Managing SAP Integration with B2B Systems
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This presentation discusses how GXS Managed Services can benefit SAP related B2B integration projects. The first part of this two part presentation reviews the results from a recent study conducted by AMR Research. Please look out for the second part of this presentation which discusses how GXS Managed Services can help companies keep their SAP related integration projects on schedule. Updated April 2013
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Managing SAP Integration with B2B Systems
- 1. Mark Morley, Industry Marketing Director GXS Managed Services for SAP – Part 1
- 2. Slide 2 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. Introduction • Managing the integration of SAP and B2B systems is a complex process • SAP and B2B projects are implemented across internal and external users • Integrated SAP and B2B systems can help introduce significant operational efficiencies • SAP B2B integration provides improved visibility into cross enterprise business processes
- 3. Slide 3 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. Today’s SAP Systems Need to Support Global Operations Global companies must manage a network of manufacturing, sales, marketing, engineering and finance centres Manufacturing Back Office Sales Global HQ Regional Marketing & Finance Engineering R&D Manufacturing Sales Sales Manufacturing Regional Marketing & Finance Back Office Manufacturing Sales Engineering R&D Engineering R&D
- 4. Slide 4 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. Key Findings From ERP/B2B Study • 48 percent of respondents said they had lost B2B connectivity • 34 percent of respondents said B2B integration staff were supporting ERP related projects • 34 percent of the data feeding ERP systems is generated externally • 29 percent of respondents said that they had to prematurely terminate B2B testing programs relating to external trading partners • 79 percent of respondents have exceptions or problems on more than one percent of inbound B2B transactions • 80 percent of respondents plan to move to highly consolidated ERP environments
- 5. Slide 5 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. The Need for ERP to B2B Integration
- 6. Slide 6 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. • SAP uses information from various external sources • Information can be sourced from customers, logistics providers and financial service institutions • Information derived from different global standards can be difficult to manage • Integrating trading partners to remote manufacturing plants can be a complex process Externally Sourced SAP Data On average 34% of data feeding an ERP system comes from outside the enterprise
- 7. Slide 7 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. Data Quality Compromises SAP Value • Externally sourced data is rarely checked before it enters an SAP system • Once the information is within SAP, it will quickly spread across the enterprise • Inaccurate data can affect downstream business processes • Inaccurate data leads to incorrect electronic documents being created 79% of respondents said that more than 1% of transactions needed reworking
- 8. Slide 8 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. High Availability in B2B is Critical • Ensuring that B2B information is available 24/7 is crucial to the operation of an SAP environment • B2B platforms ensure that externally sourced information can be used by internal business applications • Lack of B2B information could lead to production line stoppages • Business critical decisions need to be made in real time 48% of respondents said they had lost connectivity with their B2B system
- 9. Slide 9 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. Program Management • Integrating SAP and B2B requires constant monitoring to ensure that any problems are resolved efficiently • Changes made to an SAP system may need to be incorporated into the B2B platform as well, or vice versa • Must ensure that the SAP/B2B integration platforms is tested and deployed correctly 84% of respondents had experienced delays with their ERP B2B integration projects
- 10. Slide 10 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. For Further Information NA – http://www.gxs.com/resources/insights/3rd_edition/ EMEA - http://www.gxsinsights.eu/3rd_edition/index.htm NA – http://www.b2bforsap.com EMEA - http://www.b2bforsap.co.uk
- 11. Slide 11 | © 2013 GXS, Inc. Thank You Phones US: 1-800-334-2255, option 3 EMEA: +44 (0) 1932 776047 GXS web sites US: www.gxs.com EMEA: www.gxs.eu
Editor's Notes
- SAP and B2B integration projects are incredibly complex and require both internal and external users to be integrated to the platform. Whether it is integrating to numerous instances of SAP that may be located in different regions around the world, or simply ensuring that external trading partners can connect to the platform seamlessly, the success of such projects depends on having the right resource available to undertake the work.However once these two platforms are integrated the new platform can bring significant benefits to a company, for exampleby improving operational efficiencies and offering improved visibility of SAP related transactions that are flowing across the extended enterprise.
- One of the biggest challenges facing companies today is trying to integrate a broad cross section of different users, especially those users that may be located in different countries around the world.In recent years many companies have globalised their operations, opening new manufacturing plants in the Far East and establishing new sales offices and distribution centers in new markets. Many companies have implemented multiple instances of SAP systems around the world and a typical SAP related project being undertaken today is to try and consolidate multiple SAP instances into a single instance that can be shared by everyone across the extended enterprise. Many B2B platforms connect to internal users or trading partners around the world and in many ways it makes sense to try and obtain operational synergies by integrating SAP and B2B platforms together. Consolidating multiple SAP instances for example provides the ideal opportunity for integrating to a B2B platform.
