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THE MAGAZINE FOR SNP POLAND CUSTOMERS EDITION 2019
Migration to
S/4HANA ISSN 1897-323X
Why? When? How?
SAP support services in SNP: One solution to many problems | 40
Business Intelligence: Analysis, reporting, visualization – what to choose? | 72
LPP: a digital revolution in HR | 92
EDITION 2019
THE MAGAZINE FOR SNP POLAND CUSTOMERS ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
We are a consulting company specializing in SAP services, IT outsourcing and software development. We work for large and medium-sized companies as well as international corporations. SNP Poland (BCC until 2017) is one of the biggest companies implementing IT systems in Poland. We are a leader in the market of SAP services in Poland. We carry out projects all over the world. We provide IT outsourcing based on the secure infrastructure of SNP Data Centers. SNP Software Factory creates innovative applications that support any business process. We are part of the SNP Group – a global leader in SAP environment transformation projects.
EDITORIAL BOARD Monika Kanigowska
Grzegorz Grupiński
CONTACT SNP Poland, Złotniki, ul. Krzemowa 1 62-002 Suchy Las near Poznań, Poland E-mail: [email protected] | Phone: +48 61 827 7000
www.snp-poland.com
TYPESETTING AND PRINT Horsefield, www.horsefield.eu All names, brand names, trademarks and service marks which appear herein are the property or registered assets of their respective owners who are beneficiaries of all the rights vested therein and have been used exclusively for reference and information purposes.
THE MAGAZINE FOR SNP POLAND CUSTOMERS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EDITION 2019
Migration to
S/4HANA Why? When? How?
6 12 20
24 30 36
40 45 46 50 54 60 64 70
72 80 84
88 92 102
112 120 124
134 140
_____ _____ _____
SAP PROJECTS Rawlplug Group: Two systems, one global business SAP rollouts: standardized step forward Polish your SAP: SAP Add-ons for financial departments
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY SAP support services in SNP – one solution to many problems SAP maintenance by SNP SAP AMS: a helping hand A cloud for S/4HANA – but which one? Distribev Orbico – SAP HEC: migration, cloud, administration Hortex on SAP HANA: better maintenance, more efficient operation SNP DPM: optimal test data management for complex SAP landscapes SNP IFS – security and compliance
_____ _____ _____
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Analysis, reporting, visualization – what to choose? SAP Analytics Cloud – discovering business in the cloud SAP Embedded Analytics – reports straight from S/4HANA
_____ _____ _____
HUMAN RESOURCES Find your way to the HR cloud LPP: a digital revolution in HR SNP E-Time: a new approach to working time management
_____ _____ _____
SALES & CRM Stock: implementation of SNP Pricing for Profit E-invoice, mass, savings – time for SNP E-Billing Portal C/4HANA: time for Customer Experience
_____ _____
BUSINESS AUTOMATION RPA: digital employees – the future or the present? A force for change in the IT sector
EDITION 2019
ISSN 1897-323X
_____ _____ _____
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA Migration to S/4HANA – not if, but when? SAP S/4HANA in blue – SNP Bluefield approach SNP S/4HANA Conversion Set
SAP support services in SNP: One solution to many problems | 40
Business Intelligence: Analysis, reporting, visualization – what to choose? | 72
LPP: a digital revolution in HR | 92
4
EDITION 2019
photo W. Robakowski
40 thousand businesses are estimated to migrate to S/4HANA by 2025. For many companies the prospect of transition to S/4HANA still seems remote. However, those who decide to take this step earlier will get a double benefit. They will avoid conducting the project at the last minute with unpredictable outcomes, and take advantage of the latest generation of SAP solutions before their competitors. Therefore, it is a good idea to start preparations now to avoid problems with the availability of consultants, and to save time and money. Andrzej Moskalik SALES DIRECTOR, SNP POLAND
EDITION 2019
5
Migration to S/4HANA not if,
but when?
6
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
EDITION 2019
S/4HANA is the latest-generation ERP system, a successor to SAP ERP (SAP ECC, R/3). 2025 is the last year of system maintenance for SAP ERP. 40,000 companies and institutions have to migrate by then. Already in 2021, there may be shortages of specialists to support migration. Therefore, preparations for migration should be made now.
Anyone who uses a SAP ERP system, no matter
An important attribute of the new version is the
whether it is EHP SAP ERP or ECC 6.0, is well aware
possibility to use the new SAP Fiori user interface.
that SAP will cease to support this system by the end
On the other hand, companies that have already
of 2025. That means the prospect of transition to
implemented an older version of the system (most
the next generation of the SAP system – S/4HANA –
often SAP ECC 6.0) are mostly reluctant to make
seems clear, but at the same time fairly remote. There are, of course, companies that are already planning migration to S/4HANA, as part of a significant reorganization of their system, or even
The end of SAP support for SAP ERP/ECC systems
a reimplementation of SAP, which will naturally be based on S/4HANA. For a great number of businesses, however, migration to S/4HANA is not something
a decision to migrate to a newer platform. The rea-
worth considering for the next 2-3 years. There
sons for waiting are different. This is hampered by,
are numerous uncertainties. What are actually the
inter alia, the difficulty in choosing an appropriate
benefits of migration? What is the scope of the
migration strategy and the fear that its course and
project? How much time and money will it take?
costs are difficult to plan.
Besides, there are still 6 years left…
Migration from SAP ERP to S/4HANA is possible in
A company starting the preparation early will get
various ways, and the choice of the optimal path
a double benefit. Firstly, it will avoid a chaotic pro-
depends on many factors, including the complexity
ject implemented at the last minute by a partner
of the used SAP environment, the type and scope
who is not necessarily competent but has project
of changes to be made, as well as – to what ex-
resources available. Secondly, when the competi-
tent historical data from the old system is to be
tors are still talking about migration to S/4HANA,
available in the new one. Each SAP environment
it will be far ahead of them – planning further
is different, also the needs and development plans
improvements and development projects feasible in the SAP S/4HANA.
FINDING THE OPTIMAL PATH Companies that implement SAP from scratch al-
Migration from SAP ERP to S/4HANA is possible in
ready choose S/4HANA instead of the “good old”
various ways, and the choice
SAP ERP system. They are encouraged by better
of the optimal path depends
system performance, user-friendly integrated reporting (without the need to run a data warehouse),
on many factors, including the
the modernization of many system functions and
complexity of the used SAP
the addition of new, previously unavailable ones.
environment.
EDITION 2019
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
7
SNP Bluefield
tion requires an in-depth knowledge of this type of projects. Appropriate tools are also needed to
The unique Bluefield approach developed by SNP is based on thousands of successful transformation projects in SAP environments around the world. Bluefield allows you to achieve effects unavailable with other S/4HANA migration strategies in a shorter time and at a lower cost, with a low risk of errors.
automation of migration activities thanks
support and optimize the migration process.
THREE WAYS SNP comprehensively supports customers in preparing and carrying out the transition to S/4HANA, helping them choose the optimal migration scenario. Our approach combines the competencies of our experts in SAP applications and technologies,
to ready-to-use SNP Transformation Platform software
availability of historical data from SAP ERP/ECC in the new system thanks to
The migration strategy will be
selective data migration (Selective Data
based on one of three options: a new
Transition Engagement approach)
implementation in a new version of
several transformations (e.g. transition to S/4HANA, upgrade of Unicode, consolida-
the system (Greenfield), conversion
tion of entities, a new General Ledger), in
of the existing SAP system to a new
one project with one go-live
version (Brownfield approach), or
Near Zero Downtime – minimum time of system unavailability for business
a hybrid approach, implemented with transformation tools (called by SNP –
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] +48 61 827 70 00
Bluefield).
experience from dozens of complex SAP migration projects, as well as the SNP Group’s unique soluof companies differ. The spectrum is enormous
tions supporting SAP environment transformation
– from the simplest landscapes consisting of 2-3
projects. We offer a full range of services related
systems for a single company with a limited func-
to migration projects in various models.
tional scope, to multi-system environments with
In practice, the migration strategy will be based
a large number of ABAP extensions and dozens of
on one of three options: a new implementation in
interfaces, operating in complex corporate groups.
a new version of the system (Greenfield), conversion of the existing SAP system to a new version (Brownfield approach), or a hybrid
companies need to move to S/4HANA
approach, implemented with transformation tools (called by SNP – Bluefield). For each of the three migration approaches mentioned above, the size of the project must be estimated individu-
8
Answers to the questions: “How many business
ally. In each approach, we can use the SNP Group’s
units do we have in the system?”, “How many in-
transformation tools to speed up the project or
terfaces to external systems are actually used?”,
to enable its execution (Bluefield). Regardless of
are not always obvious.
the migration case under consideration, we have
Therefore there is no universal migration path to
the appropriate knowledge, a team of trained and
S/4HANA. Selecting the optimal method of migra-
experienced consultants, as well as software and
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
EDITION 2019
CHECKLIST FOR A SUCCESSFUL SAP S/4HANA TRANSFORMATION
Put together a core SAP S/4HANA team that remains the same from analysis and assessment right through to implementing the transformation roadmap. Involve the management as soon as possible. Make sure the analysis covers your entire system landscape. You must make decisions concerning your target architecture in advance, and also fi nd out them. This is particularly the case for your company’s future direction in the areas of reporting and planning and for the future use of front ends, which are mostly a hybrid of SAP GUI and SAP FIORI at present. In addition, strategic considerations about which processes or applications
photo SNP Group
how many changes are needed per system and how quickly you can implement
will run on the cloud are necessary for charting your company’s direction. Furthermore, SAP Solution Manager plays a pivotal role in almost all SAP S/4HANA projects, ranging from its use as a product documentation platform through to mapping processes. Last but not least, the business downtime: This requires approaches that, due to direct table-based migration, are much faster than transaction-based processes – approaches that can easily be combined with the near-zero downtime method.
Jörg Kaschytza VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS CONSULTING GERMANY, SNP DEUTSCHLAND
EDITION 2019
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
9
When planning the migration to S/4HANA, we are drawing the future of the company’s IT. Therefore, we may not ignore the question about the model of maintaining the target
in the subsequent steps. It is an optimal approach for low and medium complexity SAP environments. For Brownfield we recommend the SNP S/4HANA Conversion Set certified by SAP – a package of methodologies, services and tools enabling conversion to S/4HANA in a fast and safe way, for a predetermined price.
SAP S/4 environment as early as at
EVEN MORE DILEMMAS
the stage of analysis.
When planning the migration to S/4HANA, we are drawing the future of the company’s IT. Therefore, we may not ignore the question about the model of maintaining the target SAP S/4 environment as early as at the stage of analysis. procedures supporting the smooth migration of
Do we want to maintain SAP on our own, perhaps
the SAP system.
completely new platform, or in the cloud in the
Let’s briefly analyze the three approaches.
next 2-3 years? If in the cloud, what provider and
Greenfield. Deploy the new system from
what service model are we going to use – what
scratch and start using the new S/4HANA features and technologies, with no historical data available. An additional data migration project is necessary to benefit from reverse analysis. An optimal approach to transition to S/4HANA for companies
Already in 2021, there will be shortages of specialists in the field of migration to S/4HANA
that need a completely new set of ERP functions, significantly different from the current system.
administrative activities do we want to perform
Bluefield. The unique approach developed by SNP
with our own team and what should be done by an
allows the S/4HANA to be launched with new fea-
outsourcer?
tures, along with the availability of historical data.
We should also remember that in the landscape of
Several business and technological transformations
IT systems SAP ERP does not have to be the only
can be done in one project, with minimal down-
SAP system. Apart from other providers’ systems,
time for business (Near Zero Downtime). All this
customers often have SAP Business Warehouse –
is possible thanks to the use of ready-to-use SNP
a data warehouse, SAP CRM – a customer relation-
software, which automates the migration activities.
ship management system, SAP HCM – a human
Brownfield. Convert existing SAP functionalities
capital management system (SAP HR) or SAP PO
and data to the new S/4HANA technology platform
– an integration bus. Their future should also be
using SAP Solution Manager. In this approach, mi-
considered.
gration means technical a upgrade to S/4HANA and the implementation of new functions is carried out
Editorial compilation
Now is the time! Plan the migration to S/4HANA with SNP
10
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
EDITION 2019
AS PART OF A NEW WORKING GROUP SNP SE HELPS LARGE CORPORATIONS MIGRATE TO SAP S/4HANA Together with partners, SAP has launched the working group “SAP S/4HANA Selective Data Transition Engagement”, which aims to facilitate data migration to SAP S/4HANA for large SAP ERP customers. The working group adds a valid third option to the SAP S/4HANA Movement program.
SNP SE is a founding partner of the working
SNP offers a product and service portfolio sup-
group “SAP S/4HANA Selective Data Transi-
porting the approach for selective data migration.
tion Engagement” launched by SAP. The group
‘The SAP S/4HANA Selective Data Transition
helps companies transition to SAP S/4HANA if
Engagement working group adds a necessary
neither a pure new implementation nor a system
third option to our SAP S/4HANA Move program
conversion makes sense.
for scenarios where market requirements make
As part of the working group moderated by SAP,
a mere re-implementation or system conversion
SNP will help corporations with approaches that
impossible”, said Stefanie Kuebler, VP of Data
combine characteristics of classical new imple-
Management and Landscape Transformation,
mentations with those of system conversions.
SAP Digital Business Services. She adds: “Our
In the process, master data and balances are
customers can be confident that the members
transferred to the SAP S/4HANA environment
of this working group understand the oppor-
on the migration key date. It is also possible
tunities and risks of a selective approach, have
to transfer specific objects with all or part of
expertise in this area, continuously expand their
their history.
knowledge and share project experiences”.
The working group determines the changes to the
SNP will provide its own core team of at least
corporate structure and business processes that
five experts, invest knowledge and experience
make sense during data migration (so-called
from 25 years in the project, and has high ex-
valid migration scenarios) following a selective
pectations: “We look forward to this collabora-
approach that can be combined with the SAP
tion and are convinced that this exchange of
Model Company. The working group will not
best practices at the highest level of knowledge
develop any common new software for selec-
with SAP will be of immense benefit to us, but
tive data migration and customers can continue
above all to customers who are about to migrate
to freely choose the products and services of the
to SAP S/4HANA”, says Dr. Andreas Schneider-
different partners: With SNP BLUEFIELD(TM),
Neureither, CEO of SNP SE.
EDITION 2019
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
11
SNP’S BLUEFIELD™ APPROACH TO SAP S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA
IN
BLUE When a major cereal manufacturer chose to move its data into the cloud, they were initially advised that there was no way to do so within their desired timeframe. When one of the world’s largest technology companies chose to split into two entities, they were told to expect an 18-month ordeal. When two of the world’s largest chemical companies planned a merger, their expectation was that a year was the minimum timeframe – and even that goal was at risk.
12
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
EDITION 2019
Each company had monumental goals that would have enormous impacts on shareholders, employees, and entire marketplace ecosystems. And in each case, despite predictions to the contrary, these companies achieved success more rapidly and surely than expected. What was their secret? And how might their experiences shed light on your pathway to the benefits of SAP S/4HANA? In this paper, we will answer these questions and provide you with more insights into a software-powered approach to migrations called BLUEFIELD™.
EDITION 2019
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
13
A MASS-MIGRATION EVENT
If moving to S/4HANA is in your future, shouldn’t
The merits of SAP’s next-generation ERP solu-
sible for you to achieve the technical promise of
tion S/4HANA have been well articulated by many
S/4HANA’s in-memory platform, with full analyt-
sources; you can begin reading about them here,
ics capability, on day one of your go-live?
there be a better way to get there? Isn’t it pos-
for example. But S/4HANA also has an imperative quality: SAP ECC, the prior-generation solution that most enterprises are currently running, is
STEP INTO THE COMMAND CENTER
slated for end-of-life in 2025. Tens of thousands of
Deep in the heart of your enterprise is a system
companies all over the world are now considering
and data landscape that powers your business
how to best move forward with S/4HANA.
operations, automating core business processes
Companies with SAP are at the early stages of
and the movement of data – your organization’s
a mass-migration event that will continue to un-
life blood – from process to process.
fold over the next several years. While migration
Enterprises invest heavily in supporting, main-
to S/4HANA is all but inevitable, what’s the best
taining, and upgrading this complex landscape,
way to get there? It’s a difficult choice involving
keeping it safe from harm in the face of risk and
a careful selection of trade-offs and compromises.
danger. And that’s a tall order because your sys-
Most authorities boil it down to one of two pri-
tem and data landscape is under threat. Every
mary choices:
business restructuring – including mergers, ac-
Go Greenfield and begin life with S/4HANA
quisitions, and divestitures – carries the risk of
with no analytics capability as legacy data is
disruption. At the same time, your data is the
sacrificed by the move into an entirely new
target of cyber-attacks and insider threats. Even
system.
necessary technology upgrades can expose your
Go Brownfield and convert existing data and
valuable landscape to harm – including cloud
customizations within an updated platform,
migrations.
relegating your move to S/4HANA with its
How well do you really know it? How readily can
advanced technology to a technical upgrade.
you visualize the current state of your technol-
And then there’s the journey itself. Established ap-
ogy and data landscape? Do you have complete
proaches to enterprise migrations involve armies
documentation of your landscape to hand, or are
of consultants who conduct lengthy, complex, and
you – at least partially – in the dark?
often manual processes. This is what underlies the
As you contemplate your journey to S/4HANA,
long timeframes for such migrations, which can
think about your answers to these three topics:
often stretch into years – with the risk of errors
and costs that are compounded every day.
How many interfaces exist within your landscape? How well documented are they? Which ones are active, and which applications are being accessed through them? How much data flows through them, and from what locations? This is vital knowledge that rests at the foundation of an S/4HANA migration.
SNP’s BLUEFIELD™ approach
in each part of your landscape? Which mod-
to S/4HANA is a new, faster
ules are available? What are their usage levels and their interrelationships? Most enterprises
pathway to S/4HANA that
can map the system modules in operation and
leverages the power of software
the processes they are running. But capturing
automation together with
the relationships between them is often more
unparalleled visibility and analytics.
14
What business processes are being executed
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
challenging.
Can you track data – master data, transaction data, and historical data – and resolve all of
EDITION 2019
CrystalBridge identifies every interface connected to the source ERP system in a view that can be filtered to focus on interface usage by volume (in this example, data is filtered by the volume of calls), by connection type, by system module, and usage by production or non-production environments
Your journey to S/4HANA can begin with a view
High cost, risk, uncertainty, and
of your landscape produced by CrystalBridge:
delay can be introduced for each
a software command center that is purpose-
unknown or partially-documented
built for mastering the toughest transformation challenges.
interface, application, and database. Yet this information is embedded within your current
AUTOMATING KEY MIGRATION TASKS
system landscape. It should be at
What if you could automate your enterprise’s jour-
your fingertips – and it can be.
ney to SAP S/4HANA? And what if the results were faster time to value, lower risk of errors, superior compliance capabilities through audit trails, and a more predictable outcome overall? Speciallydesigned, purpose-built transformation software
it into a single view to ensure a successful
that has been proven in over 7,000 transformation
migration? Do you know the patterns of actual
projects will smooth your pathway to S/4HANA
data usage at each location and for each object,
with speed and security. This is possible with the
so that migration actions can be prioritized?
SNP Transformation Platform, which includes the
Migration processes are time-consuming
command center CrystalBridge as well as SNP
and inherently filled with risk. Exposure
Transformation Backbone, a powerful software
to these elements can be reduced by migrat-
product that automates transformation actions,
ing data selectively, leaving behind what is not
securely accelerating tasks that would otherwise
needed.
be performed manually.
EDITION 2019
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
15
Test
GOLIVE 1
Preparatory data archiving
Test
GOLIVE 2
Legal entity rationalization
Test
GOLIVE 3
New GL conversion
Test
GOLIVE 4
Business partner implementation
Test
GOLIVE 5
BROWNFIELD upgrade
Test
GOLIVE 6
Condition record migration
Test
GOLIVE 7
Cloud migration
Collapse your entire modernization roadmap into a single go-live 80%
7 TEST CYCLES
REDUCTION IN TIME AND EFFORT
AND CUTOVERS REDUCED TO 1
HOW SNP’S BLUEFIELD™ APPROACH WORKS
target landscape using CrystalBridge. Once your
SNP has developed its unique BLUEFIELD ap-
code into SNP Transformation Backbone, where
proach to SAP S/4HANA migrations by using
they are then staged for execution.
final selections are made, you can export them as
its SNP Transformation Platform software and drawing upon experience from over 7,000 successful transformation projects with many of the world’s most prestigious companies. The primary steps of a BLUEFIELD transformation project with SNP are as follows:
STEP 2: CREATE Create an empty shell of your source system’s Implementation Guide (IMG) configuration and ABAP repository, without master and transaction data. To do so, SNP’s BLUEFIELD approach uses the software solution SNP Rapid Empty Shell
STEP 1: SCAN AND ANALYZE
Creation (SNP RESC).
Scan and analyze your source landscape, and plan and simulate the configuration of your desired
STEP 3: CONVERT SAP enterprise landscapes average
Convert the empty shell to S/4HANA, ensuring that
9 modules in 23 SAP instances,
all application functionality is converted to the
with 3,400 users across 11 regions and 36 locations.
16
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
latest release and removing the risk of problems caused by master and transaction data that cannot be converted.
EDITION 2019
MR. BLUEFIELD
ON SAPPHIRE IN ORLANDO On 7-9 May 2019 in Orlando, Florida, SAPPHIRE NOW and
The event was also attended by SNP, which this year
the ASUG Annual Conference took place. This is the most
presented in Orlando a unique approach to transforma-
innovative conference in the USA on cloud and business
tion. Presentations on the use of the Bluefield approach
technologies for managers and IT specialists. Every year,
in migration to S/4HANA were very popular. The blue
the three-day event attracts hundreds of people who want
costumes of SNP employees aroused great curiosity about
to know the latest trends and innovative IT solutions.
who Mr. Bluefield was.
photos SNP Group
EDITION 2019
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
17
Near-Zero Downtime replicates the data changes every hour, instead of requiring a full snapshot while production systems are down.
STEP 4: MIGRATE Selectively migrate your ECC data to the new S/4HANA target system using SNP Transformation Backbone. Selective migration means you can select the data, modules, organizational entities, and interfaces to include or exclude. You can scope
ENHANCING YOUR MIGRATION PROJECT WITH NEAR-ZERO DOWNTIME
your migration into a progressive series of actions
In this illustration of Near-Zero Downtime with
over time or into a single go-live project.
