Leading your business toward Digital Transformation with Rise with SAP

The Covid-19 pandemic has completely changed consumer shopping habits, with e-commerce and online shopping becoming more prominent. The RISE with SAP solution package was created to support businesses in rapidly undergoing digital transformation, changing their operational and business methods to adapt to the new trend.

From early 2020 to the present, the pandemic has completely changed the daily living and shopping habits of people around the world. According to a survey by the American market research company Forrester, in 2020, 58% of consumers chose to spend online, an increase of 12% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Vietnam is also not exempt from the impact of Covid-19 waves. Reports from several Vietnamese e-commerce platforms show that Vietnamese consumers have quickly embraced the use of e-commerce and online channels. Nearly 60% of surveyed customers stated they had shopped online at least once a month in the past 12 months. Additionally, shopping through websites, and apps, and using online delivery channels has become familiar to the public during continuous social distancing in various provinces across the country.

Digitalizing operational and supply processes has been seen as a ‘lifesaver’ in helping businesses adapt and overcome the pandemic’s challenges. SAP launched the RISE with SAP solution package at the beginning of 2021 – a powerful tool assisting businesses in rapid digital transformation and providing tools to understand customers better.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, Deputy General Director of NGS Equipment and Communication Joint Stock Company, believes that ‘With RISE with SAP, businesses can overcome difficulties in digital transformation using the latest technological tools like AI, cloud computing… By integrating modern technology solutions, this package will help businesses avoid limitations in traditional customer behavior research. Understanding customers will enable businesses to pivot in a more correct direction.

With this new product, what is this solution and what does it mean for current holders of SAP licenses? RISE with SAP was not a new product the same way that SAP HANA was when it was introduced in 2011. Rather than create a set of new functionalities, RISE with SAP is described as a bundling of existing SAP assets that focus on providing customers with business transformation as a service.

What is Rise with SAP?

RISE with SAP is designed to help larger companies easily transition to SAP’s cloud solutions. It’s different from the GROW with SAP program, which is tailored for smaller and mid-size businesses starting with SAP. RISE with SAP simplifies the move to the cloud by removing the complexity and uncertainty often involved in planning and licensing for big enterprises. It offers a comprehensive set of tools all in one package.

RISE with SAP focuses on six key business areas, chosen based on customer trends and SAP’s internal analysis. These areas are:

1. Cloud-based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
2. Business process optimization
3. Enhancements in extension, integration, and automation
4. Advanced financial management
5. Supplier network coordination
6. Sustainability management

SAP has always aimed to make its products simpler and more efficient. For instance, the simplification lists in each SAP S/4HANA release, and the concept of a unified financial data source are examples of this philosophy. RISE with SAP builds on these principles. It offers a unique ‘set of ones’ approach:

• One offer: A bundle of products at a single price
• One contract: One agreement covering service levels, operations, and issue management

This approach is especially helpful for companies with smaller IT setups, limited technical expertise, or tighter budgets. It allows them to adopt SAP solutions without disrupting their current systems or finances. The key here is flexibility – the implementation is customized to meet the specific needs of each company.

What is included in RISE with SAP

When you choose RISE with SAP, you get access to a range of solutions, tools, and services. Here’s a look at what’s included:

• SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition:
• Core of enterprise resource planning: SAP S/4HANA is at the heart of SAP’s offerings, known for its comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) capabilities. The Cloud Private Edition is specifically for businesses that prefer not to host the solution themselves.
• Wide range of business solutions: This package isn’t just about basic ERP; it includes specialized solutions for different business areas like finance, supply chain and supplier relationship management, sales, and research and development. Plus, SAP is always planning to add more.
• Powered by SAP HANA: What makes this suite stand out is that it runs on SAP HANA. This technology provides up-to-the-minute business statistics and analytics, helping businesses make informed decisions quickly.
• System hosting options for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition: With SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition being a cloud-based solution, you’ll need to decide where to host your system. You have a couple of options:
• SAP’s own servers: One straightforward choice is to let SAP host your solution on their servers. This means SAP takes care of the technical side of hosting for you.
• Hyperscaler options: If you prefer, there are major cloud service providers, known as hyperscalers, that can also host your SAP S/4HANA Cloud solution. These include well-known names like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud.
• SAP Business Network: The SAP Business Network is a suite of tools designed to streamline how businesses work with their trading partners – think suppliers, carriers, and other key players in the purchasing and payment process. Here’s what it offers:

• Easy supplier connections: It makes finding and connecting with suppliers simpler and more efficient.
• Inventory management: Helps you keep track of your inventory in a more organized way.
• Tracking assets: You can monitor the movement of assets, knowing where they are in real-time.
• Customer transparency: Increases openness with customers, especially in support services.
• Asset management and maintenance: The network integrates asset management with maintenance tasks, making it easier to keep everything running smoothly.
• Performance analytics: Provides analytics tools to evaluate and improve business performance.
• SAP BTP Consumption Credits: SAP BTP, or Business Technology Platform, is a service platform that focuses on enhancing enterprise intelligence. It’s built on four main areas:

• Analytics: For analyzing business data.
• Application development & integration: Making and integrating apps, especially with non-SAP systems.
• Database & data management: Organizing and managing data.
• Intelligent technologies: Using advanced tech like AI and machine learning.

