When is S/4 Hana Utilities coming?
Regardless of whether it is a corporate group or a municipal utility, the solutions from Walldorf are used by most of them. Currently, many use SAP ERP and, in addition, an SAP IS-U as a separate instance.
However, most SAP IS-U instances used by utilities today are more than ten years old. The end of development has been reached. In addition, over the years the systems have been very individually designed for the needs of the respective user.
S/4: Great uncertainty
When it comes to the benefits of S/4 Hana for the utilities industry, there is a lot of uncertainty on the customer side. The first utilities functionalities are to be delivered with Release 1809.
Should EVU (energy supply companies) deal with the topic now? How can the switchover be completed? What are the benefits of the changeover? These are questions that consultants at Gisa, one of the largest IT service providers for the industry in Germany, are confronted with.
After all, people are asking, and the urgency of the issue is well known. One thing is clear: the industry solution SAP IS-U will no longer exist in its current form. Instead, functionalities for the industry will be developed directly with S/4.
The experts at Gisa are also excited about this. A demonstration and consulting system for the new functionalities is ready - for the company's own testing and, starting this fall, also for qualified consulting for existing customers and for interested companies in the industry.
"We currently rely on an experience and consulting system in Gisa. The S/4 Utilities consulting system will be continuously available with all available functions and content at the most current level."
Jörn Haußen, Head of Consulting Utilities at Gisa, said.
"We are currently looking intensively at our existing customers to develop new strategies to make them fit for what no one currently knows: S/4 Utilities.
In the system, we make several considerations on the topics of architecture, interfaces and integration and, of course, upcoming cloud applications. The goal is to always be ahead in practical consulting: for on-premise and cloud".
Haußen emphasizes.
Strategic arguments for S/4
The development of SAP Business Suite towards S/4 Hana Enterprise Management and the end of maintenance for SAP Business Suite 2025 set a time frame. Gisa is pursuing the strategy of benefit-oriented long-term communication with the customer.
Only in a strategic way - and above all in the long term - will the benefits of the next generation of SAP Business Suite take effect. With in-memory technology and the possibility of complex queries in real time, as well as the integrated use of embedded analytics, better decisions are already becoming possible in the company.
There is also the performance argument. After all, the processing of large volumes of data at maximum throughput and applications that are specially programmed for Hana clearly serve to optimize processes. Added to this is the argument of higher productivity.
The Fiori UI design, which is intuitive, user-friendly and responsive for all end devices, will act as an important proactive argument for S/4 Hana in the future.
Hana roadmap - step by step
Even though there are currently still a number of uncertainties, especially with regard to the IS-U components and the new S/4 Hana Utilities, utilities should start quickly with their roadmap.
Energy service providers, such as Gisa customer and regional supplier enviaM, have already been successfully productive with Hana systems for years and have a Hana strategy. The change process associated with SAP Hana should not be underestimated.
Some companies are taking this as an opportunity to put their sourcing strategy to the test, while others need to address fundamental know-how and infrastructure issues. Therefore, there is much to be said for starting with a Hana roadmap.
Current Hana decisions are often supported by positive effects in the replacement of non-SAP database maintenance. The SAP systems surrounding IS-U are also subject to a need for modernization. Many companies are taking the planning pressure as an opportunity to analyze their entire SAP landscape.
In addition, SAP CRM in its final form until 2025 is a point of discussion for many utilities. SAP has also announced news in this regard for the upcoming S/4 Utilities release.
"The important thing is to start strategically now".
Jörn Haußen emphasizes once again from a consulting and customer perspective.
"Companies can start transforming their ERP to the new S/4 business suite right now"
says Haußen.
It is also possible to move the systems to the Hana database as an interim step.
"No matter how utilities want to lay out their roadmap: Every transformation needs a preparation phase. This step should be taken in any case.
Jörn Haußen emphasizes in conclusion.
