White Papers
(including Podcasts)

Optimize Accounts Payable with SAP® Invoice Management

by SAP (February 1, 2010)

Get the most out of your SAP software with SAP Invoice Management

Learn how implementing SAP Invoice Management can enable you to improve your Accounts Payable processes with:

• Centralized visibility – get a consolidated view of all information relevant to a transaction on one screen
• Automated processing – Manage accounts payable processes automatically using configurable business rules from invoice validation through posting
• Exceptions handling – Automatically route exceptions to the person in the proper role while the process is logged and a comprehensive record is maintained in the software
• End-to-end process analytics – Monitor the invoice process from start to finish with a clear view of bottlenecks, cycle time, first-pass yield, and liability
• Integration with the existing environment – Implement the application quickly with the assurance of linkage with all relevant data and functionality in your existing SAP software

PCI-DSS Compliance in an SAP® Systems Environment

by Delego (January 18, 2010)

In an effort to combat fraud in the credit card payment industry, the major card brands came together to align their individual security standards by forming the PCI-SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council) and in December 2004 released the first PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). A merchant who accepts even one credit card transaction must comply with the standard.

This white paper discusses the PCI-DSS requirements from the perspective of a company running an SAP® systems environment and focuses on the aspects related to an SAP landscape (and not to the overall security considerations of the company). This paper will also discuss methods to help you keep your SAP system out of the scope of any potential PCI-DSS compliance audit and should be considered important reading for any merchant in the SAP worldwide community.

Download the white paper to:

• Understand what PCI-DSS compliance is all about and why you, as a merchant, must comply.
• Explore ways to achieve PCI-DSS compliance with tools available in your SAP® system.
• Compare and contrast the different security approaches for PCI-DSS compliance available in SAP systems.
• Find out what third-party tools are available for SAP systems to aid in your compliance.

Automated Sales Order Processing for Order-to-Cash Performance with SAP® Solutions

by Esker, Inc. (January 14, 2010)

As a resource to help businesses gain efficiency and improve customer service in today’s competitive business environment, this white paper examines the challenges faced by SAP customers who are still manually processing sales orders. The paper explores a solution for overcoming these challenges by automating sales order processing to:

• Lower order processing costs by up to 70%
• Free up staff time by up to 65%, providing more time for customer service
• Increase the percentage of orders and line items captured electronically
• Gain immediate access to order documents
• Fulfill orders faster and collect payment sooner

• Removing sales order bottlenecks from the order-to-cash cycle
• Sales order workflow automation, including: capture, approval routing, exception handling, and reporting
• Order management benefits, including: increased speed and accuracy, a full audit trail for increased process visibility, order prioritizing and more

Achieve business process excellence by Measuring, Analyzing and Optimizing your business processes

by SAP (December 18, 2009)

Get the most out of your SAP® software with SAP Enterprise Modeling and SAP Process Performance Management

Learn how implementing SAP Enterprise Modeling can enable you to:

• Leverage IT assets and reduce TCO by rationalizing customization, making better use of existing IT resources, and reducing project times for SAP upgrades and implementations
• Improve process performance by finding and eliminating bottlenecks while standardizing core processes and making it easier to measure them
• Decrease process costs through improved monitoring and analysis
• Build an SOA-ready IT foundation with support for process analysis, planning

Planning Virtual Infrastructure for SAP® Systems Technology Concepts and Business Considerations

by EMC (December 11, 2009)

Embracing a virtual infrastructure strategy for SAP® systems will impact your business by delivering the most efficient IT for SAP with reduced total cost of ownership, including smaller data center facilities and carbon footprints. The transformation ushers in new data center models, management policies, and operation practices for addressing SAP performance and capacity issues, and ensuring business continuity. Planning Virtual Infrastructure for SAP — Technology Concepts and Business Considerations is an EMC Global Solutions white paper describing the technical and business considerations for planning a virtual infrastructure for your SAP landscape. The paper addresses a variety of key considerations for SAP infrastructure, specifically addressing example deployment options for the major layers of the infrastructure, including the host or compute layer, the connectivity layer, and the storage or information layer.

Understand:

1. The business and IT drivers that are influencing the change to a virtual infrastructure.
2. The importance of a documented IT blueprint for SAP to execute the change.
3. Collaboration across IT domains is critical to a successful transformation.

Learn how SAP® Enterprise Inventory Optimization leverages the Stochastic model to enhance Inventory Optimization

by SAP (December 3, 2009)

Traditional approaches to inventory planning are largely based on rules of thumb rather than formal data analysis. For years, supply chain planners have used these outdated inventory management models, resulting in supply chain inefficiencies that their companies can ill afford in today’s ultracompetitive environment.

To boost efficiency, run leaner, and drive down the cost of supply, many organizations are exploring inventory optimization – a technique for improving operational inventory targets to address the realities of today’s highly complex, ever-evolving global supply chains.

Download this thought leadership whitepaper to understand how the stochastic multistage, multi-inventory model supports inventory optimization. The paper also looks at how the SAP Enterprise Inventory Optimization application by SmartOps uses the model to help supply planners execute more effectively in a highly collaborative enterprise environment that extends beyond organizational boundaries.

