By Ujjwal Relangi, Global Support Manager, SAP Support Services
Your enterprise systems are a strategic investment. These SAP solutions are not just implemented and left to run in a silo. They are part of a landscape of interconnected on-premise and cloud solutions, business policies, and operating procedures. This dynamic environment means you need to proactively keep systems running at peak performance levels and prevent unplanned downtime, which can result in lost productivity, lost revenue, and brand damage. According to Gartner, the average cost of downtime for a company is $5,600 per minute[1].
However, supporting these critical systems can be challenging, even for enterprise organizations with a robust IT department. The internal teams responsible for maintaining the solutions understand the data, technical knowledge, and business value, but they often require the support of SAP-specific functionality knowledge and best practices.
Here SAP third-party partner support is a valuable source for your IT department. You have made the investment with SAP for your business applications. It’s wise to explore and weigh all options for an enterprise post go-live support structure to protect and get the most out of your investment.
Even before your SAP enterprise solution is implemented, it is important to map your incident response planning. What is the process for low, medium, and high criticality incidents? Does your in-house enterprise support structure include a dedicated SAP support team with intimate knowledge of the business applications deployed?
If they are not experts in SAP systems and functionalities, will they know the in’s and out’s to implement fixes when needed and fast? Your business application solutions often can’t be scalable without a specialized SAP support team, and your IT department might be stretched too thin to handle any issue without negatively impacting other critical IT projects.
An often overlooked option is third-party SAP support services. These specialized providers have proven expertise in SAP business application systems often coupled with process consulting excellence combined with execution excellence across multiple industries and verticals of the supply chain. This technical and functional experience helps enterprise organizations with lower support cost spending and greater business value realization.
What else can you expect from a third-party service partner? Rapid response to ensure your business-critical systems work as designed, as expected – all the time. Third-party organizations offer unlimited knowledge through support teams that are dedicated and focused on outcome-based services. They are industry experts, often certified in the SAP products your organization implemented. A support service contract should act as an extension of your internal resources.
Our team brings in-depth expertise on critical applications and process knowledge for Track & Trace, Digital Manufacturing, Asset Management, and Warehouse Logistics across multiple geographic regions and languages. You get direct premium access to experts who are ITIL qualified which comprises the handling of end-to-end ticket life cycle procedures like incident, service request, problem, and change management. SLA’s and KPI’s are defined as per global standards or by the customer requirement. Our SAP Support services include a 24×7 self-service portal with easy access to all your tickets and their status as well as a resource-rich knowledge base and a follow-the-sun approach to delivering always available concierge support. When considering a third-party support service or want to know more about its benefits, reach out to us today to learn more.
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