SNP, the production system continues running
SNP’s BLUEFIELD approach will vastly accelerate
while the data transfer, replication and trans-
and simplify your S/4HANA journey with soft-
formation processes occur simultaneously. Near-
ware designed to automate transformations for
Zero Downtime replicates the data changes every
maximum speed, accuracy, and efficiency. It is
hour, instead of requiring a full snapshot while
an approach that has been proven in many global
production systems are down. Since the primary
enterprises, and one that will adapt to the needs
data transfer and replication take place during
of your enterprise as well.
uptime, only a small dataset is left to synchronize during downtime – which can be done at high speed. Editorial compilation
TIME
DAYS
TIME
KEYS DOWNTIME
CURRENT STATE
CURRENT STATE
FUTURE STATE
FUTURE STATE
UPTIME (SYSTEM LIVE)
TRANSFORMATION
18
Near-Zero Downtime ensures that your transformation project, such as S/4HANA migration, can be conducted with virtually no costly impact on business productivity
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
EDITION 2019
Nearshore your SAP development ABAP, Java, Fiori, UI5 and more SNP Poland develops and implements solutions that meet individual, company-specific needs that go beyond the standard of SAP applications. We build extensions both in ABAP and Java technologies. Extensions are prepared on the basis of over 20 years experience in building SAP system extensions and development work. They feature the use of technologies such as Fiori, UI5, BSP, SAP Script/Smartforms and LSMW. Depending on the customer’s needs, cooperation in this field can have three forms: ABAP/Java development on an individual order, ABAP Development Center, IT staffing (long term lease of ABAP/Java developers and teams).
Learn more. Order an expert interview. More: www.snp-poland.com/en/offer/abap-and-java-development
Migration to S/4HANA:
FAST, SAFE, PREDICTABLE 20
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
EDITION 2019
photo Adobe
SNP S/4HANA CONVERSION SET
Great news for companies with SAP environments of low and medium complexity that want to prepare for the migration to S/4HANA. SNP S/4HANA Conversion Set enables the transition from SAP ERP to the latest SAP system to be made even in 4 months, within the predetermined budget. It is much easier to choose an optimal migration path using ready-made and proven SNP applications supporting a comprehensive analysis of the SAP environment.
EDITION 2019
MIGRATION TO SAP S/4HANA
21
FAST, SECURE, PREDICTABLE
to the well-defined scope and repeatability of the
In order to offer customers the best conditions for
The conversion carried out in this way is:
converting to S/4HANA, SAP implements the “con-
project, is very affordable and predetermined. fast (thanks to the use of the standard methodol-
version factory” initiative (S/4HANA Conversion
ogy and ready-made software – the whole con-
Factory). SNP Poland joined this global initiative at the end of 2018. As part of this project, a conver-
version process can be reduced to just 4 months); safe (the project risk is reduced to a minimum
sion team was created. Its work resulted in SNP
– thanks to the proven methodology, consult-
S/4HANA Conversion Set – an integrated package
ants’ experience and software-based approach);
of services, tools and methodologies, enabling fast
predictable (a well-defined project scope en-
and secure transformation of the ECC (ERP) system
sures a predictable outcome within the planned
into S/4HANA.
and agreed budget).
The SAP system conversion product was standard-
The package has been designed for system envi-
ized. SNP Poland prepared two conversion “pack-
ronments of relatively low and medium complex-
ages”, corresponding to two levels of complexity of
ity, which represent a significant part of local SAP
the SAP environment. In order to be able to stand-
installations in Poland and many other countries.
ardize them, it is assumed that the conversion will
SNP S/4HANA Conversion Set is based on the
be a technical project in which new functionalities
Brownfield approach and allows for an efficient
are not implemented if those used so far are sup-
technical conversion of the system to facilitate the
ported in the new version of the system. Thanks
implementation of further improvements available
to this approach, the price of such conversion, due
in the new SAP S/4HANA environment.
SNP S/4HANA Conversion Set: fast and safe migration options to S/4 SNP S/4HANA Conversion Set is a comprehensive package of methodologies, services and tools that allow you to convert the ERP/ECC environment to S/4HANA – quickly, safely and predictably, at a predetermined price. SNP S/4HANA Conversion Set is designed for SAP environments of low and medium complexity. We offer two versions of the package: STANDARD A structure consisting of 2-3 systems, 1 client per system SAP ECC 6.0 (any EHP system) SAP modules: FI/FI-AA/CO/MM/SD Database size in GB 15 > 30 contracts serviced
countries covered
years of experience
dedicated service consultants
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] | +48 61 827 70 00
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
47
a clear assignment of responsibility for the system
production systems. Definitions of priorities are
maintenance, access to a wide range of competen-
each time agreed and adapted to the expectations
cies, easier handling of SLAs and consolidation of
of our Customers.
the costs of services.
Communication with customers and handling of service requests are coordinated by the SNP Ser-
VARIOUS REQUESTS AND PRIORITIES
vice Desk team, which is responsible for sending
As part of AMS, we offer four priority levels: critical,
cialists. In this way, the rule of a single point of
high, medium and low, as well as guaranteed ser-
contact (SPOC) is implemented. Customer requests
vice levels, so-called SLA (Service Level Agreement)
are recorded and processed in a dedicated Service
parameters for failures or incidents related to SAP
Desk Application, available free of charge for the
customer requests to relevant SNP teams of spe-
Case #1 AMS support for SAP ERP and SAP Business One Since January 2016, Jacob Holm, global manufacturer of spunlace non-woven fabrics, has been using SAP application management in its branches in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Under the contract for SAP application management, experts of the SNP provide remote assistance to employees of Jacob Holm, solving problems arising from the current use of SAP. The application management is implemented for the two integrated systems for enterprise management: SAP ERP and SAP Business One. In the case of SAP ERP, the support applies to areas of fi nance and controlling, sales and distribution, as well as material management and production planning. In the first phase of the SAP ERP application management, the support covered companies in Switzerland, Spain, the USA and Japan. The support for users of SAP Business One applies to Argentina, Mexico and China.
Case #2 SAP AMS from Switzerland to Singapore Since July 1, 2017, SNP has been providing the application management service for the SAP system of Von Roll, a globally operating Swiss industrial company. As part of the SAP application management contract, SNP specialists provide remote assistance in solving the problems that occur during the ongoing operation of the SAP system. The support covers the whole range of the SAP system modules used by Von Roll: finance and controlling, materials management, production planning as well as sales and distribution. This service is provided to all Von Roll companies using the SAP system – the headquarters in Switzerland, and subsidiaries in Germany, France, Italy, the UK, China, Singapore, India, Brazil and the USA.
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SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
Case #3 SAP AMS and administration support for companies in 11 countries Since September 1, 2017, SNP has been providing the application management service for the SAP system of Orsay, a German fashion retail company. As part of the SAP application management contract, SNP specialists provide support for key users and administrators, as well as remote assistance in solving the problems that can occur during the ongoing operation of the SAP system. SNP SAP Basis consultants proactively monitor SAP systems to ensure high performance of the environment. Additionally, SNP provides the users and permissions management service. The support covers the following SAP system modules used by Orsay: finance and controlling, materials management, sales and distribution of the non-textile goods. This service is provided to Orsay companies using the SAP system – the headquarters in Germany, and subsidiaries in Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Austria and Switzerland.
duration of cooperation. As a result, customers can
contract accounting – preparation of monthly
be confident that their problem is handled by the
reports summarizing the workload related
relevant specialists regardless of its type, time and
to the handling of requests in a given month,
method of reporting it, and that it will be solved in
which in turn is the basis for the billing of
accordance with the contract and SLA provisions
services.
(including the provisions on response times). At this point, it is worth noting that the service application allows you to evaluate the way of handling requests
PRICING MODELS
when they are closed by customer, which makes it
SNP has 4 standard/baseline pricing models for
possible to track the level of satisfaction with the
AMS, the most popular of which is a monthly fee
services provided by SNP and to take corrective
with a pool of hours included. The advantages of
actions, if necessary.
this model are: a wide range of maintenance activities billed by hours in the pool, SLA variants,
A SERVICE MANAGER FOR EACH CUSTOMER
pre-determined workload to be used.
Another dimension of the SNP application management is the provision of a dedicated Service
Michał Adamczewski
Manager for each customer. Such a person takes over the supervision of the contract implementa-
SUPPORT SERVICES DEPUTY DIRECTOR,
tion, being responsible for:
SNP POLAND
monitoring the performance of the application management service during cooperation,
a cyclical summary of cooperation – organizing periodic teleconferences or meetings with the customer,
responding to irregularities, if any,
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
49
A CLOUD for S/4HANA SNP MANAGED CLOUD, SAP HEC, AWS, AZURE, OR…?
The decision to convert SAP systems to S/4HANA entails the need to make another decision – namely, how to maintain systems in the future? Is it better to adapt your own IT infrastructure to the needs of S/4HANA, or to decide on outsourcing? From which provider? Will the public or private cloud be better?
A large selection of cloud solutions available on the market may cause the customer’s confusion
50
PUBLIC CLOUDS
and difficulties in choosing the best offer for them.
P ubl ic cloud ser v ices i n t he IaaS mo del
We have AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azure
(Infrastructure as a Service) differ in the scope
and Google. We have an SAP Cloud offering. Finally,
of responsibility of individual providers. Usually,
we have offers such as SNP Cloud Platform, which
however, their offer includes the software platform
provide much more than just technical availability of
necessary to create complete virtual environments
the system. How to find the optimal solution?
(virtual data centers) where you can run:
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
BUT WHICH ONE?
virtual servers on which SAP S4/HANA solutions
respond to failures before anyone notices a problem
can be installed and maintained,
with its operation.
various network components that ensure a total
Do public cloud providers deliver such services?
logical isolation of the company’s virtual data
The majority of public operators only enable their
center from environments of other companies,
technical performance. And the types of tools
while providing connectivity to the corporate
that will be used by companies and the extent
network or via the Internet,
to which they will be used are up to such companies.
hardware components, such as dedicated
Therefore, to make use of such services, you must
physical hosts (hy per visors), to ensure
have the necessary skills and knowledge on how
additional separation at the server virtualization
to adapt a virtual architecture to SAP requirements,
level,
to implement and maintain it.
storage services for storing databases and
Even the best provider is not able to give a 100%
backups of entire systems,
guarantee of continuous operation of systems. And
other services that open up new opportunities
given the critical role that SAP systems play in
to effectively create disaster recovery center
the business continuity of an organization, surely
environments.
every company wants to have a guarantee that in the event of a serious failure, the systems will be
PUBLIC CLOUD VS. SAP USER NEEDS
restored to operation within a specified time frame
How to translate a wide range of cloud services
the requirements specified by parameters – RTO
into the needs of companies using SAP systems? As
(Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point
a rule, their basic expectation is that the systems
Objective), respectively.
will operate reliably and efficiently on a daily basis.
Therefore, you need a lot of knowledge and necessary
This requires continuous monitoring of the capacity
tools to set up backup solutions, to develop backup
and reliability of the IT infrastructure to prevent or
and disaster recovery plans and procedures, and
EDITION 2019
and to a specific point in time in accordance with
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
51
to make sure they are successfully proven in test
However, a standard contract with SAP contains
scenarios. The multitude of challenges makes
the following tasks that still need to be performed
it necessary to employ specialists from many
by the customer:
fields, which will generate additional costs, while
sizing of the infrastructure for SAP systems,
responsibility for risks still remains with the
setting up the monitoring of SAP systems in
organization.
SAP Solution Manager,
system performance analysis,
AND WHAT ABOUT THE SAP CLOUD?
recommendations of SAP system parameter
SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (SAP HEC) is a pri-
implementation of application notes,
vate cloud in a service model called “platform
analysis of SAP errors that occur during system
changes depending on business needs,
as a service”, abbreviated as PaaS. This solution is characterized by the fact that the customer
operation. This means that the customer must provide ad-
does not have access to the management of the
ministrative support for systems in the SAP HEC
entire subordinate SAP infrastructure, includ-
cloud. This can be achieved in many ways: buying
ing operating systems, database, backups, etc.
additional services from SAP, building the cus-
Most of the software components are managed
tomer’s own competence team or commissioning
by SAP.
an outsourcing company to do it.
The detailed scope of responsibility is specified in a contract that defi nes the scopes of services provided for a monthly fee and available for an additional fee. The scope that is not covered by the
SNP SUPPORT ALWAYS NEEDED
monthly fee for SAP can be provided by other
This is where SNP comes to help, offering a number
teams (the customer’s administrators or provid-
of services supporting the use of cloud technologies
ers), but it does not assume the customer’s access
for SAP systems, both in private and public clouds,
to, for example, the operating system and data-
delivered by SNP, SAP and other providers.
base layer. Each change at such a level requires
Project services include:
preparation of a service request to be sent to SAP.
Consulting on the selection of technology and providers,
Developing an architecture,
Support for SAP migration from on-premise to cloud environment,
SAP cloud consulting
High-availability implementations,
Development and upgrade of SAP cloud environment.
SNP offer for SAP maintenance support:
SA P adm i nist rat ion or suppor t of SA P administration,
In addition to its own cloud solutions, SNP also offers a wide range of services supporting
SAP environment monitoring,
the use of cloud technologies of other leading
Disaster recovery center,
providers, e.g. for SAP HEC (HANA Enterprise
Application management (SAP user support).
Cloud), Amazon Web Services and Azure platforms. We provide, for example, support for cloud migration and SAP environment administration.
SNP MANAGED CLOUD FOR SAP SNP Poland offers SAP Managed Cloud service for SAP systems based on many years of experience
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] +48 61 827 70 00
in implementing and maintaining hundreds of SAP environments for customers. It means much more than the commonly used concept of “IT hosting”.
52
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
Test the S/4HANA right now in the SNP cloud SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance is a proposal for those who want to test the latest SAP system. SNP provides the infrastructure to install this test package, as well as the necessary support in configuring the environment. The package includes the S/4HANA system with pre-configured SAP Best Practices and demo scenarios, made available to SAP customers for testing purposes for 30 days. The package includes a preconfigured HANA database as well as Adobe Document Services. Best Practices Software Appliance is delivered in the form of a compressed system that can be quickly launched on a properly prepared infrastructure. This solution provides us with a configured platform, ideally suited for building test or demonstration systems. Once installed, we get access to four clients on which SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA solutions are implemented. The system also contains ready-made transactional data and configuration of the Fiori application. This makes it possible to apply this solution almost immediately for test or demonstration purposes. For business users, SAP has prepared ready-made examples enabling them to familiarize themselves with and check out scenarios in various areas of the company. As far as the installation is concerned, we have several options. The easiest of them is to use SNP support. SNP Poland provides the service of installation and configuration of the SAP S/4HANA FullyActivated Appliance package in SNP Managed Cloud, a private cloud, along with the maintenance of the installation. Alternatively, if necessary, SNP also provides support in preparing installations in public clouds (e.g. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform). ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] | +48 61 827 70 00
The infrastructure is built exactly on the resources
sible system downtime while using the new version
that are expected and supported by SAP, especially
of the SAP system. The choice of the right solution
for S/4HANA systems or more broadly – systems
is best supported by tests; therefore, it is worth
based on the SAP HANA database.
thinking about it as early as at the very beginning
In Managed Cloud for SAP, systems are maintained
of S/4HANA migration or even before the start of
in the Tailored Datacenter Infrastructure (TDI)
the project.
variant. The backup system is integrated with the SAP HANA databases, and the backups themselves are maintained on dedicated data carriers.
Dariusz Drożdż
HOW TO CHOOSE? SAP TECHNOLOGY AREA MANAGER, When we plan to migrate the system to S/4HANA, it
SNP POLAND
is worth considering which model we want to further maintain our SAP systems in. When making this decision, it is worthwhile to consult an experienced partner, all the more so as the solutions available on the market differ from each other. Thanks to a well-performed analysis of individual solutions, we will avoid unplanned costs and pos-
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
53
SAP HEC: migration, cloud, fot. Adobe
administration DISTRIBEV ORBICO ON SAP HANA ENTERPRISE CLOUD
SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (SAP HEC) is an increasingly recognizable computing cloud, offered directly by SAP. As part of its own computerization strategy, the Orbico Group decided to migrate the ERP systems of its largest companies to SAP HEC. Distribev Orbico was one of the first two companies of the Group to migrate to this platform. The migration process was supported by SNP Poland experts. Today, SNP administers the SAP environment of Distribev Orbico and supports SAP users as part of the application management service.
54
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
Distribev Orbico is currently a leading distributor of
ABOUT COMPANY
beverages in Poland. The company was established in 2015 through the acquisition of a distribution
Distribev Orbico is a nationwide distributor
business carved out from the Żywiec Group. In 2017,
of beer, spirits, wine, beverages and other
the company carried out the implementation of
food products.
SAP ERP on SAP HANA and the SAP PI integration
It is a member of the Orbico Group, the
platform with the support SNP (then BCC).
largest distributor in Europe based in
During the implementation project, the Orbico
Croatia, currently operating on 20 markets. It
Group decided to move the SAP environments
cooperates with domestic and world leaders of
of its companies to a private cloud – SAP HANA
the beverage market, such as: the Żywiec Group
Enterprise Cloud. This decision was the beginning
(a strategic partner), Kompania Piwowarska,
of a new stage of cooperation with SNP in the field
Brown Forman, CEDC, Diageo, Stock Polska
of support for SAP transformation to the cloud, as
and Wyborowa Pernod Ricard Polska. It has
well as support for the maintenance of SAP systems
the largest beverage distribution network in
in SAP HEC.
Poland, consisting of 35 logistic warehouses and 13 cross dock s located throughout
TRANSFORMATION TO THE CLOUD
Poland. More: www.distribevorbico.pl
The scope of migration covered the entire landscape of SAP systems in Distribev Orbico – SAP ERP, SAP PI, along with test and development systems. We started the migration process by establishing a connection between the previously used hardware and software platform and SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, via SAP HANA Cloud Connector. Then, having the communication channel configured, we proceeded to generate the export of the
INFRASTRUCTURE IS NOT EVERYTHING
system as a flat file. The duration of the operation
Public clouds offer one of the varieties of cloud
depended, of course, on the size of each system.
solutions, the so-called Infrastructure as a Service
However, we managed to reduce it by placing the
(IaaS). They offer a technical infrastructure
source systems on very fast media. The system
prepared in terms of efficiency and compliance
prepared in this way was then sent to SAP HEC,
with the SAP manufacturer’s requirements. Leading
using the aforementioned software.
public clouds, such as AWS (Amazon Web Services)
After the successful migration of the systems
or Azure, have also prepared and certified their
to SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, the process of
infrastructure in SAP.
parametrizing the systems and adjusting the
That’s a lot. But at the same time – not everything.
environment to the customer’s business processes
After all, in business, it is not the availability of
and needs began. Additionally, Distribev Orbico
a virtual machine (which is most often guaranteed
had already decided to implement SAP Process
by public clouds) that matters, but users’ access
Integration (SAP PI), which significantly increased
to a working, efficient SAP system compliant with
the scope of work to be done.
expected parameters. This means that if the virtual
As a result of trilateral cooperation between Dis-
machine is visible to the customer, but the system
tribev Orbico, SNP and SAP, in August 2017, SAP
itself is unavailable to users in the company, then
systems were transferred to SAP HEC. Together with
there is no problem for the public cloud provider
SNP, the company continued the implementation
and the issue should be solved by the customer and
work, which ended with a successful go-live in Janu-
their administrators.
ary 2018. At the same time, Distribev Orbico started
And this is where – between the cloud provider
using SNP services of system maintenance support.
and its customer – there is a place for SNP as
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
55
an administrator of SAP systems in the cloud,
Database management,
who takes over the effort and responsibility for
Installation of SAP systems,
maintaining appropriate system availability
OS and DB updating,
parameters.
Generating EWA reports,
Transport system management,
SAP system management at the 000 client level,
Handling of customer requests.
KEY DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITIES As part of the system migration project to HEC,
The responsibilities defined in this way do not fully
Distribev Orbico specified in detail the rules of
cover the scope of work required to maintain the
cooperation with SAP as an HEC provider – and
SAP environment efficiently and with no failures.
SNP specialists acted as comprehensive advisers
Therefore, Distribev Orbico decided to supplement
in this area. SAP precisely defines the scope of its
the services offered by SAP with services provided
responsibilities in the Production Cloud – Roles &
by SNP Poland. The scope of SNP services includes:
Responsibilities document. Detailed understanding
Monitoring of SAP systems,
of the division of responsibilities was a key element
Configuration of SAP systems,
in agreeing trilateral cooperation between the
Analysis of EWA reports sent,
customer with HEC and SNP Poland with HEC on
Analysis of SAP system performance,
behalf of the customer. It is worth noting that
Management of OS, DB and SAP updates,
SAP offers several different support options, from
Performance of any administrative tasks for
providing only cloud services to full administration
HEC.
of cloud-based environments.
The last two points in particular were crucial for
In the case of Distribev Orbico, the scope of services
Distribev Orbico, as each change to be made in
rendered by SAP as an HEC provider includes the
the systems by SAP must be initiated by the cus-
following elements:
tomer, and in this case by SNP Poland on behalf
Managing the physical layer of a computing
of Distribev Orbico. SNP experts, who have many
infrastructure,
years of experience in SAP system administration,
Network infrastructure management,
are able to accurately diagnose problems, make
Guaranteeing VM resource adequacy,
necessary corrections, and in a situation where
Management of operating systems,
tasks from the scope of responsibilities of SAP are
Management of backup & recovery systems,
needed to be done, report to the cloud provider
Management of shared resources,
the necessary steps to be performed, not just the
Support for SAP in the cloud In addition to its own cloud solutions (SNP Managed Cloud), SNP offers a wide range of consulting services supporting the use of cloud technologies by our Customers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, SAP HEC – SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. We support architecture development, system migration, high availability implementations, data protection as well as maintenance and development of IT environments based on leading cloud computing platforms.
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] | +48 61 827 70 00
56
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
SAP IN THE CLOUD PLUS QUALITY FROM SNP photo W. Robakowski
The benefits of maintaining systems in the cloud are undeniable. However, we must take into account the fact that we may not receive what many of us expect from large cloud service providers – a customized, tailor-made package of administration and support services. Therefore, during the implementation on the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud platform, we decided to use comprehensive SNP support. This proved to be a very good solution, both during the implementation of the system and on a permanent basis – in its daily maintenance. The scope of SNP support is wide – from technical system administration to SAP user support, i.e. application management. As a result, we do not have to wonder who to report what issues to. We have a single point of contact – Service Desk in SNP, where consultants assign service requests to appropriate specialists, and if necessary, contact SAP. We have optimized the costs of maintaining SAP systems while preserving the appropriate quality of support and administration services.
