WHITEPAPER: A FRESH START FOR YOUR SAP SYSTEM

Unify SAP and your

entire IT under one UX
+

EXEC SUMMARY AUTHOR BIO

• Embrace API-led integration Christoph Garms
• Accelerate SAP Fiori app development Managing Director of Neptune
• Unify data access for SAP and 3rd-party systems Software Germany.
• Provide apps interconnecting SAP with Azure,
Christoph has more than 10 years of experience in SAP
Oracle and Salesforce
environments and holds a Master’s Degree in Business
• Deploy on-premises or in any popular cloud environment and Computer Science. He is passionate about enabling
businesses to revitalize their digital core by adopting
technology that simplifies processes while delivering
strategic wins and lasting competitive advantage.

A More Connected Way of Doing Business

If one word sums up the last decade, it would be ‘faster’. Businesses This fragmented environment breeds stagnation. User interfaces
are obsessed with accelerating processes and innovation. Their become unnecessarily complex because of a lack of time and
customers have embraced ‘on-demand’ via fast fashion, instant resources to focus on user needs.
messaging and same day delivery.
Boards look at budgets and multi-year roadmaps in despair. Progress
Flexible payment models and short contract periods have also stalls and business leaders become frustrated at the time it takes
empowered consumers. Today, the customer is king. Meeting to automate and optimize, as IT departments focus on ‘keeping the
customer expectations is a business imperative, especially in a lights on’ rather than on meaningful change.
subscription world. Lose the fight and you’ll lose the client, you’ll lose
revenue, and eventually, you’ll lose your business. IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY
Imagine if your SAP-centric core systems could manage every basic
To compete, business leaders demand new functionality, now. App
business process AND work with non-SAP systems. Imagine if you
developers are forced into a trade-off between perfect products and
could drive custom development AND keep your core systems clean.
short timelines. Corporate-wide alignment becomes a secondary
Imagine empowering your existing in-house IT team with rapid app
issue. Development teams prioritize speed above consolidation. This
development tools, freeing them to make changes that impact the
leads to a fragmented IT landscape and the stifling need for updates
entire company in tangible ways. The good news is, it’s all possible.
and rework.
With the right approach.
The resulting technical debt is a roadblock to success. It erodes the
This paper shows how a ‘SAP + Rapid Application Development
time developers or client-facing staff can spend on serving customers.
(RAD) platform’ approach can deliver the data-rich, intuitive
IT professionals work with a mish-mash of legacy systems from
experiences you need to drive fast, business-critical results. It
different vendors, for different purposes, with SAP and productivity
outlines the key challenges in unifying access across all systems,
apps scattered by function. Infrastructure is split across on-premises
then describes how to modernize at your own pace, empower
and cloud environments. Developers spend most of their time fixing
users, and change the way you run your business - for good.
and reworking the complex IT landscape, rather than developing new,
innovative, tailored apps to reinvigorate their business.

1
Identify The Challenges

ARE YOU EXPERIENCING THESE COMMON ISSUES?

You’re relying on brittle SAP integrations
iOS with a SAP-centric IT estate find their systems don’t play well
with 3rd-party systems. SAP’s unique language, processes and logic
lead to a piecemeal, time-consuming approach to integration. Every
extra system adds complexity. The tangle of bi-directional interfaces
makes innovation difficult.

You’re maintaining systems rather than making decisive changes

Call it ‘firefighting’ or ‘keeping the lights’ on; if you’re spending
precious resources on maintaining fragile links between SAP and 3rd-
party systems, you’re wasting time and money. You should be making You’re split between protecting investments and change
decisions that boost efficiency and results, not constantly rebuilding Your days are spent on maintenance and projects that don‘t create
system bridges. value. You find yourself coordinating update cycles for globally
distributed backend systems, complicated by different release
versions and custom code. Meanwhile, the board pressures you to
Meaningful reporting is impossible
innovate, digitalize and drive transformation and gets frustrated
A scattered IT landscape makes control over business processes by lack of progress. Existing suppliers talk about costly upgrades,
complex. Can you drive and improve your end-to-end processes? long-lasting, complex system consolidation projects or introducing
Do you see the picture you need in strands? Or do you have a extensive middleware and big data tooling. You‘d like to change
holistic overview? the way your business uses apps, but you can‘t see how to make
it happen.
Competing desires cause delays
The pressure to deliver easy-to-use applications at speed conflicts Doing nothing is not an option. If competitors are shifting to serve
with your desire to minimize integration issues, stay secure and new market dynamics faster than you, your customers will desert you.
reduce costs. You need to add energy and functionality to the IT Choose a holistic, future-proof integration approach, and you’ll get
estate with new, non bi-modal thinking. back on the front foot.

