Integrating Magento Commerce Cloud and SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) is an option that many large, complex businesses are considering as part of their digital transformation plans.
Here are just some of the reasons why these modern business mainstays are such a powerful combination.
A roadmap to the ecommerce future
When Adobe acquired Magento in 2018 it added ecommerce to its Enterprise Cloud offer and laid down the challenge to major competitors like Oracle and Salesforce. A year later Magento Commerce Cloud joined the company’s suite of Cloud-based solutions to meet the needs of large corporates.
Integration with SAP is helping online retailers and business to business (B2B) ecommerce organizations to strengthen the bond between their brand and customers, improving the supply chain and accounting management, redesigning order processing, and centralizing data.
SAP offers a range of options with SAP Business One for small businesses and SAP Business ByDesign for mid-sized companies.
SAP’s ‘fit-to-standard’ S/4HANA allows large organizations to take advantage of innovation in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain currencies to take user experience to the next level. It will appeal to the same businesses that are attracted to Magento Commerce Cloud. Also available in the Cloud, SAP S/4HANA can help them to realize the benefits of a single stable data core, with a standardized view of key data across the organization.
For businesses with large and complex operations, the combined power Magento Commerce and SAP in the Cloud has potential or streamline operations and establish a strong and flexible foundation for future growth.
End to end consistency
With almost 50 years in the marketplace, SAP is an essential operational tool for many organizations, supporting financial, product, resources and customer management processes. To reap the full benefits of accuracy, transparency and automation, data needs to flow seamlessly between SAP and your ecommerce platform.
With the latest powerful application programming interface (API) tools you can now have a ‘real time’ view of your sales, inventory and materials requirements.
Benefits of Magento Commerce and SAP integration
With powerful APIs your data can be synchronized and controlled both automatically and manually, and updates can be easily configured.
Your ecommerce platform can be easily integrated with product information management (PIM) systems like Akeno or Pimberly.
You can keep up to date with all your pricing, aged debt, invoicing and credit records from a single, reliable source. Accounting, supply chain, HR, customer relationship management, and other enterprise systems no longer need to be in silos, set apart from your ecommerce platform.
Data sharing – critical data about customer interactions captured in Magento Commerce can be shared near-instantaneously with SAP Customer Data Management Cloud. Operational efficiency and accuracy are improved, and manual data entry is minimised. Nor do business systems designed and operated in SAP have to be mapped into Magento.
Synchronization – your customers can receive a consistent, high-quality user experience across all your channels based on synchronized data. You can track product information all the way from design to delivery to create actionable insights for your business.
Customization – existing Magento extensions continue to work with Magento Commerce Cloud and, with more than 300,000 developers in the Magento family and thousands of partners the platform is attractive for a wide range of potential users.
Digital marketing – advanced marketing automation and personalization across all your channels is available through SAP’s Marketing Cloud. Customer data can be collected online and used to create enriched profiles to improve targeting.
Supply chain management – logistics can be transformed with SAP S/4 HANA and supply chain management can be digitized, helping to improve asset management and manufacturing processes to create a complete end-to-end process. Transactions can be analysed in detail to improve your commissioning processes.
Network and spend management – in a highly competitive and cost sensitive environment intelligent tools for sourcing and procurement can help ecommerce businesses to mitigate risks factors and manage costs. Integration with SAP can also streamline collaboration with suppliers.
Streamlining HR – combining Magento Commerce with the SAP HR management system helps you to make sure they have the right people doing the right things. This includes payroll, time and attendance management, monitoring and performance. With accurate and timely information your recruitment, onboarding, and training can all be simplified.
Analytics – your ecommerce business can benefit from SAP Analytics Cloud and make intelligent use of data through machine learning, using SAP Business Intelligence, Enterprise Planning, and Predictive Analytics.
Is Magento Commerce integration with SAP right for your business?
Every business will have specific requirements, so your integration choices must be based on your ambitions for the next few years. The ERP solution you choose now must be fit for purpose for your future plans.
Things to think about – you will be aware of the current pain points in your operations, so this will be a good place to start. You will also need to look at your budget and the potential savings you could make by investing in more effective ERP.
To be successful, your integration project is likely to be a collaboration so you will need to choose your partners carefully and be satisfied with their skill and technical knowledge. They should understand that you aren’t an expert in this area and make sure that they explain what’s involved clearly.
Whether you are introducing an ERP system for the first time or want to integrate your existing ERP and ecommerce platform, your business processes will need to change to take full advantage of the benefits. You will need to plan the transition carefully and be confident that your new approach will meet the future needs of your business.
Top tips
- Your ERP system should have suitable modern APIs for accessing data and integration, like SAP.
- Seeing integration in action is essential, so make sure your business partner will be happy to demonstrate how your business data flows.
- Your integration should fit with your business, so avoid having to adapt your business and processes to fit the solution.
- Talk with other business owners who have chosen a similar integration.
- Be very clear about the outcomes you’re looking for and when and how you will be able to confirm that your investment is worthwhile.
Williams Commerce specializes in ecommerce integration and can help your business to take full advantage of modern APIs to meet your business goals with SAP.
Get in touch to discuss your requirements.
