SAP has been named a leader among 18 vendors in the first-ever IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Carbon Accounting and Management Applications 2024 Vendor Assessment.

A once nascent market, carbon accounting and management is experiencing a significant transition in the number, type, and capability of solutions available. The landscape formerly comprised of startup and niche vendors has expanded to include large independent software vendors (ISVs) and hyperscalers, all battling for market share.

Organizations are under increasing pressure to track and disclose carbon emissions data to stakeholders including investors, partners, clients, customers, employees, and regulators. Many are collecting data and reporting on Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Scope 3 remains a challenge due to the complexity of reliable data collection and reporting.

Fines and litigation will create a new impetus for reporting as well. Regulations will add a new element of complexity to how companies report. Disclosure of decarbonization initiatives will require unique data analysis and scenario planning tools. The IDC report points to data integration as a principal challenge for carbon accounting vendors.

SAP Carbon Accounting & Management: Rising to the Challenge

SAP is well-positioned to provide organizations with data-driven, purpose-specific carbon management solutions that are ERP centric, cloud based, and AI enabled. These include SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, SAP Sustainability Control Tower, SAP Sustainability Data Exchange, the SAP S/4HANA Cloud solution for EHS environment management, and SAP Green Ledger, which all help to enable carbon accounting and management on a transactional level and transform emissions tracking processes.

Our carbon management solutions are best suited for organizations currently using or planning to use SAP S/4HANA Cloud and looking to capture the value of sustainability, as well as manage sustainability-related business risks. Customers can address these objectives by embedding sustainability into their end-to-end business processes, leveraging ERP and supplier data, and using the metrics to inform business processes and financial reporting.

Having the ability to assess carbon and financial data on the same transactional level adds a new dimension to the way organizations address carbon budgets, make capital allocation decisions, and cascade and scale change management. This transformation allows for targeted sustainability actions and more precise financial decisions.

SAP can leverage its ERP-centric sustainability approach of supporting both corporate and transaction-level product carbon footprints as a differentiator. Integration with other financial applications – procurement, supply chain, risk, and compliance management – is a standard feature of the SAP Sustainability portfolio.

Staying ahead of carbon taxes, penalties, and upcoming regulatory requirements will also play a key role in how organizations report. Alignment between CFOs and CSOs will become more frequent due to the overlapping responsibilities and sustainability management component, as they affect both corporate risk and cash flow.

According to the IDC MarketScape, “the portfolio of sustainability offerings is built on a foundation of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, limiting adoption to the universe of users. Furthermore, while modular in design, much of the solutions’ value is dependent on the adoption of multiple system elements, thus commanding a higher price point.” SAP is responding with the speed and agility of cloud delivery combined with integrated sustainability data within the core enterprise resource planning system. This will be critical in helping to optimize customers’ sustainability and financial performance and become the very foundation of their future business success.

By unifying sustainability and financial data, SAP customers can unlock carbon emissions insights, positively impacting decision-making and forecasting on all hierarchical levels. With end-to-end carbon management and the added transactional-level carbon emissions data, organizations can improve operational efficiency, foster emissions transparency, and comply with developing regulations. Achieving a sustainability transformation – one that benefits the bottom line and the planet – is truly within reach. Find out more here.

The IDC study provides a comprehensive analysis of carbon management platforms, highlighting the increasing need for organizations to track, manage, and report carbon emissions amid evolving regulatory landscapes and stakeholder pressures. It evaluates vendors based on their capabilities and strategies to meet future customer needs, focusing on innovation, customer satisfaction, and the ability to support organizations in their decarbonization efforts. “In an era of escalating environmental scrutiny, mastering carbon accounting is not just compliance, but a strategic imperative for future-proofing businesses,” said Amy Cravens, research manager, ESG Reporting and Management Applications at IDC.

Alicia Lenze is global head of Sustainability Marketing at SAP SE.

In today’s fast-paced world, AI is helping boost user and organizational productivity, enhancing decision-making and fundamentally changing our business processes.

As we recently announced at SAP Sapphire, since Q4 last year we have delivered 50 new AI innovations and we are on track to ship more than 100 AI use cases across the SAP portfolio in 2024. As part of this effort, we, in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition team, are excited and proud to introduce new AI innovations announced at the event.

When considering use cases, we look to drive business growth and foster innovation with AI-enabled cloud ERP from three perspectives:

• Increase the productivity and efficiency of people by transforming work through automation and simplified user experiences to drive business outcomes.
• Accelerate business processes and optimize decisions by enabling AI-powered processes and data-driven insights and recommendations to make faster, safer decisions.
• Boost finance excellence with AI to optimize working capital and closing functions.

AI Use Cases to Increase the Productivity and Efficiency of Your People

Joule, the AI-powered copilot: Joule can enable customers to interact with their business using natural language for informational, navigational, and transactional assistance. It is now possible to get quick tips, information, and insights by simply asking Joule. Joule helps redefine user interaction, streamline business processes, and enhance productivity. It can enable contextual access to content and applications by providing users the ability to simply ask for guidance and get pointed in the right direction.

Smart summarization: Customers are now able to leverage generative AI to help seamlessly propose summarizations of business context in multiple languages to enable faster collaboration and communication. This can ensure that daily activities are expedited, providing users with the flexibility to tailor text proposals to their specific needs. For example, in advance of a customer meeting, a sales representative can ask for a summarization of customer details, latest interactions, and current issues. The results are summarized and sent via e-mail so the sales rep has the information at their fingertips to read prior to the meeting.