Learn how to:

• View and synchronize end-to-end supply chain operations
• Manage supply and demand uncertainty
• Maximize profit and minimize assets
• Manage exception workflows efficiently

49 Do’s, Don’ts, and Customer Lessons for SAP® Upgrades

by Panaya (December 3, 2009)

Are you looking for advice on upgrading to SAP® ERP 6.0?

Are you tired of reading the same clichés everywhere you go?

Jon Reed of JonERP.com — an SAP mentor and recently recognized as a Top Contributor for SAP Community Network 2008-2009 in the Business Process Expert Category — has compiled the best upgrade tips from industry analysts, project advisors, upgrade consultants, and SAP users.

This white paper provides SAP upgrade lessons from real-life upgrade projects at leading companies, including an indispensable list of tips covering:

• Vendor selection
• Pre-launch planning
• Technical upgrade considerations
• Upgrade skills and training

Avoid Overlooking the Growing Fraud Threat When Planning AP Automation

by SAP (November 23, 2009)

SAP and International Accounts Payable Professionals (IAPP) are pleased to offer accounts payable (AP) managers, senior financial managers, CIOs, COOs, and senior audit managers a new hot-off-the-press white paper, "Avoid Overlooking the Growing Fraud Threat When Planning AP Automation," that explains how AP optimization and automation substantially reduces your vulnerabilities.

By reading this white paper, you will learn:

• Why investing in AP automation can sometimes yield disappointing results, and how to avoid that by leveraging cost-effective technology that optimizes your AP operations and reduces your organization's risk of costly payables-related fraud before you automate
• How AP is vulnerable to numerous costly frauds by both insiders and external criminals
• How the SAP® Invoice Management application by Open Text not only delivers the invoice automation cost savings you're looking for, but also the anti-fraud internal control processes you need to keep hard-earned dollars from leaking into fraudsters' pockets

Improve Productivity by Making Content Accessible

by SAP (November 23, 2009)

To overcome the disconnect between structured processes and unstructured information, SAP offers a groundbreaking application. Download this free IDC white paper today to learn more about SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management (SAP Extended ECM) by Open Text and read why IDC claims that the application "provides transparent access to enterprise content of all kinds ... from within users' familiar SAP applications. This makes users much more productive because it provides them with the content they need ... in the context of their work."

Specifically, this white paper will address how an enterprise content management system can help your organization:

• Improve user productivity and collaboration
• Reduce operational costs and risks
• Gain a holistic view into information management

SAP Acknowledges Open Text as Prime ECM Partner

by Open Text Corporation (November 23, 2009)

SAP has selected Open Text Extended ECM for SAP for resale under the name the SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management (SAP Extended ECM) application by Open Text.

• This is the second expansion of a reseller agreement between the two companies and signifies the success of the existing relationship.
• The world's largest enterprise application vendor has chosen Open Text as its preferred ECM vendor.
• Offers direct integration with the SAP business object layer and employs native ABAP components.

Authorization Process Manager – A highly effective SAP® productivity tool

by AppliCon Solutions (November 19, 2009)

Find out how you can simplify and at the same time enhance the entire authorization role lifecycle using AppliCon Solutions’ Authorization Process Manager. Discover how this solution can stop test users from being blocked by authorization errors, how your authorization team can work more efficiently without becoming a bottleneck during your projects, and how both the project management and authorization teams can have complete control over the level and status of authorization testing. By using the Authorization Process Manager test container, it is easy to involve the line of business in defining roles at the design stage — with no need for knowledge about authorization objects, field values, or even specific business-related values. Learn how to reduce the costs of dealing with authorizations, improve the quality and compliance of your authorizations, remove project risks, and increase authorization satisfaction for all teams.

Download this white paper and learn:

• How to build your roles significantly faster to support the implemented business processes
• How to avoid being blocked by authorization errors in future projects
• How to gain complete control of the authorization development process
• Why this productivity tool is a must-have for SAP customers in any project, whether it is authorization redesign, GRC implementation, ERP upgrade, or the like.

Single Sign-on for SAP® Solution-based Environments

by Quest (November 13, 2009)

Users often need both an SAP® and Active Directory identity and password to work in their IT environment. But multiple identities and passwords create several problems: user confusion, decreased productivity, increased help desk costs and security breaches. Securing and auditing two identities and passwords is bad enough – but what about controlling costs while managing them? Single sign-on (SSO) is the answer. SSO manages the costs, confusion and security risks of single users with multiple sign-ons and passwords. The Quest Software technical brief, “Single Sign-On for SAP,” discusses how SSO meets the challenge of multiple SAP and Active Directory system identities and passwords. Read the paper today.

The Quest Software technical brief, “Single Sign-On for SAP,” discusses:

• Active Directory – the foundation for enterprise SSO
• Why stronger authentication is crucial
• The benefits of encryption and standard authentication conduits

SAP®Interactive Forms by Adobe

by SAP (November 13, 2009)

Download the SAP Interactive Forms catalog and view the winning entries from the recently concluded SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe contest on SAP EcoHub. Discover how other organizations leverage intuitive, easy-to-use SAP Interactive Forms to maximize productivity while containing costs.

