SAPPHIRE NOW 2013/Session #64983
Presenter: Axel Buelow, SVP, Head of Applications Services and Acting CIO, SAP AG
For SAP, there is no mission more critical than satisfying customers. So when the company decided to move its SAP CRM application onto SAP HANA, it was not a decision that was made lightly. At this SAPPHIRE NOW 2013 theater presentation, Axel Buelow described the impact of SAP CRM on SAP HANA – and the implementation process that has made it an unqualified success.
A New World
Axel began by putting the new application into context, including such megatrends as the increasing need for pervasive access, the rapid accumulation of “Big Data,” the move toward “global-class” delivery through the cloud, and the emergence of a generation that was raised on social media.
Customers, he said, look to SAP for innovation and inspiration. And SAP CRM on SAP HANA illustrates SAP’s ability to deliver.
Bringing Innovation to Life
“SAP Runs SAP is bringing innovation to life with 100 projects and five percent of the project portfolio,” Axel said. “Our job is to assess, evaluate, and prototype new components to see what value they bring.”
Axel also described SAP’s internal roadmap for the adoption of SAP CRM on SAP HANA, which included side-by-side operations for functions such as the SAP sales pipeline.
Going Live
After a migration period of two and a half months, SAP CRM went live on SAP HANA in March, 2013. Today, Axel reported, “SAP CRM on SAP HANA supports 15,000 business users – including up to 10,000 users per day.
“It was a ‘big bang’ implementation,” he added, “reaching all users in all geographies. Our search performance improved by a factor of 250.”
Early in the process, Axel said, “There was a lot of concern in the area of custom code. But in the end, we had to adjust less than five percent of the custom code.”
New Business Scenarios
Axel cited examples of how SAP CRM on SAP HANA enables new business scenarios, including:
- Faster profitability analysis: The time required to conduct profitability analysis has been reduced from 26 hours to just four hours – while providing even greater detail.
- Sales pipeline management: SAP’s sales pipeline management once had a latency time of 12 hours. Today, that information is available on iPads and other mobile devices in a matter of seconds.
The Roadmap Continues
Axel closed by discussing SAP’s future plans, which include leveraging SAP HANA for receivables management; fraud management for governance, risk, and compliance (GRC); and procurement.
Most significantly, Axel said, “We will continue by moving SAP ERP to SAP HANA in August, with 50,000 to 60,000 users.
“Our roadmap,” he concluded, “is not at an end yet.”
Author: Bill Kozel
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