The recent introduction of a new offering called “RISE with SAP” has sparked even more speculation in the Apparel, Footwear, and Fashion industry.

What is RISE With SAP ?

What is this solution and what does it mean for current SAP license holders?

RISE with SAP is not a new product the same way that SAP HANA was when it was introduced in 2011. Rather than create a set of new functionalities, RISE with SAP is a bundling of existing SAP assets that focus on providing customers with business transformation as a service.

RISE with SAP brings together everything you need to transform your business in the way that works best for you.

Below we have answered a few questions about what it implies for you and your organization:

1.  What is the central/most significant benefit of RISE for customers?

RISE with SAP helps companies get started with and accelerate cloud adoption. It takes away a lot of the guesswork and piecemeal license purchases out of your enterprise planning strategy.

It reduces high upfront investments and overall TCO. It provides digital transformation as a service model, where the cost of licensing, hosting and support of your ERP will be covered under one contract by a single subscription fee from SAP.

SAP RISE is a very comprehensive offering, combining core S/4HANA ERP, innovation platform SAP Business Transformation Platform, SAP Business Network, and Business Process intelligence.

2.  Who is RISE with SAP for? Who is it not for?

Everyone can benefit and use RISE with varying possibilities and scopes. It is applicable for all existing SAP customers and new prospects.

3.  What (new) technologies/solutions are available through RISE with SAP?

Solutions included:

  • SAP S/4HANA®
  • System hosting options with hyperscalers
  • The SAP Business Network Starter Pack is a set of functionalities that helps customers get connected with trading partners involved in the source-to-pay process, such as suppliers, carriers, and other assets
  • Credits for SAP Business Transform Platform – formerly the SAP Cloud Platform – is platform-as-a-service focused around the intelligent enterprise. The pillars focus on analytics, application development and integration with non-SAP solutions, database and data management, and intelligent technologies
  • Business Process Intelligence – Helps in analyzing, simulating, improving, and monitoring business processes

4.  What migration options do fashion companies on SAP AFS, FMS and S/4 Fashion have?

If you are an AFS customer, there are two options:

  • Migrate your existing AFS landscape to RISE as a system migration and make use of the technical platform capabilities to enhance your digital offering.
  • Start a new S/4HANA greenfield project as part of RISE program, which would be similar to a greenfield S/4HANA on-premise implementation but with added advantages of the RISE program as mentioned earlier.

If you are an FMS customer, you have the same two options as AFS customers: Migrate FMS as-is into the private cloud or upgrade to S/4HANA as part of the RISE program.

If you are a S/4HANA on-premise customer, you can do a system migration to RISE in order to benefit from its advantages.

5.  What deployment options do fashion companies not on SAP have?

The RISE program is a good fit for customers who are new to SAP. They can select the scope and infrastructure required and scale as and when they grow or bring more businesses or companies into the fold. They will be able to start their entire SAP journey on a true subscription model.

6.  Are there any limitations with respect to customization/custom development following a move to RISE with SAP?

There are no limitations with respect to scope, customizations, or custom developments.

But custom developments need to follow certain practices like keeping the core clean and develop side by side using SAP BTP where possible. The ownership of these would remain with the customer/partner.

7.  Can partner solutions and partner add-ons be used on RISE with SAP?

Yes.

What role do SAP partners play in a move to RISE with SAP? How can Rizing help?

SAP partners play a pivotal role in the move to RISE with SAP, the same as before its launch.

Partners will work with SAP and guide the customers, and drive discovery sessions to understand their solution and infrastructure requirements. SAP partners will continue to play the role of system integrators by implementing the solutions or migrating the systems from on-premise to the cloud and deliver integrations, carry out testing and – where required – provide post-migration support.

We at Rizing will use our proprietary methodology for SAP fashion implementations, which also includes processes from SAP activate.

Our best practice solution and accelerator, the attune Fashion Suite can be also deployed with the RISE program.