The session, held on November 9, 2023, featured consulting experts, who explained in detail how to make the most of SAP S/4HANA functionalities, with the aim of highlighting its role and benefits in enabling new business models.
Among the topics addressed, the importance of artificial intelligence to optimize business efficiency was highlighted. The experts provided detailed information on the successful migration and upgrade of SAP S/4HANA, and answered crucial questions that companies often ask, such as what are the reasons to migrate, what to choose between on-premises or cloud infrastructure, what the budget required to carry out the process, among other equally important ones.
SAP S/4HANA implementation options.
SAP S/4HANA is presented as a platform that is strategically oriented towards business, which comprehensively brings together all the services necessary for the development of applications, the integration of processes, access to data in real time and the generation of analysis.
This platform not only acts as a process facilitator, but this intelligent approach allows businesses to efficiently implement a variety of repetitive processes that, conventionally, would consume considerable time. The automation of these processes is achieved through advanced technologies such as Machine Learning, thus enhancing the functionality and effectiveness of the ERP.
In this webinar, the tangible benefits of SAP S/4HANA were revealed through testimonials from specialized consultants.
Víctor Rosales, SAP-FI consultant, highlighted the positive impact in the financial area. Regarding this, he said that all companies have a financial area that is responsible for establishing strategies to manage effective flow, optimize it and, in this way, ensure that the company is profitable. In this sense, one of the greatest benefits is that with SAP S/4HANA there are analytical applications that greatly help all directors and managers to make decisions based on real-time indicators.
This tool enables quick risk verification without the need to generate reports or rely on IT staff to request access. Users, when trying the system for the first time, experience a notable transformation in their experience, since they stop interacting with the traditional SAP ECC menus.
When comparing SAP ECC with SAP S/4HANA, significant differences stand out, SAP S/4HANA incorporates the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and analytical applications in various processes, such as cash flow. Artificial intelligence automates processes, significantly reducing the time required to complete operations and turning them into automatic transactions. Analytical applications automatically compare bank balances with obligations, while artificial intelligence makes predictions about customer receivables and payment behavior, enabling more accurate decisions and effective compliance with obligations.
In terms of analytical reporting, SAP S/4HANA simplifies the process by consolidating all information in a single place, thus eliminating the need for interfaces and significantly reducing wait times associated with heavy reporting. This consolidation of functionalities in a single application provides organizations with immediate access to the best functional and business intelligence practices, generating substantial savings by avoiding investments in technological infrastructure.
In this sense, Alfredo Muerza, sales consultant, shared how SAP S/4HANA improves the user experience in the sales area.
Based on his 29 years of experience, he noted that one of the most notable advantages of SAP’s new functionality in S/4HANA is the optimization of e-commerce. In the previous environment, in ECC, a product availability check was required. However, with SAP S/4HANA, a unique advantage is introduced by allowing advanced verification, where you get a comprehensive view of the product across multiple distribution centers.
This improvement especially benefits electronic sales businesses, since they can now generate orders in the system and perform product availability checks in real time in all the distribution centers they have. Additionally, through interactions on the portal, the estimated arrival date of the product can be confirmed to the customer, thus reducing sales losses due to the lack of agile verification.
The inclusion of artificial intelligence also has a positive impact, transforming sales orders from reactive to predictive. This allows the customer to receive suggestions, thus increasing sales capacity and proactively improving customer service.
SAP S/4HANA offers tangible benefits for the sales teams, such as integrating business partners into a single database to avoid data redundancy and reduce database load. Credit Management is another benefit, along with Output Management, which consolidates all output processes into a single functionality for all logistics modules. In addition, Trade Management comprehensively addresses import and export operations in a single module, providing a complete solution for international commercial activities.
To delve into the benefits of the platform in the materials area, consultant Jaime Delgado addressed the positive impact that SAP S/4HANA has on organizations, focusing on the day-to-day life of users in the purchasing area. He highlighted two points of relevance, the first being the optimization of the business partner process. Before, in the SAP ECC environment, it was common for users to face difficulties when iterating between multiple transactions. Now, SAP S/4HANA addresses this problem by integrating master data into a single transaction. This improvement not only provides optimal tracking of transactions, but also encourages effective collaboration in all areas of the company, facilitates negotiation with suppliers by providing reliable information, and simplifies supplier management in terms of access to information.
Also, he highlighted another functionality of great interest offered by SAP S/4HANA: invoice management. In SAP ECC, manual invoice entry caused significant problems, such as incorrect information resulting in wrong or delayed payments. Today, however, SAP S/4HANA effectively addresses this challenge by leveraging artificial intelligence in both Rise and On-premise modes.
The production area of a company is essential, and therefore, Joel Cruz, a specialist on the subject, shared his knowledge about the benefits of S/4HANA in the production area and planning material requirements. The expert highlighted two key functions of SAP S/4HANA in the production process. The first one is the “Manufacturing Order Split”, which simplifies the workload distribution processes when there are independent planned requirements, and you want to convert them into one or more manufacturing orders.
Regarding demand-based replenishment, he said SAP S/4HANA now provides inventory levels for the product. In this context, two planning characteristics are distinguished: process manufacturing and planning for repetitive manufacturing.
Finally, Jean Pierre de Lorier, Director of Operations at Optisoft, delved into the topic of SAP S/4HANA licensing and the changes in contractual terms: the categorization of users, the On-premise scheme and Rise, and maintenance management.
He explained that Rise covers not only infrastructure, but also upgrade and support, included in a single contract. A relevant aspect is the modification in the categorization of users compared to SAP ECC, which allows optimizing the capacity of users according to their needs, leading to significant savings in the cost of subscription or license. This categorization must be carried out prior to the migration to guarantee a lower cost when making the purchase or upgrade.
He also mentioned another crucial aspect is maintenance, which acts as one of the drivers of this migration: “Mainstream maintenance”, which provides support to the installed base to incorporate new functionalities and technologies. At the end of maintenance, some options are presented, such as migrating to a supported version, purchasing extended maintenance with an additional cost of 2% (subject to quote), or opting for specific maintenance.
It is important to say that SAP ECC support ends in 2025, and it lacks extended maintenance by SAP.
Jean Pierre highlighted that when acquiring SAP S/4HANA maintenance, compared to ECC, an advantage is that during the first year of launching a version of SAP S/4HANA, functional improvements are shipped every quarter, detailed in a roadmap in the SAP portal. After that year, a standard maintenance period begins. Starting in 2023, the newly released version of SAP S/4HANA has a two-year improvement period, that is, for two years, new features will be introduced every quarter. Finally, a four-year period begins, totaling six years of maintenance.
In this webinar, “The key to digital transformation”, it is finally understood that SAP S/4HANA is presented as the heart of an intelligent company, offering comprehensive solutions that go beyond mere digital transformation, but also drives competitiveness and efficiency in all operational areas of organizations.
The migration to this platform is no longer just a necessity, but it has become a strategic opportunity for business growth and innovation.
If you want to learn more about the services that SYAAT offers to carry out your migration, click here.
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