With your organization, you are continuously seeking opportunities. For new developments, products, and markets. But also, for improved business processes. To grow, you need software that grows with you. At the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Innovation Day 2024, on May 30 in ’s-Hertogenbosch, organizations of all sizes were introduced to the possibilities of next-gen Cloud ERP. In this blog, we briefly reflect on this inspiring day.
Seeding, growing and harvesting. These three words were central during the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Innovation Day. In the reception area of the SAP office in ’s-Hertogenbosch stood a tree. Every visitor to the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Innovation Day 2024 hung a card on this tree. On that card, it stated which phase of the transformation journey their organization was in: the seeding, growing, or harvesting phase.
Some came to Den Bosch to plant a seed for a possible migration, while others were already a step further. But everyone was looking for new opportunities to grow. To further accelerate and improve daily operations and processes.
“All organizations are different, but many questions are the same,” said Jos Hosewol, Head of Mid Market and New Business at SAP, during his opening speech. “Namely: how can I handle growth? How can I use technology to relieve the workload of my staff? How can I seize new opportunities? And how can I make new innovations relevant to our company? We are happy to provide the answers to these questions. So that every organization can grow without limits.”
From CD to implementation partner
The SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Innovation Day 2024 was primarily intended for SMEs. “Because”, said Hosewol, “it is often thought that SAP is mainly for large organizations. But 80 percent of our customer base consists of SMEs. We are proud of that.”
The fact that SMEs also massively choose SAP is mainly due to the modular approach of the Public Cloud. “Years ago, when you bought SAP ECC, you received a CD or DVD with this software from us,” said Hans Kroes, Global VP and Head of the Industry Business Unit for Professional Services. “You did the installation and implementation yourself as an organization. That demanded quite a lot from your IT department. Now it’s very different. Especially thanks to our implementation partners. You work closely together, and with this partner you determine what you need. Together you decide the starting point and from there you see how to get the most out of SAP S/4HANA.”
Standardization based on best practices
The power of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is that it is a full-featured SaaS Cloud ERP, said Kroes. “Fully ready-to-use, pre-configured, and packed with end-to-end core processes. We continuously add industry-specific solutions and best practices. By standardizing a lot, we keep the costs limited. Every organization can handle 80 or 90 percent of the industry-specific standard processes based on our best practices. And our implementation partners support with the last piece of differentiation.”
“This way, we help you to make daily tasks easier, to grow as a company, and to keep your business safe,” said Kroes. “AI plays an important role in this. AI makes your work more efficient and simpler. And the great thing about SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud is that you automatically have access to these existing and new AI innovations.”
Practical demonstrations
The SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Innovation Day was mainly about experiencing. Experiencing for yourself how SAP works, what it does, and what benefits it can offer your organization. Three SAP experts showed in live sessions how the various solutions work and what benefits they offer.
For example, Yvonne van Straten, Solution Advisor SAP S/4HANA Cloud, showed the benefits SAP offers for daily processes in sales, procurement, and production.
Step by step, she guided customers and potential customers through SAP’s software. “Our goal is to increase productivity, improve insights, and enable growth,” she said. “By automating manual processes, so employees only need to intervene in case of deviations. By providing personalized dashboards. And with the help of simulation tools. This leads to better decision-making, improved forecasting, and a more agile and responsive organization.”
Confident go-live
Another important experience SAP highlighted during the day is the go-live process. With GROW with SAP, not only does SAP offer the Cloud ERP solution, but it also provides all the necessary tools and services to ensure a confident go-live. Therefore, the day ended with an Experience Tour: an interactive walkthrough. Within four short sessions SAP Experts provided insights into:
- The Digital Discovery Assessment to validate scope and industry-proven processes
- SAP Business Technology Platform to realize any required differentiation
- SAP’s tools for lifecycle management and testing
- Enable Now, a digital platform to support users with in-application training and support
As Michiel Mijdam, SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Expert mentioned in his session “We see many projects succeed within a period of 12 weeks, by combining the ready-to-run Cloud ERP with all required tools and services for implementation”.
Unlimited growth
The last word at the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Innovation Day 2024 was for Marco Scheepmaker, Business Development SAP S/4HANA Cloud. As the host of the day, he pointed out the tree in the SAP office, with cards where each visitor could indicate which phase of the transformation journey they were in. “Whether you are seeding, growing, or harvesting: as an organization, you must always be ready for the next step. For new innovations, opportunities, and challenges.”
“Grow safely and worry-free. Without limits,” he said. “SAP helps customers in every industry, and of every size, to achieve this.”
Want to know more about the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Innovation Day 2024 and the possibilities of Cloud ERP for your organization? Please contact Marco Scheepmaker. Send an email to m.scheepmaker@sap.com.