Leszek Jodełka IT DIRECTOR, PROJECT MANAGER, DISTRIBEV ORBICO
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
57
Orbico Group systems on SAP HEC Challenge
Solution
Benefits
Providing an appropriate IT environment for the Orbico Group’s SAP systems, as well as support in maintaining systems in the cloud
Migration of the Orbico Group’s ERP systems to SAP HEC
Access to an efficient technical infrastructure
SAP system administration and application management at SNP
A customized package of system support and administration services
Guaranteed adequacy of VM resources
A single point of contact – Service Desk at SNP
problem itself. As a result, this model of cooperation
problems are assigned to appropriate SNP Poland
greatly reduces the time needed to handle problems
teams. If there is a need to request SAP to perform
in their entirety.
some work, we are obliged to create a service request in the HEC Service Request, an SAP portal dedicated
TRILATERAL COOPERATION IN PRACTICE
to HEC. Ultimately, the customer receives only
Providing assistance in managing systems located
communication between SAP and SNP Poland.
information on the status of work on the problem and does not have to review full, often technical
in SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, we were put in a slightly different role than before. As a team of BASIS specialists, we usually fully administer SAP environments or provide support services for the
SAP APPLICATION MANAGEMENT IN THE PACKAGE
customer’s administrators.
The scope of permanent cooperation between
In cooperation with Distribev Orbico, we often
Distribev Orbico and SNP is complemented with
take on the role of our customer – entrusting
a contract for application management, i.e. support
tasks to SAP teams responsible for HEC cloud
for SAP users. This service has been provided since
services. In order to accelerate work on solving
April 2018. SNP service specialists support Distribev
problems, we do not just forward them from
Orbico employees remotely in their daily work
the customer to SAP, but we perform an initial
with SAP in the areas of finance and controlling,
problem identification, precisely define tasks to be
materials management, sales and distribution.
performed and, if necessary, pass them to the
Since SAP user support and SAP administration
cloud team. This approach to cooperation between
services are rendered by a single provider, there is
Distribev Orbico, SAP and SNP Poland resulted in
a single point of contact for all SAP system requests.
the customer’s satisfaction with the quality of
In this way, Distribev Orbico avoids problems
services provided by SAP and SNP Poland.
related to various scopes of responsibilities of many
Unfortunately, the communication between the
different providers.
customer, SAP and SNP Poland cannot be carried out in one channel, since it is not dual. That is why we decided on a scenario that is the most convenient from the customer’s point of view. Distribev Orbico
Szymon Grzegorek
reports all problems and changes to the SNP service system – SNP Service Desk. There, the defi ned
58
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
IT CONSULTANT, SNP POLAND
EDITION 2019
SNP Managed Cloud Choose the cloud tailored for HANA systems SNP Managed Cloud is a comprehensive service ensuring the availability and security of SAP systems, using cloud technology, including administration and other services. The infrastructure is built on the resources that are expected and supported by SAP, especially for systems based on the SAP HANA database, including S/4HANA systems (TDI – Tailored Datacenter Infrastructure).
Learn more. Order an expert interview. More: https://www.snp-poland.com/en/offer/snp-managed-cloud
Better maintenance
MORE efficient operation HORTEX ON SAP HANA When systems based on MaxDB were no longer able to operate effectively, and the time of month-end closing or creating sales reports became unacceptable, Hortex decided to migrate to the HANA database. The results speak for themselves.
60
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
ABOUT COMPANY COMPANY GROWTH = MORE DATA
The Hortex Group focuses on the production of
The development of SAP systems at Hortex over
juices, nectars and non-carbonated fruit drinks,
the years has raised many questions. Does the
frozen fruit and vegetables as well as fruit juice
existing database allow for development? What
concentrate.
about system performance with this data growth
It is a leader on the domestic market of frozen
rate? Can migration to HANA pay off? Is it feasible?
fruit and vegetables, a vice-leader on the market
What about the size of the MaxDB database?
of juices, nectars and beverages. For years, it
During the five years of operation of SAP Hortex
has been accommodating new trends and has
systems at SNP Data Centers, the volume of the
been committed to creating delicious, innovative
database increased by 104% for ERP and 105% for
products. It is systematically working on
BW, respectively.
expanding its portfolio, which currently includes
This increase would have been even greater if
more than 80 variants of juices, nectars and
it had not been for SNP administrators’ regular
beverages, and nearly 80 types of frozen foods.
optimization work consisting in organizing
More at www.hortex.pl
data. Good practices, knowledge of Data Volume Management together with the use of an archiving mechanism and regular removal of redundant technical data prevented the increase in the platform maintenance costs. Virtualization, which SNP has been using since 2007, guarantees resources for customer systems
tems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, almost 365
maintained at SNP Data Centers. The increase in
days a year – was met.
CPU processing power, the amount of RAM and,
Unfortunately, for the Hortex BW system, MaxDB
what is most important in the case of databases,
technolog y had significant limitations. The
migrations of array resources are carried out on-
limitations of BW, NW 7.0 version were more and
line without interruptions and inconveniences. In
more noticeable. The dynamically developing
this way, unnoticeably for SAP production opera-
Hortex expected more efficient reporting, and the
tion, administrators maintained the availability of
technology, especially in the context of database
Hortex systems while optimizing their operation.
performance, already exhausted its capabilities.
The most important priority – availability of sys-
In addition, SAP support for the BW system was
HORTEX SAP SYSTEMS – BEFORE AND AFTER MIGRATION +104% SAP ERP Migration to HANA
24% source
+105% SAP BW 11% source
May 2012 SAP Hortex system in SNP Data Centers
EDITION 2019
May 2017 SAP on MaxDB before migration to HANA
June 2017 SAP Hortex system on the HANA platform
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
61
DEEP BREATH
From the point of view of our organization, the migration process to the new platform was a necessity. The existing MaxDB database ceased to be an efficient foundation for business operations and the reporting and analysis environment. In ERP, selected reports could only be performed in batch mode – including e.g. a VAT register and reports related to the month-end closing. In BW, it was no longer possible to set a free time interval for new loadings. The time taken to prepare reports often discouraged users from using BW. The migration to SAP HANA allowed our company to “take a deep breath”. Both on the photo W. Robakowski
ERP and BW side we felt very comfortable in performing business operations and reporting. Reports are executed much faster, without the need to switch to a background mode. An
to end in December 2017. In this situation, the transition to the HANA database became for Hortex both a necessary and optimal solution.
excellent example illustrating this difference in ERP is a material ledger settlement report. The process used to take about 4 hours to complete — currently 20 minutes at the maximum. I dare say that we have gained
HANA – A WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT In February 2016, SNP consultants prepared their first sizing reports, including/SDF/HDB_SIZING, in Hortex systems. The simulation of the demand for disks and RA M was promising. For both systems, estimates assumed that the demand for disks would fall to about 18-23% for ERP and
a new BW. There are no performance problems anymore and the time of generating reports still surprises users positively.
Ewa Kaczor SAP MANAGER, HORTEX
15-38% for BW. Hortex decided to migrate in April 2017. Taking into account the results of the reports, we prepared
62
at SAP the final offer of migration of SAP systems
on the number of processors and RAMs. Hortex
used by Hortex to HANA. We proposed to keep the
representatives accepted this billing model, and
previously binding billing model based on the
after establishing detailed conditions, we started
number of users and database size – with no limit
to act.
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
Migration to SAP HANA at Hortex Challenge
Solution
Benefits
Progressive increase in the size of ERP and BW databases
Preparatory work using DVM (a necessary step before migration)
Accelerating the reporting system operation
Performance limitations of SAP BW on MaxDB End of SAP support for BW in NW7.0 version
Maintaining SAP systems on the HANA platform at a reasonable cost thanks to DVM
SAP BW upgrade and transfer of ERP and BW to the SAP HANA database platform Minimizing the production system downtime required for upgrade and migration (DMO)
Eliminating restrictions on further development of the system
A PLAN, EXECUTION AND START
carried out for ERP (3 systems) and BW (2 systems)
Migration work was planned to be carried out
On the SNP side, BASIS and application teams
during the dow ntime at Hortex production
were involved in the project, and on the Hortex
facilities. This was possible thanks to the DMO
side – key users carried out test scenarios to verify
(Database Migration Option). The upgrade and
the correctness of the process. Thanks to the
migration were carried out in one process. The
determination and commitment of both parties,
upgrade was performed in the source system
the whole project was completed in 8 weeks. All
during production operation, i.e. on the “shadow”
the work ended in July 2017.
landscapes.
instance of the MaxDB database. The migration itself took place in the designated window, i.e. business data was transferred to the HANA database. The migration with the upgrade was
EFFECTS To sum up the sizes – after the migration ERP weighed 24% of the source and BW 11% of the source. Such a large decrease in the necessary
DMO (Database Migration Option) This is an option to perform migration with an upgrade in one step (one testing, one interruption of system availability for production).
disk space resulted in a reduction in system maintenance costs. At the same time, performance limitations for reporting and other system resource-intensive activities disappeared. Hortex systems based on SAP HANA run smoothly and maintenance costs are reasonable.
Thanks to DMO, the procedure of migration to SAP HANA can be significantly simplified. The previous method would require twice as much effort. Step 1 – upgrade to the HANA-
Józef Kurnatowski
supported version of the system (first tests and production downtime). Step 2 – migration to the HANA platform (second tests and another
IT CONSULTANT, SNP POLAND
production downtime).
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
63
photo Adobe
OPTIMAL TEST DATA MANAGEMENT FOR COMPLEX SAP LANDSCAPES SNP DATA PROVISIONING & MASKING AND SNP RAPID EMPTY SHELL CREATION
SAP systems are an integral part of many companies and a critical factor in day-to-day business operations. To meet the future challenges of globalization and digitalization and to quickly adapt business processes to new requirements, companies require dynamic IT solutions. New technologies are coming onto the market at increasingly shorter intervals, business processes are being expanded, and ever larger amounts of business data are being generated. Companies are inevitably faced with increasing administrative and IT operating costs as a result.
64
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
New processes and adaptations must be thoroughly tested. To meet these requirements, SAP system
Business applications are advancing
landscapes consist of several levels. Dedicated
very dynamically, which also increases
SAP systems are provided for development,
the complexity of the applications
testing, evaluation, acceptance tests and fi nally the production system on which the productive business will then be implemented. Highly
themselves and how they relate to each other across business processes.
informative tests require realistic test data that is ideally based on real production data.
TEST DATA – RISE TO THE CHALLENGE
data and transaction data help to fulfill data
Many challenges arise from providing test
DPM. While SNP DPM updates and masks test
data. In the age of big data, space requirements
data in existing systems, SNP RESC is used to
and the resulting costs are constantly on the
very quickly create new, non-production systems
rise. Business applications are advancing very
that are based on existing ones, for example for
dynamically, which also increases the complexity
DevOps processes. SNP RESC can generate a system
of the applications themselves and how they
shell – a copy of the source system without
relate to each other across business processes.
master data and transaction data – in a single
This complicates testing, forcing both business
step. This considerably accelerates the copying
divisions and IT divisions to react very flexibly –
procedure while also significantly reducing the
from project implementation through to supplying
space requirements for the newly created system.
the infrastructure and testing environment.
These shell systems can be created on a regular
Test i ng env i ron ment s i mp ose add it iona l
basis or on request.
protection requirements properly. SNP RESC is the perfect complement to SNP
requirements because different projects need specific testing environments and data, often requiring extensive manual work. In summary, all these reasons lead to a large number of systems, increased storage requirements and therefore very high operating costs.
INTELLIGENT PRODUCTS. OPTIMUM RESULTS
SNP Data Provisioning & Masking The standard SNP Data Provisioning and
To meet the requirements with the necessary
Masking software provides realistic, secure
flexibility while also optimizing costs, you need
test data in SAP systems using anonymized
products that optimally support your project and
data derived from the productive system.
automate steps to a high degree. Our products SNP
With SNP Data Provisioning & Masking, you
Data Provisioning & Masking (SNP DPM) and SNP
can set up sandbox and project systems,
Rapid Empty Shell Creation (SNP RESC) provide
regularly update quality assurance systems,
just that, helping you to fully meet current and
provide test data to developers and support
future requirements in order to guarantee agility
employees, create selected test data for sup-
and competitiveness, which are essential aspects
port cases and mask data that is worthy of
for your company.
protection in non-production systems.
SNP DPM can provide test data to optimize test processes. During deployment, the ability to reduce the test data volume using flexible criteria reduces the system footprint and significantly cuts operating costs. Functions for masking master
EDITION 2019
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] +48 61 827 70 00
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
65
Combining both of these products creates
resulting concept can help to prevent surprises and
enormous flexibility. The first step involves using
problems during operational use. With SNP RESC
SNP RESC to make the target system available
and SNP DPM, configurations implemented at the
as a shell system. In the second step, SNP DPM
beginning can be used again and again as templates
is used to selectively transfer masked or non-
at a later stage.
masked test data to this target system. SNP DPM can then update this data again and again at the push of a button.
PROJECT APPROACH We recommend the following approach when car-
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TEST LANDSCAPE
rying out a test data project.
The requirements laid down in IT projects and
In the analysis phase, we identify and assess all the
by users are becoming increasingly difficult to
requirements from the relevant departments and
implement within the system landscape. The various
projects. We also use this phase to gain a complete
systems in a landscape are automatically subject to
picture of the systems involved.
different requirements in terms of deployment times
This is done using SNP System Scan. The software
and the amount of test data required. The complexity
provides initial, comprehensive information
of the data also differs. Only by taking advantage
on the systems involved. While some of this
of software products like SNP RESC and SNP DPM
infor mation is of a technical nature, SNP
can you guarantee the necessary flexibility, reduce
System Scan also provides information on the
costs and minimize manual work through increased
modules and organizational units used, which
automation.
proves extremely useful later on when defi ning
STEP 1: ANALYSIS PHASE
reduction criteria. The subsequent table analysis Ver y extensive SAP system landscapes are
from SNP DPM is even more detailed. It provides
often characterized by large systems or many
relevant information about the fi ll levels of the
dependent systems. These landscapes need to
SAP standard tables and about existing customer
use existing software products optimally, and
tables or third-party tables. This allows you
specific requirements and system environments
to identify whether there is still potential for
must be taken into account from the outset. We
reducing additional objects over and above the
therefore recommend formulating a plan for the
standard reduction criteria of a time slice or of
use of supporting software together with IT and the
organizational units. This is especially relevant
department involved before the start of the project,
for customer tables.
as this will cover all the requirements. Performing
In addition, you should consider and evaluate the
a detailed analysis in advance and introducing the
relevant business processes together with the
SNP DPM: TEST DATA PROJECT 1. ANALYSIS PHASE
66
2. DESIGN PHASE
3. IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
4. TEST PHASE
5. ROLLOUT
EDITION 2019
6. STABILIZATION PHASE
Results of SNP System Scan in CrystalBridge
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
67
department involved, and take these processes into
How can we update data in the test systems?
account when developing the test data concept.
How often should we reasonably create shell
SNP DPM can implement entities and concepts that
copies in order to re-synchronize structures
depict business objects and can transfer test data,
and developments?
including dependencies, for such business objects
from a production system to a non-production system in a dedicated manner. We already offer
How can we reduce customer objects effectively?
How can we combine a time slice or selection
a large number of standard entities and standard
via organizational units using an object-based
objects that we can enhance to meet customer
approach?
requirements.
Should we configure objects for additional business objects or business processes in SNP DPM?
STEP 2: DESIGN PHASE The design phase clarifies various questions,
Which additional objects should we mask?
including:
Which dependencies must we consider between
How can we update data in the development system?
68
Procedures – Define mapping for logical system
CME Administrator
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
the individual objects or systems?
Extraction methods.
EDITION 2019
We develop a concept by fleshing out individual
central SNP DPM control system. This makes
points or all points as required, taking into ac-
them available for refreshing the various system
count the relevant requirements from the various
landscapes. In addition, we can define and
testing teams. This allows us to map different
implement the necessary automation steps in
requirements for different system levels (devel-
this phase.
opment, sandbox, test, etc.) by defi ning various contexts, which we then implement as templates
STEP 6: STABILIZATION PHASE
during the implementation phase.
The stabilization phase involves intensive monitoring of the processes and is aimed at the initial
STEP 3: IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
phase after the rollout in particular. This ensures
The detailed configuration of SNP RESC and SNP
that the automated processes in the system land-
DPM begins in the implementation phase. Based
scapes are running smoothly and that the scenario
on standard templates, we implement custom
settings are implemented correctly. If necessary,
configuration steps in the products. Because
we can identify additional potential for optimiza-
this process involves configuration and not
tion at this stage.
development, those involved only require the corresponding product knowledge. The configuration settings are implemented in
CONCLUSION
the form of customer contexts. This ensures that
Companies are having to invest more and more to
they can be used again and again, and that future
maintain an agile business environment and react
refresh runs or system rebuilds can be carried out
to new requirements quickly, reliably and with
using the same scenarios. It also allows for a high
a high degree of flexibility. They must implement
degree of automation.
new processes and projects rapidly to remain com-
The implementation phase generally takes place
petitive. This only makes sense if tests are very
within a defi ned pilot system landscape that is
thorough and high-quality test data is ensured.
available for test implementations. It should be
Global companies in particular must take steps
representative of most of the customer’s existing
to guarantee compliance with regulations and
system landscapes in order to ensure a pilot
reduce risks resulting from data breaches – even
implementation that is informative.
in non-production environments. Rapid provision of test data or systems in different data cent-
STEP 4: TEST PHASE
ers or in the cloud is also becoming increasingly
In the test phase, we check the developed scenarios
important. Such requirements must be automated
that were implemented in SNP RESC and SNP DPM
as far as possible.
during the implementation phase. For this purpose,
Make sure that your concept is only developed
we perform a test run in the pilot landscape,
based on well-established analysis results. Imple-
allowing us to check settings and view information
ment it with flexible products and processes that
regarding runtimes. We can also test various
will enable you to react quickly to future require-
ex traction methods to identif y optimized
ments too.
extraction behavior. The results of the data masking are validated in the same way as the dependent extraction of the application data. After the extraction run,
Gerhard Krauss
we perform specific process tests to check the consistency of the extracted and masked data.
MANAGING DIRECTOR, SNP APPLICATIONS DACH GMBH
STEP 5: ROLLOUT After completion and acceptance of the test phase, we release the relevant scenario defi nitions. We then apply the developed scenarios to relevant system landscapes and set them up in the
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
69
SECURITY, COMPLIANCE photo Adobe
SAP SYSTEMS AND THEIR (UNKNOWN) INTERFACES Undocumented or outdated interfaces can pose a significant security risk, while obsolete or incompatible interfaces create a risk of serious business interruption. This is especially important when you are preparing the SAP environment for major changes. When you plan to reorganize the company, roll out the system to successive units, or simply to upgrade SAP, it is recommended to review the interfaces in use.
70
Interfaces are critical for business processes be-
portant to know in what form and to what extent
cause they ensure the exchange of information
an interface is subject to additional SAP licensing.
within system landscapes and with external com-
Determining this is relatively complicated due
munication partners. Undocumented or obsolete
to the unclear legal assessment of the current SAP
interfaces sometimes conceal considerable secu-
licensing practice and continuous adjustments
rity risks. Outdated and incompatible interfaces
to SAP licensing policy.
can lead to serious disruptions in operations. In
The importance for companies to know and
the context of “indirect SAP usage”, it is also im-
understand their interfaces was shown by the
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
EDITION 2019
SNP Interface Scanner
ruling handed down in the SAP UK Limited case against Diageo Great Britain Limited. SAP sued for over £54 million (over €62 million) in additional license and maintenance fees, citing users who could access Diageo’s SAP system via interfaces using other applications. The UK High Court sided with SAP, agreeing that indirect access also
SNP Interface Scanner allows you to automatically analyze and document interfaces with minimal effort. This enables you to gain a valuable insight into the system landscape and any changes made – for example, to
constitutes a right to usage fees. This shows that
identify and eliminate unused interfaces
when integrating third-party products into their
and connections that are no longer needed,
SAP landscapes, SAP customers must be aware of
optimize business processes and improve op-
all the variables that might entail additional costs
eration performance as well as security of IT
under their SAP license agreement.
systems.
IDENTIFY POSSIBLE RISKS AND ACT QUICKLY
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] +48 61 827 70 00
To determine the potential liability and any additional charges within the scope of an SAP license agreement, the interface environment in the SAP installation of a customer must be determined quickly and precisely. Interfaces are the gateways that regulate the flow of data to and from SAP systems. At the same time, they are the mechanisms that may incur fees for indirect users under SAP
Accuracy and speed play a decisive role here,
license agreements. Unfortunately, many compa-
meaning that SAP customers should only adopt
nies lack precise information on their interface
established and, most importantly, automated
landscape – a substantial risk in terms of licens-
solutions. A prime example of such a solution is
ing, security and compliance.
SNP Interface Scanner, which generates precise
Customers should thoroughly analyze their
results.
systems in order to obtain a clear picture of all
Interface analysis is extremely important for as-
existing interfaces. There are various ways to go
sessing the overall risk posed by additional license
about this. The most common method is a manual
and maintenance fees payable to SAP and for opti-
check combined with a system check. Yet manual
mally preparing for the annual SAP license audit.
processes are not recommended, as they are
Therefore, place your trust in the experience and
labor-intensive, time-consuming and generally
knowledge of a reliable partner.
inefficient, not to mention their higher error rate.
COMMON PROBLEMS IN DETERMINING THE INTERFACE ENVIRONMENT INCLUDE:
Achim Westermann
Lack of knowledge about interface types and
MANAGING DIRECTOR
numbers,
SNP APPLICATIONS, EMEA GMBH
Missing, incomplete or obsolete interface documentation,
No central access to interface information,
No suitable graphical representation of the interface topology,
Irrelevant data records and missing fi lter options that make manual analysis and evaluation laborious, expensive and frustrating.
EDITION 2019
SAP MAINTENANCE & TECHNOLOGY
71
ANALYSIS, REPORTING, VISUALIZATION – what to choose? OVERVIEW OF THE SAP BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE OFFERING
photo Adobe
A new HANA database, the release of a new ERP system – S/4HANA, and finally the development of cloud technologies in the SAP offering are the next milestones in the range of SAP solutions for data analysis, reporting and visualization, which has been expanding rapidly in recent years. For those who already use SAP products, more possibilities also mean bigger dilemmas – which solutions to implement and develop. For other organizations, flexibility and ease of implementation, especially that of SAC, may encourage them to opt for SAP technology.
