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Former Member
By Fred Isbell, senior director and head of Thought Leadership – Digital Business Services Marketing, SAP

The topic of innovation is front and center of many business agendas – as well as the timing of when innovation and technology begin to pay off and provide tangible business value. Take, for example, cloud solutions. While the cloud is by no means anything new, the fundamental transformation from a product-centric approach to a service- and consumption-based strategy is changing everything.

There’s nothing like hearing the story of such evolution from a customer’s perspective. Recently, I hosted a Webcast “Delek's Path to Success with SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud.” A panel of subject-matter experts from SAP and Delek US Holdings, a diversified downstream energy company headquartered in Tennessee, discussed its journey to the cloud and lessons learned along the way:

  • Susan Lafferty, Business Relationship Manager, Delek US Holdings

  • Jyoti Kakarala, Director, ERP & Refinery Systems, Delek US Holdings

  • Rob Chapman, SAP Basis and Security Admin, Delek US Holdings

  • Gary Hart, Vice President of Sales, SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, SAP




During our Webcast, we discussed how Delek successfully incorporated a cloud solution and a private, managed cloud platform environment. We explored how a cloud solution based an enterprise cloud platform enabled Delek to attain tangible business and IT benefits while meeting the need for speed in an ever-evolving marketplace.

The Delek team shared useful lessons learned and insights, including:

  • Achieving the vision of digital transformation in real time is possible. The digital core is crucial for this transformation and addresses the key pillars of people and workforce engagement, business and supplier collaboration, enhanced customer experiences, and the “Internet of Everything” (moving beyond the concept of IoT) which encompasses machine-to-machine interactions of all types.

  • The cloud-based platform is a critical enabler in the transition from purely on-premise solutions to a future of innovation-enabled cloud solutions. The approach served as a bridge between complex and difficult-to-manage solutions and a future of simpler, easier-to-manage support solutions and more. With this vision, Delek is fulfilling the promises of our core philosophy: Run Simple and Live Business.

  • A significant benefit from this strategy is the ability to divert more time and money towards investments that increase innovation. Delek is a great example of the major themes and trends that are driving cloud adoption. Throughout this journey, the company moved from modernizing solutions with innovation to greater standardization. Plus, it is securely delivering consumption-based solutions and transformed the culture from a capital expense mindset to one that focused on operating expense.

  • The adoption of the cloud went beyond migrating critical functions. Delek addressed one of the most common concerns about cloud migrations: Disruption. Delek’s refinery, logistics, and retail businesses have transitioned from an on-premised data center to a secure environment in a managed, private cloud solution with the added benefits of full disaster recovery.

  • Testing ensures a successful go-live. Realizing this critical aspect of a digital strategy helps meet the requirement of delivering outcomes. Benefits include increased speed, greater data visibility, added business insights through data segmentation, and a foundation for future business initiatives.


I encourage everyone to view the on-demand replay and to check out the resources available for SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud. And keep an eye out for more informative events like this Webcast in the future from the Digital Business Services organization at SAP.

Join Fred online: TwitterFacebookLinkedInsap.comSAP Services Hub