- SAP Managed Tags
SAP solutions for ERP and PLM have evolved significantly in recent years. For ERP, the focus is on the integration of SAP S/4HANA; the field of PLM has also been expanded with new possibilities and (cloud) functionalities. What does this mean for SAP customers? In this interview, Peter Vandrey (CIDEON Software & Services GmbH & Co. KG) and Benjamin Zorn (DSC Software AG), answer the most important questions.
How has SAP ERP evolved in recent years?
Peter Vandrey: "SAP has significantly enhanced the functions and integration options for ERP in the last years. The mere fact that there are now three deployment options for SAP S/4HANA – On-Premise, Private Cloud Edition, and Public Cloud Edition – shows that SAP is offering customers greater flexibility and new technical possibilities, also in the cloud. This is certainly triggered by the increased demands from the customer side to carry out certain processes in the engineering environment, in addition to pure design engineering. Especially in the phase of early engineering, functions from requirements management, idea management, or model-based systems engineering can now be covered much better. The further development of SAP Integrated Product Development running on Business Technology Platform (BTP) illustrates these efforts by SAP in the engineering field. Furthermore, the world is increasingly shifting towards cloud technologies, and, of course, the requirements of customers are changing as well, especially in engineering, when it comes to sharing information and collaborating in projects.”
Benjamin Zorn: "The trend towards cloud applications is clear, and SAP's focus on cloud technology is understandable and makes sense. Cloud-native applications offer more flexibility and facilitate scaling options nowadays. Furthermore, SAP uses this strategic orientation to seamlessly close gaps in the field of PLM. In the past, most customers only managed CAD data, but today, they want a comprehensive Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. SAP sees PLMas an end-to-end process from the first idea to product discontinuation, and uses technological change to enrich and enhance functions.”
What advantages does a transition of the ERP system from SAP ECC or SAP R/3 to SAP S/4HANA offer?
Peter Vandrey: "Anyone who wants to stay technologically up-to-date should switch to SAP S/4HANA before long. SAP ECC is no longer being developed, and maintenance will end with the last extension option in 2033. Functional enhancements and new features are developed exclusively for SAP S/4HANA. Also hybrid scenarios and individual solutions tailored to the customer’s needs will only be available for SAP S/4HANA. In the field of PLM, we can facilitate this transition, for example, by switching the engineering environment to SAP S/4HANA before the main update of the ERP system. This way, we simplify the main ERP transition.”
Benjamin Zorn: "SAP S/4HANA offers several technological advantages over SAP ECC. For example, the database technology is completely different. The new in-memory database technology offers significant improvements in terms of performance. In the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), SAP S/4HANA has already the AI assistant Joule, and this field will certainly grow in the future, also in engineering. It is important for customers to create the data foundation today in order to benefit from these innovations in the future.”
Many customers hesitate when it comes to the cloud. What advantages does cloud deployment have over on-premise systems?
Benjamin Zorn: "The great advantage of cloud technology is that the entire operation of the system is outsourced. This way, the customer does not need any internal resources for system hosting. Expenditures for hardware, installation, and maintenance are eliminated with native cloud systems and cloud hosting. Especially in light of the skilled labor shortage, the often scarce resources in the IT department can be utilized more effectively. Cloud providers, such as SAP, have these resources available and take care of your system’s maintenance on a daily basis. Even if many companies are still skeptical today and do not want to give away their product data, which they consider to be the “treasure” of their company: Is the data really more secure lying on private servers in companies with limited resources and tight budgets, which makes it even harder to handle the data with the same care and professionalism? In some industries, data must not be stored in the cloud for legal reasons, but we advise all other companies to consider cloud deployment options, such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private or Public Edition.”
Peter Vandrey: "We’ve seen some of our customers being offline for half a year because they were hacked and their data was encrypted. The likelihood of that happening with a professional cloud data center is significantly lower. These data centers are certified and operate according to defined standards. There has been a significant mindset shift in the last years. Some software manufacturers and also customers who initially rejected the cloud outright are increasingly opening up to the new possibilities. Of course, data security and data privacy continue to be of the utmost priority.”
Which SAP S/4HANA deployment option is the best fit for which companies?
Peter Vandrey: "The smaller the company, the more the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition pays off. Especially for companies with few employees in IT, external cloud hosting is profitable, and the existing functionalities in the public cloud come in handy. Additionally, it is the most cost-effective setup of SAP S/4HANA. An on-premise installation and the private cloud are significantly more complex in terms of setup and maintenance, but on the other hand, they offer more possibilities. It really depends on the company and its size. Many customers are opting for hybrid scenarios. For example, the parent company uses the private cloud, while the public cloud is being implemented at the acquired subsidiary or at another location. This is also called a two-tier approach.”
Why are hybrid scenarios perfect for transitioning to the cloud?
Benjamin Zorn: “For us, hybrid scenarios are the best way to meet individual customer needs and gradually implement more and more cloud functions. This allows subsidiaries, individual locations, or single business areas, such as engineering, to gradually shift towards cloud applications, while the parent company or the traditional ERP area still uses the original on-premise installation. Especially discrete manufacturers come with individual setups and adjustments that should be sensibly adapted in the new environment – and this is made possible by a hybrid approach. This way, companies maintain their innovative strength and make use of the latest technology while continuing to use their well-established processes.”
