NEWS 29 - The World Management

02 July

SAP Launches New Cloud-Based Point-of-Sale Solution

The new cloud edition of SAP Customer Checkout provides customers a seamless, efficient, and scalable point-of-sale (POS) solution for the future.

The first cloud edition has been released in alignment with the company’s cloud strategy. Designed for customers in retail, merchandising, catering, and sports and entertainment, SAP Customer Checkout, cloud edition offers seamless integration with SAP S/4HANA and other systems. From payments, article handling, and coupons to returns, loyalty points, and gift cards, the solution addresses all comprehensive POS needs.

Evolution of SAP Customer Checkout, cloud edition

The development journey of SAP Customer Checkout began in 2014 as on-premise solution with first customers in the sports and merchandising area. As demand grew, the solution expanded into retail and catering businesses, now serving over 900 customers in more than 50 countries worldwide. After more than 10 years, the solution has now advanced to the next stage by moving to the cloud.

“The new cloud edition isn’t just a technological advancement, it’s a beacon for innovation and a catalyst for RISE with SAP,” Andre Bechtold, president of SAP Industries and Experiences, shared. “Already proven in several SAP Experience Centers worldwide and the new S.MART Store, it symbolizes our commitment to driving growth and ushering in digital transformation for our customers. This evolution is opening new avenues, enabling businesses to stay strategic and competitive as the entire POS market and SAP product portfolio transitions to the cloud.”

What’s new in SAP Customer Checkout, cloud edition

The cloud edition of SAP Customer Checkout is perfect for businesses seeking a sophisticated, modern POS system and embarking on digital transformation. The solution consists of two components:

SAP Customer Checkout manager, cloud edition: Cloud-based centralized platform for seamless POS operations and management as well as system integration
SAP Customer Checkout point-of-sale, cloud edition: Powerful solution running in-store at your POS location to streamline all sales and customer transactions

A key distinction between the on-premise version and the new cloud edition is the deployment of SAP Customer Checkout manager now running on the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), adhering to SAP cloud product standards.

Benefits and why customers should move to the cloud edition

The new cloud edition of SAP Customer Checkout offers the best POS solution of both worlds and leverages the incredible power and flexibility of the cloud. Launching SAP Customer Checkout, cloud edition brings numerous benefits.

Harald Tebbe, senior manager and head of Development for SAP Customer Checkout, cloud edition, highlighted: “Our approach ensures reliability and local stability at POS locations, coupled with the cloud’s scalability and connectivity. With adherence to SAP cloud standards, businesses will receive continuous updates and feature enhancements, achieving sustained competitiveness and efficiency.”

SAP Customer Checkout, cloud edition provides additional the following key benefits to customers:

Integrated and future-proof POS technology tailored for the retail, catering, and sports and entertainment industries
High scalability and flexibility, ensuring to meet growing demands with compromising on performance
Reliable performance, ensuring continuous business operations with the cloud’s high uptime
Enhanced efficiency through streamlined POS operations and automatic updates without any disruptions
Many more features and functionalities, including one complete new user interface for self-checkout, enabling end customers to proceed with sales and payment process by themselves

As of today, new and existing SAP customers can use SAP Customer Checkout, cloud edition and will gain access to the SAP Customer Checkout manager, cloud edition.

Upcoming webinar for customers and partners

A webinar will soon be available for customers, partners, and those is interested in learning more about the solution. Register here.

Learn more about SAP Customer Checkout, cloud edition

Elena Vavitsa is senior solution specialist for SAP Customer Checkout at SAP.

01 July

BUSINESS NEWS

Unlock the Power of SAP Support with Support Accreditation

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In today’s rapidly shifting digital economy, businesses expect more than just reliable software. They demand seamless implementation, fast resolutions, and, above all, outcomes that drive value. Whether you’re a customer managing complex SAP landscapes or a partner delivering SAP solutions, knowing how to navigate SAP’s support offerings is no longer optional—it’s essential.

This is where Support Accreditation can step in. Designed as an easy-to-consume training, Support Accreditation helps equip you with the knowledge and confidence to make full use of SAP’s powerful support ecosystem. And the best part? It’s available to all customers and partners at no additional cost.

