Run Simple!

The aspiration to run simple was one of the key drivers for business change in 2014. But what does it mean to to run simple? And is it really worth the seemingly titanic effort to get there?

Running simple impacts your business in 3 ways:

  1. Simpler processes for increased user satisfaction
  2. Improved business agility
  3. Lower TCO

Simply put, simpler processes means that you will perform the tasks that require decision-making. No more, No less. Processes are designed in such a way that we no longer need to search for information required to make decisions, we no longer need to manually shuffle around with information to perform our tasks. And the processes and the tools are as easily understood as the interface of consumer electronics such as televisions and smart phones. If a user interface is not immediately understood, the interface and the process itself is too complex.

An example of a complex and time-consuming process is Material Requirements Planning.

By Simplifying the process, increasing speed and automating selected tasks the new normal is:

A simplification of core processes however, is not enough to provide the edge in an ever-increasing innovation pace.

Typical system landscapes consist of systems that are meant for

  1. Innovation - 1 year change cycle
  2. Differentiation - 5 year change cycle
  3. Record - 10 year change cycle

Unfortunately, it is the systems of record that hold much of the information required in any business solution including the "innovative ones". Normally this is handled by complex integration solutions that transfer information back and forth between the system of record and the system of innovation (or differentiation). This is tedious and complex work full of pitfalls and poor performance.

The businesses that are capable of true business innovation (as opposed to simply doing the same job a bit better) need an infrastructure that will allow immediate and effective execution of new business ideas. By collapsing your core processes and underlying data into a single in-memory based platform containing purely non-aggregated, non-indexed granular information, the business process owners will be able to significantly speed up the implementation of completely new business models.

The final key benefit of simplification is the TCO savings that comes with fewer systems, less integration points and lower development and maintenance costs. Customers report as high as 50% savings in maintenance effort and actually up to 90% savings in development cost for new solutions. Typical savings are reported at around 20-30%. The main savings are achieved through less integration, less performance optimization and simpler development methodologies.

So the opportunity to simplify daily processes, increasing employee and customer satisfaction coupled with an improved ability to innovate your business model and at the same time realising significant cost savings ought to be a simple choice.

But to achieve the full benefit of simplification, ultimately the systems of record must be involved one way or another. These systems are normally only deployed in a 10 year cycle typically involving massive investments and multi-year projects.

In my next post I will discuss how achieving the goal of running simple may not be all that hard if you consider the promise of the combination of cloud and in-memory technology.

Mean while, check out how SAP HANA may provide simplification