Keeping ERP in balance

ERP balance and SAP transformation

An S/4 conversion, digital transformation, is an agile orchestration of your own organizational and operational structure. Without an SAP team in the form of a CCoE (Customer Center of Expertise), ERP expertise and change management, S/4 conversion cannot be designed effectively. In the SAP community, there is often a lack of available specialists during the planning phase. In addition to SAP with a Customer Evolution, SAP partners are also in demand here to compensate for the lack of expertise and support ERP transformations with their experience.

For existing SAP customers, the main challenge is to find the right balance between the offerings from SAP, partners and competitors such as ServiceNow, Workday, Boomi, Salesforce, UIpath and others. With AI, cloud, open source, hyperscalers and platform technologies, the boundaries between an in-house ERP system and the IT world have changed. A composable ERP requires a lot of experience to keep it in balance - in comparison, a "black box" like SAP R/3 was an easier challenge. The different focuses show that transformation cannot be a standard process. Transformation is an investment in future viability and competitive strength.

ERP data quality not without platform and AI

With the Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC), a focus was placed on data quality and data management at the beginning of 2025. Insufficient data quality is an inhibiting factor for a successful S/4 conversion and is often the result of an inadequate analysis of the existing ERP landscape and IT data. Existing SAP customers often underestimate the effort involved! The answer from SAP is: Databricks.

Databricks is a US software company from San Francisco that offers cloud-based solutions for building and managing data for companies and combines this with machine learning and artificial intelligence models. Technical IT progress is now the central motive for existing SAP customers to convert to S/4, rather than cost pressure or organizational measures. Especially in the DACH region, AI is now also considered a key technology. However, awareness alone is not enough for successful implementation - a carefully planned strategy and appropriate skills are required.

The expertise behind the Business Data Cloud is Databricks. Even before the cooperation between SAP and Databricks, many existing SAP customers were already using Databricks' functions and tools in their own data centers or via hyperscalers. This use is also accompanied by the increased use of AI and platform technology. The BTP (Business Technology Platform) is available for this in the SAP community.

IT technology versus ERP organization

Cloud and AI technology alone are not enough: transformation requires expertise, orchestration (change management) and agility. Customer evolution and conversion are a holistic and comprehensive process. Without SAP teams such as a CCoE, existing expertise and agile project management (DevOp), change cannot be shaped effectively. Almost 90 percent of companies in the SAP community want to actively prepare for the use of artificial intelligence. What sounds like IT progress at first glance becomes clear on closer inspection: The biggest hurdle is and remains poor data quality.

For existing SAP customers, the current challenge is to find a balance between the reformation of the organizational and operational structure (business processes) and IT technologies such as cloud and AI. New ERP technologies are a key motivation for S/4 conversion, but data quality remains the bottleneck. And ERP life is change: cloud is increasingly being used strategically! Not just as an IT model, but as an innovation platform for agility, scalability and AI.

Of course, the old IT saying is well known: Never change a running system! So how do you stay in balance with the legacy, the inertia, the transformation and the coming innovations? See also DSAG Annual Congress 2025 in Bremen. The risks of an unsuccessful ERP transformation are measurable in business terms: cost increases, loss of performance and technical incompatibility.

With the idea of SAP Customer Evolution, the company's own ERP can be transformed and brought into balance. However, existing SAP customers need freedom of choice for this. SAP is not yet an open company that has recognized the advantages of a composite, best-of-breed and composable ERP. Technical hurdles and complex license fees prevent a balance between SAP, competitors and open source.