Whatever business and department you are in, there’s a solution extension that can help. In this special report, we’ll look at a selection of solution extensions and the benefits that each can bring to your business. You can also browse SAP’s current list of solution extensions and find out which one is right for you by visiting http://scn.sap.com/community/solution-extensions.

1. SAP INSIDER
SOLUTION EXTENSION S
Drive Your Business Forward
Meet Your Business Needs, Improve Employee Productivity, and Get the Most Out of Your
SAP Investment with Solution Extensions
W hether you are a marketing
manager looking to harness
the power of social media for your
get the most out of your SAP investment. Every solution exten-
sion includes the same level of product quality and commit-
ment that you’d expect from SAP, and has been tested to meet
product, a sales manager tasked with SAP’s stringent standards for functional correctness, application
meeting company revenue targets integration and interfaces, security, and usability. In addition,
and margin goals, or an IT quality solution extensions integrate easily within your SAP systems,
manager preparing for the first pro- so there’s a consistent look and feel and everything works
duction use of the SAP HANA plat- seamlessly, the way your customers and users expect it to.
form, SAP systems are more than In addition, application updates and maintenance for the
Lenore Johnson
Senior Director up to the challenge of supporting solution extensions are aligned with SAP application life cycles,
Strategic Ecosystem you in your business endeavors. so IT departments can reduce planned downtime and better
Marketing
From putting the “wow” in the cus- manage service-level commitments to the business. If you expe-
SAP
tomer experience, to simplifying rience any issues working with a solution extension, SAP serves
the intricacies of your supply chain, as your single point of contact for support. Solution extensions
SAP software can integrate business processes cohesively, are also integrated with the long-term SAP roadmap, ensuring
securely, and simply to drive the business and help you become you will continue to see value from your technology investment
more effective. in the future.
Of course, SAP customers vary greatly in their business needs Whatever business and department you are in, there’s a solu-
and are often looking for additional functionality that will help tion extension that can help. In this special report, we’ll look at
them gain even more value from their SAP landscapes. To that a selection of solution extensions and the benefits that each can
end, SAP has identified key third-party offerings that are broadly bring to your business. You can also browse SAP’s current list of
applicable across SAP deployments (see Figure 1). Leveraging solution extensions and find out which one is right for you by
these offerings, called solution extensions, is an effective way to visiting http://scn.sap.com/community/solution-extensions. n
Deliver exceptional customer n SAP Social Media Analytics by NetBase n SAP Price and Margin Management by Vendavo
experiences n SAP Paybacks and Chargebacks by Vistex n SAP Document Presentment by OpenText
n SAP Incentive Administration by Vistex n AP Workforce Scheduling and Optimization
S
n SAP Data Maintenance for ERP by Vistex by ClickSoftware
Optimize the supply chain n SAP Enterprise Inventory Optimization by SmartOps n SAP Supply Chain Response Management by icon-scm
n SAP Service Level Optimization by SmartOps
Streamline accounting and finance n SAP Invoice Management by OpenText n SAP Travel Receipts Management by OpenText
Manage talent and improve n SAP Employee File Management by OpenText n SAP Organizational Visualization by Nakisa
workforce visibility n SAP Talent Visualization by Nakisa n SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe
Get more out of your n SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management by OpenText n SAP Portal Content Management by OpenText
enterprise content n SAP Digital Asset Management by OpenText n SAP Portal Site Management by OpenText
Improve the business of IT n SAP Application Visualization by iRise n SAP IT Process Automation by Cisco
n SAP Archiving by OpenText n SAP LoadRunner by HP
n SAP Central Process Scheduling by Redwood n SAP Process Performance Management by Software AG
n SAP Document Access by OpenText n SAP Quality Center by HP
n SAP enterprise modeling applications by Software AG
n SAP Extended Diagnostics by CA Wily
FIGURE 1  SAP’s solution extensions address multiple business needs and are broadly applicable across SAP deployments
Reproduced from the Apr n May n Jun 2013 issue of SAPinsider with permission from its publisher, WIS Publishing | sapinsider.wispubs.com 73

2. SAP INSIDER
S OL U T I O N E X T E N SION S
Better Serve the Savvy Customer of Today
T oday’s customers are digitally
connected, socially networked,
and better informed. They live their
plans, companies can turn to the SAP Incentive Administration
application by Vistex. The application helps create more satis-
fied employees and partners by enabling transparent access to
lives in the moment, updating their incentive information; it also enhances revenue and profitability
relationship statuses, interacting with through more accurate, timely incentive payments.
peers, and sharing likes, dislikes, and In addition, the SAP Paybacks and Chargebacks applica-
opinions, all in real time. They are lit- tion by Vistex allows effective management of complex sales
erally changing the rules of engage- and pricing contracts by helping efficiently administer, model,
ment and, through that, becoming report, and analyze contracts and chargeback agreements. This
Rebecca Newell
Director more empowered. And with this includes contract authoring and administration, claims process-
Ecosystem Routes empowerment, their expectations ing, channel inventory tracking, and reporting and analytics.
