Forward to Standard: Standardization as a Holistic Mindset

08.11.2022

Topic: xSuite Group | S/4HANA | SAP | Digitalization

Standardization — especially of processes and systems — is critical for companies’ long-term innovativeness. That’s why at xSuite, our motto when consulting customers is “Forward to standard.”

Complexity slows innovation

We often come across companies with highly individualized ERP landscapes and long, complex processes. As a result, these organizations are unable to rapidly harness the potential of innovations, from the cloud to artificial intelligence. What’s more, companies tend to put off the important task of reducing complexity. However, the move to S/4HANA is forcing businesses to confront these issues because complex structures make migration more difficult. The high number of S/4HANA migration projects currently being planned or executed is therefore giving momentum to our standardization approach.

We call our consulting approach “Forward to standard.” This means that we support customers in standardizing the procure-to-pay area. Our approach applies to both processes and systems. In the case of processes, we follow the “Challenge the business” principle, working with individual departments to scrutinize requirements and identify best practices. When it comes to systems, our focus is on paring back to standard functionalities based on a sound, comprehensive standard.

Standardization as a holistic mindset

“Forward to standard” does not simply characterize our consulting approach; it is also an underlying mindset, a culture we embody at xSuite. It involves a full focus on innovation and product leadership, as well as a customer-focused approach to consulting. So while we help our customers “Forward to standard,” our motto here within xSuite is “Own the standard.” We can only provide our customers with top-quality support if we take a holistic view of standardization and embrace it as our goal. This particularly applies to internal divisions that have direct contact with the product or customers. Here are a few examples of what “Own the standard” means to us:

• Sell the standard: Right from the sales process, we advise our customers to aim for standardization. Our focus during this phase is therefore on evaluating requirements and tenders. We conduct a feasibility analysis and prioritize requirements in relation to the product requirements document.
   
• Consult the standard: During the workshop and conception phase, we keep our eyes firmly on the goal of standardization. Here, we adopt the “Challenge the business” approach and discuss requirements frankly with individual departments.
   
• Enhance the standard: Requirements, technologies, and best practices are constantly evolving. We keep enhancing our software solutions, too, based on feedback from project experience. Our product management team never loses sight of standardization, ensuring that the relevant customer requirements — but not their special requests — meet the standard.
   
• Develop the standard: Software is at the heart of our solutions. It has to be standardized, scalable, and easy to implement and update. Our software development team meets this challenge thanks to innovative concepts, from microservices architectures through agile development to DevOps.
   
• Teach the standard: Our xSuite ACADEMY offers a wide range of training courses for customers and partners. These cover managing and using the software as well as best practices. Again, the focus is always on standardization.
   
• Support the standard: Technical support forms an integral part of our solutions. Providing customers with fast, efficient, and solution-oriented support by means of standardized processes and systems is our priority. 

These are just a few examples of what “Own the standard” means. In every department, we strive for expert leadership, giving our customers optimum support for their document-based processes and working with them to pave the path toward digital transformation.

If you like to have more information, don't hesitate to schedule a meeting with us: Contact us