Erik Scholze, Author at 51��News Center

GROW with SAP: A Game Changer for Midsize Companies

Erik Scholze — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 11:15:00 +0000

With 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition customers across various industries and sizes can scale their business and stay agile. Three midsize companies show how that works in entrepreneurial practice and how GROW with 51��takes these capabilities to a new level.

Midsize companies are of enormous importance to economies worldwide, as they employ around 55% of all workers. They are also very important to SAP, comprising more than 80% of the company’s customer base. Midsize companies rely on rapid growth for their long-term success – but that is often easier said than done in view of the shortage of skilled workers and other challenges.

An ideal way to nurture that growth is 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, an out-of-the-box cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that offers the latest industry-specific best practices and continuous innovation. And the recently launched GROW with 51��solution can provide a complete offering to help any size business adopt cloud ERP with speed and predictability. It offers SAP’s ready-to-run cloud ERP solution, 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, together with adoption and acceleration services, as well as access to customers, partners, and 51��experts to allow businesses to thrive in the cloud.

Agility Is the New Currency

Midsize enterprises need the ability to scale without driving up costs and complexity. Agility, especially for midsize companies, is the new currency if they want to survive and thrive in the current market.

A look at three midsize companies with 3,500, 700, and 50 employees demonstrate how it all works and how other companies can also benefit. They met at the Growth Summit and have three things in common. First, they are on an exponential growth path. Second, they are undergoing a digital transformation. And third, they are all using 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, which forms an integral part of GROW with SAP.

The key to success in any business is growth

Sustained growth requires the right blend of forward-thinking management; intelligent, cloud-based technology investments; and strategic financial planning. At the Growth Summit held earlier this year, top business and technology leaders came together to gain insights on how to achieve and manage sustainable growth across their organizations in a rapidly changing economic environment. In an inspiring panel discussion, Eric van Rossum, chief marketing and solutions officer for Cloud ERP at SAP, joined Christoph Lienhard, VP Global IT, Komax, Alessio Maso, CFO, VP Solar, and Carl-Fredrik Rindebro, CFO, WirelessCar, to discuss how organizations can continue to grow regardless of external factors by adopting a sound strategy and employing the right cloud-based technology solutions.

Watch an on-demand version of the customer interview .

Foster Innovation Through a Rock-Solid ERP Environment

The Swiss-based Komax Group, which has approximately 3,500 employees worldwide, is the market and technology leader in automated wire processing. Its growth path over the last few years included the acquisition of multiple subsidiaries. 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition offered the ability to quickly deliver an ERP solution to the new entities. “And there is the added advantage of regular new releases,” said Christoph Lienhard, VP of Global IT at Komax. “I don’t want to go back to tailor-made, customized ERP solutions. Forget all those long and drawn-out ERP upgrade projects.”

The company’s vision is the Smart Factory by Komax, which, among other things, provides innovative digital services for customers, connecting machines via cloud services and the Internet of Things to 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. “To achieve this vision, we need to have a rock-solid ERP environment, a solution that is aligned with our cloud, software-as-a-service (SaaS)-first strategy and that we can roll out across the company as quickly as possible,” said Lienhard. “Innovation is key for us.”

Although Komax’s innovation vision relies heavily on technology, Lienhard is quick to point out that managing innovation and leading the company’s vision is more of a people-centric job than a technology-centric one. “It’s a change for the people indeed. Some of our employees go through this transition to cloud ERP once in their lifetime. And while they were used to getting everything they ever wanted in their on-premise ERP system, we now have a SaaS cloud ERP system that comes with a certain degree of standardization we acknowledge and appreciate to ultimately realize our vision of a Smart Factory. Get your people involved early, not at the end,” he said.

“Get People Involved at the Beginning!”

Alessio Maso, CFO at VP Solar, completely agreed. “Get the people involved at the beginning, not at the end. That’s the key,” he said. With 50 employees, VP Solar is a fully integrated system distributor for renewable energy, serving Italian and European markets with electric vehicle (EV) chargers, photovoltaic panels, batteries, storage, and other solutions.

Last year, VP Solar implemented the new release of 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. “We are working in a very flexible way,” said Maso. “The team members want to improve their skills and learn as much as possible.”

“No Business Is Too Small for SAP”

Carl-Fredrik Rindebro, the third participant in the Growth Summit, is the CFO of WirelessCar, a Swedish company with more than 700 employees around the globe. It delivers smart, safe, and sustainable solutions for connected cars. Its systems run on more than 10 million vehicles in over 100 countries.

WirelessCar has been wholly owned by Volvo since 2007. In 2019, Volkswagen Group acquired a major stake in the company, presenting the perfect opportunity for WirelessCar to build a new software landscape using cloud solutions from SAP. Looking to drive end-to-end operational visibility and speedy, cohesive financial reporting, the company made the decision to transform its operations through high-performance cloud solutions like 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition.

“Our growth path was perfectly supported by the 51��landscape,” said Rindebro. “We have also implemented 51��Analytics Cloud so that we can continue to learn and benefit in the future.”

