Thinking ahead with an integration strategy for a future-proof transition to SAP cloud ERP
Modernize your business through a clean core and explore modern integration concepts that can pave the way to cloud ERP. Manage your integration and cloud transformation together. Download the DocumentThinking ahead with an
integration strategy for a
future-proof transition
to SAP cloud ERP
integration strategy for a
future-proof transition
to SAP cloud ERP
Table of contents
3 Modernizing your business through a clean core
5 Mapping an integration strategy
6 Explore modern integration concepts that can pave the way
to cloud ERP
8 Shape a modern enterprise integration strategy to future-proof
your business
10 Identify the right timing for modernizing your enterprise
integration architecture
13 Enable an agile integration practice to master transformation
14 Manage your integration and cloud transformation together
15 Enabling innovation through integration
2 | 16
Modernizing your business Mapping an integration strategy Enabling innovation through integration
3 Modernizing your business through a clean core
5 Mapping an integration strategy
6 Explore modern integration concepts that can pave the way
to cloud ERP
8 Shape a modern enterprise integration strategy to future-proof
your business
10 Identify the right timing for modernizing your enterprise
integration architecture
13 Enable an agile integration practice to master transformation
14 Manage your integration and cloud transformation together
15 Enabling innovation through integration
2 | 16
Modernizing your business Mapping an integration strategy Enabling innovation through integration
3 | 16
These are exciting times for those of us in the world
of business and technology as the promise of digi-
tal transformation, long on the horizon, is coming
to fruition at last. The potential for achieving orga-
nizational and operational efficiencies, boosting
productivity, and sprinting past the competition
seems limitless now that moving to the cloud is
a reality. Business agility, continuous product
innovation, market differentiation, omnichannel
customer experience: These are no longer
buzzwords but attainable goals.
Yet we’ve always presented digital transformation
as a journey, and that’s what it is: in fact, a never-
ending business journey. Just as markets and
customer demands and competition are con-
stantly in flux, your technology landscape must
constantly remain current and future-ready. You
need to innovate every day, with optimization
as your lodestone.
The enemy of this vision is, of course, complexity.
Large enterprises run their businesses on land-
scapes built over time with multiple applications
and clouds to serve regional and division-based
operating models. Many thousands of integration
points essentially act as old, rusty pipes that
slow down the whole system. Data silos impede
informed decision making and the use of artificial
intelligence (AI). Legacy systems carry significant
technical debt that limit organizational agility,
just as IT professionals are drowning in business
requirements. New interfaces, business processes,
integrations, data streams – the demands are
never-ending. Supply chains are increasingly multi-
faceted, and trading partners multiply regularly.
Yet the solution is in sight as clearly as the ultimate
benefits. Simply stated, you can modernize the
way you integrate your business ecosystem now to
realize the benefits of SAP cloud ERP in the future.
A future-proof integration is an essential element
of a “clean core” strategy. This integration and clean
core strategy is both a concept and an approach
to achieve a modern, flexible, cloud-compliant
ERP. Here, we’re addressing a strategy for integrat-
ing business processes, data, and analytics across
all the activities that comprise your value chain.
Integration unlocks the power of insights contained
in your business data, setting the stage for inno-
vation and business growth and enabling you
to capitalize on advanced technologies.
The objective is to enable business agility
and proactive response, leading to:
Access to innovation
Upgrade simplicity
Lower total cost of ownership (TCO)
Enhanced security
Improved performance
Data simplification
Modernizing your business
through a clean core
Deliver innovation and business agility
with future-proof integration and a clean core.
Modernizing your business Mapping an integration strategy Enabling innovation through integration
These are exciting times for those of us in the world
of business and technology as the promise of digi-
tal transformation, long on the horizon, is coming
to fruition at last. The potential for achieving orga-
nizational and operational efficiencies, boosting
productivity, and sprinting past the competition
seems limitless now that moving to the cloud is
a reality. Business agility, continuous product
innovation, market differentiation, omnichannel
customer experience: These are no longer
buzzwords but attainable goals.
Yet we’ve always presented digital transformation
as a journey, and that’s what it is: in fact, a never-
ending business journey. Just as markets and
customer demands and competition are con-
stantly in flux, your technology landscape must
constantly remain current and future-ready. You
need to innovate every day, with optimization
as your lodestone.
The enemy of this vision is, of course, complexity.
Large enterprises run their businesses on land-
scapes built over time with multiple applications
and clouds to serve regional and division-based
operating models. Many thousands of integration
points essentially act as old, rusty pipes that
slow down the whole system. Data silos impede
informed decision making and the use of artificial
intelligence (AI). Legacy systems carry significant
technical debt that limit organizational agility,
just as IT professionals are drowning in business
requirements. New interfaces, business processes,
integrations, data streams – the demands are
never-ending. Supply chains are increasingly multi-
faceted, and trading partners multiply regularly.
