Jappie is the 51ˇçÁ÷Retail Capability Lead for Accenture Africa and is a seasoned IT executive with over 20 years of experience.

He excels at building and maintaining strong relationships with clients and stakeholders and has worked with retailers across South Africa, the UK, and Europe.

In each of these markets, Jappie has been involved in large and impactful 51ˇçÁ÷transformation projects.

He holds an MBA in Business Administration and Management from the University of Cape Town and a National Diploma in Marketing from Nelson Mandela University.

The interview

In this What’s Next interview, Jappie explains why retailers must move to a cloud ERP system — focusing on as an example.

He then outlines how Accenture helps its clients overcome their biggest operational challenges when transitioning to S/4HANA, while ensuring they make the installation as cost-efficient as possible.

Jappie shares the recent innovations he’s seen in the retail ERP space, too, and explains how these new technologies help retailers stay a step ahead of their competitors.

He concludes the interview by unpacking the trends he expects to emerge in the ERP cloud industry.

Watch the full interview with Aadil Jappie below.

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While there is apprehension regarding job displacement, income reductions from shortened work hours, and the threat of identity theft, the narrative is far from gloomy. The advent of AI is not a harbinger of joblessness but a beacon for the creation of novel employment opportunities, necessitating a pivot towards embracing and integrating AI into the workforce.

The potential is limitless, particularly in developing economies such as ours. By leveraging AI tools for data analysis, farmers can gain insights into crop health, soil conditions, and weather patterns, leading to more informed decisions and higher yields with lower resource inputs. In areas where healthcare infrastructure is underdeveloped and there is a scarcity of medical professionals, AI can significantly improve access to quality healthcare services.

AI-driven diagnostic tools, telemedicine platforms, and health monitoring apps can extend healthcare services to remote areas, reducing the need for patients to travel long distances for basic healthcare.

Many developing economies suffer from low levels of banking penetration and financial inclusion. AI has the capacity to change this through fintech innovations. By utilising AI and machine learning algorithms, fintech companies can offer personalised financial products, improve credit scoring methods, and extend banking services to previously unbanked populations through mobile platforms.

But there is an important caveat. Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer of Accenture, encapsulates this transition best, advising to “invest more in the people than in the technology”. This principle underscores the importance of human capital in the age of AI, advocating for a workforce that is not only technologically proficient but also adaptable and innovative.

Generative AI, a focal point of Accenture’s Tech Vision 2024, exemplifies the symbiotic relationship between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence. It is set to redefine the essence of work, transforming roles into that of advisors, creators, developers, and protectors within the enterprise sphere. For example, Accenture’s initiative to automate 51ˇçÁ÷documentation exemplifies how AI can streamline productivity and tackle complex challenges, highlighting a shift towards more engaging and meaningful work.

The transformation does not stop at job enhancement; it extends to the genesis of new career paths. As generative AI permeates various sectors, there is a burgeoning demand for roles that blend technical savvy with creative and strategic thinking. This shift is catalysing a comprehensive re-skilling movement, spearheaded by organisations keen on nurturing a workforce that is resilient and future ready.

Amid these technological strides, the essence of human-AI collaboration becomes ever more pronounced. AI technologies, including semantic search engines, transformer models, and large language models, are revolutionising how we interact with digital systems, making these interactions more intuitive and contextually rich.

This is not just a leap in technology but a paradigm shift in human-computer interaction, fostering a more integrated and seamless blend of digital and human intelligence.

However, the journey towards a harmonious human-AI coexistence is paved with ethical considerations. Privacy, transparency, and inclusivity stand at the forefront of this venture, ensuring that AI development is aligned with societal values and norms. It is about crafting AI systems that are not just intelligent but also ethical and human-centric, reflecting our collective aspirations for a future where technology amplifies human potential.

In South Africa, this evolution presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. The key to navigating this landscape lies in fostering a culture of continuous learning, ethical inquiry, and inclusive design. By doing so, we can ensure that the benefits of AI are universally accessible, bridging the gap between technology and humanity.

