SAP Innovation Awards 2024 – 4340 - University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati's SAP S/4HANA Digital Transformation through the use of SAP S/4HANA Finance, SAP Fiori front-end server for SAP S/4HANA, and SAP Concur. Download dokumentetPUBLIC
Entry Pitch Deck
University of Cincinnati
Higher education
Delivering a disruptive vision of “next” with
SAP S/4HANA
Entry Pitch Deck
University of Cincinnati
Higher education
Delivering a disruptive vision of “next” with
SAP S/4HANA
COMPANY NAME:
HEADQUARTERS:
INDUSTRY:
WEBSITE:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES:
Company Information
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 2
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Higher education
https://www.uc.edu
Over 15,000
• University of Cincinnati (UC) was founded in 1819.
• We serve more than 50,000 students and the people of Ohio, the United States,
and the world as a premier public and urban research university dedicated to
undergraduate, graduate, and professional education, experience-based
learning, and research.
• Our university pushes limits and challenges minds by providing the space and
opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds to connect, imagine, and
discover. We are leading a new era of innovation through our Next Lives Here
strategic direction – a relentless disruptive vision of “next.” This vision is
grounded in academic excellence and focused on making an impact in our
communities through inclusion and innovation.
• UC is a sustainability leader in practice, research, and education. To support
this leadership, we consider the environmental, social, and economic impacts
of our decisions and the design, operation, and maintenance of our buildings
and landscapes as well as our organizational structure and management.
HEADQUARTERS:
INDUSTRY:
WEBSITE:
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES:
Company Information
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 2
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Higher education
https://www.uc.edu
Over 15,000
• University of Cincinnati (UC) was founded in 1819.
• We serve more than 50,000 students and the people of Ohio, the United States,
and the world as a premier public and urban research university dedicated to
undergraduate, graduate, and professional education, experience-based
learning, and research.
• Our university pushes limits and challenges minds by providing the space and
opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds to connect, imagine, and
discover. We are leading a new era of innovation through our Next Lives Here
strategic direction – a relentless disruptive vision of “next.” This vision is
grounded in academic excellence and focused on making an impact in our
communities through inclusion and innovation.
• UC is a sustainability leader in practice, research, and education. To support
this leadership, we consider the environmental, social, and economic impacts
of our decisions and the design, operation, and maintenance of our buildings
and landscapes as well as our organizational structure and management.
CHALLENGE: SOLUTION: OUTCOME:
Delivering innovation from within
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 3
Reduction in custom code,
bringing solution back to core
Increase in productivity across central
finance, accounts payable (AP), accounts
receivable (AR), and treasury functions
Process automation in treasury,
endowment, and period-end reconciliation
25%
University of Cincinnati
20% 20%
• Core finance and HR system on the SAP ERP
application, which is nearing end of life for support
beyond 2027
• Need for improved user experience
• Lack of real-time data visibility of financial and
budgetary reporting
• Manual transactions outside of SAP software system
for endowments
• Longer lead time in reconciliations for SAP Concur
solutions–based asset posting, cash, and endowment
reporting
• SAP S/4HANA Finance solution, including human
capital management (HCM) functionality
• SAP S/4HANA Public Sector solution, including fund
and grant management functionality
• SAP Fiori front-end server for SAP S/4HANA as the
single launchpad for SAP solutions (SAP S/4HANA,
SAP SuccessFactors solutions, SAP Business
Warehouse application)
• Integration of SAP S/4HANA Finance with
SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Concur solutions
as well as third-party solutions
• Advanced cash management functionality of
SAP S/4HANA for enhanced cash flow reporting
• Smooth and intuitive experience with the SAP Fiori
user experience (UX)
• Automated processes across SAP Concur solutions–
based asset posting and endowments, increasing
efficiency of reconciliation activities in central finance
and treasury teams
• Embedded analytics, providing data insights and
enabling users to quickly identify trends, patterns, and
outliers and make informed decisions
