SAP Experience Archives - Vortex Consulting

Daedalian ABAP Source Code (aka Throw us Old Folks a Bone)

Jul
09
2024

SAP Architect Matthew Montano continues his series on the Vortex Consulting blog:

In my experience, there are generally two circumstances where we end up reading SAP ABAP source code. The first–we need to improve custom functionality and so have to understand how it was built. The second is when the red siren light is flashing–and we’re on an open-ended, 24-hr. emergency conference call about missing invoices, reviewing code that was copy-and-pasted from an acquisition 15 years ago and trying to understand what broke.

In neither circumstance should ABAP source code read like a new installment of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

So why do developers author code that might only make sense to themselves?

SAP ABAP is an optimized language. Consultant hours are expensive. Given that bytes are essentially free and obnoxiously clean code with extensive comments makes no impact on system performance, there is no reason that any code can’t also make some friends.

The vast majority of the ABAP source code that is authored is solving a business problem (that theoretically hasn’t been addressed by SAP already, which I have plenty of thoughts on…but that’s a different post). So if the code is trying to solve a problem, there’s a good possibility that the underlying business requirement (or those nasty assumptions) has changed, so chances are very good that a business user (aka a functional consultant) will need to read it at one point.

Your average SAP consultant probably has some development experience from when they learned BASIC on their Apple II or Commodore 64 in the 1980s. The younger ones might have learned Borland Turbo Pascal on an MS-DOS clone in the mid-90s. Most of us can stumble through nothing more than a complex Excel formula.

But too much ABAP source code I see is missing any narration of what the requirement is and how that requirement is being addressed, especially when using complex ABAP commands.

Whatever your organization’s approach to solution documentation and change management may look like, there shouldn’t be a single line of ABAP code that is written (or changed) without a clear reference to an Object ID, requirement, or change number. I’m a functional consultant–not a crime scene forensic detective. I’m not even adverse to seeing wholesale chunks of the functional specification straight in the ABAP source code.

Does the code use one of those fancy new ABAP constructors such as “dereferencing generic references”? That’s all and well–but could you throw old dudes like me a bone as to what the code is intended to do? (I guarantee any other senior level consultants involved will appreciate the gesture.)

(Using an “if” or “case” statement? Why not tell us what you are IFing or CASEing?)

And I’ll go ahead and offer one more tip while we’re here. This one starts with a question: What is with variable names turning into a game of “trick the parents” by using the fewest number of letters possible? ABAP variable names can be 30 characters long. Go ahead and use a few so everyone involved knows what purpose the variable serves.

Customized ABAP source code is almost assuredly the result of a long and often expensive process of requirements and specification reviews and approvals. That code will be subject to testing and probably changed several times by other teams. Given its placement within SAP, it’s doing something important–if not critical–for the business, and it will likely get changed by developers you’ll never meet. ABAP source code should reflect this very important role in SAP solutions and not be treated like an unfortunate afterthought.

If you need help upgrading your ABAP development standards, consider reaching out to Vortex Consulting. Our consultants have decades of experience developing and implementing SAP solutions that get the job done today and are well aligned for your organization’s future growth and evolution. Email us here or call us directly at 1.888.627.3640.

About the Author: Matthew Montano is a Vortex Consulting SAP architect with more than 25 years of experience in Electronic Data Interchange, Supply Chain Integration, and Third-Party Logistics. His passion for good documentation and streamlined work process has yielded measurable results for clients in the consumer packaged goods, life sciences, manufacturing, and transportation industries across both the United States and Canada. Check out his previous posts here: Why Years of SAP ERP Experience Makes Me Question if You Really Need That Custom Code / Time Zones in SAP: Let’s Dig In

Time Zones in SAP: Let’s Dig In

May
30
2024

SAP Architect Matthew Montano continues his series on the Vortex Consulting blog:

“Can you figure out why all these EDI 214 Transportation Carrier Status messages were failing?” I was asked almost 20 years ago.

The EDI message was failing a validation in SAP because the carrier was indicating they were arriving before they left. But the EDI message contents seemed correct and the carrier was creditable and clearly not trying anything of disrepute.

This was a rabbit hole. And I like rabbit holes.

In the real world there was a delivery to an address which should have taken about 40 minutes of driving time. The truck was known to have left at 9:50 local time and the carrier claimed they arrived at 9:30 local time. What? How can you arrive before you leave? I know my client was hiring very punctual carriers, but that might be too good.