IT LEADERS’ CHECKLIST – ASK YOURSELF:

a. DO I NEED TO CREATE NEW APPS FAST?
b. DOES OUR TECHNOLOGY ENABLE OR FRUSTRATE OUR PEOPLE?
c. DOES INFORMATION FLOW EASILY BETWEEN APPS, SYSTEMS AND DEPARTMENTS?
d. DO WE STILL HAVE PAPER-BASED PROCESSES THAT REQUIRE MANUAL DATA ENTRY?
e. DO WE HAVE THE PEOPLE AND TOOLS WE NEED TO GET FASTER RESULTS AND INNOVATE ON OUR OWN TERMS?

Our goal was to eliminate media breaks for our When I look at our IT landscape, I see an ocean
colleagues. Paper-based data entry and multiple of arrows – bi-directional, often proprietary
SAP systems made their daily jobs complicated. connections. We are in dire need of a system
Neptune Software is the most native platform to ‘membrane’ so that we can get rid all those arrows.
SAP ABAP and lets us design apps across devices
IT Enterprise Architect,
and operating systems.
A global automotive business
Ralph Urban, Head of SAP EAM, Infraserv Höchst

2
The High-Level Solution
DESIGN AND DEPLOY

You know where you want to get to — that’s a great start. But to The ‘SAP + rapid application development platform’ approach can cut
become a change agent in your business, you need to find ways to the friction from your end-to-end business processes. Here are key
modernize, optimize and cut the time it takes to deliver new apps. benefits and how you can achieve them:
A rapid application development platform can make the difference.
• Embrace API-led integration
Here’s a high-level approach to getting one in place.
Give your SAP ECC or S/4 systems a new lease of life with
a universal data provisioning approach. The free flow
of information between SAP and non-SAP systems will
KNOW WHAT YOU NEED
revolutionize your digital agility.
Ask yourself, what does ‘ideal’ look like? • Unify the user experience
Adopt a unified digital interface to enable your workforce to get
• A universal free flow of data, unhindered by the system it
the job done: at ease, on-demand and on-the-move.
sits across?
• Simplify and accelerate
• Omnichannel, real-time insight?
Choose a rapid application development (RAD) platform
• Effective ABAP teams, working hand-in-hand with other to reduce the difficulties of working in an SAP-centric,
business leaders and development teams? heterogeneous IT landscape. With an RAD platform in place, you
can quickly build the new capabilities your business needs to be
• Headspace to work on digital direction and strategy?
able to compete – without fear of messy integrations later down
• Swift strategic change with zero worry about restrictions from the line.
poor integration between SAP and non-SAP systems?
• Operate with an open mind
• Built-in security and intuitive log-on across user groups? Create a catalogue of architectural blueprints and reusable
components with a RAD platform that uses building blocks of
pre-existing functionality or choose collaborative microservices
that can flex as you need. Or do both. With the RAD platform, it’s
DEFINE YOUR PRIORITIES never a case of either/or.
Find the fit for you. Choose a rapid application development platform • Go cross-functional
to build new apps that will: Integrate teams as well as technology. A collaborative workplace
that gets people and technology talking and working together is
• Maximize your investment in SAP and 3rd-party systems a recipe for high performance.
through data federation that ensures unified data access for all
frontend applications.
A WORD ON SECURITY
• Ensure free-flowing data between systems and departments,
delivering actionable insight at every level of your business. Opening your core systems to a broad user base – including those
outside the organization – creates innovation opportunities. But it
• Empower your ABAP team to drive change while freeing them
could weaken your defenses. Neptune Software has a no-compromise
from the sole effort of ‘keeping the lights on’ maintenance.
approach to keeping you secure. We believe in proactive security, easy
• Enhance collaboration and cut out complication by getting to maintain and simple to use.
ABAP and other development teams working closer together
with a well-defined collaboration model. We offer standardized configuration options for Microsoft Azure AD
and ADFS, Okta, SAP Enterprise Portal, and many more. With Neptune
Software you can set-up and manage security within a centralized
digital experience cockpit for the ultimate ease of use.

