Anyone who wants to switch to S/4HANA cannot get around the business partner. With the business partner, SAP is not really bringing a new concept into the ERP world. Those who already use other SAP solutions, such as GTS or CRM, are already familiar with it. But what does the Business Partner offer your company and what advantages does it already bring you?
In today's SAP ECC, a business partner, i.e. a company, person or group in which you as a company have an interest, can appear in several processes. Unfortunately, the same master data source is not used for all processes, although there is information that is identical in each process. If you maintain both sales and purchasing relationships with an entity, a supplier as well as a customer must be created and maintained in the system. If generally valid data changes, both data records must be kept up to date accordingly. The maintenance of redundant data is no longer necessary thanks to the business partner. Where several transactions used to be necessary to keep master data up-to-date and of high quality, there is now only one. Knowledge about business relationships becomes more transparent and shifts away from the specialist departments.
The SAP business partner represents a centrally maintained entity with which your company maintains relationships. As a superordinate instance, it contains all generally valid information and writes this on to customers and suppliers that continue to exist. Maintaining redundant data is eliminated thanks to the Business Partner. Where previously several transactions were necessary to keep master data up to date and of good quality, there is now only one. Knowledge about business relationships thus becomes more transparent and shifts out of the specialist departments. Since creditors and debtors still technically exist, the question arises whether the business partner concept has already been fully implemented or whether it is merely a first step that will be taken further in the years to come. This is a speculation that may well have an influence on the way the business partner is implemented in one's own system.
You have deliberately decided against a greenfield approach and want to convert your old SAP ERP system to S/4HANA? The requirements of the SAP business partner are not yet completely clear to you and you are encountering problems in both the technical and business implementation? With our CONSILIO approach to Business Partner Conversion we can help you making the technical preparations and successfully activate the business partner on your system. The conversion can basically be played through in two scenarios.
We would like to work out with you in a joint workshop which approach is best for you and which factors continue to play a role. Based on your system constellation and requirements, we can show you the optimal path towards S/4HANA and provide you with comprehensive support.