So, what types of job am I talking about? Consider the following skills to which local companies need to start applying their minds.

As AI systems become more integrated into daily life and business operations, there is a growing need to ensure these technologies are developed and deployed responsibly. An AI Ethics Officer is responsible for creating guidelines that govern the ethical use of AI within organisations.

AI in healthcare is not just about data analysis; it is also transforming patient care through AI-enhanced medical devices and personalised medicine. AI-enhanced Healthcare Technicians specialise in operating, maintaining, and interpreting data from AI-powered medical equipment, such as diagnostic imaging machines and robotic surgical systems.

The accuracy of AI models depends heavily on the quality of the data on which they are trained.

Data annotation specialists play a crucial role in the AI development process by labelling data accurately, which is then used to train machine learning models. This can involve anything from identifying objects in images for computer vision tasks to annotating speech for natural language processing systems.

Integrating AI into existing business processes requires not just technical knowledge but also a strategic vision. AI business integration specialists work at the intersection of AI technology and business strategy, helping organisations identify opportunities for AI implementation that align with business objectives.

With the rise of chatbots and virtual assistants, there is a growing need for professionals who can design AI-powered conversational interfaces that provide a seamless and engaging user experience. Conversational AI designers combine expertise in AI, linguistics, and user experience design to create systems that can understand and respond to human language in a natural and intuitive way.

The focus must now shift from merely adapting to AI to actively shaping its trajectory in a manner that enriches human society. It is a call to action for all stakeholders – businesses, educators, policymakers, and individuals – to embrace this era of human-AI collaboration with optimism and a shared commitment to a future where technology and humanity coalesce to unlock unprecedented possibilities.

Ntsako Baloyi is a senior manager within the technology business at Accenture, Africa

This article first appeared in .

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Accenture was going through a period most companies would envy.

The Dublin-based, global professional services leader had grown significantly organically and inorganically, including expanding into diverse businesses, propelled by $14 billion invested in more than 177 acquisitions in the last five years. As the company grew and expanded into new markets and services, its legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system became increasingly complex, costly, and inflexible. Accenture needed a more agile, scalable, and innovative platform to support its dynamic and diverse business needs.

As Eli Lambert, Managing Director of Accenture’s Global IT Finance Platforms, noted, “a significant challenge for a large IT enterprise is keeping up with the speed of business and ahead of technology change. Large enterprises often have expansive landscapes, with legacy systems that stand in the way of speed, agility, and innovation.”

Embracing its mantra of “Let there be change,” the company embarked on an ambitious journey to transform both its technology landscape and its workforce.

‘Rising’ to transformation

Accenture has been a long-standing partner of SAP, using its ERP solutions to manage its core business processes, such as finance and procurement. As they embarked on their transformation journey, the company once again partnered with 51ˇçÁ÷to migrate to RISE with SAP, a live cloud service utilized by companies spanning 26 industries and more than 100 countries.

RISE with 51ˇçÁ÷combines 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA, the intelligent cloud ERP solution, with 51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform (BTP), the integrated platform for data, analytics, integration, and extension, as well as other services, such as cloud infrastructure, application management, and business process intelligence.

By moving to RISE with SAP, Accenture was able to simplify its IT landscape, reduce its total cost of ownership, and gain access to the latest innovations and best practices from SAP.  Further, consuming RISE with 51ˇçÁ÷as a managed service allowed Accenture Global IT to reduce required night and weekend support by 60 percent, enhancing employee work/life balance, and led to valuable upskilling for 50 percent of the retained IT team.

Cloud mindset and composable architecture era

Building upon the move to , Accenture adopted a modern digital core strategy, which centers on keeping its core ERP system as standard and as simple as possible, using 51ˇçÁ÷BTP to extend and enhance its capabilities, and anchoring to a cloud mindset for both IT and business professionals. This approach allows Accenture to avoid unnecessary customizations and modifications in its 51ˇçÁ÷platform, which can create complexity, risk, and technical debt, and instead focus on delivering value-added solutions.

