Although conventional SAP S/4HANA implementations are a combination of technical migration and business transformation, SAP customers usually approach these projects separately. For many, the move to the cloud is still purely a question of infrastructure. This is a shame, since a combined move to SAP S/4HANA and the cloud offers companies several advantages at once: digitalization of the IT landscape with high innovation potential, new components and shorter workflows. In addition, companies benefit from lower project costs, shorter project durations and fewer system failures during the implementation.

According to the Benchmark Report published by SAPinsider in November 2021, SAP customers mostly focus on costs (46 percent) and SAP S/4HANA Cloud (39 percent). They are currently less interested in the other parts of the Business Process Intelligence program, embedded tools, industry enhancements, SAP BTP and SAP Business Network.

SAP users are taking advantage of the migration to modernize their existing IT landscapes and at the same time prepare themselves for fully digitalized working environments. In addition, by moving to SAP S/4HANA and the cloud, they can combine two strategic transformation projects and reduce the overall workload. Project managers should allow sufficient time for systematic planning and avoid making rash decisions. So what do companies need to consider when they decide to move their systems, data and applications to SAP S/4HANA Cloud?

Gerald Faust, managing director and CEO – Asia Pacific and Middle East, SNP, said, “In moving to the cloud with SAP S/4HANA through RISE with SAP, organisations can redesign their processes leveraging retained historical data to better align to an entirely new business environment. To support this transition, SNP’s packaged solutions provide rapid implementation based on a proven methodology and a predefined scope, combined with clear and predictable implementation without the usual risk. There is no one size-fits-all formula for organisations undergoing a cloud transformation journey, however when a solution is tailored to meet the organisation’s goals the impact is significant.

This is inline with our own learning, as we walk the talk and move to the cloud with RISE with SAP. SNP has chosen to implement SAP S/4HANA® Cloud, private edition on Microsoft Azure. SNP aims to successfully complete the move to the cloud in just two months by the end of April 2022 and the Datavard integration in a total of five months by the end of July 2022.”

Good Planning Is The Key to Success

To develop the ideal SAP S/4HANA Cloud strategy, companies should first identify their own drivers for wanting to use the cloud. Companies want to free themselves from the burden of a large, on-premises data center and find a simpler, scalable alternative that allows them to save costs or respond to unexpected events in an agile manner.

Furthermore, companies have to gain an overview of their current IT landscape: How big is the system? What data and applications are used? Is it possible to move the entire system or only certain parts? Would this even be allowed and should it take place? Based on this information, companies can plan the project carefully and in line with their corporate strategy, decide on the ideal cloud infrastructure, and select a suitable provider.

Another key factor is finding the right model to deploy SAP S/4HANA Cloud as part of RISE with SAP. The software provider offers two models for this purpose: SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition and Public Cloud Edition. Most SAP user companies are interested in the private cloud. It is primarily aimed at medium-sized and large companies that need to adapt SAP S/4HANA to their requirements and utilize enhancements. The well-known hyper scalers Amazon Web Services, Google, IBM and Microsoft operate the SAP systems. The public cloud is aimed at SAP customers who want to use the standard version of SAP S/4HANA Cloud. The cloud solution does not allow for any customizing and is therefore particularly suitable for smaller SAP user companies with less complex processes or for new companies. The advantage is that they can achieve the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO).

Allow Sufficient Time to Prepare

Ideally, companies will lay the groundwork in parallel: Many of our customer projects have shown that it is worth cleaning up the existing SAP landscape before the migration. If companies can reduce the data volume in their systems, they will need less cloud storage at a later date, resulting in considerable cost savings. It is also worth aiming for fewer non-production systems such as development and quality assurance systems. This cost-cutting potential is often overlooked, and it can be leveraged more easily than the costs saved by archiving in the production system, or indeed implemented in addition.

Lower Costs, Less Risk? Absolutely!

The next step for companies is to carefully consider the question of how to realize the migration to SAP S/4HANA Cloud at the technical level. This crucial decision has a significant impact on the success of the project. It is advisable to use transformation software and an automated procedure. This enables companies to migrate data particularly quickly and securely while also avoiding long system downtimes, as it is necessary to stop business processes during the conversion for technical reasons. In particular, for highly customer-oriented companies with continuous operations and those with global operations, it is important to keep system downtimes to a minimum, since they quickly lead to enormous costs. A direct comparison shows how much the downtime can vary depending on the approach: A modern migration approach enables SAP systems to be converted with near-zero downtime, allowing operations to continue largely without disruption. In contrast, the same data migration using a standard approach would take significantly longer than a weekend and render the IT system unavailable throughout this period.

The chosen software solution should also provide companies with a glimpse into the future: How will the planned changes affect their systems? By simulating these changes before the actual migration, companies can minimize costs and risks and always maintain control of their major project.