What is Support Accreditation?

At its core, Support Accreditation is a self-paced online course that helps demystify the tools, services, and methodologies within SAP’s support landscape. With four digestible modules, interactive quizzes, how-to videos, and one-page summaries, it can deliver clarity in a space that often feels complex and fragmented.

Upon completion, learners earn a digital Support Accreditation badge—a mark of proficiency and confidence that can be showcased on social media or used to enhance your professional profile.

“Understanding SAP’s support landscape shouldn’t be a mystery. Support Accreditation gives you the clarity and confidence to lead with impact,” said Anja Schneider, SVP and global head of Premium Engagement & Advisory, SAP.

Recent updates that make it even better

SAP continuously evolves the accreditation to reflect the dynamic nature of cloud support. Recent updates include:

A new AI-guided support module covers how SAP leverages large-language models and AI to help drive predictive, real-time support. You’ll learn how tools like Incident Solution Matching and AI-based recommendations can improve response times and accuracy.
An enhanced focus on 24/7 support structures teaches you how to engage with SAP’s global support organization across different channels and time zones.
The expanded coverage of SAP Cloud ALM showcases how to manage implementation and operations more effectively using a cloud-native, out-of-the-box solution.
In-depth guidance on SAP for Me details how SAP’s personalized digital companion can provide transparency and control across all touchpoints—from licenses to lifecycle management and support interactions.

Whether you’re scheduling an expert, chatting in real-time with SAP support engineers, or using SAP for Me to get a consolidated view of your landscape, Support Accreditation helps ensure you know how to make the most of these resources.

“Support is more than solving issues. It’s about enabling outcomes. This accreditation empowers you to do just that,” said Augusto Spinelli, EVP and global head of Adoption Services Center, SAP.

Why it matters for customers and partners

Let’s face it—even the best digital tools fall short without the right enablement. Many organizations aren’t fully aware of all the support resources available to them, leading to longer resolution times, missed opportunities, and frustration.

Support Accreditation helps bridge that gap. Customers can learn how to accelerate resolution times, engage effectively with support teams, and use self-service tools to reduce case volumes. Partners can gain a competitive edge by delivering projects and managed services aligned with SAP best practices.

“The future of support is proactive, intelligent, and business-driven. This accreditation empowers you to lead that future,” said Stefan Steinle, EVP, global head of Customer Support & Cloud Lifecycle Management.

Over 5,000 success stories and counting

Each year, more than 5,000 customers and partners complete the Support Accreditation course. The average course rating? A near-perfect 4.75 out of 5. It’s not just useful; it’s loved. And because the course is updated regularly, SAP recommends refreshing your badge once a year to stay aligned with the latest tools and best practices.

Whether you’re new to SAP or a seasoned consultant, there’s never been a better time to invest a couple of hours in a course that will pay dividends across every support interaction you have.

Ready to take the next step?

Join the thousands already leading with confidence. Start your journey with Support Accreditation today on SAP Learning.

Oliver Huschke is VP of External Engagements, Customer Support, and Cloud Lifecycle Management at SAP.

30 June

BUSINESS NEWS

Turbulence Ahead: Annual Study Reveals Five Topics Dividing Business Travel Stakeholders in 2025

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Business travel is up in the air. The toss-up between cost-savings, employee safety, and the value of in-person interaction is an ongoing boardroom debate. In the age of virtual calls, many employees are desperate to hit the road, while others prefer to conduct their business via digital channels.

Whichever side of the fence you fall on, business travel remains vital to build working relationships and drive growth. Yet, there are certain topics relating to company travel initiatives that don’t have full stakeholder agreement. To understand the perspectives, challenges, and opportunities, it’s vital that leaders know where the disconnects lie.

The seventh annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey asked 3,750 business travelers, 700 travel managers, and 600 chief financial officers (CFOs) about friction points in business travel. These are the main areas where we found some disagreement.