If your company is still using paper forms as part of its critical business processes, view these real-life examples and consider automating these processes with SAP Interactive Forms, which allows end users to interact with enterprise applications via straightforward, PDF-based electronic forms.

SAP Interactive Forms allows you to eliminate paper forms and quickly automate numerous tasks to interact directly with business processes, including requests for proposal, partner account setup, purchase requisitions, travel requisitions, online recruiting, field service requests, and customer, supplier, and employee account setup and maintenance.

Learn how organizations use SAP Interactive Forms:

• Across functional areas like HR, Finance, CRM, Sales, Manufacturing, SCM and IT
• To simplify user experience while saving time and money
• To collaborate better with business partners
• To comply with laws and regulations

Protect Information and help Prevent Fraud

by SAP (November 12, 2009)

Visibility and integration across the organization are critical to effectively deal with governance, risk and compliance issues. Financial executives are increasingly feeling the pressure to end siloed risk management activities and to put a single version of the truth at management’s fingertips.

Download Aberdeen’s Analyst Insight on “SAP’s Unified GRC: A Holistic Answer to Troubling Times” to find out how Best-in-Class companies are introducing a more robust control environment and proactively leveraging visualization tools.

In this report you will learn how to:

• Adopt performance or driver-based budget methodologies
• Improve visibility from top to bottom, throughout the planning, budgeting, and forecasting process
• Implement applications to facilitate corporate or enterprise performance management and ensure they provide the ability to reforecast as market conditions change
• Improve time-to-decision based on reforecasted data

Making Automated Accounts Payable a Reality

by Esker, Inc. (November 11, 2009)

For many companies running SAP® applications, what makes automated Accounts Payable a practical reality goes beyond the technology's functional benefits. It is the larger value of automating processes throughout the procure-to-pay and order-to-cash cycles. The same solution used to automate Accounts Payable processing can also be leveraged to automate procurement, customer billing, and sales order processing.

This white paper presents a solution that offers a unique value proposition: a comprehensive platform to streamline virtually any business process that runs on paper documents. It analyzes the challenges faced by companies still using manual paper-driven processes and explores the benefits of Accounts Payable automation, including:

• Time, labor, and cost savings
• Integration with your existing SAP solution
• Increased visibility into your business processes

Act early on IFRS. Get the latest SAP Report

by SAP (November 10, 2009)

THERE ARE MANY APPROACHES TO IFRS. HOW ABOUT ONE THAT CAN SAVE YOU TIME AND MONEY?

Download “Streamlining Your Conversion to IFRS”. This insightful report shows you how to turn an IFRS mandate into an opportunity — tailored to the specific needs of your company.

Companies around the world face the challenges of complying with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). SAP brings experience and clarity to this complex process — with comprehensive solutions that help you adapt to each phase of adoption —beginning with an early transition. We’ve helped over a thousand enterprises worldwide comply with IFRS. And we’re here to help you plan ahead, and stay ahead.

This must-read report, compliments of SAP, shows how the right approach can help your organization overcome the challenges of IFRS and achieve a successful transition. Find out how to:

• Compare the system impacts of IFRS principles with those of GAAP
• Identify the critical decision points in a successful IFRS transition
• Leverage your transition to IFRS to improve your current financial consolidation and reporting systems
• Use technology to smooth your path to IFRS
• Reap the benefits of early IFRS adoption

Automating Stimulus-Fund Reporting: How New Technologies Simplify Federal Reporting

by SAP (November 10, 2009)

Properly tracking and reporting stimulus-fund spending are Herculean tasks for CIOs. For many utilities companies and government organizations that are spending American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds, the accountability demands of the federal government mean scrambling to collect and analyze floods of data.

Download this new white paper to learn how, in response to ARRA reporting demands, utilities can automatically compile information, centrally store it, and create instant reports.

Read this white paper to learn:

• What to look for in an automated ARRA reporting solution
• How to lessen the pressure on CIOs facing tight ARRA reporting deadlines
• How to gain greater agility in decision making without high costs

How to Eliminate PCI-DSS Exposure in SAP® Environments

by Princeton Payment Solutions (November 3, 2009)

Using credit cards for payment and receivables can be a very efficient way to collect revenue, but it does come with a new set of responsibilities. The card associations now ask for a standard set of protections for the card data and the system that transmits, processes or stores this data. The use of encryption will protect card numbers, and swapping in tokens for card numbers can limit the scope of compliance responsibilities. This paper discusses strategies for SAP® environments to protect this data and comply with the regulations.

Read this white paper to learn:

1. What is PCI-DSS? Is it an audit or just filling out some forms?
2. What is the difference between an Encryption vs. Encryption/Token Strategy?
3. What are all these vendor claims about hosted solutions – can they really take me out of PCI compliance?
4. What about future data security requirements? What can I put in place now to cover those in the future?