Since the strategy was introduced, 21 percent of the platform’s custom code has been removed, improving performance and reducing overhead. Beyond that, re-solutioning legacy custom code to leverage extensibility has provided its own benefits.

Leveraging 51ˇçÁ÷BTP, a cash application scheduler was developed to improve integration; now the integration runs 77 percent faster, and the already successful 51ˇçÁ÷Cash Application solution has even greater results – auto-clearing of cash application has now doubled since the solution was introduced and increased a further 7 percent with the scheduler activation.

Another key solution that Accenture uses to implement its clean digital core strategy is 51ˇçÁ÷Profitability and Performance Management (PaPM), a cloud-native application that runs on 51ˇçÁ÷BTP and enables advanced profitability analysis, performance measurement, and optimization. The use of 51ˇçÁ÷PaPM for Corporate Allocations “streamlined and reduced risk in delivering financial results,” said Lisa Pearson, director of the company’s Management Reporting Process.  “It also gave us transparency and control of our processes and calculations while also eliminating manual actions – valuable benefits our previous custom solution could not offer.”

The solution now runs 50 percent faster with greater traceability.

Earlier this year, Accenture’s RISE with 51ˇçÁ÷and clean digital core journey led to the company being celebrated as a winner in the “Business Innovator” category at the , an annual ceremony honoring organizations using 51ˇçÁ÷technologies to make the world run better.

And this is only the beginning, Lambert said, with employees “freed up to focus on future-proofing our processes and technology by consuming cloud capabilities enabled by” the revolutionary platform.

This article first appeared in .

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Speaking at the event, , Chief Business Officer for EMEA, SAP, said businesses today operate in an environment characterised by volatility and uncertainty, with unpredictability exerting significant pressure on revenue, profit margins and supply chains.

Hype for AI’s transformative potential

Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) is at an all-time high. The global AI market is expected to grow from $184-billion in 2024 .

In her opening remarks, 51ˇçÁ÷Southern Africa Managing Director, commented: “The vital question for African enterprises is: how can we transition from merely keeping the lights on to building a competitive edge, despite economic headwinds? The answer: by investing in continuous innovation that leverages technologies such as AI and cloud, organisations can drive sustainable business growth, optimise and connect end-to-end processes, leverage data for valuable insights, and stay ahead of competitors.”

Makhohliso says the excitement for AI among African enterprises stems from its potential transformative impact on all industries. “Business AI is gaining traction throughout the continent thanks to a growing list of practical applications that help companies solve challenges, accelerate innovation and drive greater efficiency. With the support of a vibrant ecosystem of expert partners and the growing maturity of cloud and business AI solutions, African enterprises can then supercharge their innovation efforts like never before.”

Innovation key to survival & success

According to Bertrin Pekeur, 51ˇçÁ÷Business Group Lead at , the challenging global economy, inflationary pressures, and depressed revenues have put African enterprises under significant pressure. “As a result, enterprises are turning their focus to how technologies such as AI and cloud can help them overcome challenges and increase the rate of innovation. The rapid adoption of AI is creating unprecedented opportunities in digital literacy, the creation of new products, improvements to services and greater productivity. This is helping African organisations transform how they do business, how they interact with their employees, and how they engage with customers.”

Innovation has become essential to the survival of businesses as the accelerating impact of disruptive forces such as technology, climate change, geopolitical upheaval and economic headwinds lead to constrained growth and uncertainty. According to Accenture Technology Vision, 93% of executives agree that, with rapid technological advancements, it is more important than ever for organisation to innovate with purpose.

