Welcome to your February News
Chairman's Note
Welcome to the UKISUG February Newsletter, I hope you and your family are staying safe. There is definitely a more optimistic feel this month as vaccine programmes ramp-up, there is even the potential for a single dose vaccine being approved and available later in the Spring in Ireland.
The big news at the end of last month was the RISE with SAP Business Transformation event hosted by Christian Klein (SAP CEO). If you did not get chance to watch the session it's worth checking it out, even if you just want to marvel at the background and log fire produced for the announcement. On a more serious note, this was a significant step by SAP and recognition that the business case and transformation required to move to S/4HANA is not straightforward or easy for many organisations. There are some interesting aspects to this offering such as the ability to have a single contract to include SAP service, support and hosting. For organisations on the cusp of a move to S/4HANA, it makes sense to engage your partner and SAP to discuss further. Especially the claims around speed to transfer and the reduced TCO for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition versus a traditional ERP set-up. The SAP EMEA North President, Brian Duffy, has taken up a new global role to drive this transformation programme for SAP.
If you would like a quick introduction to RISE we have a webinar 'Answering your questions about RISE with SAP' on Friday 26th February at 10:00 am.
Last year we launched a couple of whitepapers one of which focused on the challenges of maintaining or finding the right skills in the SAP ecosystem. If you are looking to develop your internal SAP team this year, I recommend you take a look at our special offer for the purchase of SAP Learning Hub. We are currently offering members a significant discount on the product, which has been extremely well received over the last couple of years. There is only a limited time to take this up!
Stay safe and keep washing your hands!
Paul Cooper Chairman
While many manufacturers and distributors view a fully digital supply chain as a pipe dream, starting the journey to automation by implementing technologies to streamline manual processes can be an effective first step.
In the past, companies have often turned to Robotic Process Automation (RPA), but post 2020 it is becoming abundantly clear that RPA alone can’t solve this problem. However, RPA and AI working together can.
The simple appeal of RPA
More than 85% of major enterprises around the world leverage RPA in some way, and the industry is expected to grow from $250 million in 2016 to $2.9 billion in 2021, according to Forrester. With this trend, it’s no surprise that many businesses assume RPA translates well to sales order processing. However, evidence is mounting up to suggest otherwise.
The problem
Gartner reports that 50% of RPA software implementations will fail to deliver a sustainable ROI this year. Why? Primarily because enterprises try to bring RPA to bear on processes for which RPA isn’t suited, or where the situation is just too complex for “robotic” automation to handle.
The solution
When you’re researching sales order automation, it's important to be aware that not all technology is equal. While RPA is a broad, horizontal solution that has its place in some tech stacks, you should be looking for a purpose-built SaaS automation solution specifically for manufacturers and distributors. Consider a mix of modern technologies, such as machine learning and AI, to aim for “True Automation” - complex data transformation and touchless document processing with 100% data accuracy.
Interested in finding out more? Register to attend our webinar on Feb 25th.
Your first Learning Hub campaign of the year is now live!
UKISUG members wishing to take part in this discount cycle can benefit from a huge 67% discount on SAP Learning Hub, and 15% discount on both SAP Live Access and SAP Certification Hub.
You are now able to purchase SAP Learning Hub licences at the low price of just £820 per licence, a huge saving on the £2,484 RRP. You also have the option to add SAP Live Access (Category 3) to your order for only £316 per licence and SAP Certification Hub for only £382 per licence.
*All prices are excluding VAT
'You can leverage the very generous UKISUG discount to take out Learning Hub and use it extensively for your transformational projects or just boost and renew your SAP knowledge. Our organisation has benefited hugely.' - Trish Griffiths, National Air Traffic Services
Interested? Return your agreement no later than 24th March. Licences will be activated from 26th April.
We hope you have had chance to listen to our first series of SUGTalks - the official podcast of the UK & Ireland SAP User Group.
We now have a brand new episode ready for you to discover!
Episode 6: Meet the Board
To understand the value and benefits of being engaged and volunteering in a community who share the same beliefs and passions as you, listen to this episode of our SUGTalks Podcast. Craig is joined by three UKISUG Directors - Cheryl, Greg and Conor - who joined the board in 2020, to discuss the values of engagement in the community, making connections, widening your network, the phoenix project and watching videos of yourself.
The final episode of Series 1 is released next week, so listen now and you'll be sure to hear some familiar voices talk about themes that matter to you!