3
Bring SAP + 3rd-Party
Systems Together As One
Complexity is the enemy of rapid action. A unified approach to data
provision can cut through the complexity and leave your teams free
to build at pace rather than engaged in costly and time consuming
rework. With a RAD platform, you’ll be in a position to meet the
demands for fast app delivery, without sacrificing on consolidation.
Your business will be ready to react, and you will be ready to drive
meaningful change.

THE DETAIL
Neptune Software’s RAD platform connects all your systems via API
integration, whether they’re SAP assets or otherwise. A single hub
allows data to flow freely in real-time, so your team can build the SAP
Fiori apps that will drive your business forward.
No more taming architectural complexity. No multi-year roadmaps.
Just rapid, agile solution development and an interoperable
environment — deployed across all devices and field scenarios

INTEGRATE THE EASY WAY

Neptune Software’s RAD platform is the perfect fit for your
entire IT estate:
• Enables you to deploy in containers, on-premise or on any of
the popular cloud platforms.
• Uses a strict API-first architecture that couples with turnkey
integration for any SAP NetWeaver ABAP system.
• Offers a simple single-sign-on via LDAP market leaders like
Microsoft Azure AD to log-on via Office 365.
• Unifies data flow, allowing your teams to work on
value-add projects.
• Guarantees an unmatched price point with predictable billing.

4
Digitalize On Your Own Terms
Aligning SAP with Microsoft Azure

THE BACKGROUND

Does your business use both SAP and Microsoft Azure? If so, you’re
not alone. IT leaders talk about integrating the two technologies, but
don’t always make it happen.
Has your company fallen into the ‘two-camps’ mentality?
• Your business sees SAP IT as ‘keeping the lights on’ and non-
SAP as nurturing ‘innovative cloud projects’. The two key
components of enterprise IT are thought of separately, despite
both serving a single organization.
• You’ve built custom code, modifications and integrations onto
your ERP side over many years, making it tricky to update to
newer versions or newer products.
• You’re settling on ‘lowest common denominator’ digital
products that fail to deliver competitive advantage.

THE CHALLENGE

One in five corporate employees now use a Microsoft Office 365 cloud
service1. Many choose Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to manage
user identities and single-sign-on for employees.
Enterprise IT architects must find a way to integrate the suite
of Microsoft Office, Azure Cloud and Azure AD technology with
their ERP solutions. They aim to build a seamless hybrid IT
environment without cutting off other innovative digital solutions and
technology stacks.

THE ANSWER

Neptune Software’s RAD platform integrates with Microsoft Azure AD

and countless other 3rd-party systems. It provides an authentication
layer that supports both offline and server-side authentication,
enabling single-sign-on and providing a seamless user experience
across multiple systems instead of frustrating stop / start interactions.

With the Neptune Software platform, IT teams can develop and

deploy all apps with Office 365 single-sign-on integration without
depreciating existing development investments. As a result,
businesses become faster and more flexible, ready to build new digital
products to meet rapidly changing demands.

https://blog.goptg.com/microsoft-office-365-statistics
1

5
Equip Yourself For Success
Federating SAP with Salesforce.com

THE BACKGROUND

Salesforce is one of the world‘s market leaders in CRM solutions, with

an approximate 20% market share2. But despite investing heavily in
Salesforce, many businesses don’t realize its true potential due to
integration issues.
Now, as companies worldwide reinvent their sales strategies, they
are rethinking the tools they use as well. Some businesses struggle to
define their leading system. They find cloud solutions lack flexibility
in regard to customization and individualization. They also have
business-critical processes stored in on-premise ERP or other legacy
systems that cannot be thrown overboard.

