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The mandate of sustainability has become a fundamental requirement for companies worldwide. This shift is due to a growing awareness of the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic factors and the realization that sustainable practices are not only ethically imperative but also essential for long-term profitability and viability.
This is accompanied by a steady increase in the number and complexity of sustainability regulations. The regulations cover the disclosure of non-financial performance strategies, methods, and metrics to stakeholders, including investors, employees, customers, and the public. The practice includes environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics. Companies must come to terms with this; in doing so, they are confronted with many challenges. There is a huge number of ESG reporting frameworks and standards globally and the requirements are still evolving. The required data basis for ESG reporting often is lacking and the effort for recurring data collection is very high.
Implementing all aspects of sustainability requires a holistic approach within the company and anchoring it in all business processes and products. SAP supports companies on their path to transformation with a range of new sustainability-related functions offered with the SAP Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises. The SAP Sustainability solution portfolio is oriented towards various industries but also includes central cross-industry solutions.
The SAP Sustainability Control Tower (SCT) is the key solution for sustainability reporting, helping customers to holistically monitor, manage, and optimize their sustainability goals by collecting and integrating data from various corporate sources, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data. It´s the single point of truth for ESG across reporting standards, the technical foundation for data collection and processing, and open for integration with a variety of sources.
A further major and cross-industry solution is SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, which calculates a company's total carbon footprint and attributes emissions to products and corporate overhead, aiming to achieve a balanced emission level through all production stages.
Due to the prevailing market environment, SAP is planning to expand its certification program for outsourcing partners to include certification for SAP Sustainability solutions operations. We have evaluated this with a couple of partners in individual conversations and encountered high interest in the topic – some of their customers have already reached out to them asking for guidance regarding ESG reporting. Therefore, they feel a great need to build up expertise to support customers with projects and services accordingly. There was a consensus that the legal requirements are becoming stricter regarding the quality and quantity of data to be published.
The partners are preparing accordingly for the implementation and maintenance of SAP Sustainability solutions and the creation of add-ons, extensions, and integrations - to support customers in compiling the necessary data for reporting.
We derived key elements for the scope of the certification from the SAP solution portfolio for sustainability. The SAP experts for sustainability solutions gave essential support and input. As the certification also covers general competencies related to sustainability, it certainly confirms a comprehensive view and broad expertise about sustainability. After piloting this new service with selected partners, we will launch the SAP Sustainability solutions operations certification in 2025.
Today, there is no way around sustainable action. If companies want to remain competitive in the future, they must address the impact of their own business activities on the environment and society. Sustainability should not be seen as a mere reporting issue, but as an opportunity to secure the future of the company. Partners should be prepared to support their customers in this important topic. A corresponding sustainability certification gives the partner a better market positioning and an additional seal of quality for its offering.
Information on the certification program for outsourcing partners and an overview of all certified partners can be found on the SAP Outsourcing Operations Partner Guide.