Marketing
SAP
continue to rise — they want experi-
ences and products that make their Pinpoint Marketing Efforts
lives better. Within the vast sea of data available are golden nuggets of cus-
To help businesses deliver impactful conversations and expe- tomer information that can provide key insights and make a
riences to these savvy customers, SAP provides a powerful big difference in your marketing efforts. The SAP Social Media
portfolio of sales, marketing, and service solutions known as Analytics application by NetBase gives marketers the ability
SAP 360 Customer. to run a search on any topic and get instant trends and in-depth
sentiment analysis from social media channels. The solution
Deliver an Enhanced Customer Experience monitors over 150 million social media sources according to your
Organizations want to deliver the “wow” customer experience individual topics and provides historical sentiment insights from
needed to differentiate and drive loyalty. SAP 360 Customer 12 months of social data.
combines SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) Marketers can also manage the entire marketing asset lifecycle
software with analytics, mobile, collaboration, and social media process using the SAP Digital Asset Management application
solutions to make this possible. Deployed on premise or in by OpenText. The application can help in a number of ways, by
the cloud, the following solution extensions, as part of the SAP facilitating the collaborative creation process, publishing assets,
360 Customer portfolio, allow companies to better serve cus- establishing and enforcing usage parameters, and ensuring that
tomers in multiple ways. your brands are consistently and accurately utilized throughout
the organization.
Manage Sales More Effectively
To make the selling process easier, companies need solutions Streamline Service Operations
that can agilely deliver insights that enable in-the-moment, To improve service operations, the SAP Workforce Scheduling
fact-based decisions. The SAP Price and Margin Management and Optimization application by ClickSoftware supports key
application by Vendavo allows companies to improve profit- facets of service operations processes, including forecasting, plan-
ability — by providing insight into margin leakage, for instance ning, scheduling, enterprise mobility, and analysis. Using the appli-
— and react quickly to changes in business. As your team cation, companies can automate complex scheduling processes,
develops new approaches or uncovers additional insights, they optimize schedules to maximize resource utilization or other
can modify playbooks or create new ones and share them, business objectives, and receive real-time updates that let them
along with reports, pricing insights, and more. make adjustments to meet changing demand.
To support robust administration, financial accrual, and
settlement processing, as well as analysis, reporting, and mod- For more information on these solutions, visit http://bit.
eling for both revenue-related and expense-related incentive ly/16GWgGX. n
74 Reproduced from the Apr n May n Jun 2013 issue of SAPinsider with permission from its publisher, WIS Publishing | sapinsider.wispubs.com

3. SAP INSIDER
SOLUTION EXTENSIO N S
Are You Successfully Performing the
Manufacturing Balancing Act?
Optimize Your Supply Chain Performance and Profitability
T oday, manufacturers are expected
to perform a delicate balanc-
ing act. To effectively compete and
supply chain, providing a better understanding of supply-
demand patterns and demand-supply constraints. With this
knowledge, you can determine the appropriate service levels
gain market share, they need to keep by item, customer, and location, and further optimize inven-
inventory costs low and customer tory levels accordingly.
service levels high, all in the face In addition, you can model relevant inventory drivers, includ-
of increasing globalization, supply ing sales volume or gross margin, demand volatility, and season-
chain complexity, uncertain availabil- ality or sales frequency. You can also calculate the impact of lost
ity, and fluid forecasts. SAP can help demand, lead times, order frequency and batch sizes, transpor-
Cindy Morel
Director companies address these challenges tation variability, production variances, supplier and material
Ecosystem Routes with several solution extensions for uncertainty, capacity constraints, and planning time fences. Mod-
Marketing
SAP
manufacturers looking to optimize eling these factors with SAP Service Level Optimization helps
their inventory and service levels provide a more complete and immediate view of the inventory
and respond rapidly to changing issues that affect your ability to drive more revenue and meet
supply and demand. service-level commitments. This knowledge can help you deter-
mine the optimal service level for each item in the supply chain.
