Hana, SoH, S/4 and Hybris

Hana, SoH and S/4 are and remain the core system. How is the connection to SAP Hybris made?

Frank Scharpenberg: In general, the SAP Hybris connection is seamless and process-oriented. Whether you use HCI - Hana Cloud Integration from the SAP Cloud - or NetWeaver PI for the technical connection of an SAP Hybris C4C is not decisive here.

So for the existing SAP customer, it's more than just a technical connection?

Scharpenberg: SAP has brought in the experience from the SAP CRM middleware, and this with the claim to provide users with a process-
integration. It is important to understand that this is not just a connection. The Walldorf-based company provides a standard integration for master data and transactions, which is also being continuously developed by the manufacturer.

According to this, where is the center?

Scharpenberg: It is too simple to define the ERP backend as the core system or leading system. Information that is created in the customer interaction is also captured in a Cloud-4-Customers, C4C, leading. That products, prices and availabilities are used from the ERP is clear. Here, process- and object-oriented specifications must be made. On the one hand, the connection or integration thus enables the convergence of ERP processes and thus also governance in Hybris C4C. On the other hand, sales and service have access to all the information they need on a user role-specific basis in order to offer customers the customer experience with which the new as-a-service business models will function.

Is S/4 or Hybris the leading system in the ERP environment?

Scharpenberg: As with C4C, the strength of SAP Hybris Commerce lies in the experience. Whereas the C4C primarily focuses on the user experience in marketing, sales, and service, Hybris Commerce offers the oft-cited customer experience. At this point, I can refer to my statement on SAP Hybris C4C. The same applies here when we talk about SAP-ERP coupling. If you have defined customer-specific or even channel-specific prices, then you map them only once, in one place. Vertical integration, from ERP to customer, combined with the horizontal channel integration possible through Hybris across marketing, commerce, sales, all the way to service, leaves no room for maneuver here, in my view. Nor do I see the need to do so, since the integration components offered by SAP Hybris speak a clear language with regard to an ECC or S/4 Hana: seamless and process-oriented. SAP has its strength here and plays to it against other market participants in that this integration is supplied from Walldorf.

Have S/4 and Hybris already arrived in practice - or are we at the beginning of an evolution, as with Industry 4.0?

Scharpenberg: Yes and no. The key lies in the increasing scope of integration of the components, which determines the SAP-Hybris coverage. The integration of C4C Sales has much of what an SAP CRM offers today. With C4C 16/08 and S/4 Hana 16/10, many open gaps such as in the contract and Ibase are closed. The same applies to Hybris Commerce. The functionality already covers industry standards to a high degree.

So you've outgrown the children's shoes?

Scharpenberg: SAP Hybris is ready for use and will be made available with best practices and accelerators. Industry 4.0 and the new digital as-a-service business processes mentioned earlier need a customer experience platform that can grow with them and is not held back by the governance of an ERP backend, but is integrated.

In which industries can Hybris be used from Atos' point of view?

Scharpenberg: Of course, we are talking here about the classic industries in which SAP ERP is already in use today for the value-creating processes of a company. Manufacturing industry, machinery and plant manufacturers - here our projects are currently running or are productive with SAP Hybris. But the solution will also be able to be used in the pure service industry with the expansion of ERP integration.

Thank you for the interview.