, Senior Manager: Solution Consulting at , added that innovation unlocks a world of possibilities for African enterprises and allows them to compete on the global stage. “Africa typically doesn’t have access to the same resources as more developed markets and often lags in its adoption of new technologies. Enter innovation, which levels the playing field. From agriculture to healthcare, technology-driven innovation is not only solving challenges unique to Africa, but delivering solutions that can be exported to the rest of the world.”

Cloud, clean core driving AI value

Makhohliso notes the vital role that digital transformation and cloud adoption plays to enable enterprises to unlock the full benefits of their AI investments. “Organisations that improve and automate their business processes in the cloud and achieve a clean core can more easily draw on a single source of truth for their business data. This enhances the value they generate from their business AI deployments by ensuring all AI outcomes are based on accurate, real-time business data from across the enterprise, enabling organisations to drive limitless innovation, efficiency and growth.”

She added that 51ˇçÁ÷customers have an edge over their peers in their AI efforts. “Companies that leverage integrated with our have a strong foundation for AI-driven innovation. By following global best practices and drawing on the expertise and skills of our vibrant partner ecosystem, African enterprises can accelerate their AI-driven efficiency and automation gains while unlocking new capabilities that will support their success for years to come.”

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By modernising its digital core, MultiChoice now has the flexibility to adapt to change faster and more cost-effectively, increasing its resilience to disruption. With a single view of its data, MultiChoice has improved business decision-making.

MultiChoice first embarked on a transformative journey with Accenture in 2018 to drive efficiency and foster growth in line with MultiChoice’s digital and modernisation transformation aspirations. Accenture provided SAPÂŽ application services, covering critical functions such as finance, logistics, procurement, and sales operations across 11 African markets.

Leveraging Accenture’s extensive global 51ˇçÁ÷capabilities, MultiChoice witnessed substantial business value and operational enhancements. Building on that success, MultiChoice renewed its application services contract with Accenture in 2023, underscoring the strength of the partnership.

Siphiwe Zwane, Head of Business Management Systems (BMS) at MultiChoice, says: “This successful milestone marks a testament to the dedication and collaboration of our teams over the past years. It’s a true reflection of our commitment to innovation and excellence in partnership with Accenture.”

With a state-of-the-art 51ˇçÁ÷back-office system now deployed across the organisation, MultiChoice is poised for further advancement.

Nitesh Singh, Communication, Media and Technology lead for Accenture, Africa said, “This achievement underscores the power of collaboration and innovation in driving transformative change. Together, we are paving the way for MultiChoice to enhance efficiency and drive growth as a leader in the media and entertainment industry.”

Mergan Velayudan, Acting Group CIO at MultiChoice, says: “This accomplishment signifies a significant step forward in our digital transformation journey. Both the MultiChoice and Accenture teams have demonstrated unwavering dedication and expertise in making this vision a reality. This partnership sets a solid foundation for further innovation in the future.”

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The 51ˇçÁ÷Africa Partner Awards recognise the insight, expertise and value that partner organisations deliver to companies using 51ˇçÁ÷technologies to run core business processes. The winning partner organisations include Dimension Data, Accenture South Africa, and Zimele Technologies.

Tracy Bolton, Chief Operating Officer at 51ˇçÁ÷Africa, notes the important role partner organisations play in supporting digital transformation initiatives across the continent. “African organisations are adopting cloud technologies at an unprecedented scale as they strive to boost efficiency, unlock innovation and transform their business models. As a partner-led organisation, 51ˇçÁ÷works closely with a broad range of innovators, experts and market leaders to ensure African enterprises have the support and insight they need to realise their intelligent enterprise ambitions.”

The winning companies at this year’s 51ˇçÁ÷Africa Partner Awards include:

Dimension Data, winner of the Top Cloud Performance category, which considers cloud bookings, year-on-year growth, and renewals;

Zimele Technologies, winner of the Top Capacity Growth category, which considers skills development, training and the percentage increase in certified consultants;

Accenture South Africa, winner of the Go-Lives category, which recognises the number of customer go-lives; and

Dimension Data for excellence in 51ˇçÁ÷RISE, which considers RISE bookings.

