One of the first steps an organization can take is reassessing whether its digital backbone contains core components of business resiliency. They include cloud, security, collaboration support for remote and hybrid workers, and the scalability to pivot capabilities as needed.

While there is no single, straightforward path to digital transformation, companies would benefit greatly by adopting technology that supports four characteristics common among business-resilient organizations:

• Adapt and respond quickly with data-driven decision-making
• Drive high-impact outcomes with real-time enterprise insights
• Scale capabilities fast with machine learning and artificial intelligence
• Extend insights, processes, and communication across a global network of vendors, contingent labor, and supply chains

Acquiring these traits may appear to be a tall order at first. However, a modern, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system as the digital backbone can quickly, cost-effectively, and flexibly unify all functions – from HR and finance to manufacturing and supply chain. By providing real-time access to the same data, insights, and processes, the technology enables organizations to manage and prioritize business changes in unison to keep up with market dynamics, workplace expectations, and customer demands.

Optimizing the Potential of Every Innovation Investment

When considering an ERP system, organizations often weigh their options between a private or public cloud environment, which each have their own distinct differences. Private cloud allows companies with complex on-premise landscapes containing legacy systems to gradually move from an on-premise landscape to a cloud tailored to meet their needs while maintaining control over their processes. On the other hand, public cloud gives businesses with smaller, up-to-date IT architecture the opportunity to migrate their data and applications quickly and innovate continuously, securely, and with rapid time to value.

Ultimately, most larger customers prefer to fully transition their ERP data, processes, and user experiences to the cloud while maintaining existing industry functionality. But they also expect to accomplish these goals with optimized performance, lower costs, and intelligent capabilities such as predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, and process automation.

With launched through the offering, 51·çÁ÷customers can gain the best of both worlds, especially if they run large and complex system landscapes. They can fuel fast-paced, continuous innovation and digital advancement by combining a subscription pricing model for 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA and cloud services with a standard architecture and a set of extension capabilities. Plus, intelligent capabilities can be chosen and deployed at their pace, on their terms, and within the scale of their immediate and future needs.

One key benefit that draws most companies to 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud and RISE with 51·çÁ÷is the confidence that they can implement capabilities that complement their core competencies and resolve their challenges well. They can access the personalized support, expert-led services, proven methodologies, and intuitive tools of the .

This level of support is available to 51·çÁ÷customers, whether they run a 24/7 global operation or a local plant of 1,000 employees, and can be delivered by the Customer Success organization at SAP. The premium engagements portfolio can be scaled to meet the customer’s unique needs and value with customized and predefined configurations, from the front to the back office.

Creating an Innovation Foundation Based on Expert Guidance

Premium engagements can provide the guidance organizations need to fulfill critical business expectations, such as cost reduction, higher efficiency, optimized productivity, and operational continuity. But more importantly, the portfolio allows businesses to map their challenges and opportunities to modern ERP capabilities – identifying impacts on existing operations and technologies, considering use cases for future innovation, and choosing suitable extension solutions.

Throughout the engagement experience, our customers can quickly realize an intelligent enterprise designed to pave the way for continuous and productive innovation. The reality of a cost-effective and on-schedule implementation with minimal risks and predictive costs fuels enterprise-wide confidence, compelling users to readily adopt the technology and resulting changes.

Most Fortune 500 companies choose the premium engagements portfolio to gain an integrated, transparent, and centralized digital landscape with a smooth implementation of 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud with RISE with SAP. The combination of our expertise, guidance, methodologies, services, and tools enables organizations to optimize their business processes, standardize data management, and enhance production traceability. Best of all, they can minimize the overall deployment effort and costs – even with remote service delivery.

Take , for example. Transitioning 11 software landscapes to the cloud is a daunting step to overcome when embracing a next-generation ERP system. But Hilti chose to trust its long-term relationship with experts from 51·çÁ÷to coordinate a variety of moving parts – from architecture planning to project management to infrastructure services. In the end, the company’s successful migration of its software landscapes to the cloud set the stage for adopting future-ready technologies and a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) model.

Steering Innovation in the Right Direction

Hilti’s experience represents the remarkable advantage that our customers gain from our premium engagements delivery: providing the right tools and insights to reset the course of business innovation. And for everyone from executives to organizational managers and users, this can be the reset they need to contribute to a future of ongoing business growth.

With a committed team of 51·çÁ÷experts, our customers can address their business needs and IT demands with confidence. Outcomes include maximized benefits of existing and new solutions, agile cloud migrations, and innovation driven by next-generation technology.