Easy filter: Our customers can now easily and efficiently filter in elements-based SAP Fiori apps with natural language enabled through generative AI. This can enhance the current filtering experience significantly and helps make it more intuitive for first-time users. For example, a sales manager can, in natural language, get the sales orders for their VIP customer that are open, have a due date this week, and exceed a certain amount.

Collaborative ERP: Empower end users to eliminate redundant tasks and increase efficiency. By combining the power of SAP and Microsoft, users can receive notifications for to-dos from SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition directly in Microsoft Teams through the SAP S/4HANA for Microsoft Teams integration. This can not only save time for end users, but can also decrease media breaks. When sharing business context with coworkers, users can benefit from the option to share cards based on adaptive card-based loop components. This allows end users to directly act and copy seamlessly in the Microsoft ecosystem, such as from Microsoft Teams to Microsoft Outlook.

As announced at SAP Sapphire, SAP and Microsoft will start integrating Joule and Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 later this year, combining enterprise data residing in SAP with contextual knowledge from Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, and more, helping to deliver richer insights for better decision-making.

Take the example of a sales manager who needs help removing the block off a sales order for one of their most important customers. They recognize by checking on the Microsoft side that a sales order is blocked. They reach out to one of their team members asking for help through Microsoft Outlook. The team member solves the issue directly in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and sends back an updated note with the real-time status of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition solution. Finally, the sales order is unblocked, and everyone has worked in the environment they are most used to, efficiently and effectively.

Interested customers can experience innovations for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition firsthand through our Customer Influence program.

AI Use Cases to Accelerate Business Processes and Optimize Decisions

Reinvent customer service with personalized experiences that can address customer needs quickly.

Intelligent recommendations: From sales order completion to customer returns creation, intelligent recommendations in SAP Fiori apps can dramatically reduce the time spent on creating business objects by up to 90%. This can not only minimize manual effort, but therefore accelerate the overall process by improved accuracy and enhanced productivity.

Intelligent matching employees to projects: Our customers can now leverage AI innovations to help streamline project staffing by efficiently matching the best-skilled employees to specific projects. This can reduce the time and effort involved in finding the right talent, helping to ensure that projects are staffed with the ideal team members.

Communication intelligence in enterprise service management: Automating the clearing of open items and matching receivable items has never been easier. Our machine learning solutions can offer up to a 60% reduction in manual effort, helping to automate up to 70% of receivable item matching and potentially reduce days sales outstanding by up to 5%.

For example, an accounts receivable agent can get every incoming customer mail classified, summarized, and all key information extracted. Furthermore, the system can guide the agent to help identify financial disputes, resolve them, and generate mail responses back to the customer.

Boost Finance Excellence with AI to Optimize Working Capital and Closing Functions

Financial business insights: This can enable customers to reach optimized profitability through tailored resolutions via tailored prompts. The user can gain real-time insights and detailed analysis for financial decision-making, receive targeted recommendations, and improve teamwork and collaboration across business functions with the help of SAP Business AI.

For example, an overhead accountant who must prepare a high-level expense report summary can get an overview of cost centers with the highest deviation compared to the previous period with quick actions supported by generative AI.

Guided error resolution in advanced financial closing feature: AI-generated recommendations can assist users in resolving errors identified during financial close processes. This not only helps to accelerate the financial close, but also to reduce manual errors and IT costs, empowering business users like never before.

Assisted configuration for complex processes: Whether it’s explaining depreciation keys in user-friendly language or intelligently configuring U.S. tax codes, generative AI capabilities can simplify complex configurations, helping to enhance the onboarding experience and improve productivity during critical periods like financial year-end closings.

Customers Can Get Started and Experience AI Firsthand

Our customers now have the opportunity to join our community of innovators, creators, and forward-thinkers who are harnessing the power of technology to drive change and make a difference. We have launched a Customer Influence site that can enable our customers to embark on a journey of discovery, growth, and endless opportunities.

And there’s more to come. Our SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition road map outlines what features are planned for future releases.

With the pace of innovation ever increasing, we believe that SAP customers are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that business AI brings.  

Arpan Shah is SVP of Public Cloud ERP Product Management at SAP.

Home to more than 1,000 leading brands across fashion, homeware, and beauty, BrandAlley offers its more than 13 million members the labels they love at up to 80% off recommended retail price. BrandAlley is the UK’s largest members-only flash sales website. These online platforms offer heavily discounted products or services for a limited time, typically lasting a few hours to a few days. The significant discounts attract customers and create a sense of urgency, as customers need to act quickly to make a purchase before the sale ends or the available stock runs out.

Key to BrandAlley’s success is its deep understanding of its members and the impressive fact that 70% of these customers keep coming back for more. Fifty-two percent of them buy instantly, purchasing an average of three items, or £140 of value.

Michelle Hurney, head of Marketing at BrandAlley, explains the company’s core principle: “We launch up to 40 campaigns every day that offer up to 75% off on some of the best brands such as Reiss, Dyson, Levi’s, and many more.” Campaigns are exclusively for members and interested customers have to sign up to browse the website and to shop. Registration is free.