The years 2015-2016 brought a breakthrough in
in real time. No additional license fee beyond the
the Business Intelligence area of SAP – starting
standard S/4HANA package is charged for the use
with the launch of a new tool for data visualiza-
of Core Data Services (CDS). Created reports can be
tion and ending with the creation of a completely
shared using available Fiori applications.
new system in the Data Warehouse category. New market trends, as well as more and more frequent
2) EMBEDDED BW
use of cloud computing by enterprises, resulted in
A fully fledged SAP BW Data Warehouse system,
a change in SAP’s approach to BI tools. The com-
version 7.5, powered by SAP HANA, embedded on
pletely new SAP Analytics Cloud mentioned above
the transactional system server. It reduces IT ar-
was designed not only to fully consolidate the func-
chitecture maintenance costs and does not entail
tionalities of all SAP tools from the BusinessObjects
any additional license costs. It also allows you to use
and Business Explorer families, but also to facilitate
a business planning tool, such as SAP BPC or SAP
access to data visualization for enterprises, while
Integrated Planning.
minimizing the cost of use (the SaaS model). The constantly increasing amount of incoming data, including streaming data, prompted SAP to create
WHAT ABOUT SAP BW/4HANA?
SAP BW/4HANA, a new system independent of the
Of course, the aforementioned companies can use
standard SAP BW system.
a separate OLAP analytical system – SAP BW/4HANA
Apart from novelties that are just establishing
– to support their comprehensive reporting process.
themselves on the market of Business Intelligence
SAP BW/4HANA is an innovative solution for data
solutions, we will also discuss SAP BI solutions that
warehouses. Its purpose is to support customers who
have already been present on the market, as well as
want to integrate operational sources of SAP data
their intended use in the context of specific needs
from transactional systems. Combined, cleaned and
of the company.
transformed data with an added semantic layer can then be used in different ways (as tools for end-users
WITHOUT ADDITIONAL SERVERS
or transmitted to third party applications), providing
Starting with SMEs, without installing additional
picture of them. Close integration with SAP solu-
servers, the reporting process can be carried out
tions, a wide range of further connectivity options
in two ways:
and the computing power of the HANA in-memory
new business insights and presenting a complete
database make BW/4HANA stand out significantly
74
1) EMBEDDED ANALYTICS (CORE DATA SERVICES)
from other SAP solutions. SAP BW/4HANA is of-
With a wide set of predefined database views, you
ideal product for all organizations and industries
can carry out the reporting process in the trans-
looking for the solution including a data warehouse.
actional system and receive business information
Data collected from many sources, standardized,
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
fered both on-premise and in the cloud. It is an
EDITION 2019
EMBEDDED ANALYTICS ARCHITECTURE, BW EMBEDDED, BW/4HANA SAP Fiori
BI / PA
SAP S/4HANA
Planning
(BW on HANA) BW / OLAP
SAP HANA
SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics CDS (VDM)
Transact Tables
BW/4HANA BW / OLAP
SAP HANA
SAP DWH Data
SAP DWH Data
and with common semantics is the only version of
a more visually attractive tool for administrators. All
truth and a big step towards a data-driven business.
activities are carried out in the HANA Studio based
The use of an innovative database, entirely residing
on Eclipse, including Query Designer.
in RAM, significantly increases the speed of data processing. The use of the widely known Eclipse environment instead of SAP GUI (SAP NetWeaver)
THREE IN ONE
makes the system management even easier. Despite
With properly prepared data in place, it is worth
the fact that SAP BW/4HANA is a back-end tool for
taking a closer look at reporting options. The afore-
enterprise reporting, the generated business value is
mentioned SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) is a unique
noticeable mainly on the central level. It is cheaper
solution in a wide range of SAP analytical prod-
and easier to manage one centralized business data
ucts, created on the basis of a model that uses cloud
warehouse with the performance achieved through
computing through remote access to applications
the use of the HANA database. Separating analyt-
(Software-as-a-Service). SAP Analytics Cloud is the
ics from the transactional environment will con-
only tool in the SaaS model that combines all three
tribute to reducing the workload of the latter. SAP
analytical functionalities available on the market:
BW/4HANA increases the customer’s independence
reporting, planning and prediction. Cloud comput-
by giving context to transactional data and perform-
ing gives you unprecedented flexibility – the ability
ing a complex analysis during the automation and
to quickly adapt your computing power to the cur-
improvement of analytical processes at the same
rent needs of your business. What’s more, it allows
time. The streamlined architecture in the form of
you to connect to various types of data sources (such
a limited number of BW objects helps to shorten the
as SAP BW, BPC or SQL database). All companies and
design time, reduce the schedule of data loading and
organizations can benefit from this comprehensive
limit data redundancy. With BW/4HANA, SAP has
solution, no matter what kind of challenges they
put the emphasis on virtual data modeling. Thanks
face on a daily basis. SAP Analytics Cloud is an ideal
to the Smart Data Integration (SDI), data transfer is
tool especially for existing customers operating
no longer required. This enables real time report-
locally, who want to transform their business into
ing, which can be particularly helpful during the
a more independent and generally accessible one
month-end closing. With BW/4HANA, SAP introduces
(thanks to the transition to the cloud). SAC offers
EDITION 2019
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
75
a wide range of analytical capabilities and technical
it is worth considering the implementation of SAP
functionalities that are key to improving decision
BusinessObjects Analysis for Office (AfO). It is an
making and business management. Despite many
interactive analytical tool for daily operational and
questions and doubts, especially in the area of data
analytical reporting, based on data residing in the
security, moving the business to the cloud creates
SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) or SAP S/4HANA
a new trend and market niche. Considering the fact
(or the HANA database in general). It enables busi-
that so far SAP has been the only provider offering
ness analysts not only to conduct a multidimensional
a reliable and effective product, SAP Analytics Cloud
data analysis in the familiar Microsoft Excel envi-
has incredible potential in the field of data explo-
ronment, but also to integrate with MS PowerPoint
ration, analysis and visualization. The customer
or MS Word in order to present the results of the
receives a comprehensive solution that combines
analysis. This tool allows you to extend the capabili-
three fundamental analytical functionalities: Busi-
ties of Microsoft Excel to get an immediate picture
ness Intelligence, planning and prediction. With SAP,
of the situation, regardless of the amount of data
you do not have to worry about the security of data
being processed. SAP AfO can be used in all types of
stored in a cloud-based system, as it is hosted in
business operations where data from SAP systems
certified data centers whose reliability is confirmed
is expected to be reported in Excel. AfO can be used
by the compliance with various ISO standards. Data
not only to report finances or controlling, but also
centers must comply with very strict rules to en-
to present activities across all departments, such
sure that all actions are taken with great care and
as warehouse management and human resources.
to prevent data leakage or theft. The SAP Analytics
If the first question for end users is “can we export
Cloud interface is very intuitive and user-friendly,
it to Excel?”, the implementation of AfO is the best
which is very helpful during everyday use of SAC. It
way to meet their needs. Through AfO, financial
not only accelerates the whole process of learning
analysts of the enterprise and other business us-
new features, but also significantly improves the
ers can quickly access, visualize and analyze data
decision-making process in the company.
from SAP systems. The drag-and-drop user panel interface allows users to quickly filter, browse across
WHAT ARE OTHER OPTIONS?
different sections, drill and manipulate dimen-
Apart from the cloud tool described above, SAP still
perspective. You can drill into a document item or
offers other tools from the Business Explorer or
navigate between reports, providing a specific pa-
BusinessObjects families. When the standard Excel is
rameter (such as a material or document number).
a sufficient tool for analysts working in the company,
SAP AfO is a successor to BEx Analyzer (which was
76
sions to discover business from a previously unseen
SAP Analytics Cloud – management cockpit combining data from many areas of the company
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
EDITION 2019
New market trends, as well as more and more frequent use of cloud computing by enterprises, resulted in a change in SAP’s approach to BI tools.
photo PWF
Bartosz Woźniak ORGANIZATION PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TEAM LEADER, SNP POLAND
part of the NetWeaver BEx package) with a modern
of employees thanks to the familiar Office environ-
and more intuitive interface reminiscent of the Excel
ment). Moreover, it improves the decision-making
pivot table. If you have an SAP BW warehouse, you
process and minimizes financial risk by ensuring
can still benefit from it, since AfO uses BEx queries
daily reporting based on reliable data delivered
as a report structure. An analysis performed in fa-
to business users on time.
miliar Microsoft Office tools increases the level of
If you want to use more comprehensive reports
performance and saves time spent on complex data
with a printing option, consider the tool that has
processing. With AfO, the organization will be able
been present on the market for over 15 years – SAP
to devote more time to becoming familiar with the
Crystal Reports. It is an analytical tool for designing
source data and business logic behind the report,
and publishing business reports. With the ability
rather than spending it manually preparing data and
to connect data sources such as relational databases,
endlessly pasting it between spreadsheets. The same
flat files, BW queries and non-SAP sources, Crystal
applies to presentations in MS PowerPoint prepared
Reports allows you to report data from any area
for the management board, or periodic financial
of the company. Thanks to the use of interactive
statements. It is possible to embed tables or charts
charts, tables and conditional formatting, pixel
in these documents and automatically refresh them
perfect reports offer business users a clear view
on demand without the need for reformatting. The
of the compiled data and allow them to discover
implementation of AfO ensures a quick return on
previously unnoticeable trends and relationships.
investment and reduces overall expenses (for ex-
The main advantage of SAP Crystal Reports is its
ample, due to the lack of need for intensive training
simple and intuitive interface that allows financial
EDITION 2019
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
77
SAP ANALYTICAL TOOLS – WHAT FOR WHOM ? Do we need to generate reports for a period of 1 year or several years?
NO
YES
?
?
Do we already have the S/4HANA transaction system?
Do we already have the SAP BW system?
NO
NO
YES
YES
?
?
Do we require complicated reporting logic?
SAP Query (InfoSet)
NO
YES
NO
?
SAP Analytics Cloud
Core Data Services (S/4HANA Embedded Analytics)
Embedded BW on S/4HANA
Is Excel sufficient for data analysis?
YES
NO
Analysis for Office
?
?
Is Excel sufficient for data analysis?
Is Excel sufficient for data analysis?
NO
SAP Analytics Cloud
78
YES
?
Is Excel sufficient for data analysis?
NO
Is Excel sufficient for data analysis?
BW/4HANA
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
YES
YES
Analysis for Office
SAP Analytics Cloud
YES
SAP Analytics Cloud
Analysis for Office
NO
SAP Analytics Cloud
EDITION 2019
Analysis for Office
Analysis for Office – analysis of receivables
analysts and managers to create ad-hoc reports,
Analytics Cloud, they still can implement its pre-
while allowing for further development of reports
decessor, i.e. SAP BusinessObjects Lumira 2.0. This
through the use of a complex calculation logic or
is a tool offered in two variants:
displaying rules by advanced developers. It is also
SAP Lumira 2.0 Discovery, designed for business
possible to integrate SAP Crystal Reports with the BI
users who can implement simple dashboards
BusinessObjects platform. The combination of both
themselves in order to obtain valuable busi-
solutions enables the customer to automatically
ness information without having technical IT knowledge,
generate periodic reports to the most popular formats, such as PDF or Microsoft Excel, and distribute
SAP Lumira 2.0 Designer, a tool for creating
them to mailboxes or external servers, e.g. printers.
advanced, comprehensive analytical applica-
Having described “trendy” Business Intelligence
tions (with the planning option). Knowledge
tools, it is worth mentioning Business Explorer
of technical issues is required for creating ap-
tools, which are still offered. They include:
plications (HTML5, JavaScript).
BEx Query Designer, used to query the Data
Despite the consolidation of the reporting environ-
Warehouse and provide front-end tools with
ment in the SAP landscape, customers still have the
queries,
option of choosing from already existing tools in
BEx Analyzer, an overlay for Microsoft Excel
order to be able to fully utilize the reporting capa-
that everybody knows,
bilities. To make it easier for you to choose the tool,
BEx Web Application Designer, intended to cre-
we have prepared a decision tree.
ate web applications in HTML technology. A distinguishing feature of these tools is the fact that they are included in the standard package attached to SAP BW 7.x. They do not entail any ad-
Bartosz Woźniak
ditional license costs.
ORGANIZATION PERFORMANCE
VISUALIZATION Going back to the subject of managerial dashboards
MANAGEMENT TEAM LEADER, SNP POLAND
– if the customer would not decide to use the SAP
EDITION 2019
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
79
photo pho to Adobe Adobee
DISCOVERING BUSINESS in the cloud ANALYTICS WITH SAP ANALYTICS CLOUD
Using the cloud in private life does not arouse emotions any more – iCloud or Google Drive assist us in our everyday life, storing photos, documents, backups of mobile devices. Is it time to use the cloud in business without worrying about data security? How to take advantage of elements of a local SAP system?
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WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING AND SAAS?
efit from the solutions already implemented, and
Currently, most business solutions are based on
tion of data to the cloud, SAP provides the pos-
the client-server architecture. The user con-
sibility of connecting to the HANA database, BW,
nects from their workstation to the company
BW/4HANA, S/4HANA and Universes of objects. In
server with the transactional or analytical sys-
this way we can use existing datasets and their
tem. However, such a solution does not meet the
business logic (included e.g. in transformations
criteria of a cloud solution, because in the sim-
in the warehouse or in the BEx query defi nition)
plest terms, cloud computing means storing and
for new reports, saving time for key users. In the
accessing data and programs via the Internet.
case of S/4HANA, the SAC implementation process
One of the models of cloud computing use is
can be significantly shortened by using one of the
remote access to applications (Software-as-a-
predefi ned HANA views (Core Data Services) as
Service, SaaS) via a web browser.
the data source.
This means that there is no need to purchase hard-
Standard views can be modified both at the view
SAC expands the range of their capabilities. As part of live connections that do not require replica-
ware and software, install or maintain a system.
defi nition level and at the level of the query cre-
Unlike in the case of on-premise solutions, it is the
ated in the view. Additionally, SAP offers free,
provider who is responsible for the entire scope of
ready-to-use reports (content) dedicated to an
infrastructure and software management, includ-
industry (e.g. banking, health care, insurance,
ing regular updates. It is the SaaS model that the SAP
retail) or departments (e.g. fi nance, human re-
Analytics Cloud (SAC, originally called Business-
sources, purchasing, project management).
Objects Cloud) analytical platform operates in.
If more flexibility is required and it is necessary
SAP Analytics Cloud is the only solution available
to merge data from different sources and to clean,
on the market in the SaaS model to combine all
unify and transform it, the user can import dif-
three analytical capabilities: reporting, planning
ferent sets of data into the cloud (e.g. from SAP
and prediction. The use of the cloud allows for
ERP, BW, BPC, Google Drive or SQL databases).
unprecedented flexibility – the ability to quickly
There are no individual tools in the SAC platform
adjust (increase or decrease) the computing power
– users can create their own reports in the form
depending on current needs. A monthly access fee
of storytelling or a managerial dashboard. The
adjusted to the level of resources used allows for
available planning or prediction functionalities
minimizing the costs of hardware and IT services.
depend on the selected connection type or data
The system is available 24/7 from anywhere in
model settings rather than on the document or
the world on web-enabled devices. SAP Ana-
tool type. A single point of access and a single
lytics Cloud is updated without the customer’s
multifunction tool make the SAC adoption level
participation every two weeks, which increases
higher than in the case of other analytical solu-
the innovativeness of the solution – all platform
tions. Recognizing the value of simplicity and
updates (including new functionalities or error
unification and using the wide range of coop-
handling) are available on an ongoing basis, which
eration possibilities (e.g. creating a discussion in
is communicated to users with a clear message
the context of a specific document), users do not
after logging in.
create independent difficult-to-manage satellite systems in order to meet their information
SAC VS. OTHER SAP ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS So is SAC the successor to the SAP Business Ware-
needs.
SECURITY OF DATA IN THE CLOUD
house or SAP BusinessObjects? What is the point
Cloud solutions wrongly raise concerns about
of investing in SAC if we already have analytical
the security of data stored in the cloud. From
solutions from the SAP stable?
a technical point of view, our system is hosted
The software architects from Walldorf have made
in one of the certified (e.g. ISO 27001, ISO 9001,
sure that existing customers can continue to ben-
Green IT) data centers, where strict proce-
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SAC CLOUD CONTENT, FINANCIAL REPORT: ANALYSIS OF RECEIVABLES
SAC CLOUD CONTENT, FINANCIAL REPORT: FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW
SAC CLOUD CONTENT, HR REPORT: PAYROLL PLANNING
SAC CLOUD CONTENT, SD REPORT: ANALYSIS OF OUTSTANDING ORDERS
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A SAMPLE IMPORT CONNECTION SCHEME SAP Analytics Cloud
https
Public Customer Domain SAP Cloud Connector
SAP Cloud Connector creates an outbound dedicated SSL tunnel between your domain and SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP Analytics Agent
SAP BPC NW
oData
SQL
BW
Universe
SAP ERP
SAP S/4HANA
SAP BPC MS
dures are in place to minimize human error.
in data processing, which can be used to meet ad
Currently, SAP also enables SAC hosting within
hoc reporting needs or for prototyping.
the Amazon Web Services (Microsoft Azure is
Providing the timely information based on con-
to be included in the roadmap for 2019). Each of
sistent data presented in a user-friendly and
the centers has a rigorous security policy in place,
intuitive form, SAC is a step towards data- and
comprising: backup systems, replications and
fact-based management. The cloud is becoming
readiness to restore the system from a backup
a form of technical outsourcing of supporting
copy, and ensuring an above-average level of
functions. Leaving the key competencies of data
availability thanks to proactive 24/7 monitoring of
analysis within the company, it allows you to focus
systems or multi-source power supply (including
on the core business that generates value for the
UPS and power generators). Access to our data is
company.
protected by firewalls and the connection to the customer’s domain is encrypted.
A GOOD REPORTING SOLUTION
Bartosz Woźniak
SAP Analytics Cloud is the only solution to offer
ORGANIZATION PERFORMANCE
a comprehensive solution for reporting, predict-
MANAGEMENT TEAM LEADER,
ing and planning in the SaaS model, optimized
SNP POLAND
in terms of integration and interoperation with other SAP products. This helps avoid data replication (in live connections), which greatly simplifies management and eliminates inconsistencies in reports. With “import” connections, the user gains unprecedented independence and flexibility
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REPORTS straight from S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA EMBEDDED ANALYTICS
SAP Embedded Analytics is a set of analytical features for real-time operational reporting. The solution provides clear insight into the results of data analysis without the need for detailed knowledge of complex data structures. This tool is used for native reporting within the S/4HANA system.
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photo Adobe
This is part of the SAP HANA platform (no need
Embedded Analytics combines data (in the form of
to purchase additional licenses). The key com-
virtual data models) with predefined Fiori analytical
ponents of SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics
applications to provide insight into transactional
are: the SAP HANA database, VDM (virtual data
data and to process complex ad hoc queries.
model), an analytical engine (built-in SAP BW) and oData services.
USE
BUSINESS FORECASTING AT YOUR FINGERTIPS In the face of increasing market competition and
SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics is recommended
many challenges in almost every aspect of busi-
for companies that want to operate exclusively on
ness, SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics is an ideal
the basis of an ERP system for both operational and
tool offering a wide range of analytical function-
analytical reporting, eliminating a data warehouse
alities within an ERP system. With world-class
from the system landscape. Without additional li-
operational reporting, companies can achieve
censing costs, the existing predefined data views
excellence in their day-to-day operations and thus
used for reporting within S/4HANA can be applied to
gain customer satisfaction. It is also possible to
create customized queries, reports and dashboards.
use SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics for more
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85
SAP Embedded Analytics – examples of use
Analysis of the structure of a sales order
Summary of outstanding commitments
86
Stock structure analysis
Fiori applications avaiable as part of Embedded Analytics
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
EDITION 2019
Embedded Analytics vs. BW/4HANA
ing) are embedded in one system, both using CDS as an access technology. All analytical functionalities use predefi ned CDS
Embedded Analytics – reporting with the direct
views (virtual data models), while SAP Fiori is
use of transactional data, without copying it to
a user interface.
another location, based solely on S/4HANA data.
Other capabilities:
BW/4HANA – reporting most often based on
no need to store or reload data at night,
data copied from the transactional system; it
no division into transactional and analytic systems,
can also use data from other sources, such as other databases, flat files.
quick and easy software implementation,
no need to implement a separate tool for a new user group,
complex tasks, such as increasing the chances of
interactive visualization available with reporting and creation of dashboards.
cross-selling and up-selling or using predictive mechanisms to forecast sales or orders. Predefined Fiori applications are the best way to start this
S/4HANA USER
journey. Designing KPIs, reports, queries, analysis
With immediate access and insight into real-time
paths and forecasts – all this is possible with
data as well as ease of use, Embedded Analyt-
standard applications.
ics is intended primarily for S/4HANA end users.
Furthermore, SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics
This tool allows them to prepare an advanced
can be easily integrated with other SAP products
analysis that fits into their daily process of work
such as SAP BusinessObjects BI, SAP Analytics
organization and culture to quickly respond to
Cloud or SAP Lumira. Embedded Analytics us-
challenges, market requirements or new business
ers will be satisfied both with increased decision
opportunities.
making speed and analysis accuracy, as well as with the reduction of operating costs. The analytics built into tools with a clear and easy to use interface improves performance and saves time
Bartosz Woźniak
spent on complex data processing. SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics provides a fast return on
ORGANIZATION PERFORMANCE
investment, improves decision making process-
MANAGEMENT TEAM LEADER,
es and minimizes fi nancial risk thanks to daily
SNP POLAND
analyses based on reliable data delivered on time to business users.
SAP S/4HANA FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES AND TECHNICAL FEATURES SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics is an intuitive and easy to use tool, despite the large number of columns and rows that can be processed and analyzed ad hoc. This provides immediate insight into data supporting decision-making, based on the right context. In addition, there is a simple
Use the reporting tools offered by S/4HANA. SAP S/4HANA is a package for managing the company’s resources in real-time. It is based on the advanced in-memory platform SAP HANA, and its SAP Fiori interface makes it easy to use. SAP S/4HANA can be implemented locally or in the cloud.
integration with the Fiori user interface and other SAP analytical products. SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics supports multidimensional reports. OLAP (Online Analytical
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] +48 61 827 70 00
Processing) and OLT (Online Transaction Process-
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photo W. Robakowski
Find your way to the HR cloud MODELS OF LAUNCHING SUCCESSFACTORS
A simplified infrastructure, reduced TCO, scalability, access to the latest solutions and practices – all this makes the proposal to migrate to HR cloud solutions attractive. However, transformation is not only a new technology, but a journey that requires an analysis of the current situation, a clear vision of the future and a strategy for its implementation.