THE CHALLENGE

Companies considering a holistic 360-degree approach to customer

success have to ask themselves: how can I couple my existing
landscape with a cloud solution?

THE ANSWER

Neptune Software’s RAD platform follows a strict API-first strategy to

ensure unified data provision. Users don‘t have to worry about where
data is coming from, or where new data entries belong.

With the Neptune Software platform, IT teams can develop and deploy
all apps within a hybrid architecture consisting of SaaS solutions like
Salesforce, SAP cloud platform and on-premise core systems like
SAP S/4HANA. As a result, businesses are equipped with tailored,
consumer-grade applications that digitalize the workplace across
desktop, tablet and phone, even offline.
2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2019/06/22/salesforce-now-has-
over-19-of-the-crm-market/#28b9477e333a

6
Information Free Flow End-to-End
Uniting Oracle and SAP

THE BACKGROUND

In today’s world of same-day shipping and real-time tracking,

consumers expect to get what they want, when they want it. Keeping
up with this demand is putting unprecedented pressure on traditional
supply chains. The physical movement of goods is a business-critical
link for global organizations. Businesses in nearly every industry, from
construction to life sciences, use a supply chain management system,
with Oracle regularly named a leader in Gartner’s Transportation
Management Systems Magic Quadrant3.

THE CHALLENGE

Global and local supply chains typically consist of multiple functional

silos including manufacturing, procurement, logistics, marketing,
and sales. Every department has its own specialty, agenda and
goals. These goals and benchmarks are rarely aligned. This leads to
a lack of transparency, excess costs, and friction in what should be
simple processes.
The CIO’s goal must be to break up those silos by unifying the
system landscape and holistically connecting core systems
like ERP and transportation management. The aim should be a
common application landscape with free-flowing information
between departments.

THE ANSWER

Neptune Software’s RAD platform follows a strict API-first strategy and

provides a unified approach to data access.

With the RAD platform, IT teams can build tailored new apps to drive
meaningful change for their business. This approach to integrating
APIs from Oracle and SAP, as well as other systems, lets businesses
deploy new applications for entire user groups without disrupting
existing applications. Functional silos are broken down, and the CIO
gains information control and holistic insight.
3
https://www.oracle.com/applications/supply-chain-management/analyst-
reports.html

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A Track Record You Can Trust
Neptune Software’s RAD platform is making global enterprises more
efficient and more agile by industrializing their app development.
Here are three ways the platform has been driving faster app rollouts,
easier data access, lower and more predictable costs, and improved
employee experiences.

CONSUMER GOODS COMPANY ENCOURAGES SELF-SERVE SEAMLESS INTEGRATION FOR AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY CHAINS
This major industry player encouraged its employees to use SAP- This leading car manufacturer is known for its reliability and the
based self-serve applications via progressive web applications. robust design of its models. However, it struggled to integrate its
global supply chain management into one centrally controllable
IT architects struggled to harmonize the log-on functionality to operation. Data silos stifled holistic insights and strategic
provide a cohesive single-sign-on experience to every user. The decision-making.
strategic decision to use Office 365 credentials to authenticate
meant experts had to find a way to connect to several SAP Managing and supporting more than 6,000 suppliers was
backends with varying SAP user master data. The system had to unnecessarily complex. And a scattered IT landscape included
simultaneously support log-on for native applications running on more than 50 major backends and thousands of proprietary —
iOS and Android, plus several PWAs. often bi-directional —interfaces.

Integrating Azure Active Directory (AAD) with the Neptune Enterprise IT architects deployed Neptune Software’s RAD
Software RAD platform provided an authentication layer to platform to crack open the technological and organizational silos
support both offline and server-side authentication. that were stalling performance improvements.

IT teams were able to develop and deploy all apps with integrated They replaced proprietary interfaces and gateways with a
Office 365 single-sign-on authentication – while protecting common REST-standard and created a central control system,
investments in existing assets. They also improved speed and adding applications one-by-one with a common UX design. The
flexibility for future digital products that have to access any new system works with Oracle’s transport management solution,
desired backend system. Microsoft Azure Data Lake Analytics, as well as multiple SAP
S/4HANA backends.