Anyone who lives near a time zone boundary or has experience flying internationally knows exactly how this happens. But, in this particular scenario of a delivery entirely within the U.S. state of Tennessee, SAP’s ECC (and S/4HANA to this day!) did not know how this could happen.

Why the world uses time zones was probably something we all learned in elementary school. Some of us might remember pictures of old, complicated train schedules. Then, for many of us, back when long-distance phone calls were expensive, we learned again the importance of time zones when calling family members so as not to accidentally wake them from a slumber and ensure we were calling after 6pm for the evening discount rates.

As we aged, depending on your vintage, we entered the working world, and scheduling meetings with colleagues around the world may have involved some coordination. But even that has become mostly transparent with Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.

Then again–missing a meeting is one thing, not posting a financial document in SAP S/4HANA is another.

Time zones are used extensively, but not consistently, throughout SAP S/4HANA. While the system time zone is the SAP default used for recording date/time stamps, the explicit recording of time zones are found in Business Partner Addresses and carefully recorded in many transactions. As we discovered 20 years ago, care is required when working with time zones in SAP, especially when recording and validating crucial business transactions.

It may be easy to presume that time zones are firmly just in the realm of Logistics, but, in fact, they are very important in the other areas of SAP. In a global company scattered around across the world, how do you handle financial period closes? There is a definitive answer.

So what was happening to those trucks in Tennessee? SAP ECC thought Tennessee was in a single time zone–U.S. Central Time. But as anyone who lives in Tennessee (or Florida or Kentucky) knows, the state is in more than one time zone. So the carrier was reporting their departure and arrival in “local time” and SAP ECC was correctly raising an error. It didn’t know any better!

In diving further down the rabbit hole one could easily assume that SAP has the country of France, with its clear footprint at the center of Western Europe, in one time zone. But in actual fact, SAP does correctly capture that France, given the multiple French dependencies scattered around the world, is actually a part of many different time zones. (France is considered to have more time zones than any other country.)

So today, in 2024, what’s the issue and why are we talking about it? Well, SAP does actually provide the ability to configure that 13 U.S. states (and 4 Canadian provinces) are in multiple time zones. The problem? When it comes out of the box, S/4HANA doesn’t know this.

But there is more! The rabbit hole is actually much deeper. Although designated time zones and their boundaries might not change often, politicians are in control of it all. And then add another layer to the discussion by considering daylight saving time–which countries observe it, which don’t, and which have changing views on the matter. Just look at the currently proposed Sunshine Protection Act and you’ll be reminded that our use of daylight saving time could certainly change in the future. Heck, Mexico ended daylight saving time within the last two years.

SAP is built to handle all of these changes, but once again not necessarily out of the box. Care and discipline is required in ensuring your SAP system doesn’t do crazy things like arbitrarily declaring a carrier as a fraud. This is a core competency of the team at Vortex Consulting. With over 25 years of SAP experience, we’re well versed in the intricacies of optimizing SAP performance and ensuring reporting malfunctions like those around time zones are avoided. Send us a message to learn more about how we can support your business.

About the Author: Matthew Montano is a Vortex Consulting SAP architect with more than 25 years of experience in Electronic Data Interchange, Supply Chain Integration, and Third-Party Logistics. His passion for good documentation and streamlined work process has yielded measurable results for clients in the consumer packaged goods, life sciences, manufacturing, and transportation industries across both the United States and Canada. Keep checking in for his “Musings with Uncle Matthew” series on the Vortex Consulting blog.

Why Years of SAP ERP Experience Makes Me Question if You Really Need That Custom Code

Apr
26
2024

SAP Architect Matthew Montano kicks off his series on the Vortex Consulting blog:

There is a joke that those of us with a few years of SAP ERP experience tell:

“If you believe you need to create custom SAP ABAP code to meet the business requirement, chances are you don’t understand the business requirement. And if, after further consideration, you still think you need custom SAP ABAP code to meet your requirement, you still don’t understand the requirement.”

Now that might sound harsh, but the reality is that if, after 30+ years, the number one ERP software provider doesn’t have embedded in their current S/4HANA solution the ability to meet a requirement without custom code, that’s a sign to reconsider what’s really needed. On one hand, maybe you don’t have a complete understanding of what SAP S/4HANA is capable of. On the other hand, maybe your business requirement needs a good revisit by a seasoned pro with some major SAP ERP experience.

