SAP BW and SEM - The platforms for true business synthesis

Over the last 10 years many organisations have implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like SAP that have served as excellent transaction processing systems. They have enabled them to streamline many of their business processes by ensuring they occur in a single integrated environment. This is according to Pebbletree Consulting director Bani Kgosana.

Two main problems have, however, persisted until now. The first of these problems is that although many organisations are now able to efficiently process their daily transactions by inputting data into their ERP systems, they have found it extremely difficult to extract that data from these systems. Related to this problem is that while these systems provide support in the operational functions of the organisation, they do not provide much support to managers functioning at the strategic levels of the organisation. Trying to find and extract strategically useful information from them has been like trying to find a proverbial needle in a data haystack.

The development of tools such as the SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) and the related Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM) suite of tools have begun to dramatically change this situation. Pebbletree Consulting intends to be the leader in partnering with its clients and other organisations in ensuring they reap the benefits of implementing these tools.

Through the use of the rapidly developing functionality found in the BW data warehouse, managers and executives are now able to develop flexible multi-dimensional reports that allow them to `mine` the data held in their transaction processing systems such as SAP. This will enable them to gain strategic visibility into their organisation`s supply chain, process chains and value chain.

This BW functionality is tightly combined with integrated functionality found in the SEM suite of tools that includes a Business Planning Simulation Module (BPS) module, a Corporate Performance Monitor (CPM) module, a Stakeholder Relationship Module (SRM) module, Business Consolidation Module (BCS) and Business Information Collection (BIC) module. This functionality found in BW and SEM applications now gives managers and executives in organisations, that have implemented them on top of their SAP R/3 and SAP R/3 All-in-one solutions, a powerful set of tools which will finally provide the business benefits long-promised by the IT industry.

Organisations must, however, be cautious not to once again fall into the trap of believing these tools on their own will solve all their problems. It is crucial to partner with organisations like Pebbletree Consulting, that in addition to their BW and SEM skills, have solid skills, experience and understanding of the underlying ERP systems that form the foundation of any data warehousing or SEM solution.

To this end, Pebbletree continues to recruit and develop the best SAP R/3 and BW / SEM consultants who continuously work together to develop solutions that make use of the integrated functionality found in these applications. Consulting companies like Pebbletree need to understand their client`s needs and also ensure these clients take full advantage of the benefits from implementing these powerful new generation tools.