RISE with SAP: valantic and SAP spur on Transformation as a Service

RISE with SAP and S/4HANA, private cloud edition

Munich, March 29, 2021: With SAP S/4HANA, private cloud edition (PCE) and “RISE with SAP,” the German software group pointed the way toward assisting companies with the digitalization and transformation of their business processes a few weeks ago. RISE with SAP is Transformation as a Service and an innovation driver. With the digitalization specialist valantic as one of the largest SAP service partners, the transformation began long ago for many B2B customers. S/4HANA PCE is part of the RISE initiative and closes the functional gap to an on-premise system.

RISE with SAP complements the familiar XaaS world (Anything as a Service), adding TaaS, Transformation as a Service. It bundles a series of SAP’s own products and services with those from the growing partner ecosystem and is therefore the logical continuation of the line established previously, which valantic is already pursuing as SAP Gold Partner and SAP Cloud Focus Partner. So valantic and SAP spur on Transformation as a Service together.

Transformation begins in people’s heads

As SAP Technology Chief Glenn González, one of the top speakers at valantic’s virtual “Customer Focus Day SAP 2020,” said in a brief interview, the right mindset has to precede the technology. “In my opinion, an intelligent enterprise is prepared for times when its environment changes dynamically,” said the SAP CTO. If you’re in a position to react dynamically, you’re also in a position to deploy value-producing technologies right away. In order to complete the necessary “change” or change management, the most important thing is to think in end-to-end processes. “Just the decision to set up the IT infrastructure differently is the first big challenge at many companies. Once you’ve mastered that, everything becomes easier,” concluded González at Customer Focus Day 2020, which valantic organized online in the fall due to the Corona pandemic – with great success, as many participants reported.

The transformation has to begin in people’s heads, and it has to be proceeded by change management. The digitalization specialist valantic serves as a strong SAP partner to its customers, using a structured procedure to work with them and determine which variant is the right solution for their individual requirements. 

With regard to the IT infrastructure, with S/4HANA, private cloud edition (PCE), SAP offers a real alternative to operation on-premise and in the public cloud, says Marcel Deichmann, Managing Consultant S/4HANA Cloud at valantic ERP Consulting. “Previously, companies were often very restricted in their cloud strategies with the S/4HANA Cloud as public cloud,” explains Deichmann. “It was not possible to modify or enhance it. In addition, the S/4HANA cloud is only suitable for the greenfield approach.” For companies that wanted a brownfield system conversion, the previous cloud option didn’t suit their needs.

“I am very pleased about the new SAP S/4HANA private cloud edition, for it presents itself as a full-fledged S/4HANA system in the cloud and thus closes the gap to on-premise operation. Furthermore, our customers are much less restricted with it than with the previous version of SAP S/4HANA as public cloud. That is, with the PCE, customers can now migrate their existing software architecture and they do not have to tear it down and build it up all over again,” says Deichmann.

More choice with S/4HANA PCE

The previous cloud products for S/4HANA were pure SaaS offerings. The PCE variant is a bit different. SAP still appears as the software service provider, but the implementation and application management are handled by partner companies such as valantic. Only the bundle of SAP and partner services makes S/4HANA, private cloud edition, into a full-featured SaaS offering,” as Deichmann explains.

“Clearly the added value is in this SaaS approach, which SAP and the partners provide. Previously, for classic hosting, for example for software and infrastructure management, various partners were required and they had to coordinate with one another and be orchestrated; now these tasks can be performed by just two parties, SAP and a SAP partner company,” says Deichmann. “The customer can concentrate entirely on using the software, since we at valantic work very closely with SAP,” adds the S/4HANA cloud expert. The licenses are paid for in monthly installments. And support is included in the user fees. The support cost extra for purchased licenses for SAP S/HANA on-premise, according to Deichmann.