Yes, the end of SAP CRM is near! With the latest announcement of SAP about the CRM add-on on S/4HANA we can conclude that the end of SAP CRM as an independent CRM system is coming. This process was already started with products (e.g. SAP Hybris C4C (yC4C) and yMarketing) from the SAP Hybris suite and with the introduction of YAAS and its related products; Service Engagement Center and Next Generation Order Management. But do I have to fear as an existing SAP CRM user? Absolutely not! This blog will explain the 4 options you have; continue, replace, transform or consolidate.
Continue; keep on leveraging from your current landscape and set-up of your CRM 7 system
No need to worry if you’re still happy with your current SAP CRM system and you don’t expect any big changes and/or disruption in your business. You can keep on using and have full support (including Support Packages, EhP’s, Add-ons and Notes) for your SAP CRM system until at least 2025. This is the current year the mainstream
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Continue Strategy |
maintenance ends. Besides this full support the continuous
innovation and customer driven improvements in the core
CRM functionality will be continued the coming period.
Recent and upcoming planned developments for SAP CRM:
· Usability Improvements => Fiori look&feel
· Continuous Innovations via Customer Connection
· Integration with SAP Hybris portfolio (yC4C, yMarketing and yCommerce)
Replace; migrate your SAP CRM functionality to SAP Hybris C4C (yC4C), yMarketing and/or yCommerce
With the migration from your SAP CRM to one (or more) products of the SAP Hybris suite you can make use of latest developments/products related to front office processes and respond to changes in your market with the speed you want. With this migration, you will (most likely) move to a cloud based solution for your CRM processes which also has other benefits (e.g. costs, continues updates etc.). Another advantage is the big step you take in mobility because of the standardized phone and tablets apps that are available in the different app stores.
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Replace Strategy |
Recently we did a fit/gap analysis together with one of our customer and surprisingly (or not) around 85% of their currently used SAP CRM sales and service functionality could be replaced by implementing (standard) yC4C (Cloud for Customer). The 15% that couldn’t be covered by yC4C was mainly related to the custom code in SAP CRM. If you have a lot of custom code and strong back-office CRM processes this might not be the best option and you better choose for a transformation path.
Transform; move to the SAP Hybris suite for front office and upgrade to CRM on HANA
A transformation cycle will consist of 2 main topics. The upgrade to CRM on HANA and the step to simplified front office processes with SAP Hybris Suite. First let’s have a look at the upgrade to CRM on HANA. The following benefits are identified because of the upgrade:
· Optimized access to all core CRM Objects and custom code because of simplified datamodel
· Fast & flexible search capabilities, also with high data volumes
· Make use of the Accelerators and HANA only features
· Embedded Analytics;
o High performance reporting in CRM without BW/ BO tools
o Self service and ad-hoc reporting – no IT involvement required
· Landscape simplification;
o Replacement of TREX engine for search, duplicate check and segmentation
o Easy upgrade to on-premise or cloud
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Transform Strategy |
As said, the move to the SAP Hybris suite will bring you several new possibilities to respond to changes in your market related to front office processes. This is more than once the first point of contact within you customer engagement. A tool like yC4C will cover you service & sales processes and will act as an immediate mobile layer on top of your SAP CRM system. yCommerce will enable your plans for your e-commerce channel and yMarketing can optimize your segmentation, lead generation, campaign management (among other) based on data from different sources.
As a result of your transformation you are ready for the future, your existing investments in SAP CRM are not lost and you can constantly use the innovations of the SAP Hybris suite (quarterly updates). Customers with a strong SAP CRM back-office, significant amount of custom code and/or industry specific processes are more likely to start the above transformation cycle.
Consolidate; migration of SAP CRM core to the CRM add-on for S/4HANA as of Q1 2018
The S/4HANA CRM add-on will be available at the beginning of next year. The information about this new option starts to trickle in. So, what exactly does this CRM add-on for S/4 HANA mean? Well, SAP’s goal for this: “Provide CRM functionality in S/4HANA with superior integration and low TCO.”
This goal contains 3 pillars:
1. Simplified landscape & operations (compared to separate ECC and CRM systems)
2. HANA and UI innovations
3. Allow migration and landscape consolidation for existing SAP CRM installations
The simplified landscape & operations will bring some promising things:
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Harmonization of Data Model
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- Elimination of the middleware. So, no more replication issues and BDOC monitoring. Technically this will be a harmonization of the data models between the 2 systems.
- Elimination of functional overlapping topics. Sales Order Management will be covered in S/4 HANA SD as well as pricing configuration (IPC). CRM Pricing, CRM billing and CRM Sales orders are history. Marketing and Commerce functions are covered in the corresponding SAP Hybris products.
