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How Modernizing ECC Lowers SAP Costs Regardless of Migrations

For many companies, it can often be difficult to even conceptualize investing in legacy modernization and its either go all-in to a digital transformation or stick with the same, familiar SAP business processes created on your ECC you’ve had for years, right?

Well, not so much (and there is third way).

Is it valuable and necessary to modernize your ECC regardless if you migrate it to S/4HANA in the future or not?

In this blog, we will discuss how modernizing SAP ECC can save your company money while taking it forward. We’ll also explain how Pillir utilizes patented technology to Modernize SAP ERP and can help in the process of revealing customizations and the total cost to maintain them in a legacy system.

Factors Contributing to High Costs in SAP

Any member of an IT team knows that SAP costs can add up. There’s maintenance costs, developer costs, and even costs that arise because automation isn’t possible with the limitations of your legacy SAP ERP systems. If automation isn’t possible, typically the only other options are to accomplish processes manually or through paper-driven processes, thus requiring more time and causing more errors, increasing costs. 

Can you lower costs in SAP without migrating to S/4HANA?

One such solution is legacy modernization, or the process of transforming a legacy system or code into a modern infrastructure to reduce IT costs, improve agility, collaboration, and consistency.

If an aging system isn’t modernized, it will impact costs in several different areas:

  • SAP Operational and Maintenance Costs: Maintenance and operational costs in legacy systems become increasingly more expensive as time goes by. Many users of legacy SAP ERP systems find themselves having to go back and redo work in order to enhance their legacy systems. While this works for a brief period of time, the end result is increased costs and complexities arising when trying to integrate the old with the new.
  • Increased Risk of Errors: If your company is relying on a legacy system, chances are you’re also having to rely on manual or paper-driven processes to accomplish tasks internally. Manual processes increase the chances of human error which can greatly affect productivity within your corporation. Going back and correcting these errors will cost you time and money.
  • Customizations: As a corporation continues to grow, so do the requirements of internal systems. Customizing a system to meet modification requirements is essential in order to ensure that all departments needs are met. These modifications are a necessary part of moving a business forward, and their creation and maintenance can increase costs. 
  • Employees: Professionals who are well-versed in legacy code, such as ABAP, are becoming increasingly scarce and more expensive. Relying on internal employees to become versed in ABAP is essential and will call for further resources and time allotted for training which, in turn, will still require a pretty penny.

Lower Costs in SAP with Legacy Modernization

So how can ECC modernization help get your budget back on track? Here are some areas of your business that will be positively impacted:

IT Operating Costs

IT maintenance and operating costs of legacy systems can be staggering, but when modernizing legacy systems with platforms such as EdgeReady Cloud, these costs are greatly reduced. Because funds that were typically used for maintenance are now being saved, you can benefit from these saved costs by applying them towards building new innovative processes or focusing on making the existing ones better, rather than just maintaining the old way of doing business.

Automate Internal Systems

When your employees no longer have to accomplish crucial tasks through manual processes, they have more time to dedicate to more productive areas of the business. Automating internal processes through legacy modernization lowers costs in SAP by also lowering the chances of human error, which is a large contributor to high costs in maintenance.

Data Insights

Legacy systems typically don’t have the ability to report on insightful analytics of your business. These reports allow the company to gauge what’s working versus what isn’t and prepare for the future in a tactful way. The lack of reporting accounts for lost money. Modernizing legacy SAP ERP systems allow you to gain insight into your data, saving costs and setting your company up for success.

Reliable and Modern Systems Increase Customer Retention

Having agile reliable systems that fulfill the ever-changing needs of the modern day is crucial for having satisfied customers. As an example, if your customer ordered a product that has to get shipped from a plant, but there’s no way your customer can track the package, how can they put trust in the product’s arrival? Having a system in place to show the customer you care goes a long way, and this starts with an automated, modernized system. Your customer will not only be satisfied, but will stay with you once you create a trustworthy, reliable experience for them.

Modernize SAP ERP and EdgeReady Cloud

In the process of deciding what solution to use for modernizing your existing SAP ERP system, it’s first important to gauge the technical debt and ABAP customizations needed.

With EdgeReady Cloud’s patented process to modernize SAP ERP, SAP customers can easily identify ABAP technical debt, while also evaluating the total cost of ownership and rate of change, in order to create business justification for modernization. All of this is possible while also helping SAP customers identify, manage, and migrate ABAP non-core customizations and display the total cost to maintain.

Discover ABAP customizations in your SAP ERP system and lower costs with EdgeReady Cloud today! Contact our team or click here to learn more.

Cecilia Santis

Cecilia Santis

Cecilia is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Pillir and loves to write about emerging technologies.