Digital transformation refers to the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how the business operates and delivers value to customers. It involves rethinking old operating models, improving processes, and enhancing customer experiences through technology. This transformation not only alters business practices but also requires cultural changes, as organisations must continually challenge the status quo, experiment, and adapt in an increasingly digital world.

ERP & CRM

The digital core of a company can undoubtedly be described as an Enterprise Resource Planning system (more common for manufacturing companies) or a Customer Relationship Management system (for service companies).

The implementation of an ERP system shows a quick return on investment (more than 80% of companies achieve this within 2 years) as well as a reduction in operating costs.

Around 70% of large companies already use ERP. And those that are not, probably understand that they cannot escape change.

Although cloud technologies have been around for more than 10 years, they have begun to gain momentum at an accelerated pace in recent years. Cloud ERPs allow companies to skip the on-premises digitalisation stage and move straight to a flexible and scalable solution. Add to that integration with AI and IoT, robust analytics and data visualisation, and this ERP becomes an indispensable tool that gives your business the agility it needs to succeed in the market.

The pros and cons of SAP solutions

It's impossible to talk about modern ERP without mentioning SAP, the world's largest provider of enterprise application software. It has been in business for more than 50 years and has more than 400,000 customers and 25,900 partners in more than 140 countries.

SAP is able to integrate all aspects of a business into a single system, providing industry-specific solutions, multinational operational capabilities and regulatory compliance. It's scalable and has powerful data analysis and reporting tools. 

Despite its many advantages, SAP is only a viable solution for a large company due to its high cost and complexity of implementation. It requires the presence of an SAP consultant, takes a long time to get fully up and running, and requires a lot of manpower to maintain.

And, like any large platform, it is doomed to be unwieldy and to lag behind the fast pace of modern innovation (although it is worth noting that SAP adapts quickly). It offers integrations with third-party software where its own systems lack. SAP's integration capabilities are truly extensive: it offers over 3,400 pre-built integrations, over 3,800 APIs and data graphs, and over 250 connectors to SAP and non-SAP systems. 

Companies using SAP should therefore pay attention to integrations, as they often offer a more user-friendly experience and higher productivity. This is particularly true for project management and service desks.

Project management and Agile

Project Management (PM) has its roots in civil engineering and construction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and evolved in the 1950s to meet the needs of the military and manufacturing sectors. Traditional PM methodologies are linear and sequential, where the scope, time, and cost of projects are determined at the beginning, and changes are difficult and costly to implement once a project is underway.

In the 1990s, the software development industry faced challenges with the traditional PM approaches due to the rapidly changing technological environments and customer requirements. This led to the creation of agile methodologies. Agile was formally introduced in 2001 with the publication of the Agile Manifesto, which emphasised flexibility, customer collaboration, and responsiveness to change.

Agile allows teams to deliver work in small, consumable increments, enabling more frequent feedback and adjustments as needed, making it highly effective in environments where customer needs and market conditions are volatile. Agile methodologies have expanded beyond software development into other areas of business and industry.

And when we talk about modern project management and agile, it's almost impossible to ignore Atlassian and its products.

Jira Software 

Atlassian Corporation is an Australian-American software company that is often heard of in the context of IT project and service management. The company's philosophy is to revolutionise teamwork. Atlassian products are present in +200 countries and 80% of the Fortune 500 companies use its products.

Not surprisingly, its most popular and well-known product is Jira software. According to Atlassian, "Jira is the #1 agile project management tool used by teams to plan, track, release and support world-class software with confidence."

Since its launch in 2002, Jira has been adopted by +300,000 companies globally. There are more than 3000 apps that can be integrated to customise the use of Jira. While Jira is not the only major player in the project management software market, none of its closest competitors (e.g. monday.com, Wrike, Asana, ClickUp, ServiceNow etc.) have as many add-ons and integrations and as strong a community.

Does your business utilise both SAP and Jira? There’s a way to enhance their use!

Our JIRA2SAP™ connector helps seamlessly combine almost any SAP module with Jira Software.

Stop double entry in both systems and automate bi-directional data exchange. This reduces time and labour costs. In addition, the connection provides more opportunities for data analysis and insight.

There's no need for your staff to enter the same data in both systems; they can work in a friendly Jira interface without having to log in to SAP.

Connecting SAP and Jira closes the gap in your business transformation by making two previously separate systems work in synergy.

Our company is a true pioneer in the field of SAP and Jira integration. The Atlassian Marketplace still has very few offerings in this area, and often solutions are limited to specific SAP modules, whereas we have many years of extensive experience and offer integration with almost any SAP module.

To learn more about how your organisation can benefit from connecting Jira and SAP, or to request a proof of concept, please contact us using the phone number on the website or the contact form, or learn more on the JIRA2SAP™ website.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_transformation

https://truelist.co/blog/erp-statistics/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP

https://www.sap.com/products/erp/what-is-erp.html

https://www.sap.com/insights/top-erp-technology-trends.html

https://api.sap.com/discoverintegrations

https://www.sap.com/suisse/documents/2017/04/4666ecdd-b67c-0010-82c7-eda71af511fa.html

https://www.sap.com/suisse/about/company/history.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jira_(software)

https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/getting-started/who-uses-jira

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?query=SAP

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertdefrancesco/2023/08/23/atlassian-is-gaining-ground-in-the-enterprise-market/