- Elimination of the Java stack and TREX
- Harmonization in user experience Fiori interface
In the first version of the S/4 HANA CRM Add-on the following functionality is planned:
Service:
- Service Request & Order Management, Service Confirmations
- Interaction Center
- Service Contract Management
- Functional location and Equipment, Warranty Management
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Consolidate Strategy |
Sales:
- Lead & Opportunity Management
- Activities, Tasks, Visits and Territory Management
- Call lists
- Integration to S/4HANA Order Management
Optionally you can decide the use of the SAP Hybris (front office) products. Later this year we will blog in more detail about the SAP CRM add-on for S/4HANA. Meanwhile you can always contact us to learn more about this.
Conclusion
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Strategy Total |
The different strategies described above should give you an idea of the way forward. In the end the direction you choose fully depends on your situation; IT- and business wise. In other words: what transformation/disruption do you expect in your business and is your IT (CRM) landscape ready for this? And last but not least each strategy has its own price!
26 responses to “CRM add-on for S/4HANA: The end of SAP CRM. And now what?”
Nice blog… How about Industry Specific modules that currently run on CRM like the IPM(Intellectual Property Management) module?
Hi, industry specific modules are planned to be covered in the add-on. At this moment only the modules for Utilities and Shared Services are planned. If the IPM module will be part of the add-on is not known yet.
Hi , Is yC4C means Hybris C4C?
regards,Ram
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hi Ram,
You're right, yC4C is the abbreviation SAP uses for SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer / Hybris C4C.
KR,
Simon
KR,
Simon
Hi Simon,
What about TPM and its requirement for CRM On premise?
Regards
Eddie
Hi Eddie,
Currently it's not known if TPM is in the first release.
KR,
Simon
Nice article. Interesting times for those with heavy custom code in SAP CRM!
I assume Add-on will support IC (Interaction Center) however, can you please confirm it ?
Hi Suchita,
that is correct. See the image "Harmonization of datamodel"
KR,
Simon
Thanks Simon 🙂
Great blog . My Current customer is using CRM ISU on Top of Backed ISU ERP . Planning to implement S/4 in 2019 . This CRM add-on would be a great option to look for.
Hi Simon, Thanks for the update. Most of the semi conductor/Hi-Tech companiea are using Partner channel management/Channel Hi-Tech management solution in CRM. Any idea about the releasing of this solution in CRM add on
Hi,
Unfortunately not. Information about this topic is very poor at this moment.
KR,
Simon
Hi Simon,
What happens to Hybris C4C if SAP CRM comes in S4 HANA.. can u pls elaborate?
Hi Prashetty,
Hybris C4C will still be available and development by SAP in this product will continue. It is part of the Hybris Frontoffice tools like Hybris Marketing en Hybris Commerce. Please see the last picture.
KR,
Simon
Hi Simon,
With CRM addon, which UI will be used ? CRM WebUI will continue or have to move to FIORI?
Thanks
-Aj
Hi Aj,
The CRM WebUi will still be used but there will be a new 'theme' added: Fiori. So it will look like Fiori but the technique behind it is CRM WEBUI.
KR,
Simon
Thank you Simon.. That is interesting.. Do you have pointers to understand how that works or look like ? Just curious if we have to use a gateway or its only the look and feel changed?
Thanks
-Aj
Hi Aj,
Only look&feel is changed. No gateway needed.
KR,
Simon
Hi Simon,
What about SAP CRM ERMS (Email Response Management System) functionality .where it will be covered under SAP S4 HANA add-on, please advise.
Thanks,
Sunil
Hi Sunil,
I'm not sure about this functionality at this moment but I expect it will be part of second release of the solution (October 2018).
KR,
Simon
Hi Simon,
Do we have any SAP note/link/document which says the functionalities covered by CRM addon S4 HANA.
Do we have any best practice document.
If any document, please mail to me(sheriff.umer@gmail.com)
Thanks in Advance
Umer
Thanks
Umer
Hi Umer,
Please check this link: https://partneredge.sap.com/en/library/education/products/entManage/s4h/e_oe_t_w_pkhs4_24023.html
KR,
Simon
Hello Team,
Since we have already moved into 2019, can you elaborate on where we are with CRM add on on S/4 HANA or C/4 HANA is teh way to go..There are multiple products in last few years from C4C to Hybris to CRM on S/4 HANA and recently hearing more about C/4 HANA. Can we get a clear picture you you added in this article(last picture) with the current status of SAP CRM on premise?.
Hi Mithu,
SAP CRM is supported by SAP untill 2025. So you have a couple years to decide. The choice you need to make depends on several topics; cloud or on-premise, custom development vs standardization, focus on front-office vs back office, business needs, current landscape architecture vs future architecture among others.
Currently we’re assessing above topics with several of our customer so they make the right CRM decisions for their organization.
Let me know if you needs assistance in your journey.
For your reference; Hybris C4C is now part of the C/4HANA platform and is now called SAP Sales Cloud. The CRM-add on is a module within S/4HANA and is now called CM (customer management)
Simon