Learning from Mistakes? Don’t Make Any in the First Place

When complex SAP systems and processes are moved to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, serious errors can sometimes occur. Those who deal with possible pitfalls in advance are clearly at an advantage. For example, it is important for companies to consider the interfaces that exchange information with internal and external communication partners. There are often several thousand of these digital connection points, all of which need to be identified before a migration to SAP S/4HANA Cloud and converted or updated during the project. This is the only way to ensure uninterrupted communication between employees as well as with partners, suppliers and customers. In addition, companies are well advised to set aside sufficient resources for test phases with SAP S/4HANA Cloud. To plan or document a migration properly and to ensure that balance sheets are not distorted, close coordination with auditors is a must, especially when migrating financial systems.

If everything has been considered, well planned and prepared, companies can move to SAP S/4HANA and the cloud quickly and securely while also unlocking the full innovation potential of the new technology.

Regional Contact: Priya Sharma,
Head – Marketing, JAPAC & MEA, SNP Transformations SEA Pte Ltd.

For any questions connect at:
marketing-asia@snpgroup.com or +65 98209905.

This article is sponsored by SNP

The post RISE with SAP to the Cloud — What Companies Need to Consider appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Heidelberg (Germany) I Singapore, July 29, 2021 – SNP Schneider-Neureither & Partner SE, a world-leading provider of software solutions for digital transformation processes and automated data migrations, signed an agreement today to acquire 100{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the shares in Datavard AG. The software and consulting company with around 170 employees specializes in transformations and data management in SAP landscapes and generated total revenues of around EUR 17.6 million in the 2020 fiscal year. The initial consolidation is expected to take place on August 1, 2021.

The acquisition of Datavard AG plays an important role in the implementation of SNP’s platform strategy, which allows companies to generate maximum value from their data transformation using just one software solution.

Gregor Stöckler, co-founder and CEO of Datavard AG, will join the Board of Managing Directors of SNP SE as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO). He will be responsible for the sales regions USA and UK-Ireland as well as globally for analytics, platform strategy, technology partners and partner marketing.

“With this acquisition, we are expanding our software portfolio to include Datavard’s solutions in the areas of SAP data management and analytics. In both the software and the consulting business, the two portfolios complement each other perfectly. Until now, SNP and Datavard have acted as competitors and partners in the market; in the future, we will use the newly gained strength from the merger of both companies to serve our customers and partners even more comprehensively,” says Michael Eberhardt, CEO of SNP SE.

Datavard has been active in the market for over 20 years and focuses on transformations and data management in SAP landscapes. In the area of transformation, Datavard supports companies in migrating to SAP S/4HANA, modernizing their analytics and data warehouse landscape, and carrying out mergers and acquisitions, carve-outs, and company splits. In the area of data management, Datavard offers solutions for data lifecycle management, business intelligence and analytics, and innovative cloud connectivity solutions that enable SAP customers to integrate and utilize SAP data in applications for artificial intelligence, machine learning and the Internet of things. Over 50 of the Global Fortune 500 and numerous DAX 30 companies are Datavard customers. In addition, the company has an outstanding partner network consisting of national and international players such as Accenture, AppDynamics, Google, Microsoft, SAP and more.

“We are very pleased to now be a part of the market leader for data transformation software solutions in the SAP world,” says Gregor Stöckler, founder and CEO of Datavard AG. “It opens up many new opportunities for our employees, customers and partners. SNP and Datavard have known and appreciated each other for many years as competitors and as partners. In addition, we are successfully collaborating in the “SAP S/4HANA Selective Data Transition Engagement” working group. Together, we will be able to support our customers and partners in their digital transformations even better.”

In addition to its headquarters in Heidelberg, Datavard has two large locations in Slovakia and a strong location in Switzerland. Furthermore, Datavard is also represented in the USA and Singapore in the Asia Pacific Japan region. “We are looking forward to welcoming the new employees, who will strengthen and expand our core business,” says Prof. Dr. Heiner Diefenbach, CFO of SNP SE.

From a regional perspective, Gerald Faust, Managing Director & CEO, Asia Pacific and Middle East, SNP Transformations SEA Pte Ltd., commented,” We are enthused about unifying our capabilities for end-to-end data migration offerings for the SAP eco-system in the strategic and fastest growing Asia Pacific Japan region. Our software platform centric and cultural synergies make us a leading provider for digital data transformation and data management resonating across all major markets.”

Financing

As consideration for the acquisition of all shares in Datavard AG, a cash component of around EUR 20 million and the issue of 173,333 new shares from a capital increase through contributions in kind are planned. An independent valuation has confirmed the appropriateness of the total purchase price. Taking into account Datavard’s double-digit growth expectations for the current year, the purchase price represents 15 times Datavard’s currently expected operating profit for 2021. The new shares will be issued indirectly to Gregor Stöckler and two additional shareholders of Datavard AG, and all three will remain with the company after the transaction. The shares issued will be subject to a 36-month lock-up period.

About Datavard

Datavard is an innovative provider of intelligent solutions and consulting services for SAP data management, SAP S/4HANA migrations, data warehouse modernization, legacy system decommissioning, SAP data integration, big data and system landscape transformations. As a trusted SAP partner with over 20 years of expertise, Datavard helps companies worldwide run their SAP systems leanly, efficiently and profitably. Datavard is headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, with offices in EMEA, the US and Asia. For more information, visit www.datavard.com.

