Global IT research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group has published its newest research-backed blueprint, titled Get the Most Out of Your SAP. In today’s connected world, the continuous optimization of enterprise applications is key to executing a digital strategy. Info-Tech’s blueprint is intended to help organizations reduce costs and increase productivity by assessing their SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications and the environment in which they exist.
According to insights from Info-Tech’s research, SAP application optimization is essential to staying competitive and productive in today’s digital environment. SAP ERP systems can be expensive, but they can play a vital role in supporting the organization’s business processes. These application portfolios are often behemoths to support as they have complex integration points and unique business processes.
“Enterprise resource planning is a core tool that the business leverages to accomplish its goals,” says Chad Shortridge, senior research director of enterprise applications at Info-Tech Research Group. “An ERP tool that is doing its job well is invisible to the business. The challenges come when the tool is no longer invisible. It has become a source of friction in the functioning of the business.”
One of the biggest challenges ERP application leaders face is balancing optimization with stabilization. Competing priorities and often unclear ERP strategies make it difficult to decide what, how, and when to optimize. As enterprise applications involve large numbers of processes, users, and evolving vendor roadmaps, it is essential to have a framework to illustrate, communicate, and justify the optimization effort in the language your stakeholders understand. That framework is often missing within teams.
“IT leaders must take a proactive approach to continually monitor and optimize their enterprise applications,” says Lisa Highfield, research director of enterprise applications at Info-Tech. “Leaders need to strategically realign business goals, identify business application capabilities, complete a process assessment, evaluate user adoption, and create an optimization plan that will drive a cohesive technology strategy that delivers results.”
Info-Tech’s research recommends that for today’s rapidly changing SAP landscape, it is imperative to evaluate applications for optimization, no matter what the strategy is moving forward. It is also important to validate ERP capabilities, user satisfaction, issues around data, vendor management, and costs to build out an overall roadmap and optimization strategy.
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This timely research from Info-Tech Research Group is designed to help organizations that need to:
- Understand the multiple deployment models and the roadmap to successfully navigate a move to SAP’s S/4HANA product.
- Build a business case to understand the value behind a move.
- Map functionality to ensure future compatibility.
- Understand the process required to navigate a move to S/4HANA commercially.
- Avoid a costly audit due to missed requirements or SAP whiteboarding sessions.
While technology is the key enabler of building strong customer experiences, many other drivers of dissatisfaction exist. IT must stand shoulder to shoulder with the business to develop a technology framework for ERP.