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THERE ARE MANY REASONS...
advantage. Another catalyst for changes may be
At the beginning of every journey there is a busi-
vice (especially important for retail chains), the
ness goal – we are not making a digital revolution
intention to reduce staff migration or the need
to join the elite group of companies with “digi-
to radically increase the effectiveness of recruit-
talized HR”, but to achieve measurable benefits.
ment. Sometimes a race to achieve a prominent
Sometimes time is crucial – we need to quickly
market position requires us to quickly adopt best
automate a specific process (e.g. working time
practices in a selected HR area, without interfering
planning) in order to maintain a competitive
in other areas.
HUMAN RESOURCES
the need to improve the quality of customer ser-
EDITION 2019
How to plan the optimal path to HR digitalization in order to reconcile these expectations with the capabilities of the organization at a given stage of development?
TOWARDS THE CLOUD To help organizations transform, SNP offers an HR Cloud service. It will help the company answer a few key questions: What areas of HR in the organization can be improved with cloud solutions? What are the best practices in these areas and which of them can be adopted by the company? What is the optimal strategy for migrating selected processes to the cloud? What is the workload and recommended schedule of the migration? The portfolio of SAP and SNP cloud solutions is very extensive and, according to the “Start Anywhere, Go Everywhere” maxim, you can start the digitalization process from a selected area and gradually include subsequent components. An additional factor differentiating the migration path is the industry – requirements and challenges may differ depending on the service or product offered.
DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES, DIFFERENT NEEDS Let’s take a look at a sample retail company. Here, the phrase “a satisfied employee means a satisfied customer” is as important as nowhere else. The key challenges for retail companies are: achieving high efficiency in preparing staff for customer service (a great salesman means a returning customer) – the customer has so many options that we cannot afford low quality service; maximizing the income generated by the employee – this is particularly important in this industry, where the margin is very low;
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effective recruitment – the lack of a customer
If we analyze the business factors taken into ac-
assistant, salesperson, cashier at the right time
count by each of the stakeholders, it turns out that
means a negative experience for the customer.
they are different. For the HR director, they will
In addition, the ability to predict the demand
include: employee experience, mobility, trans-
for talents, their rapid acquisition and training
parency of succession plans, efficient handling of
is a prerequisite for maintaining profitability
basic HR documents and processes, compliance
and growth;
with regulations. The finance director will focus
effective management of staff working time –
on: maximizing income per employee, cost con-
this challenge has several aspects:
trol, managing profitability and competitiveness.
we want to relieve sale’s unit managers
Finally, the point of sale manager is interested
from tedious planning so that they can
in the brand of the point of sale, satisfaction of
focus on sales;
customers and effective personnel management.
we want the staffing of work schedules to
A similar analysis can be carried out for each indus-
comply with the regulations and to take
try. For example, for the consumer goods industry
into account the availability of employees;
the key challenge will be effective management
we want employees to be able to deal with
of turnover of low-skilled workers (e.g. controlled
all matters relating to their working time
by deliveries and orders among others), or the opti-
anywhere and anytime, using a mobile
mization of the employee’s time to full productivity
device.
(every minute is important).
The most common key stakeholders in the retail
Taking into account the company’s position on
industry are: HR Director, FI Director and Point of
the market (against competition), expectations
Sale Manager. The obstacles faced by them include:
and challenges for key stakeholders, as well as the
ineffective onboarding;
current status of process computerization, we can
inefficient talent management and lack of data-
propose an optimal way of HR digitalization.
based decision support tools;
ineffective training management – lack of automatic tools supporting the closing of com-
STARTING POINT
petency gaps;
Selected HR applications may work effectively in
lack of transparency in HR processes (including
the company (e.g. payroll) and may not require
recruitment);
to be modified or replaced, and the main chal-
problems related to sales optimization resulting
lenges may be related to talent management and
from ineffective human resources planning;
recruitment. In another case, HR systems have not
ineffective recruitment.
been developed for years and the business handling
MODELS OF LAUNCHING CLOUD SOLUTIONS 1a
1b
2
3
Talent Hybrid
Core Hybrid
Side-by-Side
Full Cloud
Talent Workforce Analytics
Employee Central Talent Solutions Workforce Analytics
Talent Analytics Employee Central
Employee Central Payroll Talent Solutions Workforce Analytics
Payroll
Payroll
Payroll
ERP
ERP
PA & OM ERP
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PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS IN THE CLOUD Sample problem
Solution
Our recruitment process is ineffective. We lack the tools for effective talent acquisition.
SuccessFactors Recruiting
The performance management process is not transparent. Employees' goals are not linked with the company's goals. We do not know the status of goal achievement. We lack tools to support managers in monitoring employee progress and providing feedback.
SuccessFactors Performance&Goals
Managers spend too much time planning shifts. Employees' preferences are not taken into account in the plans. Plans are not optimal – they do not provide the required staffing and generate high overtime costs. Employees cannot view working time data or apply for days off on mobile devices.
SNP E-Time
The quality of customer service leaves a lot to be desired. We are not able to effectively close competency gaps. Employees do not have access to the knowledge base and training.
SuccessFactors Learning
The onboarding of new employees is long and gives poor results. Too many people leave the company after less than a year of work. These employees rate us as an employer very low; moreover, negative opinions are spread in social media.
SuccessFactors Onboarding
The HR request flow process is inefficient – many requests are paper documents that are passed slowly from hand to hand. There are no mobile tools to approve requests and track their status. The level of employee satisfaction with HR services is low.
SNP E-Requests
time is no longer acceptable. Therefore, the starting
While a full cloud model seems obvious (all compo-
point of the path to the cloud may be different for
nents in the cloud), a mixed architecture may be suit-
each company. The advantage of SuccessFactors
able for dispersed organizations, in which individual
and SNP solutions is that they enable us to choose
companies/subsidiaries (perhaps immediately after
from this universe the component that we need
the takeover) are at a different stage of digitalization
at the moment and to add more with time. This is
and it seems rational to launch SF EmployeeCentral
shown in the table in a simplified way.
for them, while the parent company uses SAP ERP
Depending on the chosen strategy, we distinguish
HCM. Talent management for the entire organization
3 basic models of launching SuccessFactors cloud
(regardless of the “hard HR” solution) is supported
solutions:
by Success Factors.
Hybrid model (Talent Hybrid or Core Hybrid),
Full cloud model (Full Cloud HCM),
Mixed model (Side-by-Side).
Each of these models can have different implemen-
Michał Szymaczek
tation cases. The Talent Hybrid architecture will be ideal for an organization that uses the SAP ERP
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER –
HCM solution effectively and wants to launch talent
HCM, SNP POLAND
management in SuccessFactors. A typical example is a company that has implemented SAP HR PA and OM modules interoperating with Success Factors Performance & Goals.
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LPP: a digital revolution in HR THE POLISH LEADER IN THE CLOTHING INDUSTRY IMPROVES HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT THANKS TO SAP AND SNP SOLUTIONS
fot. 10 × LPP
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LPP, one of the most dynamically developing clothing companies in Central and Eastern Europe, the owner of the Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito and Sinsay brands, together with SNP Poland, has launched an innovative platform for HR process management. It consists of SAP SuccessFactors tools, the SAP HR system and SNP applications, including SNP E-Time, which reduces the time of preparing monthly work s c he du le s i n t he store to just a few minutes.
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LPP is a Polish company that designs, manufactures
This purpose was to be achieved through imple-
and distributes clothing. During 25 years of its
menting a modern HR platform, allowing for ef-
existence, it has developed from a small clothing
fective and quick processing of all personnel events
company to be a tycoon in Central and Eastern
in the dispersed employment structure, with par-
Europe. The sales network covers the whole of Po-
ticular emphasis on the time management module.
land, however LPP products are also available in
Employees and managers were to be provided with
Germany, Czechia and Slovakia, the Balkans, Rus-
a self-service portal available at any time and from
sia, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary
anywhere in the world, while the central HR de-
and Croatia. Since 2015, LPP has also been operating
partment was to be equipped with a tool for moni-
in Egypt, Qatar and Kuwait. In 2016, a store was
toring and remote management of HR processes.
opened in the United Arab Emirates and in 2017, in London at Oxford Street, Europe’s largest shopping street. Operating in different markets, LPP must
PROJECT FLOW
adapt its offer to the preferences of customers in
Carried out by LPP and SNP, the implementation of
different countries, but also take into account the
a new HR solution covered over 10,000 employees
latest global fashion trends.
of stores of Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito and
Such a broad business model and scale of opera-
Sinsay brands in Poland.
tions must be based on proven IT tools in all areas
The implementation of such a large HR project was
of operation, including those related to HR. Cur-
in itself a major challenge. An additional risk factor
rently, LPP employs more than 25,000 people in
was the limited implementation time – only 10
20 countries. With this headcount, a good, reliable
months. Conceptual work started in May 2016 and
system facilitating work organization is a must.
the first employees were hired in the new system already in March 2017. LPP decided to launch the
PROJECT GOALS
new solution in stages; this process lasted another
Managing HR processes in a distributed sales net-
a large number of employees in operating the new
work in Poland with almost 1000 stores is an ex-
HR platform. At the end of 2017, the full account-
traordinary challenge. LPP, with the support of SNP,
ing for all employees of the LPP sales network in
undertook to carry out a unique project aimed at
Poland was already made in the SAP HR system.
improving the efficiency and comfort of work of all
The project timeframe defined in this way required
HR process stakeholders – sales network employees,
the two companies to cooperate closely at each
store managers and the central HR department.
stage of the project. The SNP implementation team
The result of joint work was to develop a modern
consisted of more than 15 consultants, who with
model of HR operation in the digital age, open to the
their experience supported LPP in the process of
needs of key customers – employees and store
business analysis, implementation and support in
managers, whose work is of particular importance
the first weeks of using the system. However, even
to the effectiveness of the network.
the best team would not have been able to im-
6 months. Another challenge was the need to train
ABOUT THE COMPANY LPP SA is one of the most dynamically developing clothing companies in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. For over 25 years, the company has been consistently operating in Poland and abroad, achieving successes on the demanding clothing market. LPP SA manages 5 fashion brands: Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito and Sinsay. The company has a network of over 1,700 stores and on-line shops of all its brands and creates jobs for about 25 thousand people in offices and sales structures in Poland, Europe, Asia and Africa. More at www.lppsa.com
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EDITION 2019
HR PLAFTORM IN LPP
HR department
SAP HR on-premise • HRM • payroll • working time evaluation • organizational structure
Employee Central
SNP BHP SNP E-Tax Returns
SNP E-Time
SNP E-Requests
SNP E-Payslips
+ ease of adding more scenarios
Heads of stores
Store employees
• team working time management • manager self-service • managerial reports
LPP Quick Peek Employee portal access 24/7
Nearly
More than
5,000 unique users logging in every day*
• working time preferences • employee self-service • e-payslips • e-leave requests
Nearly
More than
Nearly
40% 40,000 65,000 6,000 of logins from mobile devices*
leave requests approved in SNP E-Time*
HR requests submitted on the HR platform*
payslips downloaded monthly from SNP E-Payslips*
* Data valid for August 2018
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plement the project of this scope within the set
tion available in a cloud model (SaaS – Software
time had it not been for the involvement of the
as a Service). All information entered by users is
LPP implementation team, which, based on its
saved on-line, enabling payroll calculation in the
own business analyses, defined the scope of the
SAP HR system, which has been integrated by SNP
implemented applications very pragmatically, pro-
specialists with SuccessFactors and SAP HR add-
viding SNP with requirements for the operation of
ons (SNP E-Tax Returns, SNP BHP).
each functionality. A very important element of the
The SuccessFactors Employee Central platform
implementation was also the constant monitoring
has been enriched with proprietary SNP solutions
of the progress of work against the requirements
built at the request of LPP in accordance with best
that were set by SNP at the stage of building the
practices using SAP Cloud Platform (SNP E-Time,
system architecture. The LPP implementation team
SNP E-Requests).
meticulously tested the system, assessing at the same time whether the prepared solution met the high quality standards expected by end users.
HR SELF-SERVICE ON A DAILY BASIS The key challenge was to develop an appropriate ap-
IMPLEMENTATION SCOPE
proach to the simplification of personnel processes
The new platform for employees and store manag-
network in the implementation of these processes.
ers has been made available in the form of a simple,
“Time is more precious than money, you can have
user-friendly portal – LPP Quick Peek. Users use
more money, but you can’t have more time” – ac-
LPP Quick Peek via a web browser or any mobile
cording to this proverb, SNP specialists and the
device, gaining access to a wide range of self-
LPP business team spent most of their work on
service functions.
developing SNP E-Time, an innovative applica-
As regards components, the HR platform is built
tion used by employees to manage their working
around SuccessFactors Employee Central, a solu-
time comprehensively. The aim of the solution is
and the involvement of employees working in the sales
LPP QUICK PEEK: start screens of the store manager (a desktop view) and employee (a mobile view)
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EDITION 2019
photo W. Robakowski
DYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT OF MOBILE SYSTEMS SuccessFactors Employee Central extensions are
The systems are accessible from mobile devices,
prepared by SNP in innovative SAP UI5 tech-
which provides employees with easy access to the
nology on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform. As
necessary information also at home, and keeps
a result, our HR solutions used by thousands of
them informed about changes in the schedules
employees across the entire sales network, oper-
via text messages. This is in line with the LPP
ate without any problems with the scalability of
system development strategy, which focuses on
the cloud platform, while meeting the highest
mobile tools.
standards of data access security. Additionally, SAP HANA Cloud Platform functionalities guarantee us a flexible approach to the development
Arkadiusz Wróbel
of further extensions, which is crucial in such a dynamically developing organization as ours.
IT DIRECTOR, LPP
to optimally prepare work schedule in stores, with
E-Payslips application), enter his/her working time
taking into account the balance between work and
preferences and submit an e-leave request (using
personal life of each employee.
SNP E-Time). They can also change their data in
Currently, thousands of employees log in to the
the system, such as the bank account number (SNP
LPP Quick Peek employee portal every day. Each
E-Requests). The information entered in this way
user, from any place in the world and at any time
is delivered immediately to the SAP HR system,
convenient for him/her, can check the informa-
significantly reducing the circulation of traditional
tion about his/her remuneration (using the SNP
documents in the organization.
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The processes taking place in the system are sup-
a coherent approach to the hiring process,
ported by the module for informing employees
efficient and flexible management of employ-
about changes in the statuses of HR and leave
ees and their working time as well as working
requests (e-mail). Additionally, employees are
hours preferences,
informed via SMS about changes in the system
related to their working time.
context of sales volume and traffic in the store,
DECENTRALIZATION AND CONTROL IN ONE As part of the project, a modern approach to the
optimal staff planning in the store, also in the 100% compliance of working time planning with the Labor Code provisions,
automated generation of personnel documents,
time savings in the HR department thanks
employee hiring process was also developed.
to employee self-service.
It enables each store manager to generate the necessary HR documents on their own, and as a result, to hire an employee almost without the
FOR A STORE MANAGER
participation of the HR department. Currently,
From the perspective of the HR strategy, the effec-
a contract of employment, a referral for a pre-
tiveness and comfort of hundreds of people acting as
liminary medical examination or an OHS training
store managers is of fundamental importance for the
sheet are automatically generated directly from
effectiveness of the network’s operation in general.
the SAP HR system.
It is a manager who is responsible for organizing the
This reduces the need for tedious manual comple-
work of the store and the team, and at the same time
tion of documents. From the point of view of the
is the representative of LPP in the field, performing
store manager, the recruitment process is easier
also the functions of the “field representation of
to start and faster to complete. At the same time,
the HR department”. The central challenge in the
the HR department saves time.
store manager’s work is to plan the working time
All HR and payroll processes are controlled cen-
of his/her subordinates – that’s why the new HR
trally from LPP’s headquarters in Gdańsk. Using
platform, together with the capabilities of the SNP
many reporting mechanisms, HR specialists have
E-Time application, has brought so much to the
control over all processes taking place in the sales
work of this group of LPP employees.
network, from the moment an employee is hired,
From the point of view of the LPP store manager,
through payroll calculation, to generating PIT re-
the new HR platform means:
turns (SNP E-Tax Returns application).
It is very important for every conscious company to take care of the employee in the OHS area. That’s
Convenient working time planning with full compliance with the Labor Code.
Automation of the process of taking into account the preferences in the working time of
why LPP decided to enrich its HR solution with
employees.
SNP BHP, an application that makes control over training extremely easy and transparent.
Automation of the process of informing em-
BENEFITS – FROM A BIRD’S EYE VIEW
Full control over the team’s leave requests.
Ability to generate employment contracts, con-
ployees about their planned schedule.
From the perspective of several months of op-
tracts changing employment terms directly
eration of the new platform, it can be concluded
from the system, without the need to involve the HR team.
that the digital transformation in HR has become a reality in everyday work at LPP.
Control over the employment process with
Managers can be sure that all units in the distrib-
automatic generation of medical referrals and
uted LPP sales network operate using proven, uni-
OHS training sheets.
fied HR processes, and employees can enjoy access to a modern platform that enables them to handle matters in a quick and trouble-free manner.
98
FOR A MILLENNIAL
The key benefits resulting from the implementa-
The key, although immeasurable, effect of the
tion include:
implementation is the satisfaction of employees
HUMAN RESOURCES
EDITION 2019
photo W. Robakowski
WORK AND LIVE
At LPP, we want to align the company’s goals with
traffic and store sales. We can also respond to the
the personal goals of each employee, creating
need to smoothly transfer employees to another
a friendly workplace. This is what the HR platform,
store in the same city, regardless of the brand under
prepared together with SNP, supports. Modern tech-
which it operates. In this way, we create one team
nologies allow us to align the objectives that are
helping each other.
seemingly difficult to align.
So we increase the productivity of working time,
We align the effectiveness of working time manage-
but not at the expense of employees. Everyone can
ment with employee satisfaction and compliance
modify their work schedule, taking care of their
with regulations. We ensure uniformity, monitor-
private life, according to the “work and live” slogan.
ing and control of HR processes, with their far-
We are fair to the labor law, we are fair to each other.
reaching decentralization and the use of employee self-service wherever possible. We operate not only faster, but also more flexibly.
Paweł Serowik
At the store level, the new platform allows us to effectively plan man-hours in relation to customer
EDITION 2019
HR DIRECTOR, LPP
HUMAN RESOURCES
99
photo W. Robakowski
WORK SCHEDULES IN STORES
Creating work schedules in stores is a critical
a plan every month. Now, thanks to E-Time
process for us, as it determines the availability
SNP, managers using the automatic shift staff-
of our employees for customers and the abil-
ing function prepare a preliminary schedule
ity to adjust the appropriate number of staff
suggested by the system in just a few minutes.
to the schedule of tasks in the store. On the
With hundreds of stores, this brings enormous
one hand, the schedule must be optimal in
savings.
terms of the productivity of a team of several dozen people, and on the other hand – fully in line with the labor law and the availability
Danka Krzysiak
of the employees. Until now, a manager had to spend even two to three days to create such
with their work in a company that uses the most
tools that make it easier for them to plan non-work
modern IT solutions.
activities. Mobility is crucial here – I have every-
For the young generation (millennials, Genera-
thing with me, I have everything in my smart-
tion Y) entering the labor market, it is important
phone, I balance my personal life and work.
to balance professional and private life. Ensuring
From the point of view of the LPP employee, the
the right balance between these two aspects of life
HR platform means:
is crucial for job satisfaction. Having a real impact
on their work schedule, LPP store employees receive
100
HEAD OF HR AND PAYROLL OPERATIONS, LPP
HUMAN RESOURCES
Access to information from any place in the world, at any time convenient for the employee.
EDITION 2019
sales network employees during their daily work. Therefore, when working on the implementation of SNP E-Time for LPP, the basic assumption was to provide end users with a convenient and modern tool that would effectively allow them to control all the processes related to working time planning. And this was achieved. Today, after logging in to the employee portal and displaying the SNP E-Time tab, each employee can see a clear work schedule for the current month. Here, they can report preferences for working time in the next month and submit a leave request in just a few moments. In the same tool, the store manager manages the team’s working time using views dedicated to him/her.
E-PAYSLIPS FOR EVERYBODY The “on-demand” availability of payroll information is a significant example of the benefits of digitalization of HR processes. Every LPP employee can view their payslips, including historical data, at any time. They are available after logging in to LPP Quick Peek. The e-payslip information comes from the SNP E-Payslips application, integrated with SuccessFactors and the SAP HR payroll system.
A view of the payslips on the phone
Przemysław Brudło TEAM LEADER E-HR, SNP POLAND
Ability to check payslips also on mobile devices.
Control over the planned working time, ability to report working time preferences.
Text messages with information about changes in working time.
Employee’s ability to change address and bank account data on their own.
Leave self-service – checking leave quotas (I always know what my available leave is); quick submission and acceptance of e-leave requests.
SNP E-TIME – TIME UNDER CONTROL Working time planning was a central issue in the project. The participants of the project realized that the final result would be evaluated by thousands of
EDITION 2019
HUMAN RESOURCES
101
fot. Adobe
SNP E-TIME: a new approach to
working time management 102
HUMAN RESOURCES
EDITION 2019
FOR SUCCESSFACTORS, SAP HR AND MANY MORE In large, dispersed organizations, it takes line managers many hours every month to create work schedules. The planning automation in SNP E-Time enables this time to be reduced even several dozen times. This allows managers to save hundreds and even thousands of working hours. But there are even more savings.
SAVINGS OF THOUSANDS OF HOURS WITH SNP E-TIME
accounting of subordinate employees’ time, in ac-
SNP E-Time is an innovative solution, offering
SNP E-Time is helpful where work plans are created
managers the function of automatic planning and
for a large group of employees in a changing busi-
EDITION 2019
cordance with the Labor Code, corporate restrictions and employee preferences.