• Adoption of new employee business partner model,
allowing efficiencies in concurrent-employment
business process management
Reduction in manual effort
30%
Delivering innovation from within
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 3
Reduction in custom code,
bringing solution back to core
Increase in productivity across central
finance, accounts payable (AP), accounts
receivable (AR), and treasury functions
Process automation in treasury,
endowment, and period-end reconciliation
25%
University of Cincinnati
20% 20%
• Core finance and HR system on the SAP ERP
application, which is nearing end of life for support
beyond 2027
• Need for improved user experience
• Lack of real-time data visibility of financial and
budgetary reporting
• Manual transactions outside of SAP software system
for endowments
• Longer lead time in reconciliations for SAP Concur
solutions–based asset posting, cash, and endowment
reporting
• SAP S/4HANA Finance solution, including human
capital management (HCM) functionality
• SAP S/4HANA Public Sector solution, including fund
and grant management functionality
• SAP Fiori front-end server for SAP S/4HANA as the
single launchpad for SAP solutions (SAP S/4HANA,
SAP SuccessFactors solutions, SAP Business
Warehouse application)
• Integration of SAP S/4HANA Finance with
SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Concur solutions
as well as third-party solutions
• Advanced cash management functionality of
SAP S/4HANA for enhanced cash flow reporting
• Smooth and intuitive experience with the SAP Fiori
user experience (UX)
• Automated processes across SAP Concur solutions–
based asset posting and endowments, increasing
efficiency of reconciliation activities in central finance
and treasury teams
• Embedded analytics, providing data insights and
enabling users to quickly identify trends, patterns, and
outliers and make informed decisions
• Adoption of new employee business partner model,
allowing efficiencies in concurrent-employment
business process management
Reduction in manual effort
30%
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 4
This SAP S/4HANA implementation project is key
to UC’s digital transformation journey, accelerating
our ‘Next Lives Here’ strategic direction by
modernizing our systems and enabling a more
data-driven decision-making organization. We’ve
been able to reimagine and streamline outdated
processes with the new technologies provided
through SAP S/4HANA.
Robin Pittman, Assistant Vice President,
Digital Technology Solutions, Business Enterprise Systems and Technology
This SAP S/4HANA implementation project is key
to UC’s digital transformation journey, accelerating
our ‘Next Lives Here’ strategic direction by
modernizing our systems and enabling a more
data-driven decision-making organization. We’ve
been able to reimagine and streamline outdated
processes with the new technologies provided
through SAP S/4HANA.
Robin Pittman, Assistant Vice President,
Digital Technology Solutions, Business Enterprise Systems and Technology
COMPANY NAME:
Participating Partner Information
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 5
Deloitte Consulting LLP
• Deloitte Consulting is the strategic partner and systems integrator for the SAP S/4HANA
implementation project.
• Deloitte collaborated with UC to unlock the art of the possible with SAP S/4HANA across
finance, budget, treasury, cash management, and procurement processes through multiple
show-and-tell demos for key stakeholders in the organization.
• Deloitte’s pragmatic agile methodology drove our digital transformation forward. The
methodology, which is built around early validation of outcomes, allowed us to identify
wins in a way that would not have been possible using a traditional waterfall approach.
• Deloitte’s depth of SME support in the areas of solution, infrastructure, and security
facilitated a 360-degree digital transformation with a “built to evolve” vision.
• Smooth collaboration between the UC business, the UC IT team, and Deloitte during data
migration and validation and thorough end-to-end testing contributed to a robust solution
with minimal disruption to end users.
• Through early and periodic knowledge transfer, Deloitte enabled UC’s SAP IT team to
bolster its knowledge of SAP S/4HANA, supporting ongoing SAP software maintenance
for UC’s end users. Chris Diersing
Executive Director
UCFlex (SAP) Application Services
Deloitte served as our implementation
partner and guided us through the
SAP S/4HANA upgrade process from
beginning to end. Their deep technical
expertise in all finance process areas
was invaluable. A collaborative
approach brought the project team
and stakeholders along for the entire
journey, from exploring what’s possible
to aligning and executing with
excellence. We appreciate this
partnership and recognize Deloitte’s
contribution to a successful launch.
