USER SUCCESS/ KYOCERA
Risk Over Hype Why Kyocera chose SAP Cloud ERP Private to reduce risk and modernize its operating model.
peace of mind. SAP provides certified security frameworks and compliance re- porting, and that level of assurance was important for us. From a cost perspective, it was also about avoidance. We no longer needed the same level of full-time staff to main- tain infrastructure, and the cloud model aligned better with our long-term oper- ating strategy. SAPinsider: How did your earlier SAP S/4HANA migration influence this transition? Balasubramanian: Our SAP ECC-to- SAP S/4HANA migration in 2016–2017 was the most challenging project I’ve been part of. At the time, SAP S/4HANA was relatively new, and there were fewer tools and less industry experience avail- able. Data conversion was one of our big- gest hurdles, and in the early years we weren’t fully leveraging capabilities such as SAP CDS views or SAP Fiori. Over time, we matured as an SAP S/4HANA customer and began using those features more effectively. By the time we moved to SAP Cloud ERP Private, our system was relatively clean core. Since we weren’t heavily burdened by custom code, the migration from on-premises SAP S/4HANA to the cloud was significantly smoother.
By Maneesha Tiwari
W hy Kyocera Chose SAP Cloud ERP Private to Reduce Risk and Mod- ernize Its Operating Model When Kyocera International moved its SAP landscape to SAP Cloud ERP Private (formerly RISE with SAP), the decision was not driven by trend adoption or in- novation pressure. Instead, the com- pany’s leadership focused on reducing operational risk, strengthening security and compliance, and modernizing how the enterprise platform is gov- erned and supported.
SAPinsider: Can you describe your role in Kyocera International’s move to SAP Cloud ERP Private? Srinivas Balasubramanian: I spear- headed the initiative as part of a broader IT strategy to move our technology assets to the cloud. Historically, everything was managed internally, and we maintained a large number of on-premises servers. As leadership evaluated the future of our infrastructure, it became clear that ERP should not be an exception.
We worked closely with SAP leadership, our account execu- tives, and internal stakehold- ers to evaluate the move. We negotiated the contract and drove the program forward with strong executive support. Today, we are officially an SAP Cloud ERP Private customer.
“Training and change management for your end users could make or break your project.”
Having already migrated early from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA, Kyocera approached the transition from on-premises SAP S/4HANA to SAP Cloud ERP Private from a position of platform maturity. With a relatively clean core and es-
SAPinsider: What challenges emerged during the move?
SAPinsider: What prompted the move to SAP Cloud ERP Private?
Balasubramanian: The migration was smooth compared to the SAP ECC-to- SAP S/4HANA transition. However, we faced challenges around SAP Global Trade Services (SAP GTS). We decided to move away from SAP GTS and adopt standard SAP S/4HANA functionality for international trade because we weren’t using it to its full extent and it was too cost-prohibitive to retain. We also encountered complexity with our embedded SAP Business Warehouse environment. Migrating it required an
tablished governance practices, the or- ganization could execute the move with fewer technical barriers than many en- terprises encounter. In this conversation with SAPinsider, Srinivas Balasubramanian, Senior Man- ager of ERP Platform at Kyocera Interna- tional Inc., explains why risk avoidance shaped the business case, how the oper- ating model changes in a managed cloud environment, and what lessons other SAP customers should consider as they evaluate their own cloud ERP strategies.
Balasubramanian: For us, it came down to risk avoidance and cost con- siderations. Maintaining an on-prem- ises environment requires significant resources, from staffing to security and compliance oversight. We felt we were not the most well equipped to manage certain risks internally. Bringing specialists who handle these environments every day gave us greater
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