We take the role of a guardian and advisor when offering the SAP Maintenance services. We also take full responsibility for bringing your system to the working order. What our support is like? Learn more about our best practices in this article!
Two types of problems with the SAP systems
There are two types of problems that you can encounter when working with the SAP system. The first type is the one which your internal IT team can deal with. The other one is the type when you need help from external specialists of the system.
In the best scenario, after the post-implementation stage, all SAP support is in the hands of your employees. In reality, when the system is launched, your IT team does not have the necessary knowledge about the product to solve all the problems that business users will encounter. What is more, SAP software is a product that is always in development. Updates, improvements and modules adjustments are an everyday norm. Specialists simply must be involved.
What is the value of external experts for your company?
The SAP solution is always implemented with specific company’s business needs in mind. But you cannot predict all situations during designing or implementing, so at the later stages, some part of SAP support is to solve problems that happen in everyday work. Incidents that require only small fixes still can halt the work of the whole company. That is why you need a partner that will implement those fixes as fast as possible. How fast that is? The time is specified in the SLA (Service Level Agreement) decided between the client and Hicron.
You should also remember than when you buy an ERP system, you buy also all future updates and patches. Both SAP company and the community of SAP mentors are very active, so new improvements are released all the time. It is better to introduce such changes under the supervision of a specialist in case they will require modifying the whole system’s structure.
Problems connected to launching the SAP ERP system are also worth mentioning. After the implementation, the project gets into the hypercare stage. It is the stage when the solutions are tested in practice in the company’s everyday work. During hypercare you must take care of every found bug, incident or obstacle immediately. You cannot forget about the employees as well – for most of them, this is also a time when they test the system for the first time, which naturally lead to mistakes. Experts’ support is essential in such a crucial period.
SAP Maintenance – how to solve problems with ERP systems
In the perfect scenario, during the designing of the new system, the employees are already prepared to deal with the first and the second line of support – which means dealing with the business users’ basic requests. Training is an important part of the SAP solutions implementation. Unfortunately, this element is often omitted or reduced because of the lack of time or in an attempt to reduce costs. As a result, employees do not have the necessary knowledge to solve current technical problems, or even to run processes.
In such cases, the solution is SAP Maintenance services. As a part of it, both remote support and a kind of outsourcing the IT specialists are possible. In the non-pandemic reality, Hicron supported the partners by sending experts to their companies. Being on the site, they could not only solve current problems but also conduct training sessions for the internal IT teams. As a result, after some time the employees of the company can operate the system independently when there is a need for immediate actions. Today, we support our clients remotely, thanks to secure connections to their systems.
A part of SAP Maintenance is the system audits that help identifies potential threats and prepare the company to defend against them. Thus, we minimize the risk that problems occur in the future. Such control does not only secure the system in case of technical errors but also verifies if the system was properly implemented. Let’s not forget about introducing corrections and improvements, both developed by specialists and those prepared by SAP.
SAP Maintenance is a flexible, long-term service, based on partnership and needs of your company – both current and future ones. People who take care of the system act in accordance with the business strategy. For example, if the company plans to migrate to SAP S /4HANA or wants to expand the ERP system with new modules, the team responsible for Maintenance will take responsibility for preparing the solution for the upcoming changes.
Does SAP Maintenance mean constant innovation?
SAP Maintenance is more than just fixing current errors and constant care of the correct operation of systems. In most companies, it is after the implementation when ideas to improve existing solutions appear. It is not a problem to prepare additional functionalities when you are cooperating with a good service partner who closely observes the work of the company and the needs of its employees, and is ready to offer you some insights. Implementing solutions that make work easier and more efficient is one of the ways to lead your company through digital transformation.
Technical knowledge transfer is also a significant enhancement for companies. This is an integral part of Hicron’s SAP Maintenance. Employees can learn a lot from specialists: we are talking about the transition from the lack of knowledge of ERP systems to the stage where IT teams are able to easily handle the 1st and 2nd lines of support.
Summary
A specialist responsible for SAP support is not a mechanic who disappears after a repair. It is a trusted partner who not only removes technical problems but also explains, advises, offers insights, indicates optimal solutions and supervises every element of the system operation. SAP Maintenance experts are almost like your shareholders or associates – that is how big their commitment to the welfare of your company should be! And with Hicron’s specialists, it is exactly like that.
At Hicron, we attach great importance to being as close to the client’s business as possible. Thanks to this, we not only propose tailored solutions, but also think long-term, always taking into account the good of long-term relationships. This approach flows through our DNA and is evident in the keynote.
We are Hicron. VisiON Architect. SolutiON Maker.