Improve Productivity and Mitigate Risk with SAP® Extended ECM by Open Text

by SAP (November 3, 2009)

Read IDC insights and a discussion of the emerging imperative to connect unstructured content to core business processes via an enterprise content management system

Most companies and government agencies today have invested in enterprise applications, such as enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and supply chain management, to support their core business processes. While the value of these applications in driving operational efficiency is well understood, many organizations are coming to realize the need to connect unstructured information (such as documents, emails, pictures and presentations) to those highly structured processes. The IDC paper, “Enterprise Content Meets Enterprise Business Processes: Open Text and SAP’s Joint Solution” addresses this topic. Download this IDC paper to learn how an enterprise content management system integrated with core enterprise applications can help your organization:

• Improve user productivity and reduce operational costs
• Enable team collaboration
• Reduce regulatory compliance and litigation risks

• Improve user productivity and reduce operational costs
• Enable team collaboration
• Reduce regulatory compliance and litigation risks

Automating SAP® System Copy

by UC4 (October 30, 2009)

Go Ahead. Copy.

For organizations manually executing the system copy process required for SAP® systems (or resisting because of all the manual process involved), the UC4 solution significantly reduces cost by automating the repetitive manual tasks and eliminating errors in copying the production system.

• 90% reduction of manual processes
• Increased productivity
• ROI as soon as 2-10 months
• Decreased risk due to error
• Compliance with SAP system requirements

How Hosting Partner Secure-24 Helped SMART Modular Save $1 Million Annually

by Secure-24 (October 29, 2009)

Companies are becoming savvier in their approach to outsourcing: they are focusing on select projects for select providers and managing these relationships with more scrutiny. Companies are also becoming better versed in the range of options for outsourcing: business processes, services, and even technology and hosted solutions. In these uncertain times, businesses are looking for ways to dramatically increase their ROI both functionally and financially. Read this special report to see how hosting partner Secure-24 helped SMART Modular save close to $1 million annually.

Read more...

The Way to Perfect Organizational Charts

by Ingentis (October 28, 2009)

Find out how easy the creation of automated org charts from SAP® ERP Human Capital Management (SAP ERP HCM) can be, even if you are looking for a solution that can take you from simple org charting to visual HR management and beyond.

Learn how Ingentis org.manager and the Ingentis team helped to keep things simple and transparent and read why the Vancouver Police Department decided to use the software of a company from another continent.

You’ll learn about:

• Why organizational charting from your SAP system doesn’t have to be a time and cost consuming project
• How easy it is to get your first results from your real data
• Why a police department from Vancouver, Canada decided to implement the software from a company based in Nuremberg, Germany
• What a North American-based customer thinks about the solution, implementation and service of Ingentis

Leverage the Power of Efficient Human Capital Management

by SAP (October 26, 2009)

Organizations today are constantly challenged to identify, recruit, develop and retain the right talent. Remaining competitive today requires them to efficiently manage the chaos caused by resignations, retirements, new position openings, and demographic shifts. They need to take proactive measures to identify new key positions – and groom high-potential employees.

SAP Talent Visualization application by Nakisa helps organizations identify and groom tomorrow’s leaders, today. This fully Web-based succession management application provides real-time, in-depth visualization and execution of succession plans to effectively align talent goals with your business strategies - leveraging data already configured in SAP software.

SAP Talent Visualization and SAP ERP Human Capital Management (SAP ERP HCM) enables companies to leverage workforce data and improve visibility into existing and future talent requirements and competencies.

In this demo, you will learn how SAP Talent Visualization can help you:

• Align talent goals with business strategy
• Enable effective leadership strategy
• Ensure efficient succession planning strategy

Automating Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Testing for SAP® Applications

by Worksoft, Inc. (October 21, 2009)

Time and resources are always limited, and never more so than now. However, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance is not optional, and businesses continue to expend significant resources on managing this critical mandate. With the right tools, your team can realize significant cost savings in addressing SOX compliance – particularly in the area of annual controls testing.

This white paper will explore the following areas:

• How do you set up SAP® environments to realize cost savings for SOX compliance?
• How do you leverage automation tools such as Worksoft Certify® to replace and/or minimize the business expertise and time required in the validation of SOX controls?
• Can you virtualize testing and still be in compliance?

Increase ROI from your SAP® solution

by SAP (October 21, 2009)

For end-users:

• SAP Productivity Pak provides your end users with “fingertip knowledge”: context-sensitive help offered directly from transaction menus in their SAP software. This degree of choice enables them to work with the precise type of help that best meets their learning style.

• SAP Productivity Pak enables your content authors to quickly and easily create rapid e-learning classes or reuse content tailored specifically to their needs.

SAP Productivity Pak provides administrators with the tools required to create and manage workflows and establish hierarchies for document approval by:
• Organizing and customizing end-user learning portals by functional areas, business processes, job roles, or other categories
• Configuring SAP Productivity Pak to deliver content for specific users or groups, languages, company codes, business areas, application clients, or SAP software instances

• Lower total cost of ownership
• Sustain the value of your SAP solution
• Use training and support personnel more efficiently
• Reduce the need for classroom training

Manage complex software environments on a single platform

by SAP (October 14, 2009)

The greater complexity of today’s IT environments, along with a dramatic increase in network traffic, has made it much more difficult for most organizations to manage their software applications. Testing application performance in preproduction stages is essential to identify problems before they affect application users and to evaluate application service-level agreements (SLAs) properly. Otherwise, you risk a decline in employee satisfaction, lost revenue opportunities, reduced responsiveness to customer needs, a decrease in the effectiveness of IT staff, and, ultimately, damage to your reputation and brand.