With SAP’s GROW and RISE initiatives, which prescribe the installation of the S/4HANA ERP system outside of your own data center, there is minimal opportunity (if any at all) to just “cut code.”

Some have implied that SAP’s attempts to limit code cutting is a mean act. Image shows computer code It’s worth briefly calling out why this is better described as “giving us bitter medicine” as opposed to being an act of bullying.

S/4HANA and its predecessors are business applications mostly written in SAP’s development language ABAP. ABAP was initially described and truly was, similar to COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) in that it was intended to be used for authoring business applications with minimal development experience. Given that SAP themselves were enhancing their ERP application and supporting new technologies (e.g. web browsers), the ABAP language evolved from its roots, with enhancements supporting object orientation constructs and much more.

Simultaneously, SAP was very unique among software vendors where the source code of their business applications were not just readable by their customers, but permitted them to not only build new reports and transactions but also author ABAP code to run within SAP’s own developed applications. This allowed SAP, along with their implementation partners and clients, to enhance SAP to meet essentially all possible business requirements. This access to nearly limitless customization undoubtedly contributed to the rapid adoption of SAP and the emergence of an ERP implementation industry where everyone could get what they wanted.

But then, two things happened.

First, SAP kept building. Through acquisitions and internal development, SAP has built extensive capabilities into their core ERP solution as well as applications such as SAP TMS, eWM, etc. SAP has also developed the ability to build applications outside of core S/4 ERP solutions through environments such as SAP BTP, or through very robust APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). The sheer list of capabilities is exhausting to review.

Second–and this one might be hard for some SAP experts to admit–integrators got lazy. Through implementation after implementation, many integrators with SAP ERP experience simply ”threw code” at requirements. In many scenarios, those requirements would have been completely satisfied by standard functionality if there was awareness. The remainder of the scenarios would have been addressed by changing how the business requirement is addressed.

A lot of that custom code stemming from so-called “‘lazy” implementations has stranded many existing SAP ERP systems in the past. The custom code often doesn’t work with the latest enhancement packs or S/4HANA, and justification to unwind custom code can be hard to make. The ironic part is that the custom code might not have been required in the first place if the business requirement was properly addressed with out-of-the-box functionality from SAP.

Sentence on how SAP ERP experts recommend meeting business requirements

An SAP project should have never been, but now is no longer reliant on an army of ABAP developers. Its success depends on having knowledgeable resources who deeply understand the S/4HANA module and other available SAP and non-SAP solutions and who are extremely comfortable in working with business requirements.

Reviewing and redesigning business processes to align them to standard SAP S/4 functionality is a core competency of the Vortex Consulting team. With over 25 years of SAP ERP experience under our belt, we’ve monitored passing trends and strengthened our approach to long-lasting ERP performance that is made to evolve and adapt as our clients’ needs change, too. Send us a message to learn more about how we can support your business.

About the Author: Matthew Montano is a Vortex Consulting SAP architect with more than 25 years of experience in Electronic Data Interchange, Supply Chain Integration, and Third-Party Logistics. His passion for good documentation and streamlined work process has yielded measurable results for clients in the consumer packaged goods, life sciences, manufacturing, and transportation industries across both the United States and Canada. Keep checking in for his “Musings with Uncle Matthew” series on the Vortex Consulting blog.

The SAP Talent Gap: Finding the Right Team of Experienced Consultants

Mar
19
2024

The SAP talent gap has come to the forefront in industry conversations around digital transformation and mandatory upgrades forecasted for the next several years. This recent Forbes article shines a spotlight on the growing talent gap in the SAP ecosystem, particularly in relation to the migration of existing ERP systems to the S/4HANA platform. SAP has set a 2027 deadline for migrating legacy ERP systems to S/4HANA–and most of SAP’s 425,000 clients worldwide have not started their migrations yet.

While SAP S/4HANA can be used both on premise and in the cloud, the benefits of utilizing cloud technology are continually growing, convincing more and more organizations to make its adoption a priority. Organizations that wait too long to make the transition to the cloud may face difficulties due to outdated infrastructure. For an increasing number of organizations, it just makes sense when migrating to S/4HANA to simultaneously manage a move to the cloud.

