suitable for customers who want to redesign their business processes while retaining or creating custom developments. It requires careful evaluation of targeted process improvements and analysis of the compatibility between SAP S/4HANA and existing functionalities. Based on the evaluation, customers can choose either Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud or Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, a private edition, depending on the level of customization required.
Sustainability Management
To support the transformation of customers into intelligent sustainable enterprises, Rise with SAP offers end-to-end sustainability management solutions. These solutions include SAP Product Footprint Management, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, and SAP Responsible Design and Production.
Business Technology Platform
The Business Technology Platform (BTP) is a unified and open platform that enables customers to integrate applications, extensions, databases, analytical applications, and intelligent technologies. It provides opportunities for building extensions to third-party software, utilizing intelligent technologies like machine learning (ML), AI, and RPA, and performing data analytics using solutions like SAP Analytics Cloud.
For instance, manufacturing companies can leverage BTP to perform quality checks using sensors, track parts movement with RFIDs, and collect data in SAP systems. ML and AI capabilities in BTP can be utilized to analyze the collected data and drive process improvements or automation.
Infrastructure
Rise with SAP offers flexibility in terms of infrastructure, allowing customers to choose between SAP data centers or hyperscalers like Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. Private cloud deployments offer customers the freedom to select their own data centers.
Conclusion
Rise with SAP is a comprehensive offering that enables organizations to embrace digital transformation and leverage disruptive technologies to drive productivity, transparency, and agility.
The different layers of Rise with SAP, including the Business Network, Business Process Intelligence, Experience Management, Application, Cloud Deployment Options, Transformation Scenarios, Sustainability Management, Business Technology Platform, and Infrastructure, provide a robust foundation for organizations to embark on their digital transformation journey.
By choosing the right deployment option and transformation scenario, organizations can align their business processes with best practices and industry-specific solutions, ensuring a successful and sustainable transformation.