HUMAN RESOURCES
103
ness environment (e.g. demand-driven production,
In practice, the manager focuses primarily on busi-
sales dependent on periods of increased demand,
ness, he/she is not a specialist in labor law – it is
changing availability of employees). In practice,
the application that is supposed to guide him/her
it applies in particular to such organizations as:
through the intricacies of law and shorten the time
retail chains,
spent on planning.
production facilities,
SNP E-Time offers much more. First of all, the applica-
logistics centers,
tion itself generates an optimal team schedule, taking
shared service centers.
into account the manager’s requirements, Labor Code
The direct benefits of implementing the tool are:
restrictions and availability of people. Secondly – and
reduction of the time spent by managers on
this is a novelty – it provides an option of taking into
scheduling through automatic work schedule
account the preferences of employees.
planning (in the case of a big retail chain, there are savings of thousands of hours every month),
better control of the work of teams by their
WORKING TIME PLANNING
managers,
SNP E-Time introduces a functionality that has,
compliance with legal regulations, including
so far, not been available in the solutions of this
the Labor Code,
type – automatic generation of work schedules
reduced workload of the HR department,
based on the requirements defined by the planner/
increased employee satisfaction,
manager, the Labor Code requirements, employee
lower costs resulting from the reduction of
preferences and availability as well as other con-
overtime (an optimal plan means less overtime),
straints defined by the user.
in the case of using data for working time ac-
For example – the store manager specifies his staff
counting – elimination of delays and errors in
requirements for Friday from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.:
payroll preparation.
“during this time, I need two cashiers, three sales-
SNP E-Time changes an old working time planning
people, one decorator and one deputy manager”.
scheme that is no longer up to the job. Until a few
The system checks all constraints and employee
years ago, only a manager (of production, point
preferences and proposes a target schedule with
of sale, call center, etc.) was involved in planning.
staff. For automatic generation of schedule propos-
The system was supposed to warn him/her against
als, SNP E-Time uses an efficient algorithm from
errors and the risk of Labor Code violations.
the field of operations research, based on the graph theory, but from the user’s perspective it is trivially easy to carry out the planning. The planner is focused on business requirements, and schedule
For SAP HR, SuccessFactors and other HR systems SNP E-Time can interoperate with leading HR systems, including SAP (SuccessFactors, SAP HCM). The solution has been prepared in SAP UI5 technology for SAP Cloud Platform (SCP) and is fully configurable and extensible – it can be adjusted to meet company-specific require-
building is an automatic action. Of course, there is also a function of planning working time for selected employees individually.
EMPLOYEE PREFERENCES Today, when there is a shortage of employees, even low-skilled, on the market, scheduling should increasingly take into account their preferences. Preferences mean both the information that on
ments (e.g. defining new rules, interfaces to
selected days/hours an employee would prefer not
production systems, etc.).
to work, and the information that there are days/ hours when work is desired.
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] +48 61 827 70 00
In the retail industry, this is crucial for Generation Y. In manufacturing companies, preferences can be used to record information that specific employees want to work overtime or on weekends.
104
HUMAN RESOURCES
EDITION 2019
SNP E-TIME IS HELPFUL WHEREVER WORK PLANS ARE CREATED FOR A LARGE GROUP OF EMPLOYEES For whom?
What is included?
Demand for work
Employee preferences
Manufacturing plants Retail networks
SNP E-Time
Staff availability
Medical care centers
Shared service centers
Requirements, restrictions of the labor code
Requirements defined by the planner Call centers
Available 24/7
At the end of the process, there is always a manager
other things, ensures a perfect adjustment of the
who can approve or ignore the preferences for vari-
workload to sales peaks.
ous reasons. These preferences can be, for example,
In production companies, requirements should be
the inability to work on Saturdays due to attending
retrieved from the production planning system. In
school, the unavailability of an employee on Fridays
addition to requests for absence (e.g. leave requests),
between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., or the periodic
employees can record their working time preferences.
inability to work at night.
Employee preferences may be (although do not have
Personal preferences are recorded in SNP E-Time
to be) taken into account by the manager.
by employees at any place, via a computer, tablet
Let’s summarize the scope of data entered into
or smartphone. After being confirmed by the man-
SNP E-Time – we have requirements, absences
ager, they are included in the automatic schedule
and preferences. At this stage, E-Time offers the
generation.
manager a function of automatic generation of work schedules (taking into account the said information)
A FINAL WORK PLAN FOR THE TEAM IN A FEW MINUTES
that are optimal in terms of reducing overtime, and
How is a work plan in SNP E-Time created? A man-
operations research algorithm – with so many
ager defines his/her staff requirements for selected
variables and constraints, it gives definitely better
days (it can be a recurring pattern of the week). In
results than manual planning. As a result, prepar-
the case of a point of sale, requirements can be
ing a work schedule for the next month will take
generated from the sales system, which, among
minutes, not hours.
EDITION 2019
compliant with the Labor Code. How is this possible? To this end, E-Time uses an
HUMAN RESOURCES
105
Examples of functionalities in SNP E-Time
106
Shifts planning
Regular shift creation
Add preference
HUMAN RESOURCES
My calendar
EDITION 2019
Work – statistics
Attendance approval
Leave requests
Edit shift
EDITION 2019
HUMAN RESOURCES
107
SNP E-TIME IN VARIOUS SCENARIOS SNP E-Time can be tailored to the specific requirements of a given enterprise and easily extended with additional functions. This is important, since while the Labor Code applies to every employer, the nature of work in every industry is different. This process looks different in a retail chain employing several hundred employees in each establishment, having its own mini HR department, and in a large manufacturing company with only one facility, where some employees have a fi xed salary, some work on a piecework basis, and in addition, the company employs many seasonal workers. The specific nature is related to business conditions but sometimes also to formal aspects. In many companies, there are additional regulations (collective agreements) in force. An example of specific business needs may be a food industry company in which it is necessary to report working time in the selected time period on a given production line, which in turn is used to analyze the production efficiency. It is important to provide the possibility to record the working time of a given employee at a specific workstation. At every workstation on the production line, the employee records their working time with a proximity card and a reader. This enables the automatic time evaluation to be made based on the data collected in the readers. The system also includes information on which line and how long the employee has worked. Another example may be the sharing of part of the application functions with external companies that provide employees based on fixed-term contracts. When a representative of the external company adds their employees in the system, they are immediately available for planning by managers. Another example: in the tool prepared for a trading company with its own distribution network, it was important not only to heterogeneously plan shifts for a week, but also to take into account specific
photo W. Robakowski
shifts resulting, for example, from the opening
Przemysław Brudło
hours of shopping malls. A schedule should include not only the appropriate workload of the employees, but also the planning of e.g. additional
TEAM LEADER E-HR, SNP POLAND
108
HUMAN RESOURCES
workload in the afternoon and evening.
EDITION 2019
working time or the status of their request on
ATTENDANCES AND OVERTIME In SNP E-Time, attendances of employees can be recorded/confirmed in the application manually
an ongoing basis;
it is visually attractive – the bar is set high here (Facebook, Instagram, Uber,...).
(usually with a mobile device by the manager) or
SNP E-Time is available on any mobile device, as
automatically downloaded from the time record-
employees increasingly often use smartphones or
ing system.
tablets rather than computers. With the SAP UI5
The application fully supports employees’ overtime
technology, working with SNP E-Time on a mobile
accounting. Managers receive information about
device is comfortable, and an attractive interface
their subordinates’ attendance at unplanned work-
of the application (which fits the aesthetics of
ing time and it is up to them to decide whether that
SAP SuccessFactors) actually encourages the user
time should be considered as overtime.
to reach for it. What is equally important – it’s the technology itself that fits into the device on which
REASSIGNMENT
it is running – a phone, a tablet, a computer – and
At points of sale, there is often a need to reassign
With dynamically changing needs, schedules are
an employee (e.g. to another store in the vicin-
often adjusted to the current staffi ng situation
ity or to a newly opened one). In manufacturing
(e.g. a sudden illness of a team member). To make
companies, it is common to temporarily transfer
sure that employees are informed on time about
employees to other teams.
changes that affect them, SNP E-Time generates an
It would seem to be a simple task, but it requires
SMS. After receiving a text message, an employee
a number of activities: communicating the reassign-
can check their current schedule on their phone.
ment (between managers and employees), changing
The content of messages is configurable.
no extra effort is needed to customize it.
a work schedule, changing a cost center, placing an order and other actions (often involving the HR department). The system supporting working time
LEAVES
management should allow such a process to be car-
SNP E-Time offers functions supporting the flow
ried out with a few clicks. In the end, the relevant
of working time-related e-requests, in particular
costs should be borne by the place of reassignment.
e-leave requests. An employee can use any device
SNP E-Time fully supports the process of reassign-
(e.g. a smartphone) to request a leave, which starts
ing an employee from one place of work to another,
a workflow in accordance with the pre-configured
in particular, it provides support for the settlement
path of acceptance.
of labor costs, the transfer of information about an
What is important is that the application supports
employee to a new workplace and the appropriate
various types of leave absences. In addition to such
permissions without involving the HR department.
obvious absences as leave on demand and vacation,
For example, an employee can be reassigned to an-
the employee can also apply for other absences,
other production line in order to work for another
such as childcare or special leave. The possibil-
supervisor for a definite time (unless this requires
ity of entering a given absence for the employee
an annex to an employment contract).
results directly from HR data collected in SAP HR or SuccessFactors.
EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE E-Time offers users an experience comparable to that provided by consumer applications, in particular:
COMPLIANCE WITH LEGAL REQUIREMENTS Usually, a manager/planner is not and is not sup-
it is available on mobile devices – an employee
posed to be an expert in labor law – it is the system
can check their schedule, enter a leave request
that should check the working time in terms of
or preferences anywhere and anytime;
legislation and propose the correct schedules.
it informs the interested parties (a message
SNP E-Time checks the compliance of schedules
and/or SMS) about changes relevant to their
with the Labor Code requirements as early as at the
EDITION 2019
HUMAN RESOURCES
109
Certified by SAP
grates cutting-edge cloud technologies and guar-
SNP E-Time is the first solution of this type
antees the performance, stability, scalability and
in Poland to hold the SAP-Qualified Partner-
mobility unprecedented among competitors.
Packaged Solution for SAP SuccessFactors
SNP E-Time integrates with SAP SuccessFactors.
certificate. Obtained in December 2018, the
The integration is transparent to the user, who can
SAP certificate confi rms that the solutions
access the application from the SF menu, and the
contained in SNP E-Time are based on best
interface of the tool resembles other components
practices and innovations in human capital
of SAP SF. The technology used also allows SNP
management.
E-Time to be launched in configuration with the SAP HR system. SNP E-Time can also interoperate with other HR applications, e.g. Oracle HRMS or Teta HR, and is open to integration with any external time recording systems.
planning stage. An automatic check is performed
BETTER, EASIER AND FASTER
each time an attempt is made to assign an em-
With SNP E-Time, effective working time planning
ployee to a scheduled shift. An employee who may
has become an easy task, which guarantees full
not work a particular shift in accordance with the
compliance with the requirements of the Labor
Labor Code is not available for the plan on that day.
Code. The key benefits of launching the applica-
In particular, the following checks, among others,
tion are:
can be run for the Polish version of the application:
no 11-hour break maintained on a planned day,
ment for all stakeholders (managers/planners,
counting from the end of work on a preceding
employees, administrators);
day,
support for the entire cycle of time manage-
automated creation of schedules based on the
no 35-hour break maintained (in the account-
best algorithms from the field of operations re-
ing week),
search, which is not provided by other solutions;
planning of work on 4 consecutive Sundays,
validation of a plan for disabled employees (pro-
activities related to checking the compliance
hibited full-time work, overtime and night work)
of plans with the Labor Code – this check is
– the check can be deactivated if an employee
carried out by the application, and the manager
obtained from a doctor’s consent to work full-
focuses on the business;
time, overtime or at night,
benefits related to SAP UI5 and SAP Cloud Plat-
checking the number of days-off in the account-
form technologies used (a cloud application,
ing period,
mobility, stability, speed, scalability, openness to integration and many others);
inability to plan more hours in the accounting period than are provided for in the standard for
the accounting period (with taking into account employee),
engaging employees in time management processes (preferences, access via mobile devices, a flow of requests);
the date of employment and/or dismissal of an
releasing managers/planners from numerous
positive impact on the employee experience.
checking Sundays with trade ban.
Additionally, SNP E-Time supports the working time planning for part-time employees, the disabled and nursing mothers.
Michał Szymaczek
TECHNOLOGY AND INTEGRATION
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER – HCM, SNP POLAND
SNP E-Time is an application built in the SAP UI5 technology on the SAP Cloud platform that inte-
110
HUMAN RESOURCES
EDITION 2019
SNP MatFlow Easier material master data management in SAP ERP SNP MatFlow is a ready-to-use solution that supports the creation of material master data in the SAP system. It contains a set of predefined workflow templates for discrete/process industries, but it also may serve as a starting point for the design and implementation of customer-specific end-to-end workflow templates that support the creation of any type of material master data. The tool automates work with the master data, which ensures that all the required process steps will be executed at the right time, in the right order and by the right people. Learn more. Order a dedicated product presentation. More: www.snp-poland.com/en/offer/snp-matflow
RICII R MAKES THE PROFIT STOCK: IMPLEMENTATION OF SNP PRICING FOR PROFIT
Since mid-2018, Stock Polska, a leading company in the alcohol industry, has been managing product prices using SNP Pricing for Profit. It is an in-house developed solution from SNP that facilitates planning and management of prices in the SAP system.
112
SALES & CRM
EDITION 2019
The pricing of products is one of the most important aspects of doing business. The level of prices
The determination of the
affects operating profit, so companies attach great
final price involves a lot of
importance to the development of an appropriate pricing strategy. The determination of the fi nal price involves a lot of data that needs to be taken
data that needs to be taken into account.
into account. Any randomness or mistakes are out of question, so the right analytical tools play an important role. Stock Polska has opted for the SNP Pricing for Profit solution, which aggregates material price data, including taxes, discounts
BEGINNINGS OF THE PROJECT
and customer subsidies, in a single place. It pro-
In November 2016, Stock Polska asked SNP Po-
vides an overview of what the company offers its
land to develop a solution that would enable price
customers on a daily basis, without a tedious and
changes in the SAP system in accordance with
time-consuming analysis of pricing conditions.
the criteria adopted by Stock and described in the
photo Adobe
ABOUT THE COMPANY Stock Polska is a leading company from the alcohol industry in Central and Eastern Europe. It is part of the international company Stock Spirits Group. Stock Polska’s specialties are both flavoured liqueurs: the Lubelskie family and a dynamically developing portfolio of pure vodkas, including Żołądkowa de Luxe, Stock Prestige, Orkisz, as well as Żubr and 1906 vodkas. A wide range of products winning awards in international competitions determines the unique position of the company in the Stock Spirits Group. More at www.stock-polska.pl
EDITION 2019
SALES & CRM
113
SNP Pricing for Profit SNP Pricing for Profit is a solution that facilitates planning and management of prices in the SAP system. This tool provides information on pricing conditions that make up the fi nal price of the product at a given moment. The results are presented in a clear and user-friendly ALV report. SNP Pricing for Profit is a helpful tool for any company that conducts an active pricing policy. It is designed for all businesses using SAP that require a tool for detailed and full analyses regarding price changes. Its users are sales managers responsible for creating a pricing policy.
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] | +48 61 827 70 00
internal policy. One of its key requirements was
modification of the company’s processes? This op-
the ability to change prices in accordance with
tion was rejected mainly due to the requirements
the four-eye principle – one user makes a change,
of the internal policy customer, which, with the
another user must confirm it. Other requirements
use of standard tools, were impossible to imple-
included a wider control of price changes, includ-
ment in a way that would ensure data security,
ing authorizations, and a unique and uniform
e.g. it would not be possible to use the previously
manner of data entry/preparation.
mentioned four-eye principle supported by ap-
SNP Poland proposed a solution that would not
propriate authorizations. Furthermore, standard
only meet the criteria mandatory for the custom-
tools do not enable price changes to be linked
er’s internal policy, but would also be a convenient
with SAP WorkFlow, and most importantly, they
tool to facilitate the work of end users.
do not allow for mass price changes. In addition,
After webinars and numerous business meetings,
price changes with standard transactions have
both at Stock’s premises in Lublin and online, it
a direct impact on business, without giving you
was decided to implement SNP Pricing for Profit
the freedom and security of detailed analyses of
as a solution that would fully meet the customer
changes and making decisions without unneces-
requirements, while providing many additional
sary haste, which in contrast is enabled by SNP
options.
Pricing for Profit, where you can work with planned prices.
AND WHY NOT THE STANDARD? The question can be asked – why were the standard SAP tools not used with the simultaneous
PROCESS REQUIREMENTS The whole process was discussed and refi ned in detail as part of preparations for product implementation in order to increase the effectiveness of the implementation and fully meet the customer’s
SNP Poland proposed a solution that would not only meet the criteria
The person preparing the data:
mandatory for the customer’s internal
Develops a data proposal in Excel.
Checks the correctness of the data (e.g. via
policy, but would also be a convenient tool to facilitate the work of end users.
114
needs. Key arrangements:
SALES & CRM
simulation) and then submits the data for approval.
EDITION 2019
Funtcional diagram and examples of operations in SNP Pricing for Profit Loading data into planned prices
Data export for reuse
Verification of conditions
Entering planned prices to actual prices
Acceptance WF
Data management is a continuous process
Sample selection screen – fictitious data
Sample simulation screen – fictitious data
Sample acceptance panel – fictitious data
EDITION 2019
SNP P4P System Logs – fictitious data
SALES & CRM
115
In order to send the data, the system requires
no impact on business processes, hence the comfort
the responsible persons to approve price changes
of work of the person preparing the data is greater,
using SAP WorkFlow.
and the responsibility for the prices is spread over several stages. The final goal of the solution was to eliminate randomness in the price change policy.
The person accepting the data:
Receives a request for confi rmation of price changes.
Verifies data (simulation is also possible at this stage).
PRICE CONTROL AND ADDITIONAL TOOLS
Accepts price changes (transfer of planned
By choosing SNP Pricing for Profit, Stock Polska
prices to actual prices) or rejects the scenario.
wanted to obtain a tool which, on the one hand,
The division of the process into the data prepara-
would be easy to use and safe, and on the other
tion part and the acceptance part fully met the
hand, would allow for easy adjustment to chang-
Stock Polska policy requirements. An additional
ing expectations or adding more functions in the
element of data and decision security is the work
future. SNP Pricing for Profit is such a tool. With
on the basis of planned prices. Planned prices, until
a wide range of customizations, as well as the
the final acceptance, are only proposals and have
ability of adaptation by means of a built-in exten-
PRICE CHANGE PROCESS IN SNP PRICING FOR PROFIT
Data preparation
Working with Excel templates
Simulation (optional)
Submission for approval
Data preparation
Acceptance with WF • Simulation • Confirmation of prices • Rejection of a scenario Completion of a scenario Receipt of an acceptance request (WF)
116
Acceptance via cockpit • Simulation • Confirmation of prices • Rejection of a scenario
Data acceptance
SALES & CRM
EDITION 2019
SNP PRICING FOR PROFIT IN COMPLIANCE WITH OUR COMPANY POLICY
The implementation of SNP Pricing for Profit in Stock Polska was initiated by the requirements of our internal pricing policy. According to deployment rules, it began with the preparation of the concept, through drawing up the BluePrint and its implementation. The fi nal phase was PCT (internal tests) and UAT (customer tests), which ended with the go-live of the tool. The SNP solution not only met our objectives and requirements, but also provided a tool that allows us to make decisions about price changes with full control and data security, also in a mass manner. In addition to the tool itself, users also received post-implementation support, which allowed them to adjust the product to the needs that arose during the actual work. Such adjustments include dynamic simulation dates, the creation of new price condition records and simplifications in the acceptance process. As a complete tool, the product can be called a hybrid, which combines in-house developed solutions, such as mass price changes, with standard SAP solutions, such as WorkFlow, creating an entirely unique solution on the market.
Aziz Seker GROUP SAP ARCHITECT, STOCK
sion system, it allows the software to be tailored to the customer’s specific needs.
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
One of the extensions implemented for Stock
When talking about the product and processes
Polska was the Transaction Price Simulation
handled by Stock Polska employees using the SNP
submodule. This submodule allows users, both
Pricing for Profit tool in their daily work, it is
at the stage of preparing data for price changes
worth taking a closer look at how the product is
and the acceptance of planned prices, to track
built and how its individual elements are used
the impact of these changes on the transaction
by employees.
price calculated on the basis of rules defi ned
The general scheme of operation of SNP Pricing
by the customer (in a way similar to standard
for Profit:
Pricing). Simulation through a clear presenta-
Employees start working with the preparation of
tion of the actual transaction price value and
data in Excel, putting it simply – they prepare
its comparison with the calculated value on the
a proposal for price changes with the possibility
basis of planned prices allows the customer
of simulation and load the data into the previously
to analyze the data in detail, especially in the
prepared scenario. It is worth mentioning here
acceptance phase. Therefore, the extension or-
that these are planned prices, so this stage has no
dered by the customer meets the following basic
impact on business processes and that this step
aspects:
can be executed only by the persons authorized.
Checking the impact and value of the transac-
Next, they send a request for acceptance of the
tion price after changes, if any,
scenario (price change) to the persons responsible
Avoiding wrong or unprofitable decisions about
for acceptance. At this point, the product is sup-
price changes,
ported by SAP WorkFlow, defi ned and adjusted
Eliminating accidental user errors.
to Stock Polska processes.
EDITION 2019
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SNP Pricing for Profit at Stock Polska Challenge
Solution
Benefits
Price management and acceptance tool compliant with Stock Polska’s internal policy
SNP Pricing for Profit
A solution that enables: mass price changes acceptance workflow transaction price simulation introduction of a 4-eye principle and authorization ongoing verification working with planned prices convenient price management a full history of changes
The four-eye principle does not
This stage, in addition to increasing data security,
allow the acceptance to be made by
also allows, more importantly, informed decisions
the same person who entered the data in SNP Pricing for Profit.
to be made, and thus enables the reduction of the negative impact of accidental decisions on the company’s business processes. By verifying and accepting the request (scenario) for price changes, the user orders the transfer of the planned prices to the actual ones, which only
In the next step, in accordance with the four-eye
after acceptance become effective in terms of price
principle, the persons authorized to make the
condition records.
acceptance review the data; the four-eye principle does not allow the acceptance to be made by the same person who entered the data in SNP Pricing for Profit. At this stage, users authorized to accept
Sergiusz Ławniczak
prices via the acceptance panel decide whether to approve the planned prices (in whole or in part)
SA/SD CONSULTANT AT CONSULTING
or to reject the scenario completely.