With just 3 years remaining until the SAP deadline, it’s clear that there will be a surge in migration projects, leading to an unprecedented demand for qualified talent and a growing concern over the SAP talent gap. Many organizations will face challenges when recruiting top talent for their own teams and in finding partners with experienced consultants who are available.

Working with experienced SAP consultants is crucial for any organization looking to maximize the potential of SAP software and to reduce risk when executing SAP projects. SAP is a complex and constantly evolving platform; working with consultants who bring varied and robust experience to the table is essential to ensure successful implementation and ongoing support of the system.

Statistics about SAP talent gap concerns for 2027

In the early 2000s, the push to offshore SAP project delivery work exposed challenges when working with less experienced resources. Many projects were delivered behind schedule, incurred cost overruns, and resulted in functional and technical issues post-delivery. It was not unusual to have to invest significant capital to re-implement and clean up the issues. This experience led to the onshoring of many roles and to changes in how companies engage offshore resources. Moreover, it highlighted the importance of finding experienced SAP consultants and employees with SAP skills.

Senior SAP consultants provide the following benefits: in-depth knowledge and expertise, business acumen and familiarity with industry-specific processes, the ability to handle different SAP modules and integrations, an understanding of system upgrades and changes, efficient problem-solving skills, deep industry contacts and network, exposure to different project types and sizes, and an understanding of best practices. Those advanced skills lead to faster deployment and implementation, cost and time savings, and overall lower project risk.

Vortex SAP consultants have 23 years of experience

The number of years of SAP experience is just one part of the equation when it comes to delivering a high-quality solution. At Vortex it is as much about understanding your corporate dynamic as knowing the SAP system. We take pride in forming true partnerships and working with our clients to find the best teams for their needs.

In summary, it is expected to become more and more difficult to find the right resources given the growing SAP talent gap and the surge in demand to migrate to the cloud. Experienced consultants bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise, helping organizations to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and achieve their business goals with SAP. In this competitive business landscape, partnering with experienced SAP consultants can give businesses a competitive edge and ensure they are making the most of their SAP investment. At Vortex, we are confident that we bring the best teams in the industry to help our clients be successful. Send us an email to get a conversation started with a member of our senior leadership team today.

SAP Global Template Demystified: Executive Message and Buy-in

Jul
29
2020

When it comes to the implementation of an SAP Global Template, you have to be clear. You have to be bold. You have to shout it from the rooftops! Otherwise, you may end up hosting a lame party that people cannot wait to abandon.

Executive Buy-In: You need it to make the hard decisions stick. If not, the local crown prince may just decide to go on a software spending spree, while the king of a tiny ivy tower far, far away thinly veils a tantrum. Don’t get me wrong–it is not about dictating, but rather rallying support from the leaders of your organization.

Executive Message: Make it visible that the Global Template is at the core of your future business strategy. It’s not an “IT thing” that levels somewhere on the nice-to-have layer of your decision process. Achieve this by including C-suite executives in important milestones of the Global Template rollout, like the start of fit-gap sessions, key user acceptance testing dates, and the go-live. Allow the whole enterprise to see that you and key leadership speak with one voice.

SAP Global Template Meeting with Executives

I have experienced many times that the missing buy-in and participation of executive leadership results in local operations running astray. These unnecessary occurrences of leaving the chosen path to Rome never end in happiness. We all want to be recognized as independent thinkers, believing that only our own way is the way to go. In reality, the most successful companies find an acceptable level of standardization without ever abandoning diversity!

Ultimately, it is on you, the program director or Center of Excellence leader, to communicate the need for buy-in and participation to the executives. They are busy without you, even more busy when you come along with your ideas. Don’t throw random or generic sound bites about the necessity of a Global Template and see if it sticks. Make your touch points with executives meaningful so they can relate to the tasks at hand:

Be mindful of their time as their day has only finite hours! Schedule interactions in accordance with their availability. You do not want to compete with board meetings or annual budget sessions. Nurture positive relationships with executive assistants as they are the wonderful magicians that make things happen!

Be precise in what you need from them; prepare a specific executive summary of anything you want to convey. If you cannot summarize it, you may not have fully grasped it yourself–how can you expect them to weed through a hundred pages to figure out how to support you?

Be aligned with the company strategy on all levels. Don’t ask for funds that have not been budgeted except for rare, immediate needs. Understand the business’ direction to avoid asking for help that will not be supported by leadership. If you want to change directions, build alliances, and don’t be surprised if it takes more time than anticipated.

