White Paper

On the way to a hybrid

future with SAP

White Paper On the way to a hybrid future with SAP

Content

DIGITALIZATION BREAKS THE RULES

DIGRESSION: THE CLOUD SETS NEW STANDARDS

TRANSFORMATION IS THE DISCIPLINE OF THE HOUR

HYBRID / MULTI-CLOUD BECOMES CORPORATE REALITY

LEADERS OF TOMORROW ANTICIPATE INSTEAD OF PLANNING

DISRUPTIVE DEVELOPMENTS SHAKE UP INDUSTRIES

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SAP PROVIDES THE COURSE FOR THE MODERN IT WORLD

11

T-SYSTEMS AS SAP PARTNER

12

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE CHANGES THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

13

SUMMARY

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White Paper On the way to a hybrid future with SAP

White Paper On the way to a hybrid future with SAP

Digitalization breaks the

rules
Digitalization promotes and requires new business models even from
established companies. By 2018 one third of the top 20 market leaders
in almost every industry will be challenged by the new 3rd platform
competitors [1], at least that is what IDC analysts predict. This means that
established market situations will be put to the test, questioned and revolutionized. Only those who go along the digital path can permanently
secure their business growth and survive in the market. Digitalization is
the new benchmark for deciding the success or failure of companies.
Digitalization could be just a slogan. How does it become a reality?
Today real examples and technological opportunities give an impression of what may be the standards of the future: Google and Apple with
their virtual stores have introduced de-materialized business models;
Uber, DriveNow and AirBnB implement digitalized processes using a
community approach; networking and distributed intelligence result in
Smart Factories; robots and drones automate production and delivery
processes; Big Data analytics provide better customer knowledge and
approach to clients; real-time thinking and actions increase a
companys responsiveness; flexible, inter-company co-operations
speed up innovations [2]. All these examples have one thing in common: digitalization accelerates and makes companies more flexible.
The time to market is accelerated.
Survival tactic or unique selling point?
Markets are also put to the test when new competitors with new digital
business models (innovations) enter the market. Established players are
challenged by new competitors who are more efficient, cheaper, faster,
have better market insights and a better understanding of customer
needs. Business models need to be implemented with a minimal investment risk so that innovation budgets quicker allow the realization of various ideas. At the same time, business ideas have to be swiftly reset in
case the related targets are not met. In addition, a variety of technologies
offer the potential for disruptive changes beyond industry boundaries. In
an era of rapid change business agility is paramount for a company.

Also for marketing purposes, it becomes more and more important to

generate USPs and differentiators in this digital environment; the Customer Experience, engaging and retaining clients through better customer knowledge and a user friendly approach is one of the major success factors. This means that companies are more driven by data
analysis (data driven business) in all aspects of their business.
In the course of this, the pace of change increases continuously.
Already today the first generation of digitalization is outmoded: the presence of a company on the internet, the use of web services or IT-supported processes are no longer distinguishing features but necessities.
These challenges further lead to procedural and IT challenges that ultimately can only be met with changes within a company at a technical
and cultural level. In order to successfully implement digitalization, companies not only need the necessary technology but also suitable people,
partners and ideas.
Companies wishing to benefit from the digitalization era must develop
these four skills:
The ability to integrate end to end, manage and employ hybrid IT
landscapes and processes (Hybridize)
The ability to continuously transform (Transform) - this applies to the
technology as well as the business models and corporate culture
The ability to anticipate developments (Predict)
The ability to create new disruptive business models (Disrupt)

Digression: The cloud sets

new standards
Some specific questions about existing technology arise from these challenges: How
long will the existing landscapes remain functional? How can new platforms be
integrated and IT resources be transformed? What are the new requirements for IT
platforms? How can ERP solutions be adapted so that they properly solve old tasks and
new ones equally?
These questions are important because during digitalization it occurs,
only in rare cases, that old IT solutions need to be replaced. Normally its
a question of establishing which system is most appropriate for each
task. Traditional, monolithic systems may continue to fulfill their tasks,
e.g. perform a scheduled billing cycle. Cloud-based services come into
play when accelerating the performance is part of the assignment. The
sourcing mix then leads to what Gartner[3] calls the bimodal IT.
Two-speed IT
Traditional IT is one component of bimodality. It supports processes
whose dynamics are largely predictable. The resource adjustments can
be made within a few days. The respective applications can be operated
in dynamic infrastructures which are more flexible.

These needs can be appropriately served by private clouds. This

approach represents an organic evolution of IT.
Agile IT however supports new business models and innovations in the
highly dynamic, cloud-native environment. New ideas are tested, initiated
or adjusted within hours or even minutes.
The motto for this approach is time to market. Public cloud models are
often used in such cases. These two approaches create a two-speed
IT. The new agile IT for high speed is combined with the traditional established operational IT base for core applications. The applications continue to exist either unchanged or moderately boosted at the infrastructure level. The bimodal IT sets a framework for the topics Transform and
Hybridize.

Four skills for the digitalization era

This has particular implications for SAP as a software for business

management. SAP must make an essential contribution to enable a company to develop these four capabilities. Below, a practical approach to
these challenges has been outlined.

Figure 1.

[1] IDC Predictions 2015: Accelerating innovation and growth on the 3rd platform
Digitization drives continuous business growth, IDC, 2015
[2] The time of the lone wolf is over, Mario Brck at www.wiwo.de

[3] Gartner Says Worldwide Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service Spending to Grow 32.8

Percent in 2015, Gartner, 2015