Growing interest in cloud adoption in Africa

Andrew Strachan, Head of Sales: Business Applications at Dimension Data, cites growing interest from customers wishing to migrate their on-premise ERP business processes to cloud environments. “We help our clients move to the cloud and embrace the latest 51ˇçÁ÷technologies. Lately we’ve seen growing numbers of clients adopt the 51ˇçÁ÷RISE program to move their on-premise 51ˇçÁ÷applications into both public and private cloud environments. We work closely with 51ˇçÁ÷and our customers to ensure that their cloud migration is a success.”

According to Bertrin Pekeur, 51ˇçÁ÷Lead at Accenture South Africa, 51ˇçÁ÷forms an integral part of Accenture’s strategy of digitalisation. “We believe every business is a digital business, and the quickest way to digitalise is through the cloud. RISE with 51ˇçÁ÷and SOAR with Accenture provide clients with the ideal platform for cloud adoption.”

Skills essential to cloud success

One of the most important factors for successful cloud adoption is the availability of sufficiently skilled consultants and technology experts. In , four in five African organisations said they were affected by a lack of tech skills, leading to increased pressure on existing teams, a lack of competitiveness, and stifled innovation capabilities.

Accepting the award for Top Capacity Growth, Nomvuyo Mnyaka, Delivery Head Executive at Zimele Technologies, notes the importance of skills in the successful implementation of ERP solutions, integrations and support services. “Our people are our most valuable asset, and we invest heavily in their development and growth. With SAP’s strategic focus on creating business value over It value, the availability of skilled consultants and technology specialists is essential to our long-term success.”

Partner ecosystem thriving

Bolton cites the thriving partner ecosystem as a cornerstone of SAP’s success with supporting Africa’s digital transformation efforts. “The winners at this year’s 51ˇçÁ÷Africa Partner Awards are a showcase of the expert guidance, technological capabilities and business insight our partners provide to organisations across the continent. We look forward to deepening our relationship with our partners and continuing with the great work done to date in driving cloud adoption and tech-enabled innovation throughout the continent.”

Pekeur adds: “Considering the broad interdependencies within the cloud ecosystem, one of the most important factors for successful cloud adoption is how well the various partners can work together. Our experience with the strategic and operational management of various ecosystem partners help us deliver successful cloud deployments for our customers.”

ENDS

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About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 51ˇçÁ÷customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. 51ˇçÁ÷helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 51ˇçÁ÷helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit .

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With proven business benefits for adopting cloud computing, the prediction of the global marketing intelligence firm, International Data Corporation (IDC) that 90 percent of businesses will use multiple cloud services and platforms by 2020, comes as no surprise. However, many businesses have dabbled in the cloud whilst retaining their legacy infrastructure or have taken a tactical approach to it, without making the necessary changes to their operating models to sustain long-term growth.

Accenture agrees that the cloud is indeed ready for fully committed, enterprise-grade computing, and we believe it’s time for businesses to future-proof their businesses by rebooting their cloud strategy accordingly. We also understand that migrating to the cloud is a journey, but this journey is not impossible, and it does not have to be overly long. However, it does require the use of appropriate approaches, subject to each business’ unique circumstances. Most importantly, the chosen approach should be strategic, rather than tactical.

Examples of companies who successfully adopted cloud computing through such a strategic approach include Exxaro and Mercedes-Benz.io.

Exxaro unlocks new revenue streams and ways of working with cloud

Accenture collaborated with Exxaro to help digitally transform its business and unlock new revenue streams by managing the migration of its 51ˇçÁ÷solutions, and other centrally-run applications used by Exxaro business units, to Microsoft Azure. This supports Exxaro’s ambition to establish a secure, agile, cost-effective and scalable platform that will improve business processes and continuity.

Accenture created a cloud transformation strategy for Exxaro that defined the business case for migration to a public cloud, a move, which offered the lowest total cost of ownership, improvements to core systems resiliency, and the agility needed to meet customer demands.

