Explaining How SAP Creates Value for the Education and Research Industry

The key benefit of SAP for industries is to get an integrated solution across all core and industry-specific processes, increasing operational efficiency and optimizing output. SAP customers get enabled to become intelligent, sustainable enterprises by using a comprehensive portfolio of solutions and technology:

• A platform technology that provides the foundation of application integration, extension to a robust ecosystem of solutions, and data and AI
• Industry-leading business applications that work together spanning front-end and back-end systems

In the following graphic, you see how the core business processes and the industry-specific processes are powered by SAP Business Technology Platform and are integrated in one SAP Business Suite:

SAP Business Suite represents the future of enterprise management – a comprehensive, integrated set of solutions designed to seamlessly connect and optimize every function across the enterprise.

SAP has a broad range of services to cover the end-to-end digital transformation journey of education and research institutions to become an intelligent enterprise. The transformation can be accelerated and streamlined with a customized methodology provided by SAP to quickly implement and benefit from cloud ERP. It is also possible to customize processes and innovate institutions at their own pace giving them more control over their solution.

Play the video to discover the SAP value for the education and research industry.

The main SAP benefits for the core and the industry-specific process in higher education and research institutions can be summarized as follows:

• Personalized, engaging student experience: Institutions can build active relationships with students and engage them from their initial university exploration onwards. Student data is used for sentiment analysis to adapt learning curricula to individual interests. Students gain mobile access to their accounts and can book and adjust their course schedules on demand. Real-time monitoring of activities and interests enables immediate faculty support. Student feedback is used to improve systems and services, while embedded analytics capture needs and preferences to exceed student expectations.

• Enhanced operational efficiency by integrating finance, HR, procurement, and grants management: This helps institutions focus on their core missions of teaching and research. Beginning with a review of the current IT infrastructure and operating environment to identify workflow impediments and unnecessary tasks, all systems and support can be moved to an analytics-driven, flexible cloud platform. This platform can integrate business processes across the organization to facilitate a shared service environment. The university itself becomes a collaborative common platform for teaching, research, and engagement, bringing together university administration (the back office) with campus stakeholders (the front office). New technologies like machine learning, AI, and IoT are leveraged to generate and consume data, driving the enterprise and measuring success.

• An end-to-end research experience: Integrating the business platform across departments, projects, and grant categories enables high-velocity research and allows researchers to focus on their primary mission and research outcomes. Systems become increasingly automated and standardized, particularly in grants management and reporting. Administrative tasks are significantly reduced through machine learning, such as grants management payables and receivables. The future university will be characterized by shared services, real-time data, and a single source of truth for data, along with complete cost and expense transparency.

• Real-time data and analytics: Universities become smart and intelligent enterprises. Real-time data and a continuous feedback loop regarding student activity and experiences are used to improve student success and influence university planning. Integrated university systems provide students with a single, real-time view of the institution, classes, schedules, and finances. On the system side, an integrated platform approach facilitates mobile access through single sign-on, enabling automated communication aspects, with integrated forums or chatbots as examples.

Review the following success stories to get some examples of how education and research institutions could benefit from implementing SAP solutions.

• The University of Toronto adopted SAP S/4HANA to improve speed and reporting capabilities for its HR and research information systems. The university estimates cost savings of up to USD 1.2 million annually through the implementation and extension of HR technology software. SAP SuccessFactors Learning, Recruiting, and Performance & Goals solutions helped them to create a consistent look and feel for the employee experience across all faculty, unionized, and non-unionized staff. Play the video to learn more. The University of Toronto is continuing the partnership with SAP to implement the complete cloud solution from hire to retire. Get more information in this video.

• The University of Maastricht chose SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition to integrate finance, HR, and procurement processes, reducing IT complexity and enhancing process automation and visibility. Play the video.

• The University of Ljubljana in Slovenia had over two dozen legacy IT systems, making it challenging to calculate staff salaries and headcount correctly. They unified their HR, accounting, and finance processes with educational data in one integrated, future-ready ERP system. The university can now calculate staff headcount far quicker than before, making it attractive to young people from a technology standpoint. The transformation supported the university's growth ambitions and improved operational efficiencies.Read more.

• The Purdue University developed a structured mentoring program using the SAP SuccessFactors Succession & Development solution. A welcome board on its HR website greets new employees and acts as a concierge desk, guiding them with deep links into relevant continuous learning content. The implementation resulted in increased retention and improved onboarding processes, providing rich learning opportunities and delivering engaging experiences for new hires. Read more.

• Becoming an intelligent enterprise: SAP enables higher education institutions to become intelligent, sustainable enterprises by using a comprehensive portfolio of solutions and technology: The core business processes and the industry-specific processes are powered by SAP Business Technology Platform and integrated in one SAP Business Suite.

• Key benefits for Higher Education: 1) a personalized, engaging student experience, 2) an enhanced operational efficiency, 3) an end-to-end research experience, 4) real-time data and analytics.