AND APPLICATION MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, SNP POLAND
ACCEPTANCE PROCESS Of course, in this phase they can also use the simulation sub-module to obtain certainty as to the information being confirmed or rejected. The simulation + acceptance panel allows the responsible persons to detect not only incorrect values as regards the fi nal result but also accidental errors of users preparing proposals.
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SAP AMS by SNP In this way, you will improve the work of SAP users. SAP AMS is the remote support for SAP users in solving problems that occur during the ongoing system operation. The service is provided by dedicated teams of support consultants. SNP AMS means: continuous availability of specialists, guaranteed response and solution delivery times, a wide range of services, a single point of contact regardless of the reported problem, and support based on a permanent contract and SLA provisions. SNP application management is covered by more than 75 supported contracts in more than 20 countries.
Learn about the details of the offer and the typical range of activities as part of the application management. Arrange for a dedicated presentation of the service. More: www.snp-poland.com/en/offer/sap-ams
E-invoice, mass,
SAVINGS TIME FOR SNP E-BILLING PORTAL
The greater the number of
By switching to the “electronic side of power”
customers and invoices, the
companies can achieve real time savings, and as
more we can benefit from
mind and at the same time responding to the needs
electronic invoices and e-billing systems. We gain benefits by saving working time and
everybody knows, time is money. Bearing this in and problems faced by our customers, we have created our own solution – SNP E-Billing Portal. What is it used for and how does it accelerate and streamline the processes related to invoicing and payment of receivables?
eliminating the circulation of paper documents. In addition,
120
SNP E-BILLING PORTAL IN A NUTSHELL
the days sales outstanding
The key functionality of SNP E-Billing Portal is
(DSO) ratio, i.e. the time that
invoices on the basis of data transferred from
SALES & CRM
mass generation and distribution of electronic
elapses between sales and
the company’s fi nancial and accounting system.
payment, is reduced.
tal, with or without logging in. Users have access
Documents can be shared via email or in the por-
EDITION 2019
photo Adobe
to a secure document archive that can be searched using multiple fi lters.
INTERNAL SOURCES OF TIME SAVINGS
SNP E-Billing Portal provides billing information
The results of the “Receivables Portfolio of Pol-
and precisely records data on all important events
ish Companies” survey conducted after the first
in the system (in particular on the opening of
quarter of 2018 by the National Debt Register and
an invoice by the customer) and shares it with
the Conference of Financial Companies in Poland
authorized users.
have demonstrated that the value of the Compa-
The solution is available in the on-premise or
nies’ Receivables Index (INP, i.e. the index which
SaaS model in the SNP Data Centers infrastruc-
synthetically shows the situation in the area of
ture, and guarantees the highest standards of
receivables of Polish companies) has significantly
system and data security confirmed by certificates
decreased, reaching the value of 89.9 points, i.e.
(e.g. ISO 27018 – personal data processing in the
the lowest level since mid-2015. The survey shows
cloud).
that the deterioration of INP indications was
Moreover, SNP E-Billing Portal has been designed
caused mainly by the extension of the average
to remain efficient even in the most extreme con-
waiting period for delayed receivables, and the
ditions and to be able to quickly and smoothly
costs generated by late payment increased. In this
handle millions of documents, including those
context, automated tools provided by the E-Billing
containing tens of thousands of items.
Portal for reporting and monitoring the status of
EDITION 2019
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121
A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION FOR THE BENEFIT OF CUSTOMERS
SNP E-Billing Portal is used not only by us-
The responsibility for the whole work rested
ers at DHL but first of all by our customers.
on a single entity and it still does now when
Therefore, the application had to be simple
we use and develop our system.
and intuitive to use while meeting all the technical requirements at the same time. The SNP solution met our expectations as to its functionality and the expectations of our systems security specialists. A n additional benefit was the preparation of a comprehensive solution – not just
Elżbieta Libich-Gołda CUSTOMER ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR, DHL PARCEL POLSKA SP. Z O.O.
the portal but also the necessary changes in SAP.
Case study www.snp-poland.com
issued invoices become even more valuable. As it
are generated automatically, so you don’t have
is clearly specified who and when received, read or
to worry about tasks such as printing or placing
paid invoices, you can more quickly and efficiently
invoices in envelopes. This reduces the workload
identify significant delays and take appropriate
of employees, who can spend the saved time on
action before payment arrears negatively impact
more profitable tasks.
your company’s liquidity.
It is also worth noting that the automation of
In addition, the direct benefits of switching
invoicing processes within internal financial sys-
to electronic invoice distribution include sav-
tems improves the timeframe, not only by lower-
ings achieved by reducing the time spent on issu-
ing workload, but also by reducing human error
ing invoices. In SNP E-Billing Portal, documents
and improving invoicing accuracy.
SNP E-Billing Portal SNP E-Billing Portal is a system for mass delivery of electronic invoices. The solution is primarily intended for companies that serve customers based on long-term contracts or subscriptions, that is, for those that need to send multiple documents to dispersed recipients. The system is also prepared to exchange offers, contracts, or other documents and information through the Internet. The solution is based on the Edistrada environment, which is a universal platform for mass generation, sharing and exchange of B2B and B2C data. The advantage of this environment is the ability to easily integrate with other systems, including SAP.
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] | +48 61 827 70 00
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EDITION 2019
E-INVOICES: LOWER COSTS THANKS TO OPTIMIZATION
Communication with customers and responding
the company’s sensitive data to an external en-
to their expectations are the basis of our success
tity, we also made sure that the tasks would be
and the direction we are invariably heading in.
performed by competent specialists, working in
The implementation of the solutions that auto-
accordance with the requirements of ISO 27018.
mate processes and allow us to focus on custom-
By changing the invoicing process into an electronic
er needs is a strategic decision in our company.
one, we have greatly reduced the costs of its han-
There are quite a lot of issues that should be
dling and used the possibilities of its optimization.
emphasized when implementing the system responsible for the process that is critical for the
Lech Stabiszewski
company: ergonomics, integration, performance, security, monitoring and ensuring business con-
IDEA LEASING SA BOARD MEMBER
tinuity. […] Before entrusting the processing of
Case study www.snp-poland.com
EXTERNAL SOURCES OF SAVINGS
ees’ workload and more effective monitoring
In SNP E-Billing Portal, electronic invoices are
company resources resulting from the launch of
generated and delivered to recipients immedi-
SNP E-Billing Portal. Benefits are also experienced
and reporting are the main sources of savings of
ately after receiving data from the fi nancial and
by customers, which can provide a solid foundation
accounting system. This shortens the process of
for streamlining and extending cooperation. As
delivering documents to counterparties by a few
you can see, there are numerous advantages of
days, which accelerates the payment of receivables.
the solution and many arguments can be speci-
In the classic scenario, the recipient of a document
fied in its favor, however the best proof that SNP
receives an e-mail notification with an attached
E-Billing Portal generates real time savings, and
e-invoice and/or a link to it in the E-Billing Portal
thus fi nancial ones, is provided by companies
immediately after the document is delivered. In
such as Idea Getin Leasing or DHL Parcel, which
addition, the access to a clear web-based user
have already saved many valuable days thanks
interface enables both the invoicing party and the
to E-Billing Portal.
invoice recipient to view the full status of payment and to download a report with a customized summary report, which helps capture and eliminate sources of arrears faster.
Natalia Adamkiewicz
It is also worth noting that after the implementation of SNP E-Billing Portal, which is based on the
TEAM LEADER, WEB & INTEGRATION
universal Edistrada platform, it is easier to launch
SOLUTIONS, SNP POLAND
further, direct integration of EDI with counterparties without involving the entire technical team in this usually complex process.
REAL SAVINGS A faster invoicing process, reduction of errors thanks to automation, decrease in the employ-
EDITION 2019
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123
C/4HANA:
TIME FOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE C/4HANA, a new generation of CRM solutions from SAP, is a real revolution in the SAP portfolio. Available in the cloud, the system is a successor to a number of SAP applications supporting marketing, sales and service processes (including SAP Hybris, C4C – Cloud for Customer, or SAP CRM).
C/4HANA is a modern platform of cloud tools (avail-
If we do not cancel our purchase at this stage, fur-
able on a subscription basis), including:
ther problems may arise in the next steps: delays
SAP Marketing Cloud (formerly SAP Hybris
in delivery, damage in transport and complicated
Marketing),
complaint procedures. At all these stages, the so-
SAP Commerce Cloud (formerly SAP Hybris
called customer experience is created.
Commerce),
In a competitive economy driven by the expecta-
SAP Sales Cloud (formerly SAP Cloud for Cus-
tions of customers, companies must build more and
tomer, SAP C4C),
more complex offers and compete using additional
SAP Service Cloud (formerly SAP Cloud for
attributes in order to maintain their market posi-
Customer, SAP C4C),
tion. The achievement of this level requires the
SAP Customer Data Cloud.
cooperation of all departments of the company. A brand image and brand promises created by marketing departments must be consistent with sales
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
activities and covered in procurement and logistics.
How do customers shop nowadays? Is their approach to this subject changing? At present, the decisive factor seems to be the permanent lack of time.
SAP SALES CLOUD
Often the purchasing process is based on the recom-
The real strength of SAP Sales Cloud lies in the
mendations of friends. This helps us narrow down
solutions for sales and support department em-
the list of potential products. On the basis of infor-
ployees. SAP Sales Cloud combines SAP Cloud for
mation available on the Internet, product photos
Customer, SAP Revenue Cloud and CallidusCloud
and reviews published in social media, we choose
solutions currently owned by SAP.
one. Then we usually look for a merchant who will offer a given product at the best price. So when we finally arrive at the merchant’s website or their
SALES FORCE AUTOMATION
online store, we are already strongly convinced that
The core of SAP Sales Cloud is the SAP Cloud for
we should buy products in that particular place, and
Customer system, i.e. CRM in the cloud, which has
not elsewhere. It seems that now all we need to do is
been available on the market for some time now.
to make our purchase, but we can’t be more wrong.
It is the main tool for salespeople to work with both
There are many factors that can go wrong – from
in the office and in the field (Sales Force Automa-
a non-functional website, through difficult contact
tion – SFA). It has all the functionalities of an SFA
with the store, to lack of employees’ knowledge and
solution, such as management of leads, sales op-
inability to get answers to more detailed questions.
portunities, counterparties, visits, offers and orders.
SAP SALES CLOUD COMPONENTS Sales Learning
Sales Content
Partner Relationship Management
Configure Price Quote
Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM)
Sales Performance Management
Intelligent Forecasting
Subscription Billing & Revenue Management
SAP Cloud for Customer Sales (SFA)
SAP Leonardo (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning)
126
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EDITION 2019
SAP C/4HANA PORTFOLIO SAP Marketing Cloud is a marketing tool that enables effective customer segmentation, conducting marketing campaigns and accounting for their effects. It uses the capabilities offered by the SAP HANA database.
Sales Cloud
Marketing Cloud
SAP C/4HANA Commerce Cloud SAP Commerce Cloud is a multi-module e-Commerce tool. It provides customers with a comprehensive service at the highest level through multiple communication/interaction channels (the so-called omnichannel).
SAP Sales Cloud is an advanced tool that not only allows you to manage the work of the sales department, measure the results and automate specific activities. This solution is primarily designed to facilitate the work of salespeople so as to close deals faster, and thus achieve better results.
Service Cloud
Customer Data Cloud
SAP Service Cloud is responsible for customer after-sales service. It smoothly guides the customer through the complaint process. It ensures effective work through e.g. mechanisms for distributing tasks, monitoring notifications, supporting the work of a service technician in the field.
The central element of C/4HANA is SAP Customer Data Cloud, which manages customer data. According to SAP calculations, the solution administers more than 1.3 trillion customer identities on more than 4 trillion devices and provides a 360° view of customer data.
Visits are a functionality that is particularly inter-
track the statuses of all documents that follow this
esting for the retail industry. It allows the sales-
order – deliveries, invoices.
people to plan a list of stores they have to visit on
The SAP HANA database enables real-time report-
a given day and a list of activities to be carried out
ing and SAP Leonardo enriches the application with
on the spot. For preparing and carrying out visits,
self-learning and data analysis mechanisms. For
surveys are widely used. They speed up and organ-
example, the application suggests which custom-
ize the salesperson’s tasks. The system has a user
ers should be sent offers, which sales processes
friendly and ergonomic interface and integrates
to focus on, which issues to address. The system
with mail programs. It has predefi ned methods
takes over the burden of a long search and analysis
of integration with SAP ERP, S/4HANA, SAP Jam
of data, and the salesperson can focus on what is
and many other external services, and allows
important, i.e. getting to know the customer and
you to work both online and offline. The built-in
establishing relationships.
integration with SAP ERP and S/4HANA systems enables the use of the transactional system functionalities, such as a pricing, product availability check and credit control mechanisms. At the same
INTELLIGENT SALES FUNNEL MANAGEMENT AND FORECASTING
time, you can create documents, e.g. a sales order,
SAP Sales Cloud provides managers (including
in the transactional system at the CRM level, and
salespeople) with a very powerful tool for managing
EDITION 2019
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127
SAP Sales Cloud provides managers (including salespeople) with a very powerful tool for managing the sales funnel
the sales funnel. At first glance, the functionality is
CPQ allows for extensive pricing based on individu-
distinguished by the pleasant, clear presentation of
ally (for each customer) agreed terms (contracts). It
data. The data presented in reports is calculated in
uses a number of rules and restrictions (for example,
real time, and each change automatically refreshes
to combine certain products within one offer), which
values and charts. The graphical presentation of
the user can easily define. The application handles
data allows managers to easily assess sales pro-
offers containing many (even thousand) product
gress in the analyzed period. The results can be
items, for which it simultaneously calculates dis-
presented to the whole sales team or individual
counts and the level of margin safety. CPQ assesses
employees. The system analyzes data and captures
the profitability of the entire offer and its individual
all disturbing signals, presenting them to manag-
items as early as at the stage of its creation. The
ers. For example, sales opportunities are presented
system controls the margin safety thresholds so as
on a bubble chart. The bigger the size of the bubble,
not to allow for unprofitable offers. When prepar-
the bigger the contract. The colour, on the other
ing a price offer, the salesperson can at any time
hand, informs about the condition of such a sales
preview the amount of a commission and a bonus
process. The more interactions recorded within
they will receive. The change of the discount volume
a given opportunity, the higher its rating, which
directly and immediately affects a commission.
means that the sales process is in good shape.
As a result, the salesperson can adjust the volume
The system will determine the size of the sales fun-
entered, ultimately maximizing the sales result. The
nel at the end of the analyzed period (for example,
performance of CPQ is a significant distinguishing
a quarter) and present in the form of a flow diagram
feature of SAP Sales Cloud. In addition, self-learning
how it will change over time, for example – which
mechanisms allow CPQ to compare historical offers
sales processes are progressing, which are stuck,
and recommend on this basis additional products,
how many issues have been postponed. At the same
similar to those of interest to the customer or which
time, each aggregate value can be broken down into
have been bought by the customer so far, or more
small components in order to enable learning about
expensive, but with favourable price conditions for
the details of individual sales processes.
the customer. The system recommends the best price
The application also offers a number of analyses
based on the offers submitted to the customer so far.
supporting the coaching of salespeople. The man-
Finally, CPQ can help prepare a document with
ager can keep track of how many and what kind
a proposal for the customer. The salesperson can
of activities have been carried out by their team.
modify the content of this document by adding or
Additionally, the manager has a quick insight into
skipping predefined parts (e.g. attachments). The
sales processes for which no further meetings are
system can also require the manager to accept the
planned (they entail the risk of postponement),
offer before it can be sent to the customer. This is
in which no decision-makers participate (here
controlled by workflow mechanisms.
the system also suggests a list of people who may be helpful in establishing contact with decisionmakers) or in which only one contact person is
CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
involved, which is undesirable because once this
This is a functionality that was really lacking in
employee leaves the company, the salesperson will
the previous version of the solution i.e. SAP Cloud
lose their only contact with the customer.
for Customer. It enables the creation of contracts, negotiations of their provisions and supports their
CONFIGURE PRICE QUOTE (CPQ)
performance. As far as the preparation of contracts
SAP Sales Cloud is also distinguished by Configure
can use a ready-made template or import an exist-
Price Quote (CPQ), i.e. a tool facilitating the prepa-
ing contract/template to the template library avail-
ration of large offers with a significant degree of
able in the application. Preparation of a contract
complexity of products, their components, variants
does not require the involvement of an IT specialist.
and complementary elements and services. Such
A text editor is used to edit contract provisions in
complex offers are specific to many industries, such
the application. Contract data can come from a sales
as automotive, manufacturing or hi-tech.
opportunity or CPQ. It is downloaded automatically.
EDITION 2019
is concerned, they can be created from scratch. You
SALES & CRM
129
SAP Sales Cloud – sample screens
Lead and opportunity management
User experience
Sales managers dashboards
130
SALES & CRM
Visits – manager guided in-store execution and audits
EDITION 2019
SAP Sales Cloud – sample screens
Embedded analytics
Field service management
Integration with a customer
EDITION 2019
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131
Usually a large group of people work on contracts,
to develop company competencies in 5 areas that
each of them introduces amendments, changes,
are of key importance from the perspective of cus-
adds new clauses. The system tracks the changes
tomer experience.
made by all persons involved in the revision of the document. It provides an overview of changes in the document. Additionally, it controls the rights
UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMER
to introduce specific provisions, thus it may require
SAP Service Cloud contributes to a customer profile
the approval of a given section by other authorized
(360° customer), which contains customer data
persons (a manager and/or a legal counselor). After
processed/generated in all areas of the company.
the completion of editing, the author sends the
The customer profi le is a strength of C/4HANA
contract for approval. The contract or its selected
not because you can collect information from the
provisions may be accepted or rejected. The author
entire company, but because you can further enrich
of the contract is notified about the approval status.
it with the customer’s feedback, then analyze and
To some extent, the application supports the pro-
draw conclusions that translate into the company’s
cess of contract performance and management of
actions and service of other customers. We have
the obligations arising therefrom. It has notifica-
advanced survey tools and related score cards, such
tion functions, for example notifying about the
as Net Promoter Score1 (NPS) and Customer Effort
expiration of a contract, and offers analytics for
Score2 (CES). The former survey evaluates customer
contracts. It allows you to report contracts con-
loyalty and, indirectly, the brand value. The lat-
taining provisions with a high degree of risk, for
ter one measures how much effort is required of
example severe contractual penalties or terms of
the customer to use the company’s products and
contract termination by the customer. The applica-
services to assess how likely it is that the customer
tion also enables you to track contracts with high
will use the company’s offer again.
and (too) low margins.
ANALYTICS SAP SALES CLOUD
SAP Service Cloud includes tools for collecting,
As far as customer service is concerned, there is
processing and taking actions based on feedback
still a conviction that the key aspect of effective
and signals from customers. A problem reported
service is the management of requests and their
by one customer may affect a larger group of cus-
quick closure. Yes, both of these aspects are sig-
tomers. If you can determine the cause of a problem,
nificant, but it is the customer and their experience
you are also able to act proactively, i.e. you nip the
that are of key importance in the customer service
problem in the bud, rather than just put out fires.
process. You can close the request quickly, however
SAP Service Cloud offers a wide range of analyzing
does this mean that you have provided the best
and reporting capabilities. It also uses artificial
possible service to the customer? Not necessarily.
intelligence mechanisms that allow you to predict,
It may turn out that the proposed solution is only
for example, the probability of a failure and to pro-
a half measure to be used by the customer to cope
pose a date of a service visit in advance, or which
with their problem. Service statistics are skyrock-
enable you to sell additional products or services.
eting and the customer will probably not use your
Remember that a suggestion or recommendation
services any more. From the point of view of the
of a professional service technician often motivates
entire organization, it is a failure.
the customer more than the same recommendation
After-sales customer service is an epicenter of
given by a salesperson.
customer experience. Therefore, it should be simple – competent and convenient, without any complicated procedures, and it should lead to the actual solution of the customer’s problem.
132
TRAINING AND MOTIVATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE EMPLOYEES
SAP Service Cloud covers the customer service
Each of us has experienced more than once how
area of the SAP Cloud for Customer application
it feels to be sent from one employee to another.
and provides additional tools enabling companies
Employees’ lack of knowledge and little experi-
SALES & CRM
EDITION 2019
ence are common stumbling blocks in customer service departments. The challenge for managers
A HOLISTIC APPROACH
is to maintain the motivation of employees to self-
Some customer service processes require extensive
educate and search for solutions. They often use
integration with the ERP system. The strength
monetary methods, i.e. various types of financial
of C/4HANA is its deep (wide) integration with
bonuses depending on the results achieved. SAP
S/4HANA (also SAP ERP). The scope of data neces-
Service Cloud provides a different kind of moti-
sary to carry out the service work and exchanged
vation – a non-monetary one. On the one hand,
between the front and back office systems is wide
it is a convenient tool that makes it easier for an
and includes: device data, service contract details,
employee to perform their duties and achieve bet-
warranty and order details, parts availability check,
ter results. All data in one place, elimination of
handling of shipment of spare parts and invoicing
repetitive tasks, assignment of tasks by compe-
of work and parts in accordance with the contract.
tency, assignment of tasks in the field according
With an integrated environment, you can record all
to the employee’s location, prediction and system
operations when they are performed, simplifying
hints, a knowledge base, SAP Jam (a kind of forum
procedures and manual actions based on paper
for employees enabling them to build their com-
documents. You eliminate the risk of errors result-
munity of experts) are examples of functionalities
ing from manual input of data that often affects
that not only reduce the workload of an employee
the customer, for example, when you invoice them
but also improve the quality of their work. On the
for a repair covered by the warranty.
other hand, the application allows you to introduce a kind of friendly competition between employees based on games. For example, one of the banks used a game mechanism in its new mobile application for customers, encouraging them to learn about the
WHAT DISTINGUISHES C/4HANA – A NEW STANDARD IN CUSTOMER SERVICE
new capabilities of the application and to extend
C/4HANA is a complete and versatile tool for building
their use of the bank’s offer.
positive customer experience through the comprehensive execution of business processes. Information
SELF-SERVICE, THE BEST KIND OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
flows freely through the entire ecosystem, and the
Sometimes the best customer service is self-ser-
quality to the existing method of working. A user
vice. Companies often underestimate this form
friendly interface and a number of functions and
of customer support or treat it as a way to reduce
improvements allow employees to perform their
costs. If you provide the customer with the right,
duties more easily and to achieve better results.
and above all, user friendly tools, some of the issues
The open character of the environment, i.e. nu-
will be solved by the customer themselves. And here
merous possibilities of integration with external
I will again address the common issue of lack of
applications, helps meet the most specialist re-
time. Customers want to do their business in a way
quirements.
built-in analytics complemented with self-learning and artificial intelligence mechanisms brings a new
that is convenient for them, and not necessarily in a way that is offered by the company. For example, when reporting an issue on the phone, I would like to be able to follow the statuses of my issue
Barbara Kowalska
on a mobile application, by e-mail or on a website – I may not always be able to talk on the phone or
SAP SOLUTION ARCHITECT, SNP POLAND
I simply do not feel like breaking through the call center and talking to more and more people who are dealing with the issue. The customer expectations regarding multi-channel service is a common phenomenon. We can’t divide customers by service channel, that’s an anachronistic approach.
