SAP SaaS- what is missing in S/4HANA

Technology’s Three Pillars: Reducing Space, Reducing Time, and Increasing Interaction

Technology, at its heart, is designed to simplify our lives by excelling in three key areas: reducing space, reducing time, and fostering social interaction. From ERP software to modern SaaS products, these principles guide innovation and adoption.

When we consider ERP systems like SAP—be it in the form of Public Cloud, RISE contracts, or other hyperscaler-powered configurations—it’s clear that these are fundamentally SaaS products. Yet, ERP adoption follows a top-down approach: there’s no buffet of options for end-users. Instead, the choice is made at the organizational level, whether hybrid, cloud, or otherwise. As an employee or business user, the ERP platform becomes an integral part of your daily routine.

The Digital Transformation Landscape: Solving Space, Time, and Interaction

Digital transformation initiatives that thrive today are those that harness technology to address these three aspects effectively. Consider innovations like:

• Click-and-collect models, seamlessly bridging the gap between online and offline shopping.
• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platforms, which compress decision-making timelines and simplify financial transactions.
• Digital banks like Monzo and Revolut, which eliminate physical branches while creating personalized customer experiences.

These solutions not only shrink time and space but also deepen user interaction, making adoption almost effortless.

SAP SaaS: A Step Toward Simplification

When we evaluate SAP’s SaaS offerings, we see meaningful strides in reducing space and time:

1.???? Reducing Space:

o?? The pay-as-you-go model enables businesses to scale resources flexibly based on their needs.

o?? Physical data centre ownership becomes unnecessary, shifting the financial focus from CapEx to OpEx.

2.???? Reducing Time: SAP’s core propositions often highlight time efficiency, widely promoted on platforms like LinkedIn. These include:

o?? Quicker month-end/book closures, streamlining financial processes.

o?? Reduced MRP run times, though for many, next-day order proposals are adequate.

o?? Real-time inventory visibility, offering enhanced insights and control over supply chain dynamics.

o?? Quicker upgrades of technology stack- again upgrades have become seamless now-a days even in ECC landscape.

o?? AI-driven Joule analytics, which deliver KPI/ insights on the fly—though forecasting across ecosystems remains a limitation.(not a feature yet- competing own product line)

But What About Social Interaction?

Here lies the most underexplored opportunity for ERP systems. Social interaction, in the context of ERP, applies to two groups:

• Direct consumers: Internal business users who engage with the ERP system for their daily operations.
• Indirect consumers: The organization’s end customers, whose experience is shaped indirectly through the ERP system's capabilities.

Has S/4HANA revolutionized this sphere? Not yet. While operational efficiencies abound, the question remains: Why should business users embrace S/4HANA willingly, beyond the necessity of completing their daily tasks?

Yes, Fiori undoubtedly holds promise as a significant UX enhancement for direct consumers. However, the reality today is that the majority of ECC (the legacy "antagonist") customers have already adopted some form of app-based UI. These interfaces, whether developed on the SAP platform itself or by third-party providers, still leverage SAP core as the backend. As a result, the unique advantage Fiori offers is largely neutralized, with its impact diminished in a landscape already rich with customized solutions.

The value proposition must move beyond "faster." Instead, ERP systems should focus on making mundane tasks easier, intuitive, and freeing up users to concentrate on high-value, strategic engagement—the “secret sauce” of every organization’s success.

Is SAP subtly steering every corporation to anchor their entire business operations within the SAP ecosystem-i.e. out-of-box- to break the shackles of being treated as backend system for decades? Think of it this way: when you shop at Zara or Vero Moda, you're enjoying the brand's offerings, but ultimately, your payment funnels to the parent company, Inditex. Similarly, SAP’s strategy seems to position its ecosystem as the all-encompassing backbone of business processes, where every transaction, decision, and workflow eventually ties back to its digital core.

#ERP #DigitalTransformation #SAP #SaaS #CloudComputing #Innovation