SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are essential tools for modern businesses, encompassing everything from finance and HR to supply chain and production management. However, accessing real-time insights from SAP systems in Databricks often remains a significant challenge due to the inherent complexity and cost of data integration. Cloudaeon's Innovation Lab is reshaping how businesses unlock SAP data's potential in Databricks without disrupting their critical processes.
The Data Integration Challenge
SAP ERP systems have long been the backbone of enterprise operations. Despite their critical role, a global survey revealed that only 23% of businesses have real-time access to their ERP data, and 82% of data is outdated by the time it reaches decision makers. Complex integration protocols, high costs, and limited technical resources make real-time insights a rarity. These inefficiencies lead to delayed decisions and missed opportunities, costing organisations billions annually.
Cloudaeon identified six core challenges in SAP ERP data integration:
Complexity of integration due to customised ERP systems.
Risk of disrupting critical business processes.
Increased strain on legacy ERP systems.
High cost of additional software licenses and tools.
Incompatible programming and data languages.
Scarcity of skilled resources who understand SAP and modern datalake technologies.
The Cost of Change
Attempting to integrate SAP data often entails disruptive and expensive migrations. The average cost for a real-time insights project exceeds £1.1M, with a break-even point over two years later. Moreover, 75% of ERP migration projects fail, while 45% of successful projects run late and over budget.
Cloudaeon's approach advocates replication over migration. Instead of overhauling entire SAP ERP systems, our method replicates SAP data into modern platforms like Databricks for analytics. This process minimises risk, reduces cost, and preserves SAP systems for their critical operational roles.
Introducing the Innovation Lab
The Innovation Lab is a Cloudaeon initiative to tackle the cost and complexity of making SAP ERP analytics available in real-time on Databricks. By leveraging prebuilt accelerators and agile methodologies, it delivers a working MVP in just four weeks. The lab's principles focus on:
Enabling real-time insights from live SAP data.
Enhancing data for comprehensive decision making and unlocking new insights.
Achieving new results without disrupting existing ERP workflows.
How It Works to help unlock Real-Time SAP Insights
The process starts with a Week Zero workshop, where objectives and deliverables are defined. Leveraging synthetic data generation, and Digital Twins, Cloudaeon simulates realworld scenarios in our labs - avoiding the need to access your sensitive production data. This approach accelerates development while maintaining stringent data governance standards.
Key outcomes include:
Simplified integration without disrupting operations.
Real-time data replication.
Cost effective solutions without additional SAP analytics licenses.
Elimination of the need to hire expensive inhouse experts.
Accelerators Driving Success
Cloudaeon’s Innovation Lab is powered by accelerators that streamline every phase of data integration. These include:
Data Ingestion Accelerator: Automates extraction from various ERP systems, including SAP.
Data Transformation Accelerator: Simplifies converting raw SAP ERP data into analytics ready formats.
Data Quality Assurance Accelerator: Ensures accuracy and compliance through automated validations.
Synthetic Data Generation Accelerator: Creates realistic test data for safe preproduction testing and early defect identification.
Data Integration Accelerator: Merges data from diverse ERP modules, and other sources into unified datasets.
Real-Time Data Processing Accelerator: Facilitates instant data updates through Change Data Capture (CDC) for timely decision-making.
Data Monitoring and Maintenance Accelerator: Tracks and optimises data pipeline performance.
Visualization Integration Accelerator: Connects data warehouses seamlessly with tools like Power BI and Sigma.
Utilising Data Design Principles
Optimising data pipelines ensures scalable, cost effective, and high-quality data management. Cloudaeon employs principles like:
Partitioning and organising data into layers Bronze (raw), Silver (curated), and Gold (analytics ready).
Ensuring compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other data governance frameworks.
Using Unity Catalog for indexing, caching, and dynamic resource allocation to enhance performance.
These practices empower organisations to transition their MVPs into production seamlessly, unlocking the full potential of real-time ERP analytics.
Case Study: Transforming Retail Operations
One of Europe’s largest retailers sought to enhance demand forecasting and personalise customer experiences. Using Cloudaeon’s solutions:
They replicated real-time ERP data from SAP and Oracle systems with Fivetran.
Leveraged Cloudaeon’s synthetic data accelerator to test production scenarios.
Implemented a Medallion architecture on Databricks using Prophecy to streamline data management.
And enabled real-time reporting through Power BI and Sigma.
Results included faster analytics, improved data quality, and significant operational efficiencies. This transformation highlights the tangible benefits of Cloudaeon’s Innovation lab approach.
Conclusion
Cloudaeon’s Innovation Lab offers a revolutionary pathway to real-time SAP ERP insights, addressing the challenges of cost, complexity, and technical barriers. By focusing on replication, leveraging accelerators, and applying robust design principles, businesses can achieve holistic and actionable insights without disrupting critical operations.
If your organisation is ready to unlock the value of real-time ERP data, explore Cloudaeon’s Innovation Lab with this ebook, or join our free beta program to prove the concept in just four weeks.
The future of seamless, real-time decision-making is here.
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