by Lars Bork Dylander

Why S/4HANA outcompetes SAP ECC

When you take a closer look at the S/4HANA release 1909 you’ll see an enormous step forward for the S4 experience in general. I’ll go as far as saying; it gives a ‘wow effect’. In the 1909 release, it’s like it all makes sense and creates a feeling of something new – something we have never experienced before – a new way of administrating business. There has been tremendous progress across all lines of business (called modules in the old days). From 1909 S/4HANA, it is a full-blown ERP system able to support all areas of your business – just like we expect from SAP. When you look under the hood, you’ll understand, that this is a new type of engine and that the “old SAP ECC” will never be able to compete. It’s like making a horse wagon compete a racing car…

I’m one of those people who is fascinated by the technological development and how it can make the world a better place and make the UN sustainable development goals come true. I participate in conferences around the world – and yes – I’m one of those who is paying attention to the Singularity University organization and their view on the future. That’s why I’ll proclaim the S/4 1909 to be “The Singularity Release” as this S/4HANA release is the first to outcompete the well-known and beloved SAP ECC.

To understand why S/4HANA is something new that will change the game of ERP business and that it’s not just “an upgrade that looks nice”, you must understand how the system interacts with the user. The fundamental change from a transaction system to an information system…!

To really understand the background for how and why S/4HANA is transformational, you must study the history of industrial evolution and the paradigm shift in the move to Industry 4.0.

Industrial evolution happens when transformational technology matures. In Industry 1.0, the major change was power and steam engines. For Industry 2.0, it was electricity while in Industry 3.0, it was automation and robots. The driving factor in Industry 4.0 is the addition of “Information” to the business execution.

And that is exactly what SAP S/4HANA is all about – information in your business process execution!

Information is king in S/4HANA, and in the 1909 release you will see how the next generation ERP system provides information to help you make faster and better decisions. You get the feeling of how real time analytics and machine learning suddenly make all your ERP data come alive by providing all the information you have always dreamt of from your SAP solution.

To get the real feeling of the new world of SAP S/4HANA, I’ll suggest you book an online experience demo from our sales team (see below). To get you started on considering the business benefits, let me take you through a valuable process most companies have – purchasing.

Imagine that instead of going to different transactions and reports in SAP, you simply start in a dashboard that provides all the information you need to get “insights” on all your spend – and which highlights orders that need your attention. The dashboard is interactive, enabling you to directly navigate into the matter of any issue until you identify the “root cause” and can act accordingly. Imagine you get “hints” from the SAP engine if there are cases of supplier issues, and the system politely shows your alternatives.

Imagine that instead of being an expert in transaction codes, you simply navigate to the specific area to solve your business issues. Numerous of apps are available for you to take direct action. Not in an overwhelmingly way, but in a natural and intuitive way of working.

It’s not easy to put into words – you must see and try for yourself. And I promise you, when you do, you’ll get the feeling of the new S/4HANA platform and understand that the future of business is changing to an exciting and more efficient world of ERP business.

Behind the scenes, the new platform includes functionality that we have never seen before with Machine Learning and Robotics as integrated parts of business administration. SAP has released several algorithms in 1909 which offers suggestions based on predictive algorithms in finance postings and vendor management. This enables predictions and suggestions based on all the historical business transactions.

In 2BM, we put figures on how valuable this way of running your actual business is. We help to identify the value pools that are present in the company, and we discuss with clients how much of these pools that realistically will be part of the profit realization of S/4HANA. With facts on the table, there’s solid ground for decision making and planning for the transition.

It’s frustrating to see how the traditional SAP ECC customers are reluctant to engage – like there is a situation where some believe that the “Enterprise Core Component” is good enough, so why do anything? In these cases, the light hasn’t switched on yet. It’s important to understand that all new SAP customers joining the world of SAP are already ahead on S/4HANA cloud. They will drive their business towards the Industry4.0 era while those who don’t will become comparable to dinosaurs, stock in an old outdated system. The SAP GUI is dead, and the history of transactions is over. The future is about embedded information and insight to action!

I encourage all SAP customers to explore and understand the S4 opportunities and make a deep dive into the business value (business case). Let us show you how the digital evolution is powered by the next generation SAP. It’s in every way a stride ahead…

To summarize – the S/4HANA release 1909 is the first release that outperforms any old SAP ECC system. And it’s the first release that really meets the old tagline from Waldorf – Enjoy SAP!