New SAP SCM Strategy

[Former Member]

Dear APO Veterans,

Got this in my inbox today.

What does this mean for "functional" APO consultants who eke a living by making "settings" and testing it all out. I hear lot of noise incl from those who rarely ever login to SAP systems.

SAP's New SCM Strategy Puts Hana in the Spotlight

Thanks

Borat.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Borat,

SCM on HANA has been available since 12/2012. SCM/APO consultants are still required to design and configure all of the typical APO settings and processes.

The first difference with HANA is in performance. Depending upon the process, applications will run 25% faster to 10X faster. There will be no need for a separate liveCache anymore. It will run on the HANA database. Total cost of ownership will decrease with less hardware required. HANA will  handle huge amounts of information and process it much more quickly than is presently the case. Analytical capabilities and presentation will be expanded tremendously.

The timing of when each of the capabilities will be available should be on the SAP website.

I recommend that functional consultants get familiar with HANA and the SAP Cloud for future projects but basic skill requirements in APO will not change for some time.

Best Regards,

Mike

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Maclean,

Appreciate this advice.

I also hear some rumors that SAP is discontinuing APO in 2020 with some support available for 2020 + couple of years. What does this mean for a) customers of APO b) Consultants of APO ?

I also learn and read some random stuff on everything from SAP on one database. ERP..CRM. SRM. SCM, PLM. What does such a landscape mean from an implementation perspective, integration, functional knowledge gaps possible etc

Regards

Borat

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Borat,

The maintenance strategy for SAP Business Suite 7 is described in Note 1648480.

One of SAP's goals is to simplify everything related to business processes, hardware, software, etc.

Taken to it's logical conclusion, over time there will be a consolidation of h/w and s/w. Since this will happen over a relatively long time, we will all evolve to handle new features and changed functions of SCM.

These comments are my own opinions and do not represent the position or strategy of SAP except for what is already published and in the public domain. Further information can be found at SAP.com and service.sap.com.

Best Regards,

Mike

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Mike,

This simplification sounds like a good idea. Perhaps it might be easier to convince, sell, buy and use SAP 🙂

I am now seeing tons of documents on public domain. Very fast.

Thanks

Borat

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Mike,

Having gone through this SAP Business Suite 7 presentation today, I now have following questions. Probably I kind of have an idea. Main fact is NOT everything, every program s HANA "Powered" yet.

So I thought of asking these Q''s for everyone's benefit. I asked some "experts" locally here but I was thoroughly confused.

1) What are the "innovations" in Supply Chain Management as a whole that SAP talks about in their SAP Business Suite 7.0 innovations ?

2) Is every innovation in Supply Chain in Business Suite 7.0 powered by HANA ?. Is SAP SCM7.3 HANA powered ? Does it have NO live cache. The one I have is 7.2 on HANA and it has live cache too. Why both HANA and Live Cache ? What other non-HANA innovations are a part of Business Suite 7.0 that is not a part of SCM7.3 ?

3) Where does the "Enterprise Demand Sensing Powered by HANA" fit in the current SCM scheme of things ?

4) Where does the S&OP on HANA fit in the current Supply Chain Management products of SAP.... (from a marketing / needs point of view) ?

5) Did SAP say anywhere that Business Suite 7 means single sign on for ALL SAP applications (ERP, CRM, SRM, SCM PLM). ? I see on the link above that customers can access APO from ERP itself. What does really mean. ? Is S&OP on HANA also a part of this Business Suite 7.0. What about those who are on older releases of APO ?

6) What about release notes ?. Do we have to refer to separate release notes for Business Suite as a whole and Supply Chain Management separately ?

7) Is the EhP concept here to stay ?.I see in the link above a new term "Quarterly" releases.

Perhaps the answers to this and other questions can be a wiki entry on this forum.