The need for business travel

The overwhelming majority (94%) of business travelers believe travel is helpful, if not essential, to success in their roles. Yet, 43% of CFOs say more than half of their company’s business travel could effectively be replaced by teleconferencing or other communication methods that don’t require travel. A third (33%) of travel managers view the tilt towards virtual meeting options as a direct threat to their company’s business travel.

Employee willingness to travel

There’s a disconnect over a perceived lack of enthusiasm to travel. Seventy percent of business travelers are very willing to travel over the next 12 months, marking an increase from 67% in 2023. Yet, this optimism is not universally shared within organizations. Thirty-five percent of travel managers view employees’ unwillingness as a potential threat to business travel and nearly half (45%) of CFOs believe employee reluctance or refusal to travel could negatively impact company health within the next year. While many employees are very willing to hit the road, concerns remain among CFOs and travel managers about whether travel enthusiasm is widespread enough to fully support business goals.

Changes in travel budgets

Each role has a different view on how travel budgets are evolving. Nearly half (48%) of business travelers are worried that their company’s travel budgets will remain stagnant or decrease this year. On the bright side, only 24% of CFOs and 22% of travel managers say budgets will be reduced or stay the same—suggesting a disconnect between employee fears and management’s financial outlook.

The roles that hold the most influence

There’s a perception gap over who influences business travel decision-making. Business travelers believe travel managers (37%) and CFOs (36%) have similar influence, significantly ahead of their own at 28%. However, travel managers are broadly aligned in feeling they (43%) have nearly the same amount of influence as CFOs (41%), compared to only 16% for business travelers. CFOs strongly disagree, with 69% believing they are the most influential decision-makers, significantly ahead of travel managers (21%) and travelers (9%).

The impact of budget limitations

Although they see travel as critical to their roles, two-thirds (66%) of business travelers say important trips have been curtailed due to costs. In alignment, 69% of travel managers believe their company travel budget fails to reflect the importance of business travel to their organization’s success. And whilst CFOs acknowledge the problem, there’s dissent in the ranks. Fifty-one percent of CFOs somewhat agree that budget limitations stop employees from traveling as much as they need to do their jobs well, while just 29% strongly agree.

How data can help to solve the business travel debate

These findings highlight the different perceptions between travelers, travel managers, and CFOs, for the first time in our SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey. To empower employees to develop professionally and create new opportunities on the road, it’s vital that every role in the organization aligns on common goals.

Bridging these gaps requires more than dialogue—it demands visibility. Organizations need a shared source of truth to understand behaviors, align priorities, and make informed decisions. Integrated travel and expense solutions offer companies the data and insights they need to steer their travel programs and budgets in a complex multi-stakeholder environment. SAP Concur solutions can help analyze employee spend, drive cost-savings, and ensure efficient business travel.

Explore more insights in the seventh annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey.

Charlie Sultan is president of Concur Travel at SAP Concur.

The SAP Concur Global Business Traveler Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 3,750 business travelers in 24 markets: U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Spain, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia), Japan, Korea, India, Mexico, Brazil, SEA (Singapore, Malaysia), South Africa, Portugal, Switzerland, and Austria.
The SAP Concur Global Travel Manager Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 700 travel managers, defined as those who direct or administer travel programs for businesses, across seven markets: Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), UK, and U.S.
The SAP Concur Global CFO Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 600 CFOs across six markets: Germany, Canada, Japan, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), UK, and U.S.

27 June

BUSINESS NEWS

Pandora Leverages SAP to Support Its Strong Foundation for Growth

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Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Pandora designs, handcrafts, and markets high-quality jewelry at affordable prices using only recycled silver and gold materials.

The company, which employs 37,000 people and had revenues last year of DKK 31.7 billion (EUR 4.2 billion), can trace its origins back to 1982 and a small family-run shop in Copenhagen.

In the 42 years since then, Pandora has grown into the largest jewelry brand in the world, with jewelry sold in more than 100 countries through retail stores and online.

“Pandora is the brand that’s all about love, and it is about gifting to your loved ones but also celebrating yourself when you have had an amazing achievement,” said Mariane Heidingsfelder, Pandora’s senior vice president of Business Transformation.