- In 2009 AMR Research conducted a study which was sponsored by GXS. The aim of the study was to find out what companies were doing with respect to ERP B2B integration and to identify some of the key challenges when undertaking such projects. The study had around 120 respondents from the Retail, CPG, Automotive and High Tech industry sectors. The aim of the study was to ultimately prove that the success of many ERP projects can be directly associated with the level of integration that exists with their respective B2B platform.Some of the key findings from the study are shown on this slide, two results that I would like to draw your attention to was that the respondents said that on average 34% data feeding ERP systems was sourced from outside the enterprise and 79 percent of respondents said that they had exceptions or problems on more than one percent of inbound B2B transactions. Let me expand on these in a few moments.
- Many companies under estimate why they should consider integrating their ERP and B2B platforms. This could be due to the fact that traditionally, ERP and B2B systems have been implemented by different IT teams.As highlighted on the previous slide, as much as a third of ERP related information is sourced from outside the organisation. This could be from a variety of suppliers, logistics partners and other third parties.Information fed into an ERP systems, especially when sourced from outside the organisation, is often inaccurate. This could lead to further downstream problems once this inaccurate data starts to spread across the extended enterprise.Management teams require up to date, real time information on the performance of their business in order to make operational decisions. Finally, having access to a highly available B2B infrastructure is critical so that information coming in from external trading partners can flow without interruption.
- SAP systems use information from a variety of external sources, for example distributors, logistics providers and financial services institutions. This information could originate in numerous business systems and could have been created using different industry related standards.Due to the global nature of many companies there are constant challenges with on boarding suppliers using many different regional document or communication standardsThis problem is even more difficult to manage when trying to onboard a remote manufacturing plant in an emerging market such as China or India.
- As SAP systems receive information from a variety of external partners there is an increased chance that unchecked, inaccurate data could enter an SAP system. Quite often, information from external sources is not clean enough to be processed correctly by the SAP system. This will quite often lead to manual rework of the incorrect information to try and make it compliant.If unchecked information is allowed to enter an SAP system then there is a chance that it could spread into other business systems leading to inaccurate information being used across the extended enterprise. A simple mismatch of part numbers for example could lead to incorrect electronic documents being created which could result in delayed payments to suppliers.
- For many companies, having access to real time information from outside the enterprise and ensuring that the platform is available 24/7 is crucial to the operation of their business. B2B platforms ensure that information from outside the organisation can be used efficiently by internal business applications such as SAP systems. If there is an interruption to the flow of transactions from outside an organisation then the internal business systems can be severely affected. For example many high tech manufacturers insist that their B2B infrastructure does not go down near the end of a quarter so as not to affect the processing of sales related information. In another example, if a car manufacturer does not receive an advanced shipping notice from their supplier to notify them that parts are on their way to a factory then this could have downstream implications as well, for example shutting down a production line. Many companies need to make business critical decisions in near real time and therefore ensuring that transactions from external business partners gets through to an SAP system without delay or interruption is extremely important.
- SAP / B2B integration requires an immense amount of co-ordination across the extended enterprise. Ensuring that maps are created correctly, trading partners are all connected properly and more importantly, any changes made to the SAP system are reflected in the B2B system as well. To achieve an integrated platform implies that any changes made to one system will be reflected in the other or vice versa. During an SAP / B2B integration process numerous change requests will be issued to modify one or other of the systems. This change management process needs to be managed and monitored efficiently otherwise the implementation of the project can be significantly delayed.Having a dedicated program manager look after the implementation can be a worthwhile investment, they not only ensure that valuable IT related resources are being used effectively, they will also ensure that the project comes in on time and more importantly to budget. Program managers will undertake a number of roles to ensure that SAP to B2B integration projects go as smoothly as possible. Their role will include looking after the day to day communication with a community of trading partners and ensuring that trading partners can support new transaction types, data quality rules or KPIs to measure performance. Finally, they also offer support for testing and looking after the overall release and deployment of the newly integrated platform with the customer.
- To find out further information about how GXS can help keep SAP related projects on schedule then please visit these two websites where you will find some useful resources for managing such projects. The GXS Insights microsite on the left of this slide describes some of the generic ERP/B2B integration issues and allows you to download a copy of the AMR Research reportThe B2B for SAP sites shown on the right describe in more detail how GXS can provide integration support to SAP specific ERP projects.