About SNP

SNP is a world-leading provider of software for managing complex digital transformation processes. Instead of traditional IT consulting in the ERP environment, SNP offers an automated approach using specially developed software: The Data Transformation Platform CrystalBridge^® and the SNP BLUEFIELD^TM approach allow companies to restructure and modernize their IT landscapes much more quickly and securely as well as migrate to new systems or cloud environments more securely. This gives customers clear qualitative advantages while at the same time reducing their time and costs.

The SNP Group has around 1,600 employees worldwide. The company is headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, and generated revenue of around EUR 144 million in the 2020 fiscal year. It serves multinational companies in all industries. SNP was established in 1994, went public in 2000, and has been listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since August 2014 (ISIN DE0007203705). Since 2017, the company has been trading as a European company (Societas Europaea/SE).

More information is available at www.snpgroup.com

Contact:

This article is sponsored by SNP

The post SNP Acquires SAP Data Specialist Datavard appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Delaware, a global IT and management consultancy and a leading SAP partner in Singapore, continues to deepen its SAP S/4HANA capabilities with its recent partnership with SAP data management and data transformation expert Datavard. The two SAP partners will be collaborating on projects that would help bolster business transformation and SAP S/4HANA migration of Delaware Singapore’s customers.

Christophe Derdeyn, partner at Delaware Singapore said:

“This partnership with Datavard will support Delaware during the transformations of the digital core of customers in Singapore. With Datavard’s specialist experience around data transformations and data management, this partnership should greatly benefit the digital transformation journeys of companies in Singapore. Delaware has always committed to providing the best solutions to the market, and we are very excited about this partnership and the possibilities it offers.”

SAP Partners Enabling Customers’ SAP S/4HANA Migration

Both Datavard and Delaware bring into the partnership their SAP experience, expertise, tools, and solutions that enable customers to seamlessly embark on an SAP S/4HANA journey.

Delaware is a leading SAP S/4HANA implementation partner that has been consistently recognised in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for SAP S/4HANA Application Services, Worldwide. According to Delaware, Gartner’s recognition reflects the company’s investment in SAP S/4HANA application services resources, tools, and industry knowledge. In Singapore, Delaware is the only SAP partner with competence in SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud deployments.

Meanwhile, SAP Silver Partner Datavard adds to the alliance its expertise on migration, data warehousing, big data landscape design, cloud migration or system harmonization for SAP S/4HANA and SAP BW/4HANA. Under the partnership with Delaware, the Heidelberg-headquartered firm will be providing tools such as the Datavard Transformation Suite (DTS) to enable a secure and efficient SAP S/4HANA migration for Singaporean customers. DTS, an Abap-based, standardised, efficient solution, supports SAP migrations of all types and approaches.

Derdeyn said earlier in a Technology Magazine, Singapore article:

“By using the tools that Datavard provides, we can ensure that instead of having a downtime of several days for the migration – which our customer simply cannot afford – they won’t experience downtime of more than 10 hours.”

Rising with SAP

As SAP partners, both Delaware and Datavard have confirmed their support on SAP’s Business Transformation-as-a -Service cloud offering RISE with SAP.

Delaware International, the international structure that binds all Delaware practices across the world, was one of the first SAP partners that have committed support to SAP’s subscription-based offering. 

“Running cloud solutions from SAP in its own core operations, Delaware is thrilled to advise its customers for cloud adoption as it enables innovation while moving forward steadily. Delaware strongly believes that RISE with SAP will become the reference for customers evolving into intelligent enterprises,” said Eric Hiernaux, Managing Director at Delaware International, in an SAP article.

As an SAP Gold Partner, Delaware’s proven expertise and experience in SAP technology back customers’ business transformation journey. The consulting firm offers FAST-2-S/4 solution, an SAP-qualified solution that allows companies to technically migrate to SAP S/4HANA with minimal throughput time and overhead. In addition, Delaware also offers S/4HANA accelerators, which are tools and techniques developed in-house to streamline and shorten customer’s migration process.

Similarly, Datavard has also expressed its support to RISE with SAP during a live fireside chat on “RISE with SAP and S/4HANA Accelerated with Selective Data Transformation” held earlier this month. The panelists, including Datavard APJ’s Managing Director Ulf Spies, shared insights on how selective data transformation (SDT) can help customers transform data with maximum flexibility in relation to RISE with SAP.

Spies said that SDT strikes a balance between different approaches, helps move historic data selectively with minimum business disruption, and merges multiple systems in one environment. He added that SDT complements partners with much more diverse offerings to their standard brownfield or greenfield offerings.

Emphasising the complementary role of SDT with RISE with SAP, Chern-Chuen Khor, COO for SAP Southeast Asia and the event moderator explained:

“Retaining critical data and process configuration and innovating through a new RISE with SAP implementation in the cloud do not have to be mutually exclusive. That’s where SDT comes into play, allowing companies to strike a balance between flexibility and risk, to not throw the baby out with the bathwater.“

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