Agility is a fundamental element of any modern business strategy. Long gone are the days of cumbersome, slow and unwieldy business processes – today, organisations leverage next-generation technology to ensure accurate data that can be accessed anywhere via the cloud, through any device. To achieve this, businesses are scrambling to put a digital core in place, one that will support all aspects of the business with real-time data availability, consistency and integrity.
Enter SAP S/4HANA, a real-time ERP suite for digital business. Based on the SAP HANA in-memory platform, S/4HANA brings significant improvements over SAP’s legendary Business Suite, including an improved user interface called SAP Fiori UX, an updated data model, and comprehensive embedded analytical and machine learning capabilities. By the end of 2016, more than 5400 customers around the world had adopted S/4HANA, with adoption accelerating at a breathtaking pace.
ERP, simplified
SAP S/4HANA has been built from the ground up to offer the same functional scope as SAP ERP, but in a radically simplified form. S/4HANA sits at the centre of digital transformation, providing in-memory computing capability with a simplified user interface to create a technical foundation for improving companies’ processes and supporting new products, services and entirely new business models. Whether in the cloud, on-premise or for hybrid scenarios, S/4HANA provides end-users with active decision support in real time based on data from internal and external sources.
It offers three key value propositions for the modern business:
- A new design that simplifies information access from any device;
- A modern architecture that enables all processes to be mapped in a single system; and
- An intelligent business approach that actively notifies users KPI shortfalls and offers forecasts based on predictive algorithms.
A better user experience
With the rise of mobility within the enterprise, real-time access to business-critical data through a variety of devices has become a non-negotiable. S/4HANA moves the transactional graphic user interface (GUI) of the former Business Suite to the role-based SAP Fiori UX that reduces the number of screens in the application, the need to switch between them and the fields essential to each role and process.
This is significant: a 2016 IDC white paper explored the experience that SAP customers were having with S/4HANA. It found that there is a direct link between a user’s experience of a certain piece of technology and their ability to do their work. In the S/4HANA context, we employ the SAP Fiori UX to create deeper value for our clients’ SAP investment. It provides speed and mobility across multiple devices to enable higher levels of productivity across the organisation.
The “principle of one”
SAP’s entire system landscape, including S/4HANA, offers a single solution for any given business requirement. Previous versions of SAP ERP contained multiple transactions for any particular business process: S/4HANA simplifies the application landscape as well as the architecture to deliver greater speed and efficiency while driving down the total cost of ownership.
Businesses that wish to explore the possibilities offered by SAP S/4HANA have a choice of a greenfield approach, involving a fresh installation in line with SAP best practice; a brownfield approach of system conversion involving a transition that retains all configurations, data and enhancements; and a landscape transformation involving a consolidation of the existing SAP ERP landscape, the installation of a new S/4HANA system or a conversion of an existing system.
To learn more about how SAP S/4HANA as the digital core can support your business click on the link http://bit.ly/2pSpu8q or feel free to leave a comment, alternatively get in touch with me directly.
ENDS
For more information, visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.
About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 345,000 business and public sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit http://www.sap.com/africa .
# # #
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
© 2017 SAP SE. All rights reserved. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark for additional trademark information and notices.
Note to editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit www.sap-tv.com. From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via email links, and subscribe to RSS feeds from SAP TV.