26 June

BUSINESS NEWS

SAP Master Data Governance Named a Leader in 2025 Master Data Management Analyst Report

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SAP has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Master Data Management Solutions, Q2 2025, in which Forrester Research Inc., a leading global research and advisory firm, researched, analyzed, and scored 12 vendors and named SAP a Leader.

The report analyzed SAP Master Data Governance and noted “it stands out for its global, industry-specific solutions, with a focus on SAP S/4HANA integration” and “SAP’s strategy of integrating applications, data, and AI shows its commitment to unifying data into a single source of truth accessible across the enterprise.” The 21 scoring criteria employed by Forrester Research covered two categories: Current Offering and Strategy.

The Forrester report states that “SAP offers remarkable data privacy, security, and global compliance with natively supported governance functions.” And it further points out that “the introduction of its AI copilot [Joule] indicates SAP’s direction toward embedding generative AI across its platform for improved quality, adoption, and management.”

“In the context of SAP business applications, SAP Master Data Governance can offer much more then integration. We have shown this with scenarios embedded into SAP S/4HANA, or with federated master data governance deployments across an application landscape, or with integrated end-to-end scenarios for supplier management across SAP Master Data Governance and SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance,” says Markus Kuppe, vice president and chief product owner of SAP Master Data Governance. “When we look at SAP Business Data Cloud, which provides semantically rich data from various data sources, we see master data often as the most critical data asset. SAP Master Data Governance curates this master data towards a trustful and high-quality treasure and feeds into SAP Business Data Cloud as a data product.”

SAP Master Data Governance allows organizations to create a unified, trusted view of their business to help enable them to work more efficiently and make better decisions. The application is available on-premise as well as in the private and public cloud with support for consolidation, central governance, and data quality management. Customers can establish a cohesive and harmonized master data management strategy across all master data domains to help simplify enterprise data management, increase data accuracy, and reduce total cost of ownership.

To learn more about SAP’s ranking among top vendors, read the full report.

Kaiser Larsen is vice president for Product Marketing, Data & Analytics at SAP.

Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here .

25 June

BUSINESS NEWS

Surgical Product Manufacturer Mizuho OSI Modernized Fixed Asset Management with SAP Build

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Founded in 1978 in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company originally known as Orthopaedic Systems Inc. (OSI) became part of the Japan-based Mizuho Corporation in 2002. Mizuho OSI has since grown into a market leader in surgical tables. With a focus on innovation and improving surgical outcomes, the manufacturer is known today for its advanced medical technology and specialty surgical solutions.

What is true for its products also holds true for Mizuho OSI’s internal processes. Striving for operational efficiency, Mizuho OSI sought to modernize its processes. To leverage SAP’s low-code capabilities, the company worked with SAP AppHaus in 2024. Together, they began exploring automation opportunities using SAP Build Process Automation and SAP Build Work Zone. During an initial SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) explore workshop, Mizuho OSI’s IT and business teams took a closer look at the manual fixed asset creation process.

Use case: Approving and creating new fixed assets

The workshop uncovered key inefficiencies in the manual purchase acquisition process, particularly its e-mail-driven workflow involving requesters, approvers, and finance accountants. This approach not only introduced a high risk of errors but also slowed down the process significantly. For high-value fixed asset purchases, the need for additional approvers and supporting details further extended the procurement cycle, highlighting the necessity for a more streamlined and automated solution.

With guidance from SAP experts, the joint project team designed a streamlined, automated process for fixed asset approval and creation. Leveraging SAP Build Process Automation and SAP Build Work Zone, Mizuho OSI’s in-house IT team successfully developed and deployed a solution using a low-code application framework, accelerating implementation while reducing complexity.

“As we grow from a mid-sized to a large enterprise, tools like SAP Build Process Automation are essential—not only for driving process efficiency but also for extending the reach of our lean IT team,” Lindsay Neill, director of Enterprise Application at Mizuho OSI, said. “We’re grateful to SAP AppHaus and the SAP product team for their guidance throughout the journey—from identifying the right use case to providing the technical support needed to bring this proof of concept into production. The new automated process is a major improvement over our previous manual approach. I couldn’t be happier with the results!”

