SAP S/4HANA is proving to be SAP’s most successful ERP system. SAP’s involvement with ERP solutions dates back to 1979 when SAP R/2 was launched. In 1992, SAP R/3 was introduced and we have continued to see improvements as the product has evolved from SAP ERP in 2004 to SAP S/4HANA in 2015. The launch of this 4th generation SAP ERP solution is timely, as it has coincided with new technologies and concepts that are driving global business operations, such as cloud services and mobile computing.
For green field implementation, organisations are being forced to choose between the conventional SAP ERP solutions or the more modern S/4HANA. For users running the SAP Business Suite, it is a decision of whether to stick with the status quo or migrate to S/4HANA. Irrespective of the group to which your organisation belongs it is imperative to make the decision based on objective and tangible business benefits. There are 5 key business benefits of S/4HANA which should be considered when deciding which ERP system is the best fit for your business:
- Performance
S/4HANA runs only on SAP HANA, SAP’s flagship in-memory computing database. This means that running an SAP solution such as S/4HANA naturally takes advantage of the speed of transaction processing and reporting native to SAP HANA. S/4HANA allows you to experience better performance as it relates to complex and time driven business activities such as real-time planning, execution, reporting and analytics based on live data, as well as prompt period closing and improved forecasting. It also allows you provide a better service level for customer-centric applications.
- Agility
The end user interface of SAP S/4HANA is completely SAP Fiori driven. This makes the user-friendly rendition of real-time business insights and intelligence on any mobile device a laudable business advantage, anytime and anywhere.
- Simplicity
SAP S/4HANA brings unparalleled simplicity to the management and administration of the complete IT landscape, and coupled with the cloud adoption potential that it brings to the fore, hardware and network resources have never been so centralized.
- Reduced Total Cost of Ownership
The adoption of S/4HANA is a cost efficient option when you consider the fact that you are able to combine all the analytical and transactional capabilities of different systems into a single source of truth which drives acute and proactive business making.
- Innovation
SAP S/4HANA is one of the products from SAP that is driving cloud adoption by businesses. The cloud offers a platform for different software vendors to offer innovative products that integrates and extends the capability of S/4HANA.
While making the decision between traditional SAP ERP solutions cannot be made lightly, there is no doubt that S/4HANA represents an offering from SAP that is central to conducting business in today’s complex and radically changing environment.
