Bringing the “Human Factor” to SAP Core ERP

In a technology-dependent global economy, core ERP is still regarded as one of the most functional and critical computer applications in supporting everyday business operations. However, human interaction with core ERP software presents daily users with a myriad of operational challenges. For example, processing an update to a single HR record in SAP ECC 6.0 requires the navigation of upwards of seven different screens, requiring users to have a strong degree of user interface navigational knowledge as well as foundational business processing knowledge as a prerequisite.

Moreover, senior management representatives also have concerns regarding the underlying operational costs associated with core ERP user inefficiency. Factoring together the number of records processed, the time taken to process records, the complexity of the task performed by the users, the amount of operational errors that occur, and ultimately, the cost of IT personnel in both rectifying error incidences and developing bespoke solutions to fulfil gaps in ERP business functionality is a favourable quantitative methodology for justifying the true value of user experience within your organisation.

Often the first challenge that awaits many organisations in their journey towards a better user experience derives from engaging a software executive’s attention away from project deadlines, “the-way-we’ve-always-done-it”, customer demands, hostility around agile methods, internal politics and “what type of coffee shall I order” before focusing attention on user experience.

Initially, use case realisation by adopting rapidly deployable solutions such as SAP Screen Personas in the journey to a better user experience provides organisations with a means of discovering the potential “value-added” of re-connecting user empathy, optimised business processes and efficient IT interaction without any further core ERP software investment. An approach of “discovering & unlocking the quick wins first” is favourable in the initial justification of user experience within an enterprise context.

As we transcend further into an era of post-modern core ERP and “Big Data,” the importance of user experience will unprecedentedly become unacknowledgeable within an ERP/SAP context. Translating growing data sets into business informative analytics that drive decision-making processes requires user-centric solutions that quickly visualise and portray such data into meaningful contextual business insights and associated follow-on user actions.

For more information on core ERP, check out our guide on the Road ahead for ERP and prepare your business for digital transformation.