Peter Vandrey: "In the last approximately 20 years, we have built a wide range of functions for engineering on-premise, which cannot just be transferred one-to-one to the cloud overnight. Certain cloud solutions may initially be of interest to smaller companies. But for customers who want to take the step to the cloud already today, we also offer functionalities which will continue to evolve in the next years. The important thing is, that the engineering department can continue to use the tired-and-true solutions and that the data is exchanged securely with SAP S/4HANA. Especially with hybrid scenarios, we offer the best of both worlds and such separate introduction projects are interesting for many companies in terms of costs and technologies."
Which PLM functionality is actually necessary for a manufacturing company?
Peter Vandrey: "The requirements for PLM are usually resulting from the field of engineering. The design department works with one or more CAD systems, the PLM environment must be compatible with the required functionalities, for example, for data reuse or the collaboration with manufacturing and service. There are many pieces that need to come together. At this point, it is important to seek advice, for example, from experienced software manufacturers and consulting firms like Cideon or DSC, who have been working with SAP for decades.”
What PLM functions does SAP Integrated Product Development running on SAP BTP already offer today?
Benjamin Zorn: "SAP Integrated Product Development takes PLM to the next level. In the past, SAP mainly concentrated on the management of product data, focusing on PDM, while with SAP Integrated Product Development, additional PLM functions are coming to the forefront. This opens up fields such as idea management, innovation management, requirements management, and many more. SAP Integrated Product Development is a native cloud solution which also offers companies a secure space for collaboration with third parties. Especially in the two-tier approach, when a company uses more than one deployment option of SAP S/4HANA, this solution provides future opportunities for an extended use of PLM functionality.”
What role does SAP ECTR play in the context of new developments such as SAP Integrated Product Development and SAP BTP?
Benjamin Zorn: "For hybrid scenarios, SAP Engineering Control Center (SAP ECTR) is the absolute key component because it bridges the gap between the classic and the cloud-native world. SAP ECTR can display functions from SAP Integrated Product Development. For users, there are no changes: they can continue to work in their familiar environment and still use cloud functions such as requirements management.”
Peter Vandrey: "Even for customers who want to use SAP Fiori instead of SAP GUI, SAP ECTR makes it possible to manage the navigation accordingly. From SAP ECTR, users can access the SAP Fiori interface or SAP Integrated Product Development. These connections are increasingly developed, allowing customers to switch to modern user interfaces with the latest capabilities.”
What role does SAP CAD Desktop still play, which product is an alternative for customers, and what is important for making this transition successfully?
Peter Vandrey: "SAP CAD Desktop no longer plays a relevant role; the support for this product will also end in 2033 at the latest. Customers who are currently still using SAP R/3 and SAP CAD Desktop and are considering a transition should switch to SAP ECTR. SAP ECTR also works with SAP R/3, facilitating the actual ERP transition when companies have previously made the transition from SAP CAD Desktop to SAP ECTR. Therefore, customers should definitely keep data migration in mind. Customers transitioning from SAP CAD Desktop to SAP ECTR only need to make minor adjustments, such as data enrichment. In general, the data from SAP CAD Desktop is usable, and it is easier to stay within the SAP environment than to switch to a solution from a different manufacturer. This switch would include all aspects of a data export from SAP and a complete import of all CAD data into the new (non-SAP) system. In our daily work, we experience that especially data import is one of the most time-consuming and labor-intensive project steps. This step and the familiarization with new data handling for everyone involved can be skipped with SAP ECTR."
Benjamin Zorn: “For users of SAP CAD Desktop, SAP ECTR is the product that already meets the most requirements out of the box. Therefore, it is straightforward to switch from SAP CAD Desktop to SAP ECTR."
What is the partnership between Cideon and DSC like in day-to-day business and in customer projects?
Peter Vandrey: "Cideon and DSC have been working together for a long time. We already collaborated on customer projects in the late 1990s and early 2000s. With the introduction of SAP ECTR, the official partnership has been established. This cooperation has many advantages for our customers. We can cover a wide technological range together and with the help of additional partners. With this expertise, we take a look at the customer’s individual needs and then design the system landscape accordingly. The customer's requirements are decisive, not the technology. We work together very closely, developing joint ideas that become products and solutions, providing manufacturing companies with real value added."
Benjamin Zorn: "With extensive know-how in the field of CAD and many different CAD systems, Cideon is very well positioned. We at DSC provide the strategic integration platform with SAP ECTR, which lays the foundation upon which various components can be built. The communication in customer projects is seamless, the customer requirement is always our focus, and we are a well-functioning team. It is well known in the partner network that we can cover a wide range in the fields of engineering, manufacturing, and mechatronics.”
We recently released a joint webcast on PLM in SAP. Why is it a must-see?
Benjamin Zorn: “In the webcast, we provide a detailed overview of the current and future opportunities about PLM in the SAP environment. As an SAP customer, it is extremely important to learn what is now possible with PLM software from SAP. We give an assessment so that customers can better gauge their current technological status. Many companies are facing a transition to SAP S/4HANA and should be aware of all PLM options in order to make informed decisions today and in the future.”
Peter Vandrey: "The webcast provides a comprehensive and clear overview in just 45 minutes. Anyone who wants to know more about the PLM possibilities in SAP can contact us directly."
Watch our free webcast "Quo vadis, PLM in SAP?" now. Find guidance, use solutions: How to profit from the PLM portfolio of SAP and learn everything you need to know about PLM in SAP.
This interview was originally published by Cideon Software & Services GmbH.