The point is that you need to acquire buy-in to keep things moving! When charged with building a Global Template, it is part of your job description to be the glue between the deciders and the doers. So be that link, the building block that manages up and downward.

In our next installment of the Global Template blog series we will discuss the heart of the operations–the people that make it happen, the stakeholders, and those who are most impacted. If you’re looking for support with an SAP Global Template rollout, contact our team and see how Vortex Consulting can be a critical ally in the process.

SAP Global Template Demystified

Jul
22
2020

Welcome to the first in a new series on the Vortex Consulting blog. Join us over the next few months as we explore the ins and outs of SAP Global Template.

It isn’t about configuration. It isn’t the business process. Nor is it about documentation. It is about all of that and much more. An SAP Global Template (“GT”) is a blueprint to success, a holistic view of all elements of your SAP journey!

To achieve the promise of cost savings, rapid deployment, efficient support, and a solid return on investment, the breadth of standardization must cross the enterprise as a whole, including people, process, and systems.

The challenge is that many consultants, and firms, attempt to give guidance about SAP Global Templates, but only a few truly understand it. When embarking on the exercise, many people quickly realize the complexity and either give up or go only part way. To avoid this frustration and expenditure, you need to plan a GT like a major project, then embed it into your business strategy and long-term deployment plan(s). Finally, it has to be supported with expertise and experience, either in-house or through external advisors.

Vortex Consulting SAP Global Template Guide

Today’s post is the first in a new blog series we are launching. In the coming weeks, we will explore the underpinnings of an SAP Global Template and touch on the topics that need to be considered for standardization. And yes, it’s all about streamlining and standardizing to avoid reinventing the wheel in endless blueprinting sessions. With the concepts we will explore, your team can develop the software fabric that will allow for rapid, agile deployments. This strategic activity will generate acceptance in the organization with a right-sized overall SAP environment that supports the business vision and strategy.

Elements of an SAP Global Template that we will explore in upcoming blog posts:

All these elements need to be considered in the context of already existing enterprise IT and business structures. None of them can be seen as a stand-alone effort. Each is a critical part of the foundation that can support the weight of future SAP deployments. When done right, an SAP Global Template can turn a possible burden into an IT strength, leading to a deep acceptance throughout the organization as it generates a “common language” for the deployments of the SAP package across the entire fleet.

Before we end this post, let me take a moment to drill deeper into the idea of a “common language.” This is not a question of whether English is your worldwide project language. It is one of the single most important success factors of your SAP journey. You need to create a dictionary of SAP Global Template business terms and take the utmost care to teach it, reiterate it, and defend it! Yes, you need to defend it until it becomes ingrained into the business DNA! Why? It is difficult enough to bridge a potential gap of languages, cultures, and countless other variables when rolling out an SAP road map across the enterprise. You should not add the unnecessary complications of debating if you refer to a division as a “group” or a “business line.” Clarity minimizes confusion and could literally save millions in wasted dollars.

It is the clarity of thinking strategically, speaking with the vocabulary of convergence, and the holistic inclusion of all aspects that makes an SAP Global Template successful. And you can be the designer of this thriving system, with the help of your trusted advisors.

Check back next week for the second post in this series, and be sure to follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest news from the Vortex Consulting team.

How to Start your S/4 HANA Journey: Operations First

Jul
17
2020

From guest author Sven Wierzbicki. The fourth in our blog series on “How to Start your SAP S/4HANA Journey.”

You confront your challenges head on. You do not shy away from open heart surgery. You trust your ability to initiate and manage fundamental change. Welcome to the S/4HANA implementation option of “Operations First.”

Most companies, even the ones that had a rough SAP R/3 implementation, will finally get to the happy place where they have a stabilized ERP platform that meets the needs of their business operations. Can you call them out for trying to stay in their perceived “ROI zone?”

These companies may feel much more at home with options to implement BW/4HANA or S/4HANA Central Finance before turning their operations upside down.

There is, however, a different school of thought that exists. It subscribes to the idea to go after supporting the fundamentals of the business in the most advanced way possible. In the end, it does not matter how they arrive at the conclusion. What matters is that they right-size the effort to implement S/4HANA, by one of two options:

Shorten the period of parallel operations: When a company is centralized in its nature, it may make sense to strive for a shorter period of overlap between the R/3 sunset horizon and rise of the new S/4HANA star. If palatable, the idea of a big bang, or a small series of big bangs, should be the centerpiece of the digital transformation road map.

