ORLANDO, Florida — IBM dey for SAP Sapphire conference dis week to promote dia consulting services and de experience wey dem gather from dia multi-year transformation to SAP S/4HANA on IBM Power Virtual Server.
Joyce Funai, de CIO and vice president for IBM’s Business Platform Transformation, tok say dem don achieve 30% reduction for operational costs wey dey relate to infrastructure since dem finish dia migration to SAP cloud ERP platform last July. Dis migration wey Funai talk say na one of de largest installations wey SAP don see, don also improve contract registration cycle times and ensure billing dey more efficient by reducing de time wey e take to generate invoices.
De shift from on-premises ERP to cloud ERP don speed up payment reconciliation while reducing errors for account receivables. Funai explain say IBM standardized on SAP’s on-premise ECC system for 2012 after many years of managing various custom “mini-ERP” systems from different units inside de big company.
De migration wey start seriously for 2022 na part of IBM’s plan to streamline dia business processes and ensure dia IT systems fit dey flexible for cloud and AI era, as plenty IBM executives don deliver dis message for Sapphire dis week. Funai say, “If we run dis very clean core, we pull out our homegrown tools, it’s making de business more efficient.” Funai don work with IBM Power Group before and rejoin dem for 2022 after she briefly serve as CTO for Under Armour as di migration begin.
As SAP dey push its large enterprise customers to migrate to S/4HANA, Funai don dey try to convince tink-tank CIOs to embrace de benefits of migrating now instead of waiting till 2027 deadline. But she admit say e no dey easy to sell. Even as IBM Consulting policy dey lead am, Funai sabi de complex and difficult nature of such massive migration wey dey touch di core of any enterprise.
“Dis na de scary stuff, right? Dis na di account ledger. Dis na im dey responsible for your most financially significant, government-regulated software,” di CIO explain. “Dis na wetin dey keep your supply chain and distribution channels going. It’s di core. Businesses wey dey use dis technology rely on am to work perfectly.”
Funai add say, “I think there’s a natural human instinct to have a little bit of fear about touching dat… I think dat’s some of di difficulty.” Yet, she dey clear say enterprises wey dey hesitate don dey resist di inevitable shift to a SaaS (Software as a Service) model. “What we see na SAP dey move to more of a SaaS-oriented world, which dey help dem provide us updates, changes, and modifications.”
Wetin dey happen now, Funai dey sure say na di right direction for IBM. “E be SaaS world and if you no dey there, you go dey there. Na dis way you go modernize.” Funai dey happy with di initial benefits from moving to S/4HANA, something wey she estimate involve roughly 400 IBM staff to complete. Operations for ERP don dey more streamlined and less stressful for management, she explain.
“Shutting down all dem systems don help cut our infrastructure and operational costs down to about 30%. Na system consolidation and automation wey we fit put in place.” Funai say. “From my seat as CIO, we now get a single team to manage di system. Dat has been tremendously helpful for us.” Funai also talk say her IT staff don face different obstacles wey dey relevant to all customers.
“Every CIO I talk to, no matter di industry, dey share di same concerns, whether na retail, finance, or supply chain. With we fit show how we manage planning, testing, and alignment, we dey demonstrate di art of di possible,” Funai say. She also admit say e dey really helpful to get IBM Consulting services in-house.
Funai also mention say Forrester analyst agree wit her. “IBM place for di leader category for SAP services, which na di topmost ranking for Forrester Wave evaluation. E be big deal when we dey compare dia SAP services practice with other major global systems integrators.” Other firms wey dey in di leader category na Accenture, Deloitte, and CapGemini.
Despite di challenges, SAP dey push enterprise customers to cloud transformation. Gartner report say by di end of 2024, around 39% of worldwide ECC customers — about 35,000 organizations — don subscribe to licenses to start their transition to SAP S/4HANA. Meanwhile, S/4HANA don get close to 26,900 customers, with 62% of dem being new ones added late last year.
Funai’s main focus na achieving greater efficiencies in-house. “Having dat single ERP system when you dey take another global corporation don make di merger and acquisition process smoother.” With SAP’s continued momentum, Funai know say di future dey bright for IBM as dem dey lead di transformation efforts.
In her conclusion, Funai tok say, “From a CIO standpoint, we now get significantly easier management for some of di most sensitive areas of di back office of IBM. Dis means we dey free up personnel for high-value tasks. E don make di process for accounts receivable easier, and customers dey enjoy simpler invoice than before.”
