Maximizing ROI: Benefits of Outsourcing SAP Development & Support

SAP systems help businesses manage and streamline operations. They’ve become an increasingly ubiquitous component of a business’s IT infrastructure. SAP is the world’s largest ERP vendor and the third-largest publicly traded software company.

However, managing in-house SAP development and support teams is a big undertaking that can be costly and time-consuming, stretching your business resources. Therefore, outsourcing SAP development and support is a wise solution for many companies.

If your company is considering outsourcing SAP development and support, here are 8 cost-saving benefits you can reap by choosing a well-versed expert partner for your SAP needs.

1. Outsourcing SAP is Cost-Effective

Every company is focused on the bottom line, and one of the primary arguments for outsourcing your SAP development and support is cost-effectiveness. Not only can outsourcing help your business save money on hiring and training employees, but it can help alleviate the related equipment and infrastructure costs associated with SAP.

But outsourcing really shines in terms of cost-savings by giving you access to expertise. A company may not be able to afford a team of specialized SAP experts full-time, in-house, but by outsourcing, you can access all that expertise and leverage that brain power for a fraction of the cost.

2. Outsourcing Gives You Access to Specialized Expertise

SAP development experts are tough to find. For mid-sized businesses, it can be especially tough to recruit and hire experts to manage your SAP development and ongoing support. Plus, an in-house IT professional may not have access to and experience with the latest and rapidly evolving SAP technology and updates.

By outsourcing your providers, you benefit from someone experienced in working on many similar projects. An outsourced SAP developer will be on top of the latest advancements in the industry, in areas such as S/4HANA, because they’re working in the SAP space every day. You’ll avoid the “learning curve” and delays that can end up stalling a project.

3. Outsourcing Provides Flexibility and Scalability

Do you need SAP to grow and adapt with your company? Outsourcing SAP development and support offers businesses flexibility and scalability. Adjust the resources that your company allocates to SAP as required by the market, demand, and needs of your organization.

If you need to scale up quickly to meet a project deadline or downsize your resource allocation during quieter periods, outsourcing your SAP development allows you to adjust anytime. As a result, you can focus attention where it’s needed and when it’s needed within your company.

4. Outsourcing SAP Allows You to Focus on Core Operations

The attention of management is often stretched thin, especially in medium-to-large-sized companies. Often, business leaders are focused on maintaining their position in the market, answering to stakeholders, and more. How many leaders also have time to manage IT operations?

By outsourcing SAP development and management, business leaders can focus their attention where it should be—on their core operations. Rather than immersing themselves in the details of technology management, they are free to be strategic and focus on those all-important bigger-picture issues.

5. Outsourcing Allows You to Invest in Other Areas of the Business

When your company isn’t funneling money into SAP workforce development, training, and maintenance costs, you can invest in other business areas. In addition, because a cloud ERP like SAP S/4HANA centralizes data management and helps you streamline your operations, you’ll see smoother workflows, greater operational efficiency, and often increased productivity—thanks to better employee and customer satisfaction.

Streamlining operations is one of the greatest benefits of SAP itself. Once those operations are streamlined, everyone in the company sees benefits in all aspects of operations. When you outsource the development of SAP to field experts, you can focus money, time, and efforts on your business’s (now improved) operational areas.

6. Outsourcing Offers a Faster Time-to-Market

Outsourcing SAP development frees up businesses to get products and services to market more quickly. By leveraging the expertise of an external provider, companies can complete their tasks and projects more efficiently and with better quality.

For example, we implemented an SAP S/4HANA solution at Satpayev Mining and Processing Plant and it helps our client increase time-to-market because they have real time access to complete and reliable information about their production processes. The new system handles 100 business processes and 124 business functions, minimizing manual labor and serving as a single information management system for all users. This allows the company to understand quickly the real factors that affect the final financial performance. As a result, they are able to make informed decisions and respond promptly to changes in the market.

Additionally, the system includes a set of industry-specific tools that are customizable to meet the needs of any production facility. With these benefits, Satpayev Mining and Processing Plant can improve productivity and business processes, as well as achieve a faster time-to-market and ultimately strengthen their position in the world market of titanium producers.

7. Outsourcing SAP Helps Businesses Increase their Competitiveness.

Staying up-to-date with the latest technology and industry trends is a massive task for any CIO or business IT leader. By outsourcing SAP development, you’ll have access to people who work within the SAP space and are trained SAP partners.

Partnership means experience, industry connections, and access to the latest features and tools offered through SAP. When you outsource SAP development and support to an expert SAP partner, your company is better able to stay ahead of the competition by delivering more to your customers.

8. Outsourcing SAP Offers Strategic Partnerships

Finding a well-versed, reliable SAP outsourcing partner will build your industry connections and create strategic relationships. All business leaders know the importance of (human) networking, which is especially critical in the technology space.

The strategic partnerships you build through your SAP development partner can open doors and lead to new ideas. They can provide your business with access to new markets, customers, and growth opportunities

Choosing the Right SAP Outsourcing Partner

When it comes to the question of “should we outsource SAP,” the real question is, “can we afford not to?”

By choosing an expert SAP outsourcing partner, you’ll maximize your ROI. To find the right partner, you should look for a provider with a proven track record of success. In addition, an SAP outsourcing partner should have a team of highly skilled and experienced professionals. Most importantly, the partner should be SAP-certified with all the compliance standards in place to protect your data security and privacy.

At IBA Group, we have over 300 SAP experts. We’re proud of our 25+ years of partnership with SAP. We’ve completed 120+ SAP projects over the last decade. We have the experience and expertise to be your reliable SAP development and support partner. Contact us for more information on getting more from SAP.