Make Better Inventory Decisions
To tighten control of corporate inventories, you need tools that Respond Rapidly and Commit with Confidence
work with enterprise data and enable advanced analytics, giving In today’s supply chain, to maintain order commitments, seize
you the insight needed to make smart decisions that optimize new revenue opportunities, and adapt to volatile supply, com-
inventory levels. The SAP Enterprise Inventory Optimization panies need to be able to respond quickly to ever-changing
application by SmartOps can help you effectively plan and demand, often across a distributed supply network with lim-
manage inventory levels at every stocking location throughout ited visibility. The SAP Supply Chain Response Management
the global supply chain. Using this software, you can analyze application by icon-scm helps keep revenues up and invento-
crucial inputs and signals, model the impact of decisions on ries down by making your supply chain more demand driven.
global inventories, and balance inventory levels — freeing up You can leverage advanced analytics to perform root cause
working capital for innovation and growth. analysis on many common planning issues. And you can gain
This application also helps create a comprehensive, cross- crisper insight and make better decisions by analyzing changing
enterprise management process that allows you to optimize, supply and demand data in memory, and then rapidly providing
manage, and monitor inventory stocking levels to achieve a a solution back to customers.
desired outcome, such as a leaner operation or improved ser- By gaining visibility into the company’s supply network, you
vice levels. In addition, SAP Enterprise Inventory Optimization, can also establish a highly responsive and demand-driven plan-
option for analytics, uses predictive analytics to provide a laser- ning process, and re-plan quickly once you understand how
focused view of supply network performance. changes in demand or supply — real or hypothetical — affect your
ability to fulfill orders. Your company can then rapidly execute a
Profitably Meet Customer Service Needs revised plan with confidence to maximize new revenue opportu-
To effectively meet customer service needs while holding nities while delivering on existing commitments. And now, with
the line on inventory costs, you need analytics tools that pro- our SAP rapid-deployment solution for Supply Chain Response
vide visibility into enterprise data to help balance inventory Management, you can be up and running in as few as 14 weeks.
levels with customer satisfaction and increase supply chain
profitability. The SAP Service Level Optimization application To learn more about these solutions, visit http://scn.sap.com/
by SmartOps helps you gain insight into your multistage docs/DOC-31636. n
Reproduced from the Apr n May n Jun 2013 issue of SAPinsider with permission from its publisher, WIS Publishing | sapinsider.wispubs.com 75

4. SAP INSIDER
S OL U T I O N E X T E N SION S
The Best of Both Worlds
Combine On-Premise and Cloud Solutions to Optimize Accounts Payable Processes
O nce you’ve improved business
operations by getting them up
and running on SAP software, you
costs, create global visibility into liabilities and payments, and
improve vendor relations. Deploying the SAP Invoice Manage-
ment application by OpenText on premise and connecting it to
should next look for ways to enable the cloud-based Ariba Invoice Professional via the Ariba Network,
new efficiencies to further optimize can help companies meet these goals, delivering the benefits of
your operations. For many organiza- both solutions in an integrated, collaborative framework.
tions, an area in the business that’s Both solutions serve as a single point of integration to and
ripe for improvement is accounts from a customer’s existing back-office system to a network that
payable (AP). Fortunately, SAP offers integrates with your disbursing bank of choice and provides
Bil Khan
Director solution extensions to help streamline a one-to-many connection to virtually all suppliers via a cloud-
Global Ecosystem AP; and, because these applications based platform. This helps companies gain new levels of visibility,
Channels | RTM Marketing
leverage both on-premise and cloud flexibility, and collaboration. It also helps users create workforce
SAP
capabilities, businesses can magnify efficiencies through an automated, streamlined process, improve
the benefits of such a solution. working capital management through better visibility to cash
requirements, reduce costly manual errors, optimize cash discount
An Integrated Approach to Invoice Management utilization, and cut costs through automated data extraction,
Organizations looking to transform AP processes typically want process automation, and control.