Measured results

After testing and implementing this new solution, both end users and the project team could measure a reduction in manual effort and observe improved process efficiencies, such as:

40% increase in process efficiency from days of pending response to automatic processing
65% reduction in approval time since asset costs below a certain threshold can be automatically processed
70% decrease in manual efforts, with fewer errors and faster decision-making since human intervention is now only required for exceptions

Diagram showing Mizuho OSI's fixed asset application built with SAP Build solutions — *Mizuho OSI solution diagram*

“It’s been a true pleasure collaborating with the team at Mizuho OSI. Their forward-thinking mindset and readiness to challenge the status quo made this collaboration exceptional,” Tina Tuan, director at SAP AppHaus Palo Alto, said. “I’m proud of what we achieved together using SAP BTP and SAP Build solutions and even more excited to see how this success inspires and empowers them to take on future projects with confidence and momentum.”

Through close collaboration between SAP and Mizuho OSI, this project has proven that roadblocks can be overcome with the right partnership. The team successfully implemented an innovative solution for fixed asset approvals, laying a strong foundation for future initiatives leveraging SAP Build solutions and SAP Business Technology Platform. On the horizon is a promising next milestone, somewhat broader in scope, such as material master automation.

One thing is certain, the Mizuho OSI project team is driven by the company’s powerful mindset: Dare to go further. Care to do more.

Imke Vierjahn is communications lead for SAP AppHaus.

25 June

BUSINESS NEWS

From Risk to Resilience: Procurement’s Growth to a Strategic Position

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Fueled by a combination of geopolitical tension, economic instability, and significant supply chain shifts, procurement has taken on increasing importance. Procurement has evolved from a function focused primarily on cost-cutting to one that drives value creation and manages global risk. As a result, today’s organizations are forced to reevaluate how they operate, transforming procurement from a back-office function into a vital strategic partner.

In a broad study sponsored by SAP, Economist Impact highlights this continuing shift in perception and performance, revealing a rising confidence in procurement’s ability to make business impact. This is the fourth consecutive year that SAP and Economist Impact have partnered on a study, and the survey includes responses from more than 2,000 C-suite leaders globally.

The report, titled “The Resilient Edge: Procurement in an Era of Polycrisis,” also underscores procurement’s growing influence in advancing AI adoption and sustainability performance. However, the field still faces obstacles in assuming this larger role, including readiness for technology and building a future-proof workforce.

Still, the overall trend is clear: procurement’s fundamental transformation is putting it in a position to play an important role in business strategy.

Growing confidence in procurement to drive strategic value

Businesses today face a convergence of crises—a “polycrisis”—which includes environmental shocks, shipping delays, and growing regulatory restrictions. Tariffs are the latest disruption, prompting businesses across sectors to seek quick solutions to avoid price hikes.

Weathering this storm requires procurement leaders to take on higher risk as they navigate this uncertainty. The Economist Impact report finds that geopolitical risk has emerged as the top concern for procurement leaders, with 64% listing it as their top focus over the next 12 to 18 months, up from just 30% in 2024. This surge reflects both the growing complexity of global operations and procurement’s expanding influence.

As risk becomes more multifaceted and severe, procurement professionals have a role beyond sourcing supplies at the lowest cost. Instead, they are developing robust strategies to identify, assess, and mitigate risk. This strategic pivot is also reflected in growing cross-departmental trust. In fact, 78% of respondents expressed confidence in procurement’s ability to manage external risk—a 37% increase from last year—signaling procurement’s growing value as a strategic partner.

AI has a central role in procurement

From detecting demand signals and enabling scenario planning to automating routine workflows, AI is dramatically expanding procurement’s capabilities.

The Economist Impact report notes that organizations are prioritizing AI proficiency more than any other skill over the next 12 to 18 months, including predictive analytics, demand forecasting, and managing data bias and privacy concerns. These skills are essential for procurement teams that need to pivot quickly in response to unexpected disruptions.

Most importantly, AI will be at the center of procurement’s continued transformation. An overwhelming 89% of respondents in the study said they are confident in their ability to adopt and apply AI to improve efficiency and productivity. This confidence is grounded in tangible benefits that AI can provide, including identifying early demand signals, optimizing supplier performance, and simulating risk scenarios to support better decision-making

Simply put, AI is no longer optional—it is essential to procurement success and relevance.

