The increasing competition in the data marketplace has led to an upsurge in demand for constant innovation. SAP has multiple products like the S/4HANA cloud platform, BTP, Business Networks, and Business Process Intelligence that boost innovation. But before the introduction of RISE with SAP, these products existed in silos. Businesses moving to the cloud, thus, had to enter into multiple contracts with several parties for smooth operations.
Other loopholes, such as time-consuming decision-making processes, high maintenance costs, complex data storage and transfer systems, and less time for innovations, also existed. This gave way to the launch of RISE with SAP, which is a comprehensive solution bundling all these offerings into one package.
Wondering what it is? This article will provide you with in-depth details.
What is RISE with SAP?
SAP launched RISE with SAP in January 2021 to provide business transformation as a service and assist intelligent enterprises. Operating on a subscription model, this product consolidates various SAP tools, technologies, and intelligence into a single comprehensive package. It thus streamlines the procurement process with a unified contract.
The following solutions form part of RISE with SAP:
● SAP S/4HANA Cloud Suite
RISE with SAP comes with a suite of solutions that enable businesses to host SAP S/4HANA, SAP’s flagship Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, on the cloud. All the tools a business needs for cloud migration are bundled together for a single price.
● System Hosting Options
Businesses are also given various options to choose a system host for the SAP S/4HANA cloud solution. This includes Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud, in addition to SAP servers.
● SAP Business Network Starter Pack
The Business Network Starter Pack helps businesses establish relations with trading partners. It has the following components:
1. ARIBA to ease sourcing and procurement
2. Logistics Business Network to track assets in transit and increase transparency
3. SAP Asset Intelligence Network to manage assets and handle maintenance processes
● SAP BTP Consumption Credits
SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), a platform-as-a-service, focuses on analytics, application development, database management, and intelligent technologies. With this product, businesses get cloud credits that they can use as per their particular needs on different focus areas of BTP.
● Business Process Intelligence
RISE with SAP users also get access to the Business Process Intelligence starter pack, which has seven major components. These components allow users to analyse, simulate, benchmark, monitor, improve, govern, and manage business data and performance.
● Embedded Tools and Services
It also provides users with other essential services that make the move to a cloud ERP easier. This includes assistance related to deployment, lifecycle management, removal of legacy code, analytics, supply chain process improvement, and more.
Benefits of RISE with SAP for your business
There are numerous benefits that it offers, which are listed below:
● Faster cloud migration
As discussed above, RISE with SAP combines cloud solutions, infrastructure, and security to ensure that the migration to the cloud ERP, i.e., SAP S/4HANA, is smooth and efficient. Business users don’t have to worry about multiple SLAs, operations, and issue management contracts. Rather than a piecemeal approach, all offerings are integrated into a single package.
● Optimisation of business processes
It facilitates process automation, reducing manual errors and improving overall productivity. Moreover, the product’s analytical capabilities deliver insights into how to improve existing processes. The data-driven approach thus results in a culture of constant improvements and helps businesses achieve a significant competitive advantage in the long run.
● Faster innovation
The main aim of RISE with SAP is to support businesses to transform into digital enterprises. With components such as SAP S/4HANA and SAP BTP, it helps accelerate innovation. It allows businesses to use advanced technologies like AI and robotic process automation. Moreover, it provides users access to SAP’s latest innovations and a quarterly update cycle.
● Improved support
SAP is dedicated to providing constant support for the users of RISE with SAP and takes on a higher accountability for customer processes. It offers guidance related to software, infrastructure, and technical managed services. This helps build a closer relationship with SAP, improve system uptime, reduce governance effort, and ensure that the intended business outcomes are easily achieved. Further, this frees up the companies’ IT manpower to prioritise strategic activities that drive business progress.
● Cost reduction
This product has a positive impact on the profitability of a business by controlling costs. For instance, SAP S/4HANA can facilitate intelligent manufacturing by synchronising supply, distribution, and production planning. Similarly, Ariba Network’s capabilities can help strengthen supplier relationships and find more economic opportunities. This results in cost-efficient manufacturing and inventory handling practices. Process automation features can further remove inefficiencies and optimise costs.
Read more about RISE with SAP and how to get started
Final Words
Thus, RISE with SAP presents a compelling opportunity for businesses seeking growth and digital transformation. RISE with SAP also offers an ideal opportunity to review the organization’s existing data footprint and decide what needs to be taken across to S/4HANA and what data can be left behind. The costs of storing substantial amounts of data in the cloud can spiral to inefficient levels; however, historical data must be retained for regulatory purposes and business needs. Decommissioning the legacy system will then be strongly recommended so that legacy data stays accessible at any time.
At this point, it is highly recommended to work with an SAP data management expert to assess the data footprint in the SAP system before embarking on a migration project. SAP partners like TJC Group, with decades of experience in the SAP landscape, can provide the kind of niche expertise required for a decommissioning project. Typically, you would be looking at shrinking the SAP database before migrating to S/4HANA with data archiving, and the decommissioning of the legacy system to retain access to historical data.
