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Who should do this, when and why? 

 

migrate from SAP ECC and SAP SRM to SAP Ariba and S/4 Hana

It’s time to plan your migration to SAP’s cloud procurement solutions

If your company has been using SAP and/or Ariba for procurement and supply chain management for some time, you may well be wondering if it’s worthwhile migrating to S/4 Hana Sourcing and Procurement and/or SAP Ariba Cloud. Let’s look at some of the driving factors for this type of migration, and why you should be planning on moving to a Cloud-based SaaS model for your procurement and sourcing software sooner rather than later. 

Start planning your migration with SapienceS2P today to avoid being left behind by your competitors. 

Migrating to Sap Ariba and S/4 Hana from SAP ECC and SAP SRM: Who should do this, when and why? 

If your company has been using SAP and/or Ariba for procurement and supply chain management for some time, you may well be wondering if it’s worthwhile migrating to S/4 Hana Sourcing and Procurement and/or SAP Ariba Cloud. Let’s take a look at some of the driving factors for this type of migration, and why you should be planning on moving to a Cloud-based SaaS model for your procurement and sourcing software sooner rather than later.  

Who should plan on migration to SAP’s cloud procurement solutions? 

If your organisation is currently using an older SAP ERP solution like SAP ECC or an SAP solution like SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) that’s been rolled into the latest SAP Ariba Cloud build it’s time to think about migrating to the latest SaaS-based SAP services yourself.  

However, it’s about more than just “keeping up with the times” or making sure your updates match your competitors. There are several other benefits to be had from switching to the latest supply chain management software: 

  • Cloud and SaaS-based vs on-prem: SAP ECC, SAP SRM, and their cohorts are on-prem installs with all the extra resources and management that maintaining software on your own server entails. You also get the other common benefits of SaaS – fully up-to-date security patches,  
  • SAP Hana (including S/4 Hana) offers the latest in in-memory computing: In addition to the advantages of using software running on SAP’s own optimized cloud servers, SAP’s Hana platform uses in-memory computing to process data in the server’s RAM buffer. This can enable processing speeds up to 10,000 times as fast as with more traditional magnetic hard drives. This makes automated decision making effective for real-time data.  
  • Cloud-based SAP Ariba and S/4 Hana procurement functions benefit from the latest data and features from the SAP Ariba Network: With the latest reports and knowledge about each supplier, data used for supplier relationship management is backed by valid reporting on key supplier metrics such as financial viability, customer reviews, and the effects on things like logistics of black swan events like the recent pandemic.  
  • Easy to integrate with the latest 3rd-party enhancements: There are lots of 3rd-party enhancements available to users of the latest SAP Ariba and S/4 Hana Cloud solutions. Things like our AI chatbot, Satori can make huge improvements to efficiency and user experience.  
  • You’re no longer using ‘sunsetting’ software that’s no longer in active development:  Upgrading, especially to SaaS based cloud applications, means no longer having to worry about product end-of-support or end-of-life dates. Nor will you need to worry about unpatched security holes or 3rd party solutions that are integrated with your SAP platform evolving away from compatibility.  

With all these reasons, it’s hard to see why many organisations are nervous about upgrading their SAP software. Of course, it’s easy for decision makers to come up with excuses like: 

  • It would cost too much: One of the main reasons not to do anything in business. However, it’s important to look at long-term costs once you take overall effects on revenue into account. What are the potential savings from having an up-to-date product freshly installed, complete with customisations and enhancements based on audits of your current business practices? Once you take everything into account, it’s clear that in most cases planning and enacting an upgrade within the next few years is going to work out more profitable than limping on with out-of-date software. While it’s true that many of the big-name consultancy firms that deal with SAP are expensive, there are alternatives like SapienceS2P that offer highly qualified expert consultants both faster and cheaper than many of our competitors.  
  • It takes too much time: Lots of decision-makers worry that major software upgrades take a long time. We’ve all heard horror stories about software deployments that have taken 12 months or more. Luckily even completely new installs of SAP Ariba only take 3-6months to build and deploy, with similar guideline times for S/4 Hana. We won’t ever take more time than is necessary for a software deployment. Our usual initial audit assessment period of two weeks teaches most of what we need to know about your business. After that if you’re ready to commit we can hit the ground running, and if you aren’t ready, we can work with you to build an upgrade plan that ticks all the right boxes for your company.  
  • It’s hard to get the right consultants: You might have been burned in the past by the SAP skills shortage. Many of the bigger consulting firms hire consultants who have only just done their qualifications, where what’s really needed by businesses is industry knowledge that can only be gained over time. SapienceS2P takes the time and effort to hire top talent with many years of experience, so you get only the best people working with your SAP system. When we need to save money, we do it with things like our all-remote workforce rather than cutting corners when hiring.  
  • It will lead to increased training costs: While there will always be some training element to any major software upgrade, newer SAP systems are much easier to use than older ones. Additionally, by adding extras like RPAwesome and Sapience Satori you can drastically reduce the amount of user training required overall. 
  • If I speak to a consultant, I will need to follow through with the upgrade immediately: Though every system will need to be updated eventually, when the right upgrade time is for your company depends on a range of things including budget, team size, existing workflows, current system, and business needs. Often, we develop a plan to bring your existing SAP deployment more in line with your business requirements while working out the best possible time to make any further improvements. With a few tweaks and extras, it may be possible to stave off any major upgrades until you’re ready, while still making big efficiency savings on your current procurement workflows. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, every company currently using older SAP procurement software will have to upgrade their systems. Professional help with planning and implementing these changes will not only smooth the process; it will give you a better understanding of what the upgrade will involve and help you to plan and enact a better upgrade pathway – no matter how long or short that pathway is. 

Get in touch with us today and speak with one of our consultants about how we can help make your procurement system awesome.

SAP Ariba procurement cloud migration

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