As SAP Gold partners, we are very familiar with SAP ECC traditional ERP, with which we have been working for several years. However, we are pleased to have a new SAP tool that allows us to make a fresh offer to a different type of customer.
Let’s explore some of the benefits of using SAP S/4 Cloud!
In the age of smartphones, apps, and TV shows that come out before we even have the time to discover them, SAP S/4 HANA Cloud (S4HC; its given name) is faster. For those who know our good old ECC, they understand how difficult it is to update, or set up a new version (or EhP - Enhancement packages), not to mention all the following tests. Well, imagine that our new cloud friend is running with updates and features that go with every quarter. Thus, a feature that does not exist in the current release may appear in less than three months. As SAP informs us on a regular basis, we then are able to anticipate such a possibility and adapt our year and deployment plans. For example, here is the one for 2018:
Source : Sap.com
With regard to the 1808 release (read like this: 18 for 2018 and 08 for August: so S4HC’s latest release was in August 2018.) Here are some examples of novelty:
Source : SAP
And here is a summary of all 1808’s new features :
Image 3 : Summary of 1808’s new features
Source : sap.com
At this point in the article, perhaps you find that there are far too many images and lack of content? In fact, I wanted to show you that for each release, SAP provides us with documentation for several reasons, including:
The most skeptical will say that it will be necessary to perform tests each time, which is not wrong. But SAP has helped us on this side, because it gives us a series of test scenarios that take place automatically. You just have to go into the test feature and you will find several more, including:
Finally, SAP provides you with a series of documentation that will be accelerators for your project. These documents are models of any type (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) and are distributed in the different phases of the project including its project or configuration plan or organizational structure.
For more details, documents are available here.
Thanks to technologies contained in Leonardo, SAP brings us new functionalities. We knew SAP as a powerful integrated tool, but now we're going to find out how SAP is smart and can learn as it goes.
When we talk about intelligence, SAP brings these three new notions:
SAP has made new friends in its ecosystem, giving users the ability to meet most of their needs. By building an ecosystem with SAP solutions, integration with SAP is now delivered according to best practices. Indeed, on SAP best practices’ site, we can take note of all the possible integration with S4HC and to have access to the necessary steps to integrate the best possible solutions from the SAP ecosystem.
In the diagram below, see the different solutions that are part of this ecosystem:
Source : https://www.sap.com/canada-fr/products/s4hana-erp-cloud.html
SAP has changed its methodology and now proposes to use the Activate methodology to implement the projects (this is also valid for Cloud or On-Premise solutions). It has a new approach and allows us to guide customers in a different way that better matches the new features of SAP.
This methodology is summarized in five key phases:
Image 5 : SAP Activate Methodology
Source : https://www.sap.com/canada-fr/services/s4hana-deployment.html
Finally, according to several criteria, we consider that SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a solution based on its big sister S/4HANA On-Premise, but not addressing the same target.
In fact, depending on the available features, such as the SAP recommended deployment plans and the quarterly updates, the most suitable companies for S4HC would be:
Now that you know a little more about the SAP cloud and the ability to quickly implement an ERP in a secure way, when will we see you in the cloud?
At Createch, we love to leverage innovative cloud solutions to improve your business. Contact us!