Improved environmental results

Sustainability has climbed to the top of corporate agendas, and procurement is now on the front lines of this effort, managing supplier emissions and ensuring ethical labor practices. Over half (53%) of survey respondents named sustainability as their top strategic priority for the next 12 to 18 months.

Cross-departmental collaboration is central to these efforts and has enabled procurement to align with key financial and environmental goals. Tools like ESG scorecards and supplier decarbonization plans are now standard practice for measuring environmental impact. These innovations are helping companies meet rising expectations from customers, regulators, and shareholders alike, while also reducing long-term operational risks.

These developments show that procurement isn’t just supporting sustainability—it’s driving it.

Procurement’s inflection point between strategy and cost-cutting

While cost control remains a key part of procurement’s mandate, the balance for today’s procurement teams is shifting—from tactical cost-saving measures to strategic contributions that enhance agility, foster innovation, and safeguard reputation.

To manage these dual demands, companies are turning to procurement technology, like SAP Ariba Procurement solutions, to address key priorities and reduce siloes across the organization.

On June 26, Etosha Thurman, SAP’s Chief Marketing Officer for Finance and Spend, will join Economist Impact’s webinar “Measuring up: Balancing risks and goals for strategic procurement” to explore how organizations can build procurement strategies that drive measurable outcomes. This event will explore how procurement can balance immediate pressures with long-term objectives—a topic that is more relevant now than ever. If interested, register here.

Gordon Donovan is global vice president of Research, Procurement, and External Workforce at SAP.

25 June

BUSINESS NEWS

SAP Unleashes the Power of Its Own Solutions to Meet Sustainability Goals

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How many companies do you know that use their own products? Not for beta testing, but for the tasks they are designed to carry out? This is exactly what SAP is doing, being both a developer and practitioner of its sustainability software that helps enable and empower companies to integrate sustainability into their operations.

Sustainability is an essential element of SAP’s purpose to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. Our approach is grounded in creating positive economic, social, and environmental impact, always within the limits of planetary boundaries and in full respect of human rights. With the ambition to drive sustainability beyond our net-zero 2030 goals and a portfolio that supports broader action areas such as holistic steering and reporting, ethical business conduct, and social responsibility, it was a natural progression for SAP to become its own customer.

As both an exemplar and enabler, we aim to make our targets and purpose a reality. At the same time, by testing our IT solutions to the limit, we share the lessons learned along the way with the product development teams to continuously improve the SAP Sustainability portfolio.

SAP shares its clients’ challenges

SAP faces many of the same sustainability challenges as our customers, such as data collection, data management, and compliance with regulatory requirements. Like the many organizations we support, SAP must manage huge volumes of sustainability data, including carbon footprints, material flows, and ESG metrics, working to ensure accuracy, consistency, and accessibility across the value chain. Demands on IT systems are high. They must grapple with collecting, integrating, and sharing data while also assuring quality, traceability, and auditability.

The evolving regulatory landscape represents another challenge, requiring SAP and other organizations to adapt and leverage their systems for compliance and reporting. IT solutions must be scaled and adjusted rapidly to these changing regulations and be able to collaborate seamlessly with supply chain partners.

Beyond these requirements, companies need sustainability data to provide actionable insights to support decision-making and respond to stakeholders. Meeting these challenges head-on requires an IT infrastructure that is innovative, scalable, and designed to evolve as the business advances on its sustainability journey.

“SAP runs SAP” implementation

In practice, SAP’s systems are designed to empower customers to measure, report, and act on their sustainability goals. To enable this, solutions are built into core business systems such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). This helps ensure a solid data foundation and flexible integration of data sets from various business areas such as procurement, finance, supply chain management, and product design. Sustainability-focused tools like SAP Sustainability Control Tower, SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, and SAP Green Ledger can then provide the data, analytics, and insights needed to help drive sustainable decision-making.