Or, extend the period of parallel operations: When the diversity of operations, the geography, or the limited appetite/funds dictate to refrain from doing “big bites,” an S/4HANA seed approach may be better. Acknowledge that you cannot do it all at once, and pick the right representative/business to be the seed for the future business template in S/4. Implement in reasonable chunks–with bigger steps–once experience gains traction.

Regardless of which way you go, never bite off more than you can chew. Doing so only sets you up for disappointment. Embracing the new functionality should be exciting for your business–especially those seen in Finance. Success should be experienced all along the journey!

So, which steps can you take to right-size your “Operations First” effort to implement S/4HANA? Let’s explore some key elements to avoid diving into an abyss:

Deployment Strategy – Build a road map that is custom fit to your company’s means and capabilities. Don’t shy away from tackling the S/4HANA journey; do, however, avoid overstretching your IT and business organization. Find a suitable seed business that fits your needs and go to the starting block. Do not wait too long, as there is still the R/3 sunset looming; you do not want to be pressured into a decision that may force your hand!

There is No Upgrade – We all like good news. That’s why it’s tempting to listen to relentless ‘experts’ claiming to have the tools “to make the upgrade easy.” The thing is, there is no true upgrade for the Business Suite. Yes, the technical HANA DB can be upgraded, but the functionality must be implemented anew. You may not need to reinvent the wheel–but see this upgrade as an opportunity to shed some of the snakeskin that is too tight, that you have outgrown!

Change is Inevitable – While it is undeniable that the knowledge of the S/4HANA product and its application to your business plays a big role, the Change Management aspect is even more important. You need to create a readiness for the project, within the C-suite, business, and IT organization, and choose a partner that you can trust. You will find that a well-prepared organization is, in the end, more important than a technical approach to the journey!

In closing, I want to reiterate that Vortex can be the trusted partner on your S/4HANA journey. Why? Because of the experts who can address the points raised above:

Strategic Advisors who work with your senior management and help to build the S/4HANA roadmap and your Global Template based on real-life experience
Operations Experts in warehousing, manufacturing, supply chain finance, and more; who have worked in these key industries before becoming SAP consultants
IT Experts who translate business needs into programming of interfaces or add-ons, create BI applications, and much more

This concludes our blog series on choosing an approach to your organization’s SAP S/4HANA upgrade. Click through the links below to read the other blog posts in the series. We hope you find these insights helpful as you consider your best step forward. To learn more about how Vortex can be your main resource in this vital investment, contact us at 1.888.627.3640 or sales@vortexconsulting.net.

#1: How to Start Your SAP S/4HANA Journey: Three Unique Approaches

#2: How to Start Your SAP S/4HANA Journey: Insight First

#3: How to Start Your SAP S/4HANA Journey: Central Finance First

How to Start your S/4 HANA Journey: Central Finance First

Jul
08
2020

From guest author Sven Wierzbicki. The third in our blog series on “How to Start your SAP S/4HANA Journey.”

Let’s say you live on the banks of the powerful river of doubts. You know there is a new world on the other side of the river–and one way to get there is by building a bridge! This bridge needs to be strong, architected to last. It has to be founded in modern technology to carry the road to the new world. Well, SAP Central Finance can be your bridge to S/4HANA! Today’s post will focus on bridging the gap between seamless operations and painless innovations …

It is completely understandable that organizations want to embrace stability of their R/3 systems as long as they can. There are many factors playing into this notion, from limited budgets over avoiding the bleeding edge to simply the fear of making the wrong decision. The list of deterrents is lengthy. Also, the road map to S/4HANA needs to put a construct in place that lasts for 15-20 years to come.

That’s where SAP Central Finance comes into the picture:

Photo credit: SAP

Implementing something that supplements, rather than disrupts, operations can be a good option to “dip the toe,” so to speak, instead of making a big splash. Central Finance can be that sidecar solution that exposes the IT organization to the new technology. The benefits are certainly worth mentioning: it provides an excellent learning opportunity, contributes to the building up of an experienced resource, and creates a strong new foundation, while at the same time delivering new capabilities to the business.