Whether choosing a conversion or clean-slate approach to implement the public edition or private edition of 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud, companies can benefit from a portfolio of premium engagements from 51·çÁ÷that support outcome-based business scenarios. These business scenarios focus on specific customer needs and help to solve challenges from end to end with a predefined set of services, including:

• The most-frequent transformation topics, challenges, and pain points companies face in the digital age
• Unified customer experiences – from sales to delivery – while addressing business challenges
• Customization of an individual service plan based on the requirements of the transformation journey

Let us shape together your premium engagements with business scenarios that mirror your strategy today and for the future. Check out these resources for more details on existing premium engagements business scenarios that can support and enable your transformation journey:

51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud, public edition:

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51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud, private edition:

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Christian Zitron is global vice president of Customer Success at SAP.

In most cases, this question is best answered by assessing which risk companies are willing to accept. On the one hand, few entities have the time, money, resources, and appetite for disruption to fully reset their foundational system. However, the inability to manage and prioritize changes effectively can dictate the pace and extent at which a business can keep up with market dynamics, workplace expectations, and customer demands.

According toĚý, principal of Enterprise Applications Consulting, balancing these risks comes down to realizing that the notion of a “single, unique path to digital transformation is a vast oversimplification.”

In fact, there are many different ways companies can set their own pace for transformation – one of which being intelligent ERP in a private cloud.

Maximizing the Most Wanted Benefits of Intelligent ERP

When choosing a private cloud over a public or hybrid cloud environment, organizations often look to fully transition their ERP data, processes, and user experiences to the cloud while maintaining existing industry functionality. Yet they also expect to accomplish these goals in a fashion that optimizes performance, lowers costs, and simplifies work with intelligent capabilities such as predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, and process automation.

We offer this intelligent ERP option through , launched as part of theĚýĚýoffering. Our customers can take advantage of a subscription pricing model for 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA and cloud services and a combination of fit-to-standard architecture and extension capabilities for fast-paced, continuous innovation and digital advancement. Plus, they can adopt the intelligent capabilities they desire at their pace and on their terms.

One key benefit that draws most companies to the cloud is the opportunity to scale their ERP and applications to meet business needs and adopt the latest innovations when needed. To help ensure they implement capabilities that complement their core competencies and resolve their challenges well, some 51·çÁ÷customers prefer the assistance of personalized support, expert-led services, proven methodologies, and intuitive tools.

Our portfolio ofĚýĚýprovides this level of guidance that our customers seek. The offering aids the creation of a comprehensive use case that answers critical concerns such as potential cost savings, impacts of existing operations and technologies, and potential for future innovation. Plus, it enables decision-makers to map issues and opportunities to functionalities and identify and access suitable extension solutions.

Setting the Foundation for Bold Digital Transformation

Our portfolio of premium engagements is constantly evolving to amplify our customers’ unique value, from the front office to the back office. This is the case whether a business runs a 24×7 global operation or a local plant of 200 employees. The engagements are designed to scale to specific needs with customized and predefined configurations.

Furthermore, it is remarkable to see our customers’ confidence grow after realizing their ERP is modern and intelligent enough to meet their needs and deliver outcomes successfully. This side benefit is particularly meaningful to organizations positioning their business for growth and expansion.

For example, our customers are increasingly supporting bold strategies with the intelligent infrastructure of 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud, private edition. With little appetite for wasting time and resources, organizations rely on expert services from SAP, our partners, or both early on, so they can have their projects safeguarded with fewer risks and more predictive costs. We help identify technical gaps early on, explore potential solutions, accelerate the implementation of chosen technologies, and safeguard the project with reduced risk.

Expert guidance on the best-fit technical architecture allows our customers toĚý validate the required architecture of their hybrid system landscape. Processes are also assessed for viability and function before the private edition of 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud goes live to avoid performance gaps and establish best practices. Existing custom codes are also examined for operational necessity and redesigned, if needed, to prevent operational bottlenecks. With the Business Technology Platform we keep the core clean and avoid information silos.

ĚýFulfilling the Promise of Intelligent ERP

Ultimately, scalability, flexibility, reach, and cost economy draw technology decision-makers to the private cloud when moving to intelligent ERP. And rightfully so – when these benefits are combined, organizations can adapt to rapidly evolving markets.

At SAP, we believe a complete transformation experience is critical to acquiring this competitive advantage while driving the most value from existing and new digital investments. This link between the private edition of 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud and our portfolio of premium engagements is tremendously beneficial for our customers. While gaining the necessary infrastructure and capabilities, they have the insights and support to capture the full potential of intelligent ERP.

Whether you choose a conversion or clean-slate approach to your implementation of 51·çÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, the portfolio of premium engagements from 51·çÁ÷can help. Find out all the details in our “” and “” information sheets.

Christian Zitron is global vice president of 51·çÁ÷Customer Success.