to optimize and automate invoicing processes, reduce processing Learn more about both solutions at http://bit.ly/YJP5sj. n
Motivate Employees — Even in the Midst of
Organizational Change
W orking with today’s global-
ized workforce and dealing
with the frequency of business trans-
structure, enabling you to manage and improve the accuracy
of HR data, write back approved changes in SAP ERP Human
Capital Management (SAP ERP HCM), and dynamically share
formations, HR professionals need results. The SAP Employee File Management application by
a way to keep up with organiza- OpenText helps HR teams find content related to this data,
tional changes. And to sustain busi- allowing them to process personnel tasks faster and with greater
ness performance throughout these accuracy and enabling them to devote more time to activities
transformations, HR must also help that add strategic value to the organization.
the business identify and retain the
Cindy Morel
Director strongest workforce possible. Sustain Your Best Workforce
Ecosystem Routes To build and retain the strongest team, HR professionals must find
Marketing
Keep Pace with Business specialized talent in constrained labor markets, prepare the next
SAP
Transformation generation of leaders, and satisfy employee aspirations for growth.
HR professionals model and re- The SAP Talent Visualization application by Nakisa supports
model the organizational structure a global, end-to-end, on-premise talent management process. It
of the business to keep pace with ever-changing needs and accesses information in SAP ERP HCM, providing visibility into
opportunities. The SAP Organizational Visualization applica- the talent you have today and the skills you will need tomorrow,
tion by Nakisa goes beyond traditional org charting software to while also allowing employees to plan a career development path.
provide a visually rich, detailed view of the entire organizational To learn more, visit http://bit.ly/YrpgvK. n
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5. SAP INSIDER
SOLUTION EXTENSIO N S
Tame Unstructured Content in Your Enterprise
L ike many companies today, asset-
intensive enterprises, including
power and processing plants, are being
Spotlight on Belgian Railways
Founded in 1926 and headquartered in Brussels, Belgian Railways
bombarded by unstructured content operates one of the world’s most tightly integrated railway net-
works. The company transports 216 million passengers per year,
in the form of email messages, paper-
plus more than 60 million tons of freight with the help of about
based documentation, and more. This 30,000 staff. Operating around 3,400 kilometers of track, 1,500
content is becoming increasingly diffi- locomotives, and 550 railway stations and stops, including hubs for
cult to manage, which, in turn, makes Europe’s prestigious high-speed rail links, the company is part of
it harder to maintain a clear record of the six-track railway hub in Brussels that handles some 1,200 trains
Bil Khan per day, making it one of the busiest railway links on the planet.
Director all maintenance activities that helps
Global Ecosystem companies proactively take action to
Channels | RTM Marketing
SAP
prevent unplanned downtime. Equip- purchasing and maintenance processes. Belgian Railways (see
ment failures and plant outages can sidebar), which operates one of the world’s busiest and most
significantly affect a company’s bot- advanced railway networks, needed a software application that
tom line, and if they are compounded with legal and regulatory would provide visibility into the company’s growing volume of
costs, the effects only worsen. Equipment and plant-related prob- content, while also integrating smoothly with its existing busi-
lems can also lead to bigger issues, such as heightened risk of envi- ness applications. This would enable the company to cut costs,
ronmental damages, greater risk to maintenance worker safety, facilitate routine tasks, and improve the customer experience. In
and brand deterioration. The only way to combat this is to ensure addition, Belgian Railways wanted to achieve sustained regula-
higher equipment reliability and proper records management. tory compliance in record keeping and retention and transporta-
tion safety, for example.
Superior Asset Management Brings Greater Benefits To help meet these needs, Belgian Railways implemented an
To ensure higher equipment reliability and proper records man- integrated content management solution, built on SAP Extended
agement, SAP offers the SAP Extended Enterprise Content ECM. Today, Belgian Railways counts on SAP Extended ECM to
Management (SAP Extended ECM) application by OpenText. handle a wide range of documents, including operating proce-
Asset-intensive enterprises that implement the solution can see: dures, training materials, quality manuals, patents, time registra-
tion logs, and lease contracts. “SAP Extended ECM provides us
■■ Improved equipment reliability
with a view of what needs to be done to optimize costs,” says
■■ Reduced outages and costs due to a simplified process for Stephane Haelterman, Project Manager at Belgian Railways.