Watch this demo to learn how SAP® Extended Diagnostics by CA Wily monitors complex IT environments 24x7 to detect problems proactively and resolve issues quickly – whatever their source. Such real-time intelligence can help you make the most of the Web-based applications and services that are mission-critical to your business and performance goals.

To learn more at SAP TechEd 2009, attend the Expert Networking Sessions in Phoenix (IT under pressure to deliver more! How to manage?) and Vienna (Optimize IT with Solution Extensions from SAP).

In this demo, you will learn how to:

• Maximize Web-based applications throughout their lifecycles
• Enhance capacity planning, trend analysis, and service-level agreements
• Foster collaboration among IT and business staff
• Support new applications and services

Which SAP® Warehouse Management Application is Right For You?

by Catalyst (October 9, 2009)

As you plan your budget for next year or are putting together plans for your next major upgrade, make an informed decision about what SAP® technology is best for your organization. “Which SAP Warehouse Management Application is Right For You?” is the perfect resource for operations managers and IT managers to provide an informative and useful look at SAP’s newer functionality, including information on SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM).

This white paper, written by Catalyst, an SAP Services Partner, features:

• A quick recap of past and future SAP functionality.
• Comparative view of some of the newer functionality and release information for upgrades from SAP R/3®
• Information on extensions to WM application functionality with the advent of Task and Resource Management (TRM) and SAP EWM, including cross docking, slotting, dynamic cycle counting and more.

Verizon Communications: Optimizing SAP® Applications with Red Hat Enterprise Linux

by Red Hat (October 6, 2009)

Verizon Communications Inc., a Dow 30 company, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon identified the need to migrate its large, proprietary, UNIX-based SMP platform to standardize on an open source operating system running on x86-based commodity hardware. This migration would enable Verizon to achieve the scalability, reduced costs, and equivalent performance required for all of its business-critical PeopleSoft and SAP applications. Read this new case study from Red Hat to learn how Verizon delivered outstanding business value from its SAP application migration, including best practices for migrations and lessons learned.

Read more...

Find the right WMS solution for your company with the 2010 WMS RFP Template

by HighJump Software (October 1, 2009)

The decision to purchase a warehouse management system (WMS) is a critical initiative for your company's future success. With so much at stake and so many solution providers to choose from, you need a tool that enables you to grade prospective vendors and that requires vendors to prove the value of their solutions before you make a buying decision.

The 2010 WMS RFP Template is the result of intensive research and interviews with seasoned logistics professionals, and empowers you to determine any prospective WMS solution’s breadth, depth, and flexibility to meet your specific needs.

Download this tool and immediately enable yourself to:

• Identify key functional and technology requirements
  
• Select a solution that will fit your business, helping to ensure low cost of ownership
  
• Avoid WMS solutions lacking robust functionality that will negatively impact production performance and severely limit your ROI

Customer, Product, and Channel Profitability Analysis

by SAP (September 30, 2009)

This white paper from SAP — “Customer, Product, and Channel Profitability Analysis” — explores vital strategies that can help you manage costs and optimize profitability.

Today, it’s more important than ever to understand the real economic costs of your business — in terms of customers, products and channels — so you can make smarter decisions on activities such as sourcing, pricing and logistics.

But how can you get the high-quality, timely cost information you need? SAP has prepared a white paper that helps you learn more about this increasingly critical aspect of preserving profitability.

Download “Customer, Product and Channel Profitability Analysis,” compliments of SAP.

This report explores the power of visibility in cost analysis and gives you the steps you can take to get more accurate costing information. You will discover how to:

• Reassess your cost and profitability reporting
• Understand the benefits of using the right costing methodology and models
• Get a thorough understanding of the financial performance of your products, customers and channels
• Improve your decision making with on-demand ‘what if’ analysis

Act early on IFRS. Get the latest SAP Report

by SAP (September 30, 2009)

Download “Streamlining Your Conversion to IFRS”. This insightful report shows you how to turn an IFRS mandate into an opportunity — tailored to the specific needs of your company.

Companies around the world face the challenges of complying with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). SAP brings experience and clarity to this complex process with comprehensive solutions that help you adapt to each phase of adoption — beginning with an early transition. We’ve helped over a thousand enterprises worldwide comply with IFRS. And we’re here to help you plan ahead, and stay ahead.

This must-read report, compliments of SAP, shows how the right approach can help your organization overcome the challenges of IFRS and achieve a successful transition. Find out how to:

• Compare the system impacts of IFRS principles with those of GAAP


• Identify the critical decision points in a successful IFRS transition


• Leverage your transition to IFRS to improve your current financial consolidation and reporting systems


• Use technology to smooth your path to IFRS


• Reap the benefits of early IFRS adoption

Turn the IFRS mandate into an opportunity: after you review your complimentary report, contact us to learn more about SAP® complete solutions for IFRS.

