E3 Category: Coverstories

SAP's more than fifty-year history is full of changes at the top of the Executive Board and so-called dual leadership. Professor Hasso Plattner has always been responsible for the dual solution. This time, however, following the departure of long-term Supervisory Board Chairman Plattner, the new SAP dual leadership emerged evolutionarily, almost by itself and in maximum harmony.

The term ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is probably used by the layman to describe stringent end-to-end business processes: Why else would someone plan the resources of their organizational and operational structure - Enterprise? It seems logical to think things through from start to finish, and yet classic ERP programs find this difficult. But there are solutions.

Variant configuration is demanding. In the SAP environment, the complexity is countered with efficient digital end-to-end configuration according to the "model once - configure and use anywhere" principle based on a first-class, standardized and central data model.

Do you know the feeling of missing out on valuable cost savings due to outdated systems? Innovative paradigm shift: using contract data to automate E2E processes!

Appealing 3D visualization and interactive configuration directly on the 3D object are integral components of end-to-end configuration in SAP. This helps to eliminate technical hurdles in complex detailed and system configurations and ensures a positive user experience.

The SAP standard has a number of gaps, for example in variant table maintenance (AVC or LO-VC). A modern SaaS cloud solution based on SAPTP provides a remedy and supplements the SAP standard with convenient functions for variant table maintenance that are 100% SAP-compliant.

There is a solution to the problem of time-consuming and error-prone characteristic evaluation in SAP AVC or LO-VC: The Variant-ID solution bundles all information on individual configuration characteristics in a unique ID, thus creating the greatest possible efficiency in data management.

SAP is riding an unprecedented wave of success in terms of its own share price. At the time this issue of E3 went to press, the share price on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange stood at 196 euros. About two years ago, the short-term low was 81 euros. Clearly, SAP CEO Christian Klein and his CFO Dominik Asam are doing an excellent job.

IT transformations are no walk in the park and pose challenges for existing SAP customers. With their own specialist knowledge, practical experience and human resources, SAP users often find themselves in a predicament.

An international study by SAP partners NTT Data Business Solutions and Natuvion shows that companies underestimate the lead time and complexity of digital transformation projects.

Professor Hasso Plattner has stepped down as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, marking a turning point in time. It never mattered what position or job Plattner held at SAP, because his presence, vision and determination led the company to success over many decades.

The days of monocausal systems and singular solutions are long gone. Even SAP has recognized this development and has provided open and transparent platforms and frameworks alongside the Hana and S/4 monoliths.