Participating Partner Information
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 5
Deloitte Consulting LLP
• Deloitte Consulting is the strategic partner and systems integrator for the SAP S/4HANA
implementation project.
• Deloitte collaborated with UC to unlock the art of the possible with SAP S/4HANA across
finance, budget, treasury, cash management, and procurement processes through multiple
show-and-tell demos for key stakeholders in the organization.
• Deloitte’s pragmatic agile methodology drove our digital transformation forward. The
methodology, which is built around early validation of outcomes, allowed us to identify
wins in a way that would not have been possible using a traditional waterfall approach.
• Deloitte’s depth of SME support in the areas of solution, infrastructure, and security
facilitated a 360-degree digital transformation with a “built to evolve” vision.
• Smooth collaboration between the UC business, the UC IT team, and Deloitte during data
migration and validation and thorough end-to-end testing contributed to a robust solution
with minimal disruption to end users.
• Through early and periodic knowledge transfer, Deloitte enabled UC’s SAP IT team to
bolster its knowledge of SAP S/4HANA, supporting ongoing SAP software maintenance
for UC’s end users. Chris Diersing
Executive Director
UCFlex (SAP) Application Services
Deloitte served as our implementation
partner and guided us through the
SAP S/4HANA upgrade process from
beginning to end. Their deep technical
expertise in all finance process areas
was invaluable. A collaborative
approach brought the project team
and stakeholders along for the entire
journey, from exploring what’s possible
to aligning and executing with
excellence. We appreciate this
partnership and recognize Deloitte’s
contribution to a successful launch.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES BUSINESS CHALLENGES
Challenges and Objectives 1 of 2
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 6
Part of UC’s overall mission focuses on “Urban Futures.”
Urban Futures involves partnering both locally and globally to
overcome barriers and apply innovative, scalable, and sustainable
solutions to the challenges of urbanization. Teams of UC
researchers test bold ideas across five core areas: software
(cybersecurity, AI), hardware (sensors, devices), data (analytics,
informatics), human factors (education, simulation, and policy),
and digital expression (creative arts and humanities).
Our implementation project aimed to modernize finance and HR
operations to help deliver on these five core competencies.
• Manual Excel-based processes outside of SAP software for
treasury and endowment business groups, diverting effort from
higher-priority cash management duties
• Inability to intuitively report on real-time cash positions across
general ledger (GL), AP, and AR, leading to labor-intensive
manual offline reporting
• Lack of dashboard- and KPI-based executive reporting, creating
operational inefficiencies
• Longer lead time in reconciling manual asset-based posting in
SAP Concur solutions
Challenges and Objectives 1 of 2
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved | PUBLIC 6
Part of UC’s overall mission focuses on “Urban Futures.”
Urban Futures involves partnering both locally and globally to
overcome barriers and apply innovative, scalable, and sustainable
solutions to the challenges of urbanization. Teams of UC
researchers test bold ideas across five core areas: software
(cybersecurity, AI), hardware (sensors, devices), data (analytics,
informatics), human factors (education, simulation, and policy),
and digital expression (creative arts and humanities).
Our implementation project aimed to modernize finance and HR
operations to help deliver on these five core competencies.
• Manual Excel-based processes outside of SAP software for
treasury and endowment business groups, diverting effort from
higher-priority cash management duties
• Inability to intuitively report on real-time cash positions across
general ledger (GL), AP, and AR, leading to labor-intensive
manual offline reporting
• Lack of dashboard- and KPI-based executive reporting, creating
operational inefficiencies
• Longer lead time in reconciling manual asset-based posting in
SAP Concur solutions