Just after enterprises slowed down the adoption of integrated ERP systems early in the COVID-19 pandemic due to their increased focus on cost efficiency and other objectives, the outlook for SAP S/4HANA started improving in late 2020. The above information has been mentioned in a new report by Information Services Group (ISG), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The ISG Provider Lens 2021 SAP HANA Ecosystem Partners Archetype report has revealed that enterprises may delay decisions on large-scale SAP S/4 HANA transformation as their business needs and decision-making processes change between macroeconomic uncertainty due to the pandemic. Businesses are surely going to retain the current SAP ERP arrangement that aids them to meet short-term goals like cost control and agile delivery as per the report.
SAP S/4 HANA
SAP S/4 HANA is available on both on-premises and cloud versions and is built in a way to help enterprises address growing IT complexity, customizations, and legacy applications along with other issues while migrating databases and maintaining the operations. Evolution is going on to meet the needs of companies that aim to transform their business processes with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) as a necessary component.
Enterprises are at different maturity levels for SAP S/HANA adoption as said by ISG. Various enterprises with legacy ERP environments managed by third-party service providers have delayed decisions about moving to SAP S/4 HANA because of the concerns related to the costs, manageability, and complexity. However, to get the leverage of digital-enabled ERP, clients will need to prepare for a transition to a newer version of SAP ERP in cooperation with either SAP service partners or third-party software support providers.
SAP service providers continue to create new tools to help the clients carry out transformations like frameworks, machine learning (ML), tools and accelerators that work on AI, and other technologies to simplify the process. Not only this, but managed service providers (MSPs) are also increasingly using bots and automation to streamline clients’ operations. Alliances with hyperscale cloud providers, designed to make sure their services fulfil the SAP S/4 HANA needs and are also essential to support cloud implementations.
When it comes to SAP S/4HANA, the ISG Provider Lens 2021 SAP HANA Ecosystem Partners Archetype study looks at four types of clients, or archetypes, that are looking for services. The analyzes the ability of 18 service providers to provide services for the following archetypes:
- Intelligent Digital Adopters: – These buyers possess a digital transformation strategy to optimize and automate business processes and manage and govern data with the utilization of technologies such as Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). They have an intention to integrate all existing applications, including third-party solutions, with SAP solutions.
- Transactional Users – These organizations use SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) or R/3 as an existing ERP solution and are looking for services to manage these applications. They are not in favour of adopting a different ERP system due to the resistance to change, inability to manage more complex SAP environments, lack of skills, or lack of resources to invest.
- Landscape Transformers – These clients want to know elaborately about the advantages of SAP S/4 HANA and thus are all set to invest in an integrated ERP system as soon as possible. The enterprise leadership seeks advantages from responsive applications and a rich user interface and is prepared for organizational process changes.
- Transitioners And Cloud Adopters – These clients have SAP ECC and intent to go for SAP S/4 HANA. These customers want to implement SAP S/4 HANA Cloud or SAP S/4 HANA via Suites on HANA (SoH) or carry out a brownfield conversion. They also want to manage the cloud infrastructure with the aim of keeping the business processes and IT application landscapes stable.