In line with Exxaro’s requirement for a swift and secure transition, Accenture designed and built a cloud platform in the South African Azure data centers. This included optimizing Exxaro’s 51ˇçÁ÷systems to take advantage of cloud architecture benefits and building a more resilient and available architecture to improve business continuity. Accenture then seamlessly migrated Exxaro’s enterprise applications, which included more than 280 Microsoft Windows virtual machines, onto Azure with minimal disruption, while also integrating multiple remote mining locations in South Africa.

Mercedes-Benz.io drives innovation and enhanced customer experiences through cloud

As Mercedes-Benz’s internal digital services provider, one of the responsibilities of Mercedes-Benz.io, is to help Mercedes-Benz reimagine how the company delivers digital marketing and sales solutions for customers globally. To that end, Mercedes-Benz.io sought to consolidate Mercedes-Benz’s fragmented online presence with a cloud- based solution dubbed “OneWeb.” Mercedes-Benz.io teamed with Accenture to build and deploy a powerful Infrastructure-/Platform-as-a-Service solution on Amazon Web Service (AWS), which was subsequently rolled out to 22 companies initially (with 30 more in the queue).

With OneWeb’s rapid provisioning of compute power, Mercedes-Benz can now quickly respond to customers’ demands for information and functionality, thus delivering a better customer experience. Currently, more than three million unique visitors’ access OneWeb every month, and traffic continues to grow as new markets are added.

Establishing a business case to justify the cloud’s value proposition

From a business case perspective, there are many such case studies that demonstrate that cloud computing and as-a-service business models can create new and differentiating capabilities that can help enhance a company’s business strategy, drive competitive advantage and improve financial models. It is however critical to develop a solid business case for your cloud computing strategy right up front and to justify the cloud’s value proposition, especially as it relates to existing large investments in legacy technology infrastructure, including data centres. This should include evaluating traditional financial measures such as total cost of ownership, return on investment (ROI) and payback period. To maximise shareholder and business value, companies should also evaluate cloud benefits, key performance indicators and value realisation.

Common signposts on the cloud migration journey

As soon as you’re ready to embark on your cloud migration journey, it is important to note that the journey to cloud isn’t linear, and that one phase doesn’t necessarily build on another. The journey can be an intricate and multi- disciplinary exercise with many organisational dependencies. Every enterprise is unique and has different short- and long-term goals. Nevertheless, some common signposts on the journey to cloud can help guide you on the way. These include strategy and business case, operating model, applications, infrastructure, security, organisation, management and governance, and operations and managed services. Thinking strategically about cloud also involves a number of imperatives, including desired business outcomes, investment priorities, deployment model, service providers, talent sourcing and cloud policies.

Best approaches for implementing an enterprise cloud technology strategy

From an IT perspective, cloud technology requires IT teams to approach enterprise technology strategy in an entirely different way, focusing on three layers: infrastructure, applications and operations. It’s important to bear in mind that, when one transforms one layer, those actions then impact the other layers. The middle layer, the application layer, is a good place to start because of the positive ripple effects on the other layers. When one migrates operational applications to the cloud, that results in less demand for data processing and frees up server space. So, infrastructure is impacted (fewer servers are required), which then impacts operations (less effort and costs are required to maintain servers, effort that one can then redirect to more strategic business activities).

During their journey to cloud, organisations should consult experts in the particular domains of each layer, who also understand the interdependencies among those domains. Essentially, moving to the cloud is a complex endeavour and should be thoughtfully planned and executed. Companies need to carefully consider each component of the enterprise cloud journey both separately and in relation to others, because components can intersect at many different business points. Such an integrated approach enables companies to create a unique and successful cloud roadmap; ensure their plans are executed based on a strong foundational strategy; and ultimately experience an efficient and timely transformation that is aligned to their business goals and desired outcomes.

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