RAPID INTEGRATION IN OUR OWN OPERATIONS

Neptune Software recently completed the first wave of its
brand new SAP S/4HANA solution. We used our RAD platform to
integrate Microsoft Azure AD as our identity provider via Office
365, and to connect multiple 3rd-party services, ranging from
Salesforce to banking APIs.

The integration united 60 employees across Europe and the USA

into one global platform, including one user interface with one
logo. Within three months we standardized business operations
within CRM, finance controlling, HR and contracts and orders to
*Architecture sketch Neptune DXP
support our rapid growth and market expansion.

We believe it’s only a matter of time before most enterprises

transform their IT landscapes by integrating Microsoft and SAP
at their digital core.

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Feel The Benefits
Partner with Neptune Software to turn your development department
into an innovation powerhouse. Lead from the front by rapidly
developing diverse, user-centric apps that work seamlessly with both
your SAP and non-SAP systems. Choose the platform that will give
your SAP system a 2nd lease of life.

END FRUSTRATIONS
• Earn time to strategize and innovate, rather than simply
maintain the existing IT environment.
• Deploy modern frontends (UX) for all users that are quick to
learn and easy to master.
• Experience a quicker route to developing progressive web apps
and native mobile apps.
• Enjoy friction-free processes and data flows.
• Empower your existing teams to innovate in short release cycles
and collaborate across departments.

SAVE TIME AND MONEY

• No need for expensive middleware or long-lasting
integration projects.
INNOVATE WITH FREEDOM
• Maximize and extend the life of existing investments.
• Create more useful, data-rich, and complex applications for your
• Enjoy an unmatched price point and predictable billing. bespoke needs.
• Use custom-fitted solutions for specific areas with the
reassurance that they’ll work well together.
• Integrate with countless 3rd-party and SAP systems, regardless
of your existing custom code.
• Deploy mobile UX and offline capability without specialist skills.
• Stay agile so you can adapt to the ever-changing business
environment.

WHY CHOSE NEPTUNE SOFTWARE

Only Neptune Software has the platform and team to transform
your IT department into a rapid innovation powerhouse.
Reawaken your SAP systems with our RAD platform and you’ll
soon see the difference a modern digital app factory can make
to your business. We’ll work with your team to understand
your core concerns, your unique circumstances and your
ideal outcomes. We’ll maximize your in-house expertise while
minimizing complications for your teams in the months and
years ahead. Be the change agent. Choose Neptune Software.

9
 RAPID INNOVATION WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS.
HOW NEPTUNE SOFTWARE CAN HELP.

Neptune Software supports more than 550 customers around the world, addressing their
organizational challenges and delivering on their digitization goals with a SAP-centric,
rapid application development platform.

We can help technology leaders start or evolve their approaches and provide relevant
reference points. We share our own knowledge and that of our ecosystem of current
customers, consulting and software partners. Our cross-sector experience is an invaluable
asset for your organization.

See the platform in action

Download a free trial of the platform and you’ll receive an unlimited, perpetual license for
two developers. See for yourself how the platform is streamlining processes, accelerating
development and deployment and easing integration for more than two million users.

Visit the download page now.

WEB ADDRESS.

Learn more

Read the XXXX case study at WEB ADDRESS.

Neptune Software recognized by Gartner in Magic Quadrant for

Multiexperience Development Platforms along SAP, Salesforce & Microsoft

ABOUT NEPTUNE SOFTWARE

Neptune Software is a global company with more than 550 customers and 2,000,000 end-users that is dedicated to empowering enterprise IT teams with a single digital experience toolset from which to drive fast, critical
results. Neptune Software helps accelerate your enterprise application development projects and realize your digitalization strategies - all to increase employee satisfaction, productivity and business efficiencies. Neptune Soft-
ware and its modern rapid application development platform help you overcome daunting IT landscapes and quickly enable users with leading-edge apps that change the way you do business.

Visit our website at: www.neptune-software.com