July 24, 2018 | Gavin Silkstone | Director, Global SAP Support Services
It is a common misconception that leaving SAP-provided support and joining a third-party support provider like Spinnaker Support inhibits IT innovation. However, many companies are finding that using a third-party support provider liberates an IT team to innovate and modernize by replacing SAPs dispassionate one-size fits all self-service model with responsive, connected, and aligned support from SAP experts, all while providing an average annual savings of 60+%. When support is actually supportive our customers assign their newly liberated resources to strategic priorities.
Why Third-Party Support is the Right Choice for Your Future SAP Innovation Roadmap
Spinnaker Support customers typically fall into two categories: (1) Those that are happy with their current SAP landscape and want to optimize the substantial investment made in their ERP systems. (2) Those that want to move to a cloud ERP solution and are seeking ways to finance that innovation.
Option 1: When Remaining On-Premise is Your Preference
Support should elevate your experience with SAP’s powerful solutions. Because—with great support—these tools can drive your business forward. Customers that wish to retain their current SAP on-premise solution for a few years are still able to innovate under third-party support by accessing the latest version of SAP available at the time they leave SAP support. As part of our onboarding process, Spinnaker Support will archive the latest SAP software that you are entitled to, enabling you to upgrade to that archived version when you decide it’s the right time. Unlike SAP, Spinnaker Support does not have an end-of-life policy. We will never force an unnecessary and costly upgrade; instead, you control your ERP roadmap.
Many Spinnaker Support customers use the substantial support savings to invest in peripheral cloud solutions, whether SAP products like SuccessFactors, Ariba, and Concur or products available from non-SAP vendors. This ‘hybrid’ landscape approach has surfaced as the optimal solution to support the business. It is one of the safest and most strategic ways to keep core SAP functions on-premise while taking advantage of the best-of-breed cloud solutions available today. Importantly, as part of our standard support service, Spinnaker Support will ensure ongoing interoperability between new cloud solutions and your core SAP ERP applications.
That’s why we view ourselves as a critical extension of your team—on the hook when you need us and at the ready even when you think you don’t. We help customers position themselves more effectively to take advantage of future innovation that matches their unique business needs.
Option 2: A Faster Journey to Cloud Solutions
The second group of customers are those that plan to move their IT landscape to the cloud but are struggling to build a viable business case to support this expensive reimplementation. Replacing costly SAP-provided support enables businesses to fund a well-planned IT roadmap that can keep them moving forward while industry-specific cloud applications are developed and matured.
These customers often use the time with Spinnaker Support to review and harmonize their existing business processes, decide on cloud vendors, and complete prerequisite steps, such as database migration to HANA. Spinnaker Support provides technical advisory and consultancy services where we assist with planning your IT roadmap. Additionally, as part of your standard Spinnaker Support services, we will aid in the process of re-joining SAP should you decide to move back to vendor-provided support down the road. SAP customers can make further technology advancements with unbiased advice from Spinnaker Support’s team of experts and implement business process improvements with best-of-breed industry solutions.
Learn more about SAP third-party support with Spinnaker Support and how to fund your innovation. Don’t get locked into another year of overpriced and underdelivered SAP-provided support.