collecting, storing, and retrieving maintenance data SAP Extended ECM also helped Belgian Railways improve
■■ Enhanced collaboration around plant maintenance business processes. In the past, the company’s management of
engineering drawings was prone to inconsistencies due to the
■■ Better failure analysis and reporting
use of multiple file servers and legacy databases where local ver-
■■ Increased regulatory compliance and reduced legal exposure sions of drawings could be stored. Today, a single repository con-
due to better records management, traceability, and auditability tains all 2D and 3D designs, complete with the associated bill of
SAP Extended ECM also complements the functionality of other materials and resources. This approach ensures that the right
solutions, like SAP NetWeaver Portal and the SAP Portal Content parts are purchased or produced, eliminating the cost and risk
Management application by OpenText, which improves the effi- of ordering wrong parts, and improves rail traffic safety. Hael-
ciency of content creation, management, and storage processes terman says, “Our goal was not only to create a benchmark in
while supporting user collaboration and communication. terms of document management, but to add value by enabling
business processes with new views and perspectives on data and
SAP Extended ECM in Action: How Belgian Railways documents.”
Runs Better with Content Management Solutions To learn more about SAP Extended ECM, visit www.sap.
Though many of us don’t stop to think about it, keeping com/solutions/solutionextensions/enterprise- content-
trains running safely and on schedule involves fairly complex management. n
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6. SAP INSIDER
S OL U T I O N E X T E N SION S
Reinvent Your Business with IT Management
and the Real-Time SAP HANA Platform
M ore and more, companies are
choosing to migrate portions
of their systems landscapes, like SAP
database’s size. This solution, coupled with SAP NetWeaver
Information Lifecycle Management, ensures compliance of
your system of record application.
Business Suite, to SAP HANA to ■■ The SAP Central Process Scheduling application by
take advantage of real-time business Redwood, which enables management and automation of
capabilities. But to migrate success- business processes across SAP and non-SAP environments.
fully and realize the full potential of
■■ The SAP Document Access application by OpenText, which
running applications on SAP HANA,
allows you to store, manage, and retrieve SAP and non-SAP
IT needs management solutions that
Wendy Maldonado documents across SAP Business Suite on SAP HANA transac-
Director help them properly tune applica-
tions and solutions.
Global Ecosystem tions before transitioning.
Channel Marketing
■■ The SAP enterprise modeling applications by Software AG,
SAP
Run IT Like a Well-Oiled which help customers model their business, enterprise, and
Machine information architectures.
SAP’s IT management approach enables you to rapidly adopt ■■ The SAP Extended Diagnostics application by CA Wily,
new technology innovations such as SAP HANA. It provides a which helps customers eliminate unplanned outages, manage
set of integrated tools and processes to ensure increased qual- service levels, optimize resources, and lower the costs associ-
ity and reduced risk. This approach also accelerates innovation ated with maintaining web applications.
by providing high stability during rapid integration of new tools,
■■ The SAP IT Process Automation application by Cisco, which
improves operations by standardizing and automating opera-
automates IT processes to help ensure that your systems run
tions processes, and provides tailored support for issue resolu-
smoothly, leveraging best practices consistently across your IT
tion. Finally, IT management reduces the cost of upgrades and
landscape.
implementations since it supports shorter downtimes, compliant
migrations, enhanced business continuity, and a deeper under- ■■ The SAP LoadRunner application by HP, which allows orga-
standing of the overall software landscape. nizations to test out an application’s scalability in a quality
assurance lab.
A Smoother Migration to SAP HANA ■■ The SAP Process Performance Management application by
When IT management is harnessed with SAP HANA, it auto- Software AG, which enables process measurement, monitor-
mates and streamlines monitoring and implementation in ing, and analysis of current business processes.
your SAP HANA landscape, allowing IT and operations teams
■■ The SAP Quality Center application by HP, which offers a
to spend more time on innovation. Migrating also gives you
fast, reliable way to test a new application, helping you reveal
the opportunity to reduce costs by archiving your existing
application shortcomings and address any problems before
system to be compliant with regulatory mandates. To make
implementation.
your move to the SAP HANA platform as non-disruptive and
smooth as possible, SAP offers several solution extensions that To learn more about SAP’s IT management solution exten-
span the design, implementation, and operational phases of sions, visit http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-29490. n
IT management:
■■ The SAP Application Visualization platform by iRise, which
lets organizations create a working preview of a solution For more information about SAP’s solution
before implementation. extensions, visit http://scn.sap.com/
■■ The SAP Archiving application by OpenText, which helps community/solution-extensions.
offload old data from an SAP system, reducing the application
78 Reproduced from the Apr n May n Jun 2013 issue of SAPinsider with permission from its publisher, WIS Publishing | sapinsider.wispubs.com