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CRM add-on for S/4HANA: The end of SAP CRM. And now what?

Simon van der Worp, 03 mei 2017

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

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.
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
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:
Harmonization of Data Model

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

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

    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! 

    Simon van der Worp

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