Yet the solution is in sight as clearly as the ultimate
benefits. Simply stated, you can modernize the
way you integrate your business ecosystem now to
realize the benefits of SAP cloud ERP in the future.
A future-proof integration is an essential element
of a “clean core” strategy. This integration and clean
core strategy is both a concept and an approach
to achieve a modern, flexible, cloud-compliant
ERP. Here, we’re addressing a strategy for integrat-
ing business processes, data, and analytics across
all the activities that comprise your value chain.
Integration unlocks the power of insights contained
in your business data, setting the stage for inno-
vation and business growth and enabling you
to capitalize on advanced technologies.
The objective is to enable business agility
and proactive response, leading to:
Access to innovation
Upgrade simplicity
Lower total cost of ownership (TCO)
Enhanced security
Improved performance
Data simplification
Modernizing your business
through a clean core
Deliver innovation and business agility
with future-proof integration and a clean core.
Modernizing your business Mapping an integration strategy Enabling innovation through integration
4 | 16
To help you realize these benefits, SAP offers a
comprehensive portfolio of solutions, with SAP
cloud ERP solutions and SAP Business Technology
Platform (SAP BTP) as the foundation (see figure).
They act together as a dynamic, living platform
offering a comprehensive set of integration capa-
bilities. Now you can eliminate data silos across
SAP, third-party, partner, and custom-built solu-
tions for real-time information sharing, process
automation, and analytics and business AI. Online
marketplaces, fulfillment, business networks,
third-party logistics, shop-floor systems, text
management – the entire landscape is integrated,
with real-time data flowing in and out. This accom-
modates the addition of new consumers, digital
applications, and innovations in an organic way.
Working together, SAP cloud ERP and SAP BTP
provide extended capabilities: built-in insights,
automated workflows, prebuilt integrations and
connectors, and easy extensibility.
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Financial
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Spend
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Supply chain
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Human
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Customer
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Business Technology Platform
Modernizing your business Mapping an integration strategy Enabling innovation through integration
To help you realize these benefits, SAP offers a
comprehensive portfolio of solutions, with SAP
cloud ERP solutions and SAP Business Technology
Platform (SAP BTP) as the foundation (see figure).
They act together as a dynamic, living platform
offering a comprehensive set of integration capa-
bilities. Now you can eliminate data silos across
SAP, third-party, partner, and custom-built solu-
tions for real-time information sharing, process
automation, and analytics and business AI. Online
marketplaces, fulfillment, business networks,
third-party logistics, shop-floor systems, text
management – the entire landscape is integrated,
with real-time data flowing in and out. This accom-
modates the addition of new consumers, digital
applications, and innovations in an organic way.
Working together, SAP cloud ERP and SAP BTP
provide extended capabilities: built-in insights,
automated workflows, prebuilt integrations and
connectors, and easy extensibility.
F i n a n c e
a g
e
n
t
s
S
p
e
n
d
a
g
e
n
t
s
S
u
p
p
l
y
c
h
ai
n
a
g
e
n
t
s
HR
agents
CX
agents
J
o
u
l
e
A
g
e
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s
o
r
c
h
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s
t
r
a
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processes
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,
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n
a
b
l
e
B
usinesstransformationmanage
m
e
n
t
C
l
o
u
d
E
R
P
Business
Data Cloud
Financial
management
Spend
management
Supply chain
management
Human
capital
management
Customer
experience
Business Technology Platform
Modernizing your business Mapping an integration strategy Enabling innovation through integration
5 | 16
The time to get started on a future-proof integration and clean
core strategy is now. But how and where? Let’s take a deeper
dive into the integration dimension and examine options
for modernizing while simultaneously maximizing agility and
innovation. We recommend the following five key steps.
Mapping an integration strategy
Explore modern integration concepts
that can pave the way to cloud ERP
Identify the right timing for modernizing
your enterprise integration architecture
Manage your integration and cloud
transformation together
Shape a modern enterprise integration
strategy to future-proof your business
Enable an agile integration practice
to master transformation
Modernizing your business Mapping an integration strategy Enabling innovation through integration
The time to get started on a future-proof integration and clean
core strategy is now. But how and where? Let’s take a deeper
dive into the integration dimension and examine options
for modernizing while simultaneously maximizing agility and
innovation. We recommend the following five key steps.
Mapping an integration strategy
Explore modern integration concepts
that can pave the way to cloud ERP
Identify the right timing for modernizing
your enterprise integration architecture
Manage your integration and cloud
transformation together
Shape a modern enterprise integration
strategy to future-proof your business
Enable an agile integration practice
to master transformation
Modernizing your business Mapping an integration strategy Enabling innovation through integration