I have had several conversations with clients recently that really brought home just how transformative the SAP S/4HANA ecosystem can be, how complex it is, and how challenging it is—and will continue to be—to staff tomorrow’s technology with today’s expertise. The common denominator across what are otherwise very different programs, is that there are so many adjunct solutions that are part of the broader S/4HANA ecosystem, but there is not necessarily mindshare, budget, or time, to fully explore them before beginning a transformation initiative—and without doing so, how can any enterprise realize its full potential?
Once again, I find myself with more questions than answers, but I do know this: no matter how well planned, every S/4HANA transformation will require enterprises to pivot in response to both new business opportunities and challenges and evolution of the solutions themselves. Our challenge here at Baer is to be prepared to support our clients across the full S/4HANA innovation cycle with the right expertise, at the right time, for the appropriate investment.
Case in point: One client’s migration to S/4HANA was primarily driven by the need to modernize their financial core—something we see quite often—and the relationship with the systems integrator is managed by the finance team. As part of their investment in S/4, they will have access to SAP Enterprise Asset Management (SAP EAM), which will have a powerful impact on their business, but in a fully realized implementation of SAP’s vision, Intelligent Asset Management (IAM), would be part of that vision as well.
With IAM, you can create digital twins of all your assets, and use its IOT, machine learning, and advanced data analytics capabilities to manage them predictively and prescriptively. While the business and financial impact of IAM could potentially be significant enough to cover the costs of the entire S/4 undertaking, the organization isn’t yet in a place to synthesize or address what IAM could mean to their business, and understandably, it cannot delay realizing the benefits of implementing the finance core until that vision is fully architected.
This is only one example—we have had a similar conversation with a client whose initial S/4HANA implementation scope did not account for the number of third party applications they would eventually need to integrate. They initially went down a more traditional approach to this, but later realized how greatly they could benefit from SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), which was not part of their initial plan due to timing and budget considerations.
The lesson here is that when your initial implementation of S/4HANA is completed, the innovation journey isn’t done. It is merely a starting point for ongoing transformation. There are a multitude of related solutions and technologies that can add significant value to your instance, and to implement them properly is going to require an assimilation of skills across multiple domains. You will need an enterprise performance partner who can keep pace with you and find the necessary specialized expertise when and where you need it.
One of the key characteristics of an enterprise performance partner like Baer is that we are always looking ahead of the innovation curve and exploring how we can identify and align ourselves with expertise for emerging needs in the marketplace. We do this first by ensuring that we are deeply informed about the technologies and solutions we are seeking expertise for, so that we can have meaningful conversations with both our clients and prospective talent to ensure a true skill match and a cultural fit. Then we proactively nurture relationships with the most skilled and experienced candidates, including both people we have worked with before and new talent, through our exclusive Opportunity EdgeTM job opportunity network.
Whatever your starting point and however your S/4HANA initiative evolves, Baer stands ready to partner with you across the entirety of your transformation to ensure that you have ready access to the right expertise, at the right time, for the appropriate investment.
Unlike typical technology staffing companies, Baer is a true enterprise performance partner. We have a deep understanding of the scope of enterprise technology transformation initiatives and the highly specialized skillsets you will need at different stages of the process.
To learn more about how Baer can make a positive impact on your enterprise transformation, please reach out to btrout@baergroup.com, Executive Vice President, Sales, or John Wilson, Vice President of Strategic Accounts, at jwilson@baergroup.com.
We look forward to speaking with you and learning about your specific challenges.