Conquering ERP complexity in the cloud with RISE x SOAR for Large Enterprise

Most organizations now realize the future of the systems that run their business lies in the cloud. That includes enterprise resource planning (ERP), and it’s the key driver behind RISE with SAP, a solution from SAP which helps to accelerate cloud adoption.

Cloud is the place to be

RISE with SAP is about helping companies continuously transform, innovate, simplify, streamline and reinvent their business processes and business models in the cloud. It creates a cloud composable ERP architecture, with a clean SAP S/4HANA at the core while combining software licenses, cloud management services and cloud compute in an as-a-Service commercial model.

A cleaner and leaner S/4HANA core is easier to manage and faster to upgrade. So, it stays current with the latest functionality. And because it can be extended and integrated through SAP Business Technology Platform (with SAP solutions, other cloud solutions, and bespoke developments), the architecture still allows the business to deliver the strategic differentiation, and innovation it needs.

What’s more, because RISE with SAP is offered on a subscription basis, companies can run their SAP estates using a SaaS-like model. This means they benefit from superior cloud economics, a switch from capital (CAPEX) to operational (OPEX) expenses model, while also reducing their management overheads.

Would that it were so simple to get there…

It’s an attractive model. And there’s little doubt this is where SAP customers should be navigating towards as quickly as possible.

Yet, there’s a “but”… For large global organizations, things are rarely as simple and straightforward as you’d like them to be. In fact, the ERP domain can be extremely complex.

There might be many SAP system instances running in many locations around the world, on a mix of hybrid multi-cloud and on-prem infrastructure, with all the different components at different levels of maturity and/or at different points in their lifecycle — ranging from highly customized individual software, cloud-native solutions to multitenant SaaS products.

On top of this, few organizations’ ERP domains are 100 percent on SAP software. So, you have the additional complexity of needing to integrate — and manage — SAP and non-SAP components in a seamless and efficient way.

This complexity can significantly slow down any transformation journey and delay realization of the business value a cloud composable ERP architecture offers. And the larger your organization, the more complexity you face, and the more effort is required to stay on top of it. So, for most large organizations RISE with SAP needs to be more than RISE with SAP.

RISE x SOAR for Large Enterprise

The key question for large enterprises is this: how do you bring all the pieces together in a holistic way so you can accelerate the value that RISE with SAP promises? This is about moving from a state of managing the cloud to consuming the cloud.

Our answer is RISE x SOAR for Large Enterprise. It combines the RISE with SAP solution and SOAR with Accenture services offering and has been augmented with new features that encompass Accenture’s comprehensive suite of transformation services, including customized cloud services and proprietary intelligent tools, delivered through a cohesive as-a-service model.

This new offering has been carefully designed to help large global organizations derive the benefits of RISE with SAP while catering for the myriad of specific complexities that their businesses inevitably face.

Accenture provides 100 percent of the services under the RISE contract and augments them with our leading tools and practices. And we can also handle all the other applications that make up the ERP landscape in one seamless IT support model with dedicated teams and operational processes tailored to the individual needs of each customer.

So, it’s a truly holistic model, providing a single backbone for managing the whole ERP domain — a single ticketing flow, a single operations perspective, and so on. And that’s not all. Because we can also call on our Cloud First practice to optimize and manage the hyperscaler platforms that underpin the ERP domain.

After all, Accenture is a large enterprise too. So, we understand the needs and challenges. And we can draw from our own experience of running on S/4HANA on Azure and our journey to RISE with SAP.

What’s in it for large enterprises?

By achieving a clean S/4HANA core, we can help you compress transformation. That means increasing the clock speed of the organization — reducing your time to market and delivering more value from cloud to more parts of the business simultaneously.

Then, you get the value of a SaaS model (adaptiveness, responsiveness, cloud economics, and so on) but you also get it tailored to the specific needs of the business and across applications.

Our approach also allows you to manage your technical debt intelligently, as you control the cut over from legacy systems (or lift and shift from existing public cloud infrastructure) in a way that minimizes cost.

Innovation by design is another key benefit of the SaaS and clean core model. With each SAP software update, you get the latest features available throughout the company almost immediately.

Remember that in large organizations with legacy systems, software upgrades can take many months and cost millions of dollars. But we’ve already seen examples of companies using the SaaS model do this in a matter of weeks with minimal downtime.

Conquer complexity in the cloud

All in all, I believe that RISE x SOAR for Large Enterprise is a uniquely powerful offering. It’s a tailored approach that both enables cloud economics and accelerates the journey to cloud composable ERP architecture for large enterprises — while also providing a way to compress transformation. It allows companies to shift their focus from managing the cloud to be consumers of the cloud and to master their transformation journey successfully.

If you’d like to know more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Copyright © 2022 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and its logo are registered trademarks of Accenture This document refers to marks owned by third parties. All such third-party marks are the property of their respective owners. No sponsorship, endorsement, or approval of this content by the owners of such marks is intended, expressed, or implied. This content is provided for general information purposes and is not intended to be used in place of consultation with our professional advisors.

Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services — all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 699,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.