I have been working in the ERP space for over 15 years, with the past 6 years focussed on cloud solutions. My experiences working with many large enterprise organisations during that time has shown me that most of these organisations had often selected a single tier solution for all their divisions and subsidiaries. However, increasingly, organisations are looking to simplify their ERP solutions in their smaller divisions or subsidiaries whilst still maintaining transparency from the headquarters.

Organisations seeking a two tier ERP approach may do so for a variety of reasons.

• Budget & Resource: Some organisations lack resources and budget in the subsidiaries to maintain the HQ ERP system.
• Business Process Simplification: Others require simpler business processes at the subsidiaries leading to an ERP system requirement based on standardised best practice processes.
• JV / M&A: Yet others need to deploy an ERP system rapidly due to either execution of a joint venture, or a new acquisition.
• Governance: I have also come across organisations that have had subsidiaries fail audits, and require an ERP system deployed rapidly in order to continue business operations.

An increasing number of SAP’s large enterprise clients have started looking to the cloud for a solution to their two tier ERP problem. SAP Business ByDesign was specifically designed and developed as an OnDemand ERP solution. SAP based this design on over 40  integrated, end to end business processes, and built is as a platform in the cloud. As it was designed as a subsidiary solution, it has been enabled with multi GAAP, multi currency, and multi language capabilities, and with out of the box integration to SAP ECC. So why are many organisations selecting SAP Business ByDesign for their subsidiaries?

• It offers rapid time to value. Organisations are able to deploy SAP Business ByDesign from 1 month to 6 months depending on scope.
• It is scalable and will expand and contract as organisations aquire and divest.
• It offers comprehensive services based on a simple subscription pricing model. These services include the choice of data centres located in the US and Germany, upgrades, private or public editions, highest levels of security, SLA’s for guaranteed performance and availability amongst others.
• A consistent and intuitive, consumer grade user experience. Business ByDesign has been designed with the end user in mind allowing intuitive web based usage, that is mobile. The solution can be accessed either via the web, or via mobile applications on an Apple IOS, Blackberry, or Android device.
• Finally, SAP Business ByDesign is delivered with out of the box integration with:
  • SAP ECC (providing transparency to HQ, intra-company transactions with other subsidiaries or HQ, or simply leveraging shared services)
  • BI (providing consolidated reporting across subsidiaries and HQ)
  • Solution Manager (providing IT with a single view)

Links:

For more information, please read the slideshare deck:

SAP: Large Enterprise consider cloud strategy for ERP

For a brief video overview of SAP Business ByDesign for Subsidiaries, click here:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8hWgcs4zj5I

Case Study: Dow Subsidiary Ramped Up with SAP Business ByDesign

SAFECHEM is a Dow Chemical subsidiary working with closed cleaning equipment to eliminate worker exposure and environmental emissions. Read why it chose SAP Business ByDesign to start new subsidiary operations with very limited time and funds.