Leverage SAP® Solutions to manage your Business Applications’ Performance better

by SAP (September 30, 2009)

Whether you’re working to improve day-to-day IT operations, implementing or upgrading your SAP applications, or simply trying to make your users more productive, the pressure is on — you have to do more with less. And in this challenging economic climate, traditional IT approaches often cannot scale to meet seemingly endless business demands.

At the same time, IT budgets are being cut like never before — and sometimes without warning. When this happens, companies must systematically optimize their IT processes to reduce costs while still delivering expected services. What’s more, IT optimization needs to deliver near-immediate payback.

Read this SAP Insider Special Report to understand three key starting points to help your business optimize its IT, increase ROI and lower overall TCO. Find more about SAP solution extensions - software offerings, sold and supported by SAP that can be deployed quickly and independently.

In this special report, you will learn how to:

• Manage Data Growth with SAP Archiving
• Maximize System Performance with SAP LoadRunner
• Manage Business Process Performance with SAP Enterprise modeling
• Improve Process Performance with SAP Central Process
• Go Live Confidently with SAP Quality Center
• Resolve Application Issues Proactively with SAP Extended Diagnostics
• Improve ROI of SAP Solutions with SAP User Experience management
• Reduce manual, Paper-based overhead with SAP Interactive Forms

Leverage SAP® Solutions to manage your Business Applications’ Performance better

by SAP (September 25, 2009)

Today’s complex IT environments, along with a dramatic rise in network traffic, have made it increasingly difficult for organizations to manage their software applications. Even in the face of this challenge, however, IT must work to enable solid application performance.

To help meet these requirements, SAP has identified select third-party offerings, called solution extensions, that enable IT to perform proactive and reactive application monitoring and measuring, as well as problem resolution to ensure enhanced application performance for your business processes.

Read this whitepaper to learn more about these 6 SAP Solution Extensions namely, SAP Extended Diagnostics, SAP LoadRunner, SAP Quality Center, SAP Central Process Scheduling, SAP Process Performance Management and SAP User Experience Management.

In this whitepaper, you will learn how to:

• Proactively Resolve Application Performance Issues with SAP Extended Diagnostics
• Maximize System Performance with SAP LoadRunner
• Improve Process Performance with SAP Central Process Scheduling
• Optimize Process Performance with SAP Process Performance Management
• Test Your Applications Before Go-Live with SAP Quality Center
• Optimize User Performance with SAP User Experience Management

Single Sign-on for SAP® Solution-based Environments

by Quest (September 22, 2009)

Users often need both an SAP® and Active Directory identity and password to work in their IT environment. But multiple identities and passwords create several problems: user confusion, decreased productivity, increased help desk costs and security breaches. Securing and auditing two identities and passwords is bad enough — but what about controlling costs while managing them? Single sign-on (SSO) is the answer. SSO manages the costs, confusion and security risks of single users with multiple sign-ons and passwords. The Quest Software technical brief, "Single Sign-On for SAP," discusses how SSO meets the challenge of multiple SAP and Active Directory system identities and passwords.

The Quest Software technical brief, "Single Sign-On for SAP," discusses:

• Active Directory — the foundation for enterprise SSO
• Why stronger authentication is crucial
• The benefits of encryption and standard authentication conduits

100% Electronic AR Invoicing with SAP® Solutions: Realistic Steps to Quit Paper

by Esker, Inc. (September 17, 2009)

With the right solution, companies can start sending 100% of their AR invoices electronically from day one — even those delivered by postal mail or fax. But how do you get there from where you are today? What does the ideal solution do? And what are the success factors to consider? Read this white paper and explore options to extend the AR invoicing capabilities of SAP solutions beyond auto-faxing and emailing. Learn about a practical, step-by-step approach to not only "quit paper" but gain process visibility and control without constraints. As a resource to assist business and IT professionals in their efforts to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency and accelerate cash collection, this white paper presents solutions with a proven track record of success in helping SAP customers make the transition to electronic AR invoicing.

Learn about:

• Using a web portal to help customers go paperless with self-service subscription to electronic invoicing
• Reducing AR costs by up to 80% and DSO at least 2 days
• Mail on Demand service and its advantages over internal mailrooms and external mail houses
• Supporting compliance with international e-invoicing requirements
• Checklist items to get started with electronic AR invoicing

The Business Value of Pervasive BI

by SAP (September 14, 2009)

What if you had all the information you needed every time you made an important decision? No more second-guessing. No more sleepless nights. And what if you were able to access all of that information at your own convenience, without waiting for anyone to pull a report? Because of advances in self-service business intelligence (BI) tools – now you can. Download the Aberdeen Group white paper, “The Business Value of Pervasive BI,” for compelling evidence about the power and speed of broadly available self-service BI. This informative white paper shows how best-in-class companies are using BI to drive significant performance improvement – and why nearly all have self-service capabilities. Download it now and learn:

• How leading companies have leveraged tools that are intuitive, easy to learn and easy to manage – delivering BI solutions to the workplace with very little help from IT staff
• How accelerated decision making is possible when organizations empower their business people
• How certain barriers can prevent BI expansion – and how leading companies have overcome them
• What you have to gain – companies with pervasive BI enjoy an average 24% increase in operating profit¹

