Integration Drives Business Innovation

michael_ameling · ‎2021 Mar 03

This blog is co-authored by Michael Ameling, Head of Intelligent Enterprise Program and Cross Architecture and Philipp Herzig, Head of Intelligent Enterprise and Cross Architecture, SAP Product Engineering.

Integration is the backbone of any intelligent enterprise. To support their digital transformation strategies and achieve significant business value, companies rely on holistic integration of data, technology, and business processes. Large companies like Orica and Aramco Europe have undergone extensive business transformations over the past years and benefited from simplified SAP integrations along their journey. Along with many more examples, these integration stories are the result of SAP’s continuous efforts to offer a truly integrated, intelligent suite to our customers. Beginning of 2020, Christian Klein, CEO of SAP, outlined  SAP's way forward with respect to integrating SAP solutions in the cloud. One year later, we have more than doubled the number of delivered integrations. This includes both functional enhancements along the leading end-to-end processes, as well as deliveries on distinct suite qualities that serve as technical building plan for our integrated Intelligent Enterprise.

Thomas Saueressig and Juergen Mueller just released a new blog Integration: Delivering on our Promise, sharing an updated version of SAP’s Integration Plan in the Cloud that highlights the key 2020 integration achievements.

Here are the three key takeaways:

SAP supports every customer to become an integrated and best run business
Intelligent enterprises are integrated enterprises. They apply advanced technologies and best practices within agile, integrated business processes. That’s why a key part of SAP’s strategy is integrating end-to-end processes – including SAP, partner, and third-party solutions.

End-to-end business processes deliver unmatched business value
We drive our integration efforts along the four key business processes: Lead to Cash, Design to Operate, Source to Pay, Recruit to Retire. SAP’s integration approach goes far beyond technical integration of applications though. The holistic integration of business processes accelerates the speed of innovation, lowers the efforts for integration, shortens time to value, reduces the complexity of operations, and allows for real-time insight. The intelligent suite spans across SAP Customer Experience, SAP S/4HANA Cloud and on-premise, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, SAP Concur, SAP Fieldglass.

Technology integration is the foundation for end-to-end business processes
In 2020, we increased the number of integrations by more than 160 percent compared to 2019. For this year, we have over 200 transformative integrations planned already with even more to come. Our entire team is fully committed to deliver on our promise to help every customer become an intelligent enterprise. SAP introduced distinct suite qualities that characterize SAP’s Intelligent Suite of seamlessly integrated applications. The SAP Business Technology Platform as the underlying platform helps to drive true business innovation.

The Integration Journey Continues

Building on the strong foundation for the integrated intelligent suite laid out in 2020, we will extend our 2021 integration scope, focusing on aspects like hybrid integrations, extensibility, eventing, data access and more. In addition, SAP will deliver more content for example around the SAP One Domain Model and provide additional business objects that are used across the intelligent suite. This list of planned innovations is complemented by a rich set of functional enhancements along the four leading end-to-end processes.

Read the details in our updated paper on SAP’s Integration Plan in the Cloud and stay tuned for more news and integration stories to be shared, soon!

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