Organizations are constantly looking for ways to enhance their operational efficiency and provide a better experience for their workforce.
I spent many years of my career working on SAP ERP Human Capital Management (HCM) on-premise and it is very near and dear to my heart. But, I am also a big believer in using innovative modern technology to help organizations run their business as efficiently as possible and get the most out of their people. We are seeing an increased urgency for customers to transform their HR operations to improve agility and productivity in a constantly changing world.
For Maryann Abbajay, chief revenue officer at SAP SuccessFactors, the readiness of many of our customers to begin their cloud HR journeys is accelerating. “So far in 2023, we are seeing increased momentum of SAP on-premise customers moving to the cloud. In the first half of the year, we saw well over 100 customers sign up to move their core HCM or payroll to the cloud,” she said. “We’re gearing up to increase this pace in the second half of the year as well.”
More importantly, a move to the cloud is about achieving success and better business results, which includes large and complex businesses. Here are a few recent examples of customers that are realizing benefits with the move:
- Microsoft has been able to create consistent employee experiences worldwide for its 220,000 employees in over 100 countries. With a move to the cloud, it can create jobs much faster and become a more agile business.
- Purolator has created organizational agility while providing a better experience for employees. The integration of HR and finance is helping the company make better business decisions.
- Röhm has been able to standardize its processes leading to significantly reduced HR IT costs. It can now better support and empower employees with a new digital HR experience.
At SAP SuccessFactors, we continue to make a substantial investment to streamline the transition for our existing customers with focused initiatives. These include the introduction of the SAP Readiness Check tool for SAP SuccessFactors solutions, where we continue to see increased adoption with nearly 150 customers, including those with over 100,000 employees, running it to help jump-start a move to the cloud.
We’ve also delivered product investments focused on meeting the business requirements of SAP ERP HCM based upon direct customer feedback. This includes enhancements to SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, building a leading time management suite, and an emphasis on hybrid customers by building enhanced data and process integrations for a best-in-class experience for customers that continue to use on premise along with SAP SuccessFactors solutions.
A few years ago, I wrote an article on a dozen improvements in SAP SuccessFactors Human Experience Management (HXM) Suite, which had a direct comparison between on premise and the cloud. It becomes clear that there are a lot of advantages to moving to SAP SuccessFactors solutions, but in 2023 we face a complex economic landscape and many companies are being intentional about where to invest their time and resources.
Building a Business Case to Support Moving HR to the Cloud
To help customers make the business case, we recently worked with a third-party vendor, Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) by TechTarget, to analyze the economic benefits of moving from SAP ERP HCM to SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite. To complete the analysis, ESG conducted multiple customer interviews, used its industry knowledge, leveraged public data, and evaluated SAP SuccessFactors solutions to build a comprehensive model that compared the cost and benefits of HR operations of SAP SuccessFactors solutions versus continued use of SAP ERP HCM.
The research contained four categories in which customers would expect to see a benefit: improved experience for all employees, more efficient HR and IT operations, improved business agility and enablement, and unique SAP advantages.
The result of this analysis validated how organizations can realize over 100% ROI through increased organizational efficiency. Learn more: Analyzing the Economic Benefits of Moving from SAP ERP HCM to SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite.
Imran Sajid is senior director of HXM Solution Marketing at SAP.