“By implementing SAP Sustainability Control Tower and SAP Green Ledger across our reporting ecosystem, we aim to elevate sustainability management to the same standard as financial reporting,” said Dr. Christopher Sessar, Chief Accounting Officer, SAP SE. “These powerful tools will not only streamline and automate our ESG regulative compliance efforts but also generate actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making, accelerating our journey toward measurable sustainability outcomes and long-term environmental value creation.”

Implementation lessons

SAP’s approach has evolved since the first implementation of SAP Sustainability Control Tower in 2022. Early lessons included the need to collect emissions data in a consistent manner, anchor the project in its net-zero program governance, and expand the scope of the project beyond carbon footprint data to include other environmental topics for a more holistic approach.

The next question concerned the IT architecture, organized into three layers. The top layer relates to the collection of raw sustainability, financial, and operational data from various source systems. The middle management layer processes and standardizes the data. Finally, a bottom planning and reporting layer delivers insights for sustainability decision-making.

The rollout began by uploading carbon footprint data into SAP Sustainability Footprint Management across one company code and will increase to five company codes before the system goes live in Q3 of this year. It is useful to note the iterative approach our team has taken, which has allowed for the collection and integration of data from different sources and the testing of use cases including our ability to support businesses amid changes such as those recently initiated by the EU’s new Omnibus package.

Read in more detail about how SAP runs SAP Sustainability.

Matthias Medert is global head of Sustainability at SAP SE.

24 June

BUSINESS NEWS

SAP Innovation Award Winner HARTING Innovates for a Sustainable Future

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The HARTING Technology Group has established itself as a pioneer in sustainability and a leading provider of connectivity solutions for industrial technologies. With the implementation of SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, part of the SAP Sustainability portfolio, HARTING has automated and scaled CO₂ emission calculations for 13,000 materials.

This data-granular, verifiable, one-click solution supports the company on its path to carbon neutrality by 2030.

Challenges and opportunities

HARTING faced the challenge of finding a reliable method to calculate CO₂ emissions across thousands of production materials while meeting customer and supplier expectations regarding sustainability. Leveraging its existing ERP application landscape with SAP and maintaining established green production and renewable energy processes were crucial.

“Conducting our business and protecting the environment are not mutually exclusive. We are convinced that we must consider both to be successful in the long run,” says Dietmar Harting, member of the Board and partner of the HARTING Technology Group.

Innovations for a sustainable future

Considered the connectivity gold standard across various industrial sectors, HARTING required a robust system to accurately assess emissions. SAP Sustainability Footprint Management can automate data collection, scale emission calculations, and create CO₂ transparency throughout the supply chain. “The key to communicating our CO₂ emissions transparently and recognizing potential for reduction lies in the automated calculation and granularity of the data provided by SAP Sustainability Footprint Management,” explains Dr. Stephan Middelkamp, general manager, Quality and Technology at HARTING.

This solution enables HARTING to provide real-time, granular data to support the “GreenLine” label, an environmentally sustainable designation highlighting renewable materials offering up to a 70% CO₂ reduction.

Strengthening sustainable production

With SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, HARTING can now precisely calculate and report product carbon footprints. This capability is essential to address upcoming EU sustainability regulations, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Digital Product Passport. The solution helps simplify complex data into verifiable, one-click results, promoting sustainable production practices.

Also integrated into HARTING’s sustainability strategy is the use of SAP Responsible Design and Production, which helps the company design products responsibly from the start, reduce plastic taxes, and promote recycling.

“The site-level data derived from SAP Sustainability Footprint Management will drive cleaner production in environmentally friendly facilities while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the impact on water and land life. Green is how we think, green is how we act,” emphasizes Jordy Brinks, global environmental manager at HARTING.

On the path to a greener future

SAP is advancing HARTING’s sustainability journey by enabling the company to design products more sustainably, reduce plastic taxes, promote responsible sourcing, and further recycling practices. With these efforts, HARTING aims to achieve carbon neutrality at all locations by 2030, underscoring its commitment to sustainable growth and environmental stewardship.