Banco Pastor reduces costs and improves Scalability with Red Hat, SAP®, AND IBM Solutions

by Red Hat (September 8, 2009)

Banco Pastor, Spain’s seventh largest banking group with 4,500 employees, wanted to improve payroll and HR systems management, and achieve cost savings and performance improvements within their SAP® application infrastructure. To achieve these goals, Banco Pastor chose to migrate their SAP NetWeaver®, SAP ERP, and IBM Lotus Notes messaging applications from distributed platforms to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM System z10 Business Class mainframes. With the new platform, Banco Pastor reduced recurrent costs by 30 percent, improved performance for IBM Lotus Notes for Collaboration software and SAP applications, and guaranteed an exhaustive and scalable control of resources. Learn more by downloading and reading the complete case study.

Readers will learn:

• The financial and technical benefits derived from deploying SAP applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM System z10
• Best practices and lessons learned from a migration to IBM System z
• The return on investment that Banco Pastor achieved as a result of their migration

Why Optimize Accounts Payable Processes in an Economic Downturn?

by Dolphin Corporation (August 26, 2009)

This white paper looks at why companies are seeking automation and optimization of business processes to help them today during financial duress and to support them as the economy rebounds out of the recession. It addresses how an optimized Accounts Payable process unlocks cash flows; expensive and rare credit flows demand that Accounts Payable contribute more to cash flow.

• Ensure low TCO year after year
• Achieve fast return on investment
• Lower invoice processing costs 40%-70%
• Gain visibility for confident cash management
• Decrease inquiry response times 50% or more
• Eliminate late payments

Financial Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting- Managing in Uncertain Economic Times

by SAP (August 26, 2009)

In difficult economic times, forecasting and the ability to incorporate business drivers into the ongoing forecast become critical success factors. The ability to align sales forecasts with overall business revenue and cost forecasts, compensating for external and internal influences, is a leading indicator of whether companies will succeed or perhaps even survive in these turbulent times.

The need to be flexible and dynamic to account for change, while the overriding market pressure today, must not override the need for accurate forecasts. These two factors, combined with careful cost control, will become the hallmark of success as top management, board members, and investors demand more accountability and predictability. This report from the Aberdeen Group will serve as a roadmap to efficient planning, budgeting, and forecasting for improved agility, accuracy, and corporate performance. Download this report to learn how to:

• Adopt performance or driver-based budget methodologies
• Improve visibility from top to bottom, throughout the planning, budgeting, and forecasting process
• Implement applications to facilitate corporate or enterprise performance management and ensure they provide the ability to reforecast as market conditions change
• Improve time-to-decision based on reforecasted data

ISN'T IT TIME TO SEE THE FULL POWER OF BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE?

by SAP (August 25, 2009)

According to a recent Information Age survey of 358 senior IT decision makers, business intelligence (BI) is at the heart of an organization's ability to help navigate through tougher economic times - and at the top of CIO priorities, given its proven return on investment. Yet many organizations are not yet reaping the full benefits of their BI investments.

What is getting in their way? Most organizations today lack a comprehensive enterprise strategy or clearly defined standards for their BI initiatives. They run a patchwork of disparate technologies, leading to redundant deployment, maintenance, and training costs; inconsistent information; and frustrated employees who can't get timely answers to their business questions.

Fortunately these issues can be addressed. Download a complimentary white paper, "Implementing Standards to Save Money and Improve Business Insight" to find out how much you can gain by implementing BI standards. You'll discover:

• The potential savings available to your organization based on your own costs
• Best practice techniques used by industry leaders and case studies from a variety of sectors
• How to take a pragmatic, phased approach to standardization that encourages stakeholder buy-in and takes organizational realities into account
• How BI standardization can help improve cost effectiveness, access to information, risk management, insight into new revenue opportunities, and competitive advantage

Supply Chain Risk Management: Building a Resilient Global Supply Chain

by SAP (August 24, 2009)

The impct of unforeseen supply chain disruptions or adverse macro-economic events on a company can be enormous, with the potential to severely damage its operational and financial health. Without a risk management strategy in place, a company is unaware of its ability to respond to unforeseen events or its total exposure should a critical event occur. Globalization has led to increased reliance on outsourced manufacturing, third-party logistics providers, and other intermediaries, which – along with increased government regulations – places an enormous burden on the company’s supply chain. This, coupled with increasing volatility in the global economy, brings supply chain risk management to the forefront of executives’ agendas.

This report from Aberdeen Group benchmarks how companies are assessing and managing their global supply chain risks, including export/import compliance, supplier/customer or country risks, delivery performance, network inefficiencies and logistics/congestion risks, raw material/fuel price risks, and financial and other risks (e.g., unforeseen weather or security events). Brand reputation, market competitive position, and the company’s financial health are all impacted by its ability to identify and manage these supply chain risks effectively.

Download this report and learn how to improve your supply chain risk management capabilities and reduce your supply chains’ exposure to unforeseen events.

Read more...