Consider the following tangible benefits of SAP Central Finance:

Systems Harmonization & Data Intake – Assuming that you have a systems environment that contains both SAP and non-SAP systems, SAP Central Finance offers a place to harmonize and centralize your financial data across the entire organization, with simplified and standardized interfaces and a robust platform for data transformation. It gives you the ability to elevate the level of systems integration after the fact, providing a cleaner set of data for central planning, processing, reporting, and financial consolidations.

Reporting Capabilities – Regardless of the limited or diverse capabilities of the operational ERP systems, you can create homogeneous financial reporting by utilizing the strength of the new unified journal, enabling centralized profitability and profit center reporting right out of the box. Beyond that, the now harmonized data set can serve as input to the more sophisticated Business Intelligence tool sets like BW or BPC.

Operational Centralization – While not yet perfect, the Central Finance system already has multiple functions available that play right into the concepts of shared services and business optimization. Noteworthy are the central payment option and certain tax features like tax withholding for centralized payments.

Allow Vortex Consulting to assist you in implementing your SAP Central Finance system. We can help you start your S/4HANA journey without breaking the bank, focusing on these key actions:

Building a bridge to the new world of the S/4HANA technology
Educating your IT staff on the new capabilities and functionality
Delivering meaningful business features to your finance department & C-suite

In our next post, we’ll address the “Operations First” option for an SAP S/4HANA implementation, talking about a head-on approach that uses operations as the starting point. Click here to catch up on our first post in the series, “How to Start Your SAP S/4HANA Journey: Three Unique Approaches.” And be sure to get involved in the conversation on Twitter–you’ll find us here: https://twitter.com/VortexConsultng.

Why Experience Matters on Your Road to S/4HANA

Jun
16
2020

I get it. We cannot indulge in yesterday’s ideas. We need fresh thinking to embrace the challenges of the new world we are living in. Machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cloud–all things that did not matter that much when R/3 was introduced. Now they do matter–a whole lot–and they’ll play a big role in your road map to S/4HANA.

Let’s take a moment to recall the transition from R/2 to R/3 and all the hype that drew tidal waves of new consultants into the workforce. As I recall, it was an undeniable benefit to know the table names, the transaction codes, the base concepts that were at the core of the SAP package. The experienced consultants had a substantial edge over the newcomers–the status of the veteran SAP road warriors becoming immortalized by the coining of the “Platinum” distinction.

SAP S4 HANA Consultant with Upgrade Experience

What does that mean in today’s terms? Does it still have meaning when talking about the road to S/4HANA? Yes, I am convinced it does! Consider this:

Strategy – The journey you are about to embark on will stretch over the next two decades. S/4HANA will be around for about 20 years to come, and the tracks you lay and the switches you build will define your path substantially for the short- and medium-term future. You want to avoid costly dead-end streets, redos, and endless construction sites by putting a solid road map in place, based on a mix of strategy that is rooted in experience paired with new, fresh thinking that can lead you into the future.

Experience – As exciting as it may appear, not every wheel needs to be reinvented. Some of the new functionality in S/4HANA needs to be questioned for usefulness. Take the banking configuration that forced you to go into Fiori for no good reason–SAP got the feedback from experience in the market and brought the good old transaction code back.

Insight – You had to be there before to truly understand things. To appreciate the deeper sense of the very thing in front of your eyes, you might want to have seen it before! Not everything entertains the idea of love at first sight, and not everything that is blissfully charming at first sight is the right thing for your business in the long run. Insight comes with experience.

Results – You may enjoy teaching and training new resources, but it should be your resources and not the ones of your systems integration partner. When working with seasoned resources that made the transition to the S/4 world you will find a willingness to see things through, paired with experience–and success stories–from having done it before.

SAP Consultants with S/4 HANA Upgrade Experience

In my opinion, it makes good sense to consider an SAP provider like Vortex that can be a partner on your journey to S/4HANA. We bring pre-screened, experienced resources to the table who understand the strategic aspects of your business and the hands-on elements of the S/4HANA package, and who have demonstrated knowledge out in the field. All of our people have 10+ years of experience in SAP, many of them with even 20 or more years.

Neither old nor new is good or bad by itself. But think about the effort that the experienced consultants have put in to reinvent themselves as new S/4HANA implementers. You want this determination on your side when the weather turns bad and the sea gets rough! You are the captain, and you need an advisor at your side who knows the cliffs by heart. Give us a call and we’ll help you navigate whatever challenges lie ahead.