When asked why he chose SAP, Rindebro had a clear answer: “I think with 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition we have massively reduced the complexity that we previously had both in the ERP implementation and in terms of maintenance. The experience we had over the past few years is proof that no business is too small for SAP.”

A Pathway of Possibilities

VP Solar’s Maso said there were many reasons for choosing 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. “One key reason is that it’s really important to control all data internally, to manage all information in the company. I think 51��understands how important this aspect is.”

Rindebro is fascinated by the possibilities that cloud technology offers. “We were the first company in the Nordic region to roll out the public cloud for both 51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition and 51��SuccessFactors solutions at the same time, and that was back in 2020,” he said. “Having that flexibility with all the different systems working as one, that’s fantastic for us.”

Lienhard from Komax pointed out the reliability of the solution: “51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition offers us stability and reliability. The regular releases, the reduced complexity, the customer orientation, and the quick start make it easy. We have other things we need to take care of. So, if this one is running smooth, it gives me a great benefit.”

The three examples demonstrate the possibilities offered by the leading ERP cloud solution. GROW with 51��takes these possibilities to a new level. It was designed to emphasize speed, predictability, and continuous innovation – three areas relevant to the business and technology needs of midsize companies.

Business Process Transformation Introduces a New Cloud Mindset to Growth Strategies

Erik Scholze — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:15:24 +0000

Continuous business change is often associated with transformation. Yet in most cases, each shift can feel more transactional, where an existing structure or workflow is improved but doesn’t directly connect to a lasting, meaningful outcome.

Unsurprisingly, this dynamic can be frustrating in functions where change hits the hardest – but not for obvious reasons such as resistance to change. Instead, employees need more flexibility and scalability to continuously help ensure regulatory compliance, better serve evolving customer needs, effectively drive efficiencies, and proactively address risks and opportunities.

The key to overcoming this hurdle is moving away from investing in antiquated on-premise systems. According to IDC, digital-first businesses invest in software as a service (SaaS) and cloud-enabled software because the enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications they need to stay competitive and drive innovation are relatively easy to implement, configure, and update.

Continuous Improvement Creates Opportunities

Many of the digital-first companies that IDC surveyed are 51��customers that rely on the solution to become intelligent, sustainable enterprises in the cloud. The solution offers a cloud ERP system – 51��S/4HANA Cloud – for every business need. A combination of business process transformation capabilities, industry next practices, and extensibility options are offered on a versatile technology platform, as well as outcome-driven services and tools from 51��and partners.

To help prepare for the shift from an on-premise landscape to a cloud environment, RISE with 51��also includes an initial set of capabilities from 51��Signavio solutions. This business process transformation starter pack can help simplify the move by identifying and addressing previously unknown factors proactively with a process-centric strategy.

Using this, 51��customers can take the first step toward a productive journey to the cloud. They can quickly assess the health of their processes, identify areas for improvement, understand the impact of these inefficiencies, and leverage recommendations to take corrective action and unleash automation potential. Their organizations can then benefit from a fast and straightforward approach to redesign, simulate and standardize their business processes, and drive change in a collaborative way through a central platform.

Twinings Ovaltine is a prime example of how businesses can benefit from this cloud migration approach. From the very beginning, the British marketer of tea and other beverages refrained from letting technology guide its transformation journey. Strengthened by the expertise and support of technology partners, the company focused on a growth agenda centered around getting closer to customers and consumers to fully understand what they want and how to deliver on their expectations. This approach also incorporated leading practices based on the standard use of .

“All our initiatives are about giving customers and consumers the ‘wow’ factor. This is our North Star whether we’re standardizing our infrastructure, automating numerous processes, creating a new data analytics platform, supporting self-service, or fulfilling our ambition for 51��S/4HANA Cloud,” explains Sandeep Seeripat, CIO of Twinings Ovaltine.

Twinings Ovaltine can openly follow this business transformation mindset when using , as part of its experience with RISE with 51��and work with Capgemini. The solutions enable the company to understand where it is in its journey, how data and technology drive change, and what is the best direction to move the business forward. Then, with experts from 51��and Capgemini, every update is delivered, integrated, and connected quickly, efficiently, and at the right price.

“With 51��Signavio solutions, we have the understanding and optimized business processes we need to drive differentiating business value and growth,” Seeripat adds. “In addition, we have a flexible upgrade path that helps us stay connected with suppliers and customers in new, innovative ways.”

Driving Innovation Sustainably and Intelligently

During business change, shocks of frustration, confusion, and disengagement can run throughout an organization’s environment – even when all the right internal resources are available to support it.

But business process transformation solutions from 51��can help make the transformation experience more sustainable and intelligent. By translating process performance analysis, actionable insights, and prioritization of optimization opportunities into a comprehensive strategy, business executives, organizational leaders, and strategists can continuously shape, adapt, and reimagine their cornerstone for business growth.

Ready to embark on your transformation journey paved with continuous improvement, optimized processes, and ongoing, accurate insight? .

Erik Scholze is a cloud ERP product marketing specialist at SAP.

Erik Scholze, Author at 51����News Center