SAP Solution: ERP/ECC 6.0

SAP CEO Christian Klein wants to focus on ERP, the core strength of the ERP world market leader. This focus is honorable, but of little help to SAP's customers. The B2B world is more than just ERP.

Naturally, S/4 is moving. SAP's existing customers are condemned to still make this ERP version change - no matter what the cost.

An increasingly volatile market, rising customer needs and growing employee demands have been placing massive demands on the ERP system in the retail sector for several years.

Even at the DSAG annual congress in Bremen, the issue of indirect use was not adequately resolved. Who will have to pay for licenses in the future and what do existing customers know about SAP's plans.

Undeniably, Linux - a further platform for R/3 - became an open source scenario that offers existing customers on-premise but especially in cloud computing completely new perspectives. In other words, Hana, S/4, Cloud, IoT and Leonardo would be inconceivable without the partnership between SAP and Suse Linux.

There are always two sides. When two argue, there are sometimes three opinions. So is SAP Business Suite 7 a legacy, a mature product, or a wealth of experience?

The company is taking giant steps and moving very purposefully in the direction of Hana and S/4. This impression was confirmed once again at Sapphire, which took place in Orlando in mid-May 2016. Hasso Plattner personally emphasized that SAP Business Suite will of course be further developed.

At 9,000 euros, the existing SAP customer is on board when the time comes to start the S/4 release change. What awaits users, however, is unfortunately completely uncertain. Because S/4 Hana is not an R/3 successor!

What is S/4? What is Hana? SAP says: a revolutionary ERP combination. The SAP customer knows: S/4 only runs with the Hana database. SAP marketing claims: anything is possible!

A small step for SAP, perhaps a major disaster for existing customers. Those who modified their SAP system currently face three challenges: Security, NetWeaver Foundation for Third Party and CDS with Abap-managed Database Procedures.

If you want to get from A to B in IT, you have to be careful not to be swept away by the "digital tsunami". The challenge of digital transformation is lurking everywhere. Gaps and fractures have appeared in the organizational structure and processes. The CIO is supposed to put things right. But digital transformation processes are more about DP/Org than IT.

The advantage of an R/3 is, among other things, the freedom to choose the server, operating system and database. Anyone who has mastered combinatorics knows immediately that this results in countless system variants. No easy problem for the support team in Walldorf.