Search SUGTalks on your preferred app and subscribe, or follow the link below and listen online.
Influence SAP The Customer Engagement Initiative is now live – influence your SAP products today! The projects will be available until 5th March.
If you are unsure on how to register or become involved in the CEI process please follow this link.
For any other queries please email Vicky.lane@sapusers.org
Your Invite to Join SAP's Survey on BTP User Experience What makes a great digital customer journey?
SAP and the University of Potsdam are jointly working to shape the digital customer journey and online experience of the SAP Business Technology Platform. In this short survey (max. 4 minutes) business buyers experienced in PaaS and SaaS procurement will be asked about their perception of the online experience of SAP’s Business Technology Platform.
Event: Answering Your Questions About RISE with SAP SAP announced on the 27th January a new offering “RISE with SAP”, in which it unveiled how SAP would deliver the concept of “Business Transformation as a Service”. Depending on a customers starting point, be it SAP ECC or S/4HANA, on premise or already in the cloud with a Hyperscaler, the potential reasons for adopting this new offering may differ. However, the business rationale remains consistent and focused on the Intelligent Enterprise vision, the importance of which has been further reinforced by the events of the last 12 months.
If you would like clarity on what RISE with SAP means for you and your business, please join SAP and UKISUG for a panel discussion, where the experts will be on hand answering some key questions collated in relation to the announcement.
Upcoming SAP S/4HANA and Public Sector Events SAP is running the following two events for S/4HANA and Public Sector:
SAP S/4HANA Move In Motion Workshop SAP have heard it from many customers about their questions and confusion about how to improve their current ERP processes and they believe they can help you with those challenges. SAP understand that the move to SAP S/4HANA is not a decision you can take lightly. They want to help you learn how to unlock new business value with their Intelligent ERP — and transition seamlessly with proven tools and services. Join them at the S/4HANA Move in Motion workshop and hear from experts from different lines of business, partner specialists, and customers to learn how to make your S/4HANA Move journey more successful, less time-consuming, and cost-effective. • When: 10th March 2021 • Time: 9:30 am GMT
Business Transformation Workshop: Local Government Many of SAP's public sector organisations customers are embarking in business transformation journeys to enhance their citizen experiences, optimise existing processes and foster innovation. Join SAP in a half-day workshop to share your ideas, challenges and they’ll take you through how their fast, easy and cost-effective ERP solution can help your Council thrive to deliver better experience to your citizens and communities. • When: 12th March 2021 • Time: 9:30 am GMT
Do you have a story to share?
It is really important to us that we include customer experiences in our events, both online and in person. Please get involved and let us know if you are interested. You will be invited to attend a speaker training workshop as a thank you and you will also receive a complimentary pass to our annual conference, UKISUG Connect 2021.
'Events enable sharing of experiences and builds relationships with people in similar positions, often sharing the same challenges. Together our voices can be heard.' - Daren Addison, Sanctuary Housing
Email kirsten.boucher@sapusers.org to get started.
Your Mental Health Matters We are dedicating more time and sessions to your mental health and wellbeing in 2021.
Our brand new partnership with thrive, a mental wellbeing association, allows us to host more sessions committed to building our members' mental strength, from discussing the struggles and positives of working from home, to stress management and the effects of your environment.
To help us build a mental health programme that is specifically tailored to your needs, we have built a short, anonymous survey asking what you would like to see. Upcoming Mental Health Webinar: SELF-CARE PART 2: WORKING ENVIRONMENTS & PRACTICES Thursday 25th February 2021 | 12:00PM - 12:45PM This webinar’s focus is on working environments and practices and how getting it right will help with our mental health. Supporting other colleagues, our friends and our family may seem the easiest thing in the world to do, but mental strength comes in many forms and to help others, we must remember to put ourselves first.
Latest News Bloomberg - SAP in Talks to Buy Apax-Backed Cloud Startup Signavio CIO - ‘Rise with SAP’: SAP bets on migrating your ERP to its cloud Computer Weekly - SAP launches ‘Rise’ business transformation as a service Diginomica - RISE with SAP - a pivot or a pirouette? Enterprise Times - Full steam ahead for SAP Tech Target - Strategic advice for SAP ECC customers in 2021 The Stack - Edenhouse, one of the UK’s largest independent SAP partners, sells up. UK and Ireland SAP User Group
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