“As a family business, we combine consistency with a willingness to innovate and regional loyalty. For us, this means taking responsibility for people and the environment,” Harting says. “We’re not only shaping a livable planet for our future generations, we’re making the future possible. We want to shape the future with technologies for people.”

The HARTING Technology Group continues to drive meaningful change, connecting business success with a greener future and aligning family ideals with sustainability goals.

HARTING at the 2025 SAP Innovation Awards

All of these efforts did not go unnoticed: HARTING has long been recognized as a pioneer in sustainability. This year, it won an SAP Innovation Award in the Sustainability Hero category, leveraging SAP Responsible Design and Production to create 85% of its plastic packaging material from recycled materials.

This article first appeared on the German SAP News Center.

21 June

BUSINESS NEWS

Launching SAP AppHaus Alliances, Partner Enablement Powered by SAP AppHaus

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In close collaboration with the Partner Ecosystem Success organization and as part of the NEXTLEVEL SAP BTP & AI program, SAP AppHaus has built strong alliances with several SAP global strategic services partners (GSSPs). Since early 2024, SAP innovation experts have started to train and enable them to explore SAP Business AI with SAP AppHaus innovation methods.

The launch of the SAP AppHaus Alliances initiative aims to accelerate the innovation process to help bring the latest SAP technologies into the hands of SAP customers.

An initiative to upskill partners in the latest innovation methods

The SAP AppHaus Alliances initiative helps ensure method maturity of SAP partners, upskilling them with the innovation tools and resources they need to conduct workshops on the latest technologies such as SAP Business AI and agentic AI. Currently, the qualification process is exclusively available to partners enrolled in the NEXTLEVEL SAP BTP & AI program. Upskilling partners allows more SAP customers to benefit faster from the latest innovation tools and methodologies made available in the SAP AppHaus innovation toolkit.

“In close collaboration with Partner Ecosystem Success, we launched the SAP AppHaus Alliances initiative because we want to bring the power of SAP’s latest technologies, such as SAP Business AI, into the hands of more customers—faster and with real business impact,” Kathrin Tarnai-Sindl, head of SAP AppHaus, said. “To do this, we train global SAP partners in the SAP AppHaus business AI methodology and equip them with curated workshop modules from our innovation toolkit. We are proud to support this important initiative with our proven methodologies and customer co-innovation experience.”

Who joined already?

Since its inception in April 2025, the following partners have already gained the qualification in SAP Business AI methods and tools provided by SAP AppHaus, with more partners joining regularly:

Delaware
Deloitte
DXC Technology
EY
HCL Tech
IBM
KPMG
NTT Data

Looking back and forward

The enablement activities stretch from virtual SAP Business AI inspiration sessions to onsite trainings, for employees and trainers, in different workshop methodologies. Currently, there have been more than 700 attendees, many of them consultants, and 100 AI-related use cases, of which 37 were identified and selected as part of the NEXTLEVEL program. Also, more than 10 SAP-validated partner use cases have been released in the SAP Partner Finder site to be found as so-called accelerator packages.

The different enablement formats are:

90-minute virtual enablement sessions on the latest workshop formats available in the SAP AppHaus innovation toolkit
60-minute virtual business AI Inspiration sessions to introduce and showcase available SAP AI technology
Train-the-trainer sessions on SAP Business AI explore and design workshops
Train-the-trainer sessions on SAP Business AI agent discover and design workshops

What started as a small pilot hosting road shows to partners within the NEXTLEVEL SAP BTP & AI program has evolved into a global initiative that was joined by SAP AppHaus in 2024. Enrolled partners can benefit from the proven co-innovation methodology and focus on use cases with high business value. They can learn how business solutions can be taken to the next level through the latest SAP technologies infused with artificial intelligence.

“The newly-launched SAP AppHaus Alliances initiative exemplifies our commitment to advancing skill development and co-innovation within our ecosystem,” Karl Fahrbach, chief partner officer, SAP, said. “Through strategic collaboration and rigorous training, we are enabling our partners to master and apply the latest SAP methodologies and technologies, such as SAP Business AI. As a result, SAP customers can unlock the full potential of our solutions and drive unparalleled business impact.”

Imke Vierjahn is communications lead for SAP AppHaus.