SAP is the most widely used business management system in the world and stands out as the leading solution in software for enterprise resource planning (ERP). In its most updated version, called SAP S/4HANA, it further strengthens all business processes by providing a more integrated work environment between all sectors of a company. Let’s dive in to learn what is SAP and what it can do for your business’s operational efficiency.

SAP S/4HANA: gateway to the future of corporate data

“SAP S/4HANA represents the next leap in ERP, and we know it will happen in the cloud. The way this solution integrates with companies’ Core Business systems will have a very evident impact on the Digital Transformation strategies that companies want to develop,” says André Fernandes, pre-sales manager and SAP specialist at Meta.

By understanding more deeply what the SAP system is, it is possible to strategically explore all its functionalities, while optimizing the results of the most varied protocols designed to deal with organizational data.

What SAP means today: corporate data integration

Traditional companies or incumbent companies still have ERP systems that prevent full data integration in business management. Sometimes, there is a gap between the data stored in information silos, and IT teams lack the tools to apply technology that allows them to generate value from this information. To manage a company through data-driven business strategies, it is necessary to have agile systems that maximize the capture, integration and modeling of data from such diverse sectors as sales, marketing and customer service. SAP solutions are able to seamlessly integrate any type of corporate data.

How SAP empowers the corporate routine

The solution offered by SAP, in addition to integrating a company’s data, provides endless possibilities for dealing with information and benefits system administrators and users by the flexibility to customize projects for small, medium and large companies.

What SAP means for your company

So, what is SAP? The word SAP refers to systems, applications and products for data processing. For almost 50 years, the SAP brand has been a leader in innovation in organizations that use high-performance technology in their operations. Over time, the company understood that the IT market demanded complementary solutions in the area of information processing. Its response was to create an integrated management system for a business’s resources that included: analysis, investments, finance, messages, projects, sales, new systems, applications and products for data processing, digitalization of old manual processes, customer relationship management, among other solutions.

Thus, what we know as ERP – Enterprise Resources Planning served as the technical basis for the development of subsequent solutions developed by SAP.

To this day, SAP ERP offers a wide range of customized resources to serve different types of industries and companies. Its integrative systems are capable of providing cross-functionality to information by offering complete, modern and constantly updatable management software.

“When we implement the new SAP solutions in companies, we must always think about how the ‘digital legacy’ will support the organization’s next digital transformations. SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the latest version of the SAP platform, is surprising in the way it was built to support the Digital Transformation of any organization,” Fernandes details. “In addition, the decentralization promoted by S/4HANA encourages an environment for developing new solutions (which are auxiliary and legacy), which will also operate in a decentralized way in relation to the Core, optimizing the company’s technological resources. Another novelty brought is that with S/4HANA, communication is done through APIs; more common communication protocols are used in the market. Thus, this version of SAP guarantees communication between solutions, even if it is from new developers and suppliers: in SAP S/4HANA, all future technology partners are integrable,” highlights Fernandes.

What is SAP and how it impacts decision-making

What is SAP’s Composition

The architecture of the SAP System is composed of three major fronts: database, application and front-end. These components are responsible for conducting user and operational information to a database that analyzes and directs it according to the guidelines predetermined by information managers, in local or remote work environments.

With information “benefited” in quality by correct classification and organization, it facilitates the work of the leader or manager for the production of reports that accompany the development of companies’ growth strategies. This is how SAP directly collaborates in organizational decision-making.

Technology: Outstanding Innovation

Always at the forefront of innovation, SAP has been responsible for developing and making available ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming), a high-level software for managing large-scale information that remains a cornerstone in the architecture of many applications from the German giant to this day.

As each company’s system has its own specific business profile and orientation, SAP-based software is customized and tailored to each reality to generate the expected results effectively and in a controlled manner. In all cases, adopting a customized tool leads to a significant improvement in manual processes. Moreover, solutions can be adapted to the needs of each institution. SAP provides solutions for every type of business. Some benefits of the system for each company include:

• Continuous improvement
• Process digitization
• Integrated departments
• Improved communication
• Data recording
• Increased agility and availability for decision-making

Implementation and Integration of SAP S/4HANA in Your Company

SAP S/4HANA, the evolution of SAP ECC, represents the newest generation of enterprise solutions and brings superior flexibility, functionality, and speed compared to anything else available on the market. As a SAP product, it plays the same “core operations” role within your company but rapidly connects all business units, whether internal or external. Its technology, designed to be an in-memory database (dependent on main memory for data storage and subsequent distribution), consistently contributes to the optimized functioning of SAP ERP applications.

Among other highlights is the commitment of the German company to its users by allowing them to migrate from SAP ECC, whose support ends in 2027, to SAP S/4HANA Cloud. This enables them to continue with a secure and always up-to-date solution. The idea is to enhance the system’s functionalities to execute ERP processes in real-time and in the cloud (Cloud Computing), fully compatible with the Linux operating system, the base platform for this SAP tool.

So, what is SAP S4/HANA’s impact on your business? Using a system like SAP S/4HANA has a direct impact on the organization’s daily actions. By offering an expanded architecture mainly directed towards intelligent processes, the system is always interconnected with the company’s crucial areas. It even has the capability to predict discrepancies in accountability, anticipating potential process failures.

The enhanced architecture of this solution represents a technological leap, reducing the total cost of integrating your data stored in silos by allowing increases in scalability and availability of the necessary databases to work with. Consequently, there is a significant improvement in productivity levels, offering better utilization of the system itself, which translates to increased performance from the teams involved in process automation. The constant evolution of the solutions brings with it the reliability of a global leader in information that tangibly and transparently guides your company’s digital transformation.

How to Implement SAP S/4HANA with Certified SAP S/4HANA Partners?

To ensure that your company adapts to the increasingly digital world and can focus on Process Automation geared towards decision-making, rely on the expertise of Meta. As a technological partner, Meta has extensive experience in implementing SAP solutions for various industries, from agribusiness to education. We were also pioneers in implementing solutions in the public sector worldwide.

As a Gold Partner of SAP, in a partnership that has lasted for over 20 years, we have collaborated, for example, with Lavoro in implementing cutting-edge digital solutions.

Cristiane Flora, Lavoro’s Systems Manager, emphasizes, “The Lavoro Group identified SAP as a robust system with high reliability and integration—essential elements to ensure the company’s strong expansion and growth in recent years. With the arrival of Agrozap, it was natural to implement this system, considering the ERP’s strategic importance for the entire company.”

We have specialized multidisciplinary teams to guide organizations through large-scale Digital Transformation processes. Contact our team of experts and learn more about what SAP S/4HANA can do in your business ecosystem.

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