Network Infrastructure Enhancements for Successful Enterprise SOA Deployments

by Blue Coat (August 21, 2009)

As enterprises become more distributed with expanding branch footprints and more mobile users, WAN-related performance compromises for mission-critical SAP® applications are unacceptable. Adding Blue Coat Application Delivery Network (ADN) Technology can maximize your SAP investment and ensure high SAP application performance on the WAN. A number of important business trends affect the way today’s enterprises use and deploy business applications. This white paper will explain how using just a single appliance, IT organizations can improve performance, reduce server CPU utilization, and guarantee reliable access to applications by securing and controlling your WAN infrastructure.

Download this white paper and learn how to:

• Reduce SAP server utilization by up to 60%
• Cut SAP log-in wait times by up to 6X
• Reduce WAN bandwidth and postpone higher recurring costs
• Prioritize SAP application traffic over other traffic

Linux Trends for SAP® Data Centers

by Novell & RealTech (August 20, 2009)

Linux has reached SAP® datacenters and is ready for business-critical applications. This whitepaper, a benchmarking report by REALTECH Consulting, sponsored by Novell, will demonstrate that predictions of previous research could be confirmed. You will learn why the results of REALTECH’s customer and vendor research suggest that there is still no CPU architecture that provides a faster path for cost savings than the x64 line. The whitepaper investigates why SAP customers move to Linux and the relevance of hardware properties such as robustness, reliability and flexibility in the process.

Take a deep dive into architectural aspects, special improvements, and development directions of CPU manufacturers and the impact of these developments on SAP and Linux. Important Green IT and environmental aspects are also explored in great detail, and the connection between CPU architecture and environmental impact are discussed. Furthermore, the whitepaper investigates who provides the best features and most specialized support for virtualization technologies.

In this whitepaper you'll learn:

• How the newest CPU developments increase available performance significantly
• How and where the cost/performance ratio (based on EURO/SAPS data) dropped even further
• Which is the best CPU/OS combination, according to REALTECH’s findings, to realize cost savings in SAP datacenters quickly
• How architectural aspects influence SAP Linux customers
• Which CPU architectures add positive value for the Green IT aspects of your datacenter
• The mutual impact of virtualization technologies, Linux, and x64 CPU improvements

Hilti Standardizes Global Mission-Critical Solutions on Red Hat Enterprise LINUX, ATIX Open-Sharedroot, SAP Solutions

by Red Hat (August 20, 2009)

This newly published case study describes the business benefits and improved performance that Hilti, a world-renowned manufacturer of leading-edge technology for the global construction industry based in Liechtenstein, experienced after successfully migrating all of their SAP applications from a legacy UNIX platform to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on x86_64 commodity hardware. “We migrated to SAP® applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux on HP ProLiant servers after evaluation and testing,” says Martin Petry, CIO at Hilti. “Since migrating, we have experienced increased performance of more than 100 percent. We also reduced IT costs with a commoditized architecture. Having a tight level of integration between Red Hat and SAP support organizations gives us the confidence to continue along this path and further reduce our costs by migrating all of our SAP environment to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.”

Download this white paper and learn:

• The technical and business benefits associated with migrating business-critical SAP applications from proprietary UNIX platforms to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on commodity hardware
• Best practices and lessons learned by Hilti during their SAP application migration
• ROI and positive financial results that Hilti experienced as a result of the migration

Catalyst XPS – The Solution for Cross–Carrier Small Parcel Shipping From the SAP® Environment

by Catalyst (August 18, 2009)

Transportation and shipping are not standalone functions. Today, they typically a tightly integrated aspect of the end-to-end supply chain. The options available to companies for processing parcel shipping transactions from within SAP environment, whether it is standalone carrier-supplied software, a third-party application or a custom application developed internally, have similar challenges – they rely on middleware and aren’t fully integrated into SAP.

The result is increased shipping costs and time required to ensure compliance with the ever-changing aspects of the small parcel shippers. This whitepaper discusses a tool that can bridge that gap. Catalyst XPS integrates information from the major small parcel carriers into one view, fully integrated with SAP. Customers can save money and improve customer service without creating an additional maintenance burden on IT.

You will learn:

• How current parcel shipping technology options impact the business from a cost and resource perspective
• The benefits of a parcel shipping solution that is built in and not bolted onto the SAP system
• Details on how Catalyst XPS, with an average go live timeframe of 32 days, can help businesses reduce costs and improve customer service without imposing an additional burden on IT

Making Accounts Payable Automation a Reality

by Esker, Inc. (August 11, 2009)

What makes automated Accounts Payable a practical reality for many companies running SAP® applications goes beyond the technology’s functional benefits. It is the larger value of automating processes throughout the procure-to-pay and order-to-cash cycles. The same solution used to automate Accounts Payable processing can also be leveraged to automate procurement, customer billing, and sales order processing.

This white paper presents a solution that offers a unique value proposition: a comprehensive platform to streamline virtually any business process that runs on paper documents. It analyzes the challenges faced by companies still using manual paper-driven processes and explores the benefits of Accounts Payable automation, including:

• Time, labor, and cost savings
• Integration with your existing SAP solution
• Increased visibility into your business processes

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