SAP's Evolution: From System of Records to Value Generation

I intend to write a series of Blog Articles, that dig deeper into the topics discussed in the recent Interview about end-to-end process and value oriented tool integration at SAP with Rouven Morato. Many showed interest in this interview, even if it was in german. Yes - it has english subtitles. Anyhow I´d like to discuss this further in english also add some more depth from the angle of practical application to it. These were the questions on my list:

1. Why to invest into SAP Cloud ERP Transformation and Business Process Transformation? (Inflation, energy prices, global disruptions)

2. With the right MindSet, SkillSet and ToolSet we can create Digital Assets that yield income and cash flow. What do you say to that statement? How do you see the role of each of these in the whole picture?

3. SAP Signavio Process Discovery used to generate Recommendations for S/4HANA innovations. Now we also have SAP Process Insights with Plug & Gain doing the same. How will those consolidate on the RoadMap?

4. How do you think about taking over of Scope Items from the Process Insights recommendations into SAP Digital Discovery Assessment? How do you see the value contribution of DDA in this chain?

5. The SAP Value LifeCycle Management is a central Tool for creating business cases based on strategic goals, value drivers and benchmarks. We have also seen value drivers and benchmarks in the Plug & Gain with the Best Run Scores. How to these integrate? What is the difference? What is the RoadMap?

6. We would like to see Scope Import and Testplans in cALM from Signavio instead of „frozen“ process diagrams (Power Designer? Process Navigator). How to you see the RoadMap?

7. Certainly we would love to derive the Scope in Central Business Configuration (CBC) to be derived from these process models, even process variants. Do you think this is a possibility?

8. We would love to feed the test automation tool in S/4HANA Cloud by the processes. How do you envision this?

9. And then we would love to extract Plug & Gain from S/4HANA Cloud to get more innovation Recommendations. If you can elaborate on that?

10. Coming to LeanIX - how do you see that in the whole picture? Also if we use the term „Service Oriented Architecture“ - does it play any role in the overall concept?

11. What should customers do in the meanwhile?

My specific angle where I come from is this:

• MindSet

• ToolSet

• SkillSet

produces a digital Asset which is income generating.

This is my main point of thought. In the interview we hat great consensus about this. Also there was a clear statement by Rouven, that Lift & Shift will not produce this added value, because it continues the old processes. That is, why I am so conviced about this approach and Rouven is one of the managers from SAP who communicates this conviction crystal clear. That is why I like so much working with them.

On the contrary sometimes I read a blog comment about an old R/3 4.6c Release that goes like this: to see the SAP System merely as a system of records for compliance. Truth can´t be further away. Eveything is missing in such a statement: MindSet, ToolSet, SkillSet. Even if the ToolSet today is not perfectly integrated, the Process and Value MindSet also allowed in the past 13 years to produce value by implementing E2E Best Practice Processes with SAP Cloud ERP that produce value with each process execution. And it is possibl today, tools are getting better.

We discussed in the interview in some length the identification of value improvement potentials by applying SAP Signavio Process Discovery and Process Insights (Plug & Gain) in the legacy SAP Systems and the relation to the Value Management Tools. There is a great consensus that this is the right framework that will guide successful Cloud ERP transformation projects now and in the future. Which is so contrary to the "systems of record" or the "Lift and Shift" approach.

Creating value goes like this:

• Conceptualization: without the Value and Process Approach this will only be technical.

• Communication: You can only communicate clearly what you have conceptualized.

• Unification: You can only convince the organization and gather the organization behind you what you are able to clearly communicate.

• Implementation: Implementation will only take place after you have the organization behind you.

I hope we are tired of migration projects where the only goal is to go live. If we have the right MindSet and SkillSet we can overcome some present gaps in the ToolSet. Anyhow the ToolSet has improved so much over the last decade, all of their potential is only used to the full extent by so few. And if we start now, we can already set the the course today that it aligns with the SAP RoadMap so that we can be first to profit from any new improvements in the SAP ToolSet. What is what we even did in the last 13 year with our customers.

So in that sense: There is no reason to wait. But there is much reason to reconsider the MindSet, ToolSet and SkillSet.