EDITION 2019
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133
DIGITAL EMPLOYEES – the future or the present? 134
BUSINESS AUTOMATION
EDITION 2019
photo Adobe
ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION
Every day, in the offices of every company, employees perform dozens of repetitive activities – posting invoices, planning the shipments of ordered products, entering leave requests into the HR system, etc. Some of these tasks are complicated and require creativity, however many of them are monotonous and routine. They consist of simple data searching and copying, e.g. preparing a report based on data from several different systems, in the same layout, every month. And this is where RPA tools replacing employees can be used.
EDITION 2019
BUSINESS AUTOMATION
135
We are already used to seeing factories where robots
lar to the ‘batch input’ technique in SAP systems.
replace people in repetitive activities. The concept
However, unlike batch input, it is not limited to
of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) transfers this
the SAP GUI screen only, but can also include any
vision also to the office – to the activities we per-
other applications and web pages.
form in ERP, CRM, MS Office, e-mail applications.... Robotic Process Automation means creating software robots (bots) that simulate the activity of
SAMPLE SCENARIOS
users performing specific, repetitive tasks in IT
RPA is a very flexible approach that can be used
systems. This can also be described as the creation
wherever application users perform repetitive tasks
of ‘digital workforce’.
described by unambiguous rules. Below are some typical scenarios in which it is worth considering:
WHY RPA? By launching ‘bots’ to perform routine activities,
ENTERING THE SAME DATA INTO MANY SYSTEMS
the company can enjoy a number of benefits:
Often, master data such as suppliers, customers,
reduced workload and faster execution of re-
employees or products has to be set up in many
petitive activities;
different applications (if these applications are
fewer errors – compared to manual data entry;
not yet connected by automatic interfaces). For
greater satisfaction of employees, who can be
example, we need to enter a new customer in the
freed from monotonous tasks and reassigned
ERP system, in the CRM system and in the support
to more interesting jobs;
application. A new product must be added to the
ability to include additional reports or check-
ERP system and separately to the system manag-
points in the processes that were previously
ing an online store. We create a new employee in
too labor-intensive to execute (we realized that
the HR system, in the fi nancial application (as
they were needed in the company, but we did
a payment recipient, for travel expense and pur-
not have the capacity to handle them).
chase accounting) and in the company’s intranet.
We can indicate to the RPA bot the number of
HOW IS IT DONE?
a customer or product in one of the systems and
Robotic Process Automation tools are specialized
data to subsequent applications.
defi ne the logic of automatic propagation of this
programs that can control other applications and orchestrate their operation.
MASS UPDATES/VERIFICATION OF DATA
Depending on the type of application, the robot
Sometimes we use external information services
controls its operation in various ways:
to update data in the ERP or CRM system. An
API (web service, REST) calls – if the system
example is a periodic verifi cation whether all
provides this type of interface,
Saving/retrieving files from disk or FTP server,
Automatic email sending/receiving,
Simulating the work of a user who “clicks” on appropriate fields and buttons on a website or
Robotic Process Automation
in an application.
means creating software robots
The latter way (simulating the user’s work with the application) provides great flexibility and proves
(bots) that simulate the activity
that “nothing is impossible” for the bot. If the
of users performing specific,
user is able to perform a certain action in the ap-
repetitive tasks in IT systems.
plication by selecting functions from the menu
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and entering data on the screen, the RPA robot can
This can also be described as the
reproduce these steps. This is an approach simi-
creation of ‘digital workforce’.
BUSINESS AUTOMATION
EDITION 2019
Every organization receives repetitive e-mails for which the human involvement in their handling can be partially or even completely eliminated.
RPA for SAP – sample application scenarios During the SAP implementation, the organization prepares a number of automatic mechanisms and reports using the ABAP programming language, SAP PI integration platform or SAP data warehouse. Over time, however, we
customers are registered as active VAT payers, or downloading customer turnover information to CRM, based on DUNS numbers. If we “teach” a bot to perform such an operation for a single customer, it will be automatically repeated, regardless of whether we have hundreds or millions of records to update.
POSTING OF DATA DELIVERED IN FILES If we perform repetitive postings (for which the
discover new areas for improvement. There are also changes in the system environment, e.g. implementation of new applications that need to exchange data with SAP. Even if other applications do not offer suitable interfaces (APIs) or if we cannot carry out our own programming work in SAP (e.g. a strictly controlled central corporate system), the RPA bot – simulating the user’s work – will cope with these limitations. Below we present examples of automation scenarios in SAP:
mechanism of import to the system has not been
Mass creation or change of master data
prepared yet), the RPA bot is an ideal tool for auto-
Update of price lists
mating such a process. For instance a data file with fuel card billing, a collective invoice from a travel
Update of credit limits
agency, a list of invoices to be issued, sent in Excel
Periodical data posting based on files (fuel
from the service department, etc.
cards, settlements of corporate payment cards, etc.)
HANDLING OF INCOMING E-MAILS Every organization receives repetitive e-mails for which the human involvement in their handling can be partially or even completely eliminated. For example, e-mails with invoices from suppliers sent to the address: [email protected] can be automatically verified (whether they are sent from an e-mail address assigned to one of the suppliers in ERP and whether they contain a PDF attachment), and then initiate the process of verification and posting the invoice in the ERP system. In the simplest variant – the attachment with the
Automatic sending of balance requests or generation of balance confirmations for counterparties, based on incoming e-mails Performance of other sequences of activities related to the month-end closing or yearend closing Supervision of the interface operation (e.g. comparison of the list of technical IDOC messages and invoices posted in the system, as a verification whether all messages have been processed correctly)
invoice will be added to the accounting system
Preparation of reports for the management
and then ‘manually’ analyzed and posted. In the
board, combining information from several
more advanced variant, an OCR-enabled bot can
data sources in the system (e.g. costs, sales,
automatically interpret and post such a document.
working time)
It will inform the operator only if an unexpected situation occurs – the invoice scan is unintelligible or the document layout does not match any template.
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Another example can be e-mails with balance
reports are to be comparable between successive
confi rmation requests from our counterparties.
periods), the RPA robot will work much better in
If we set up a dedicated mailbox for such requests
such a task than a person, who – being tired af-
(e.g. [email protected]), the bot can au-
ter many hours of work – can use data from the
tomatically check whether an e-mail comes from
wrong month or paste an incorrect formula for
one of the defined counterparties, then download
calculations.
the status of settlements from the financial system and send this information back to the supplier – completely eliminating the work of the accounting
ADDITIONAL CHECKPOINTS IN THE PROCESS
department in this monotonous task.
A service technician with a few urgent requests assigned to him suddenly took a sick leave and
AUTOMATIC GENERATION OF NOTIFICATIONS OR REPORTS
nobody took care of these matters. A salesman
Managers regularly prepare many different speci-
next week, but he is so busy with current offers
fications on their teams’ work to calculate and
that he doesn’t have time to pass the customers
report various indicators (KPIs). The source data
to another person.
for these specifications is already made available
The planned invoices don’t match what we actu-
by various applications in the company, but their
ally invoiced in the month, but no one has time
“processing” involves additional manual steps,
to trace the data by customer and project; we only
such as exporting specifications to Excel, combin-
have the total amount of discrepancies....
ing data from several sources, adding calculation
Each of the situations described above can be eas-
formulas, and finally exporting them to a PDF file
ily controlled and communicated to the relevant
and forwarding by email.
specialists or managers before they affect the
If the rules of creating such specifications are un-
company’s performance or customer relation-
ambiguous and constant (and they should be if KPI
ships. In practice, however, there is usually no
has too many customer visits scheduled for the
RPA by SNP SNP Poland is a partner of Automation Anywhere Inc. – an RPA market leader. AAI solutions are used by more than 2,000 enterprises around the world. Scalability and security are AAI priorities in product development. They cover the entire “robot life cycle”, from designing through attended/ unattended launching of robots to analytical tools and machine learning (IQ Bot). In the online AAI Bot Store, customers will fi nd over 250 ready-made ‘bots’, dedicated to various systems (including SAP), accelerating the RPA implementation. Despite their great capabilities, AAI tools remain intuitive to use. Business users are able to defi ne most of the necessary solutions without the involvement of programmers. SNP Poland carries out RPA implementation projects both in the ‘proof of concept’ version and as a full implementation of tools used to automate processes in the organization.
ASK FOR DETAILS AND OFFER [email protected] | +48 61 827 70 00
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RPA tools enable a part of the process and the processing logic to be “clicked” on the screen; only more complex automation elements require programming skills.
tion, then we have good news. The implementation of the solutions described in this article is a relatively simple project, compared to other projects at the junction of IT and business. Modern RPA tools allow you to prepare a proof of concept within a few days. In a short period of time, it is therefore possible to demonstrate the benefits of automation on a selected section of the real process and on actual samples of your organization’s data. At the initial project stage, the purchase of a license
one to delegate these simple control activities to.
is not required; usually we can use a ‘trial’ ver-
We learn about the problem only when there is
sion of the tools – e.g. a 30-day version – which
a “fire” to be extinguished...
is completely sufficient to assess the usefulness
The RPA bot is ideally suited for such tasks. It can
of the solution, without the risk of incurring ex-
log in to several systems and compare information
penses for the company and disappointment with
from them (e.g. a list of support system requests,
the final result.
a list of meetings with customers in CRM, absences
The subsequent “full” implementation of the RPA
of employees in the HR system, planned invoices
process does not impose a heavy burden on the
in ERP, etc.). If the established rules are not met, it
organization either. This obviously depends on
sends warnings and escalates the case depending
the scale and complexity of the automation that
on its urgency. For example, if a customer visit is
we are planning, but it is a project with a schedule
planned at the same time when a salesman is on
calculated in weeks rather than months. RPA tools
vacation, a notification is sent to a team leader.
enable a part of the process and the processing logic
If the amount of invoices issued is lower than the
to be “clicked” on the screen; only more complex
planned revenues from a given project, a warn-
automation elements require programming skills.
ing is sent to a project manager that he forgot to
Therefore, the maintenance of the ‘robot’ and cur-
enter a document or that an invoicing plan needs
rent updates (e.g. changes in business rules) do
to be updated.
not entail the need for support from an external company. The RPA implementation includes training for key users – process managers – who will
WHEN RPA?
take care of it in the future.
From the scenarios presented above, you can choose several general situations when RPA is worth considering:
activities that are repetitive – daily, weekly or
Michał Kunze
monthly – in a similar form,
activities that can be described by unambigu-
DIRECTOR OF SOFTWARE
ous rules,
DEVELOPMENT, SNP POLAND
processes ‘at the junction’ of two or more applications – this is not a necessary condition, but then we will usually save more time by eliminating manual combination or comparison of data that is currently performed by users.
NEXT STEPS If the above situations sound familiar to you and you come across such scenarios in your organiza-
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Thinking machines and learning software – artificial intelligence is the technology of the future. Experts are convinced that learning algorithms are going to revolutionize our world in almost every conceivable area. Innoplexia GmbH shows how companies will benefi t the most from this development, and how they can already use AI methods profitably today. The company stands for digital market observation, intelligent data processing and holistic market analyses and offers a solution for uniform data management in companies. Innoplexia has been a subsidiary of the SNP Group since mid-2018.
A FORCE FOR CHANGE IN THE IT SECTOR An interview with digitalization expert Prof. Dr. Herbert Schuster on the revolution of artificial intelligence and how it will change the industry at a breathtaking pace
Prof. Herbert Schuster founded Innoplexia and
Prof. Schuster, how can the terms artificial
became the CIO of SNP in 2018. The former SAP
intelligence, big data and machine learning
manager, successful entrepreneur and regular
be distinguished from one another?
keynote speaker is one of Germany’s most re-
140
nowned digitalization experts. His talks focus on
That’s a good question, because these terms are
the themes of digital transformation, data-driven
currently being overused and are often bundled
decision making, and research into digital markets
together haphazardly. The reason is that they
and consumers. This year, he will open the second
describe deeply intertwined methods.
day of Transformation World with a talk on “Ar-
The term “big data” basically describes a situ-
tificial Intelligence in Transformation Projects”
ation where the volume of data a company has
and demonstrate the potential of machine learning
internally becomes too large for its internal IT
in transformations. In the future, learning algo-
infrastructure to handle. It is often the case that
rithms will be able to vastly reduce project costs
neither Excel nor simple database systems can
by performing processes intelligently, automati-
cope with this amount of data. As an example,
cally and extremely rapidly – processes that used
most public utility companies today only have
to be manual and were therefore time-consuming
one measurement value per customer. However,
and cost-intensive.
if the customer uses a smart meter, measure-
In the interview, Prof. Herbert Schuster provides
ment data is produced every 15 minutes – meaning
exciting insights into self-learning algorithms
4 x 24 x 365 data records. That’s over 35,000 data
at present and in the future, and explains why
records per household. Anyone can figure out what
they will play an essential role for companies in
this means for a small city with, for example,
all industries in the years to come.
50,000 households.
BUSINESS AUTOMATION
EDITION 2019
photo SNP Group
This is where AI comes into play. If you have a lot
the weather, vacation periods and so on, and see
of data records, as in the example above, and
exactly how this data affects consumption on the
want to evaluate them, it makes sense to let ma-
following day. They then develop a forecasting
chines make decisions that were previously made
procedure and optimize it every day based on the
by humans. For example, “calculate the amount
newly collected data. The result is a model that
of electricity that will be needed for the city of
hits the mark extremely well.
Heidelberg tomorrow”. Nowadays, this is already
In a nutshell, artificial intelligence aims to gradu-
done by professional systems. In most cases, people
ally make more and more decisions that were once
optimize the output by adding further informa-
unique for us humans. Here, the most important
tion: are there school holidays, public holidays or
method is machine learning. And for it all to work
a Soccer World Cup game on the day? Thanks to the
properly, you need a large amount of historical
algorithm, the calculation is faster and, most im-
data: big data.
portantly, better. With this development, intelligent systems have acquired the ability to calculate and analyze in a way that was only previously possible
What are the biggest challenges today in the field of AI?
for people – and far surpassed our ability to do so. But how have these systems managed to surpass us?
AI research is currently being shaped by a few very
Quite simply, they learn! It’s a tactic that has been
specific problems, such as image and text recogni-
copied from us. Learning systems are structured
tion. There are separate AI methods for each prob-
like a neural network, similar to our brain, and are
lem type. This is far from satisfactory because you
made to plow through countless millions of past
need a special wrench for each individual challenge.
cases. The systems examine past consumption,
The biggest challenge now is to gear development
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photo Adobe
more and more toward the universal wrench – in
ingly come into contact with AI. But we will see
other words, to fi nd methods that solve several
a dramatic increase in the number of areas over
similar problems.
the next five years, for example in health care
Example: The chess AI plays chess, the Go AI plays
(e.g. individual medicine, radiology), in mobility
Go, and the poker AI plays poker. Today, we are
(e.g. driving assistance, driving services, etc.), in
working on the next step and – with surprising
energy technology (e.g. smart cities) and in building
success – are in the process of making AI sys-
services (e.g. security systems) to name just a few.
tems capable of familiarizing themselves with
The answer is essentially “all” because AI really
new games. The biggest challenge now is to gear
will affect all areas of life and industries. And in
development more and more toward the universal
such a way that people will see AI as a technology
wrench – in other words, to fi nd methods that
that positively influences their lives. This will pave
solve several similar problems.
the way for acceptance, meaning that people will actively want AI instead of resisting it.
In which areas of life are we already encountering AI today?
In your opinion, are more regulations required in the field of AI?
There are many overlaps. Let me take two examples
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from the Google universe. Keen photographers
I’m firmly convinced that the potential for change
know the problem well: Add info about your pho-
with AI is enormous and will be heavily exploited.
tos or risk never finding them again. Therefore,
This change to our environment will not be abrupt,
we tag or label our photos, adding a description
but rather selective, so that we as consumers will
like “Heidelberg Castle, winter snow”. Now that
find it pleasant to have our lives made easier. The
Google has scanned billions of images and image
same goes for B2B transactions, which will be sub-
labels on the web, it can use AI methods to tag
ject to a traditional cost-benefit analysis and driven
images that lack descriptions.
by the most innovative competitor in each case.
As a result, the user no longer needs to write what’s
Functioning regulations are needed for precisely
in the image – Google takes care of it, also ar-
this reason:
ranging the images as desired. As for the second
Intensive work is already happening in this area,
example, I use Google Maps as my satnav system.
innovations are being widely accepted, and data is
In doing so, I actively send my position and speed
being generated that will further optimize AI sys-
data to Google. This data allows Google to not only
tems. But as far as this specific issue is concerned,
identify traffic jams, but also predict when they
I am rather pessimistic. Innovations are good at
are likely to appear or clear.
dodging regulations, as innovators are too fast
These days, there are many applications in the
and regulators too weak. In addition, a regulation
areas of photography, traffic, communication and
doesn’t work internationally. However, in my view,
credit requests where we knowingly or unknow-
competition between AI companies may also have
BUSINESS AUTOMATION
EDITION 2019
In the next five years, AI really will affect all areas of life and industries.
a regulating effect. Just take the topic of fake news,
4.
Are you aware of all internal and external
which of course has the potential to shake democ-
fraud cases and can you provide supporting
racies across the world. It is a showdown of King
documents?
Kong vs. Godzilla-esque proportions. On one side, there are very ‘intelligent’ systems that generate persuasive news and pass it on to exactly those
What problems exist for companies with regard to their data security?
users who can be influenced. On the other side, Twitter, Google and Facebook are developing al-
Growing data volumes are pushing companies
gorithms that can identify this news as fake and
to their technical limits, and the challenges posed
eliminate it. I think this is more efficient than any
by data security are growing in parallel. This es-
government regulation, which I consider to be de-
pecially concerns the expertise and methods of
sirable but unrealistic.
hackers. To counteract this trend, cloud providers offer extremely professional solutions to respond
Why do companies today need artificial intelligence?
to exactly this challenge. The largest cloud service providers like Microsoft, Amazon and Google have the most secure environments of all, mean-
There are a number of compelling reasons in favor
ing that even the landscapes of large companies
of adopting AI. In short because they urgently need
can hardly keep up. And precisely these providers
it (analytical potential within companies is almost
are now adding AI-supported services that allow
never fully realized), because they have the neces-
them to detect and combat attacks even faster and
sary data, because the customer wants conveni-
more effectively. Data security used to be a reason
ence (which requires AI), because the customer is
to fear the cloud, but today, the cloud represents
willing to pay for convenient data management,
the only affordable and highly secure solution for
and because competitors will adopt AI anyway,
many companies.
therefore gaining huge exponential advantages. When an executive board or managing director asks
How can companies assess whether AI will
me why they need artifical intelligence, I always
be worthwhile in their projects and business
reply:
segments?
1.
2. 3.
Would you like to know which of your customers will terminate their contract in the next
That’s an easy one – just try it! The entry barriers
few weeks?
for testing the use of AI methods are very low. There
Do you know the exact price your customers
are testing environments from the big providers
would pay?
as well as a range of open-source methods and
Would you like to know about companies or
programs (e.g. Tensor-Flow). My advice is to search
consumers who need your products but are
for inhouse data that is not confidential or personal
not yet aware of them?
and to test different AI methods on it.
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My personal estimate is that AI systems will be able to handle 60 to 70 percent of all business transactions
photo SNP Group
In your opinion, how important is the intersection between science and business?
big questions: How will we handle this change both personally and as a society? How much work do we want to be relieved of? How will we deal with
It is very important for two reasons. First, companies
the additional free time?
can access the latest innovations more quickly if they cooperate with colleges. Secondly, companies
... and how will AI systems change companies?
will urgently need employees with knowledge of AI. And joint projects certainly offer a perfect op-
For companies, there is enormous potential in pro-
portunity in this regard. This approach advances our
cess automation. My personal estimate is that AI
scientific knowledge too, since realistic problems
systems will be able to handle 60 to 70 percent of
are tackled. It is also very important for scientists
all business transactions with even better results in
to become familiar with specific economic problems
terms of speed, accuracy, transparency and costs.
in order to point their research in the right direction.
These transactions would include job application processing, invoice verification, goods control,
What general changes will AI systems bring to our society?
quality inspection and controlling activities within a company. AI systems are still being prepared for this role, so it will be years before companies can
On the one hand, of course, our lives will become
implement them. Nevertheless, it only takes one
more transparent – and we will be relieved of
company in any given industry, and the rest must
a lot of unpleasant work as a reward. At home, for
follow. Once this happens, it is easy to imagine
example, via smart devices and robots, or in the
entire companies working in the same way as the
car to get from A to B without hassle. There will
factories operated by automotive manufacturers
quite simply be less work to do, as AI systems will
today: highly automated processes in all areas.
make many activities superfluous for people and possibly even entire professions. This raises some
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BUSINESS AUTOMATION
Thank you for the interview.
EDITION 2019
Unlock the power of SAP S/4HANA with SNP’S BLUEFIELD™ approach What if you could automate your enterprise’s journey to SAP S/4HANA? And what if the results were faster time to value, lower risk of errors, superior compliance capabilities through audit trails, and a more predictable outcome overall? SNP’s BLUEFIELD™ approach lets you merge, split, upgrade, and harmonize systems in a single go-live project, with automated data and business process testing.
Learn more. Order an expert interview. More: www.snpgroup.com/en/bluefield-for-s/4hana
SAP templates & rollouts Getting things done
Planning SAP rollouts in Central Eastern Europe? Developing the corporate SAP standard for distributing units? For multinationals using corporate SAP templates, SNP Poland offers support in SAP rollout programs in any field and country. We have supported SAP rollouts in: Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA. Learn more. Make an appointment to talk to an expert. More: www.snp-poland.com/en/offer/sap-rollouts