How to turn your old, complex SAP system easily into a new, digital SAP system

SAP is the market leader in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, helping companies of all sizes manage how they spend their time and money across the organization. Many companies use it, but as the latest version of the software dates from 2006, how does it fit with modern businesses undergoing digital transformations? How can companies turn their old, complex SAP system easily into a new digital SAP system?

Helder Gonçalves, Chief Product Owner at Neptune Software says that making changes in the system requires coding skills – and it’s slowing down progress:

“The fundamental challenge in SAP is that the technology is old: you have a lot of legacy and people are developing in a very classical way, which is fundamentally code-based. Business processes are essential for companies to operate, but how you accelerate, automate, and modernize without disrupting them is the key challenge that needs to be overcome.”

The solution is Neptune DXP, a toolset that enables companies to modernize without disruption. As Gonçalves says, working within SAP is essential as the software is so widely used:

“SAP is global: 75 percent of all business transactions in the world go through an SAP system at any given point. A lot of companies have been using it for years and they have massive investments done in this system.”

Andreas Grydeland Suljeweski, CEO at Neptune Software says that the idea for founding the company was a result of working in SAP for so long and figuring out how the challenges could be overcome for a new generation of users:

“After years of working in the SAP industry and doing SAP projects, the founders knew that there were some challenges around ease of use and user experience in the SAP software. It’s a fantastic engine, but not easy to use without hours of training. I’ve been working with my co-founders selling SAP software and they showed me how easy they could build a mobile app on top of SAP and run it on any device. They put years and years of real-life experience into a drag-and-drop designer to quickly build a new UI on top of SAP.”

For many companies, it has now become possible to connect, modernize and mobilize SAP for non-coding leaders in a simplified and time-effective manner and turn their SAP system into a new, digital SAP system.

Suljeweski says that simplicity for the user comes as a result of Neptune lifting much of the complexity into their own system: “An application that streamlines and simplifies complex business processes is key, but it comes with much higher complexity in the setup, integration and building phase to make these applications work. And of course, that’s where we come in taking care of the complexity with our platform.”

Neptune’s customers have found that the software enables them to achieve better outcomes faster and create digital products that answer customer needs without having to go through hours of training to code. Rune Bøen, CDO at Becour, a customer of Neptune Software explains the benefits his company has seen:

“We had great advantages when we started with a tool like Neptune DXP. Our customers like to call us the Tinder for renewable energy, and it’s because we have a digital peer-to-peer platform where the customer can select their renewable energy producers in a digital way. For us, speed is crucial. We are in a market that has no digitalization, so we wanted to disrupt and digitize this market fast.”

Neptune DXP gave Bøen precisely what he needed to see his plan come to fruition:

“I have an efficient tool to mockup demos to show to customers, giving us the edge we need to stay ahead. Neptune DXP meant our organization could be more agile. We could leave all our system administration to Neptune and we could focus on the core activities. Development with the Neptune DXP could be as easy as using LEGO.”

For Helder Gonçalves, the future will be built using tools that combine legacy technology with new developments, so that companies can turn old, complex SAP systems easily into a new, digital SAP systems – and make it easy for non-experts to build robust applications that their customers can use just as easily:

“We should be able to take applications built by non-tech developers and take them to the real world. That is our goal. This is how we see the future.”