Galileo Press Inc. - SAP S/4HANA: an introduction

Since the 1980s, weve seen the world transform into a digitized one. This digital enablement began with products such as DVDs and cameras and has since evolved into larger changes such as the Internet revolution, which brought us online marketplaces and e-commerce. These changes have already brought a huge disruption to traditional business and have laid the foundation for some incredibly successful companies, such as Amazon with its e-commerce platform.

With the rise of the social network and the introduction of mobile devices and smartphones, digitalization walked into private households and changed the way people get in contact with each other and exchange information (e.g., Facebook). Digitalization has had huge implications on the social life and behavior of the current generation, which expects to have information at their fingertips and whose buying behavior demonstrates the need for instant fulfillment. They use all types of information before buying a product and mix online shopping with physical visits to the store, and they discuss their experience with the product with online social communities. These changes have already had a huge impact on traditional companies and the way they develop, produce, and sell their products.

Market leaders in the digital industryGoogle, Facebook, and Appleare growing and extending their core market to fulfill the digital demand of the new generation. They are also developing new business models to try to conquer markets and industries outside their core business. This move of digital companies into new markets puts a large amount of pressure on traditional companies to change their way of doing business and to face the digital challengers.

In short, it is essential for all companies, traditional and nontraditional, to build a digital platform that possesses the capabilities to enable their digital transformation.

SAP started to evolve its core product SAP R/3 toward online capabilities with mySAP.com solutions that reflected the changing economy and customer behavior in the 2000s. More recently, SAP has developed SAP S/4HANA, a product that addresses digital transformation trends such as social media, big data, cloud solutions, mobile accessibility, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

This book fully introduces how SAP S/4HANA can address and support the digital transformation of your company. It covers all relevant aspects, from value scenarios to a full digital transformation roadmap. The authors use their experience from different industries and concrete examples of when and how to use SAP S/4HANA, in combination with line of business solutions from SAP to show you how to support your digital journey. In these pages, the authors provide you with practical information and project examples of how to approach the changes to your ERP landscape.

I hope that all readers of this book will deepen their understanding of the digital transformation and its implications on their ERP environment, as well as how SAP S/4HANA brings value to and supports this transformation journey. I also hope that every reader enjoys reading this book and that it opens new perspectives to the digital transformation and SAP S/4HANA.

Nancy Thomas
Managing Partner, Global Enterprise Applications, IBM Global Business Services