This platform includes all features previously under the SAP Cloud Platform brand.

Flexible cloud credits for diverse needs:

• Unlike offering a fixed set of tools, SAP provides cloud credits to businesses with a RISE with SAP license. This gives you the flexibility to choose and use various services from SAP BTP according to your specific business needs.
• There’s a wide range of options where you can use these credits. For example, you can pick from over 2,000 prebuilt integrations for SAP S/4HANA, manage databases, or use SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (SAP Intelligent RPA) and other analytics tools.

• Key components of business process intelligence in RISE with SAP
• Analyze: This tool is like a deep-sea dive into your business data. It lets data scientists explore what’s working and what’s not, and see how people are using the system.
• Design and simulate: Imagine being able to test out different business scenarios using your real data. This component lets you do just that, helping you find the best approach for your business.
• Improve: Here’s where you boost your business efficiency. It uses things like artificial intelligence and no-code automation, including sophisticated tools like SAP Intelligent RPA, to make your processes smarter and faster.
• Roll out and govern: This is all about managing and overseeing your business processes. It makes it easy to collaborate and share important documents with everyone, all from one place.
• Monitor: Consider this the health check for your solutions. It keeps an eye on how everything is performing to ensure it’s all running smoothly.
• Model and manage ‘Home base’: Tying back to the rollout and govern component, this is like a command center for departments to collaborate and oversee their main processes.
• Benchmark: Ever wonder how your business stacks up against others in your industry? This component gives you that insight, comparing your business to aggregated industry data from SAP. It provides concrete analysis and suggestions for where you can improve.
• Embedded tools and services in RISE with SAP: RISE with SAP opens up access to a wide range of essential services, particularly useful when shifting to a cloud-based ERP system like SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

Here’s what it includes:

• Deployment assistance: Help in setting up and starting your SAP system.
• Legacy code removal: Assistance in getting rid of outdated code from previous systems.
• Supply chain improvement: Tools and advice for making your supply chain more efficient.
• Business scenario planning: Resources for planning out various business scenarios.
• Intelligent business design: Tools for designing smarter business processes.
• Sustainability solutions with RISE with SAP: In addition to these services, SAP also provides sustainability-focused tools for RISE with SAP customers:
• SAP sustainability footprint management: This tool helps you track and manage your company’s carbon footprint.
• SAP sustainability control tower: A solution for overseeing and achieving your sustainability goals, ensuring your business practices align with environmental standards.

Why do businesses should choose RISE with SAP? 

So we can see that RISE with SAP stands out as a transformative solution for businesses seeking to elevate their operational efficiency and strategic insight. With SAP S/4HANA Cloud at its core, it enables businesses to generate reports up to 100 times faster, harnessing the power of AI for real-time advanced analytics. This system not only coherently rationalizes data but also offers a multi-device user experience, reducing data footprint by 50%.

The Business Process Intelligence component of RISE with SAP optimizes smart business processes, providing organizations with a comprehensive overview of their operational mechanisms. This facilitates a deeper understanding, improvement, and rapid transformation of processes at scale. The included Process Discovery tool aids in enhancing operational workflows and performance analysis.

The Technology Cloud Credit within RISE with SAP empowers businesses to augment, extend, and integrate with any other solutions from SAP or third parties. It also allows for the utilization of data models and business services on the SAP Business Technology Platform for seamless synchronization.

Moreover, the integrated SAP Business Network Starter Pack in RISE with SAP rapidly establishes digital connections with trade partners. This enables businesses to leverage an intelligent network for support and make data-driven decisions. Companies can connect with transportation entities for increased reliability, manage inventory more effectively with suppliers, and share asset utilization information. Additionally, Embedded Services and Tools in the package provide access to lifecycle management, analytics, and product support services, facilitating the transition to SAP S/4HANA for enhanced business outcomes.

Conclusion

As noted by a SAP representative, RISE with SAP is a comprehensive solution that supports customers in redesigning business processes and reducing the complexity of adopting cloud technology. This transition has become especially crucial in the wake of COVID-19, as traditional business management and sales methods are increasingly being replaced by digital solutions. A business owner who has implemented RISE with SAP shared, “Before the pandemic intensified, we didn’t focus much on technological solutions. Our management and sales processes were conventional. However, Covid-19 changed everything. The rise of e-commerce and increasing competition among businesses compelled us to digitalize our processes and business approach. RISE with SAP has been instrumental in realizing this strategy.”

In this ever-evolving digital landscape, businesses seeking to leverage the full potential of RISE with SAP can trust in the expertise of Sphinx. We stand ready to guide companies through the digital transformation journey, ensuring a seamless and effective implementation of RISE with SAP to drive business success in the new digital era.