Latest news with #SAPECC
Time Business News
12-06-2025
- Business
- Time Business News
Zero-Downtime SAP S/4HANA Cloud Migration for SMBs: A 2025 Step-by-Step Playbook Powered by AI
Small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) can no longer treat an ERP migration as a once-a-decade, fire-and-forget IT project. Global supply-chain shocks, rising customer expectations, and a looming SAP ECC 2027 sunset have compressed decision cycles. You need a DIY-style roadmap fast, modular, and powered by artificial intelligence—to modernise without pausing day-to-day operations or draining cash reserves. This article distils the field-tested methods Sapsol Technologies Inc. applies in real client projects. By the end you will know, step-by-step, how to move from a legacy SAP ECC or non-SAP system to SAP S/4HANA Cloud with literally seconds of cutover and where Gen-AI, predictive analytics, and machine learning amplify every phase. A project with no clear value proposition is the fastest route to cost overruns. So grab a whiteboard and write down what the board, investors and frontline users demand: Customer experience: Shoppers expect real-time inventory, personalised pricing, and instant order status. Batch-driven ECC cannot compete. Shoppers expect real-time inventory, personalised pricing, and instant order status. Batch-driven ECC cannot compete. Cash flow: IDC finds that companies embedding AI-driven demand sensing slash safety stock by 35 %. Those dollars show up as free cash. IDC finds that companies embedding AI-driven demand sensing slash safety stock by 35 %. Those dollars show up as free cash. Compliance & ESG: Regulators now inspect digital audit trails and Scope 3 emissions data. S/4HANA's built-in analytics shorten audits, while blockchain extensions like GreenToken capture ESG proof automatically. Tipping-point fact: SAP ends mainstream ECC support in 2027. For many SMBs the real deadline is 2025, because partners, lenders, and even insurance underwriters increasingly tie risk premiums to digital maturity. With purpose documented, every configuration decision can be checked against the 'Why.' Scope creep dies immediately when an idea fails that test. Zero-downtime is not marketing spin; it is an architectural pattern first popularised by hyperscale SaaS vendors and now perfected for S/4HANA Cloud migrations. Blue environment: The fresh S/4HANA Cloud tenant where you configure best-practice processes and load synchronised data. The fresh S/4HANA Cloud tenant where you configure best-practice processes and load synchronised data. Green environment: Your current live system—ECC, a third-party ERP, or a hybrid Frankenstein stack. Your current live system—ECC, a third-party ERP, or a hybrid Frankenstein stack. Load balancer / DNS cutover: A software switch that, once tests pass, points production traffic from Green to Blue in milliseconds. Most planned outages hide in three areas: data migration, interface rewiring, and user adoption. Neutralise all three and 'zero' becomes not only feasible but routine. Skimping on preparation torpedoes SMB projects more than any technology glitch. Confirm you have: Clean master data – duplicates and missing cost centres wreak havoc on universal journals. Process maps – even a simple Lucidchart swim-lane for procure-to-pay uncovers undocumented steps. Interface inventory – list every nightly flat-file, API, or Excel macro touching finance, supply chain, or HR. Testing culture – appoint user-acceptance leaders now; do not rely on 'we'll find volunteers later.' Executive mandate – a C-level sponsor ready to settle tie-breakers stops endless meetings. If any square remains blank, fix it first. Your migration speed is fixed by the slowest unresolved gap. Fire up Sapsol's Express Assessment Toolkit —lightning workshops, process questionnaires, and auto-generated heat-maps highlighting where your workflows diverge from S/4HANA best practices. —lightning workshops, process questionnaires, and auto-generated heat-maps highlighting where your workflows diverge from S/4HANA best practices. Score each process on a traffic-light scale. Red items trigger either redesign or a justified exception. Deliverables: a one-page Migration Roadmap plus an AI Opportunity Matrix showing where Fiori co-pilots, predictive MRP, or machine-learning invoice matching will create immediate wins. Spin up a trial tenant in SAP Cloud ALM. Load a 10 % representative data slice —cover edge cases like multi-currency ledgers or non-calendar fiscal years. —cover edge cases like multi-currency ledgers or non-calendar fiscal years. Plug in quick-hit AI features: predictive reorder points in Integrated Business Planning (IBP), a chatbot for accounts-payable queries. Run a demo for executives; seeing is believing, and budgets unlock faster. Launch Sapsol's Data Profiler to expose nulls, duplicates, and obsolete material masters. to expose nulls, duplicates, and obsolete material masters. Choose ETL vs. ELT wisely. If you can cleanse upstream, ELT straight into S/4 accelerates cutover. wisely. If you can cleanse upstream, ELT straight into S/4 accelerates cutover. Schedule nightly delta loads so business keeps trading while Blue catches up daily. Provision the production-grade Blue landscape, clone integrations with SAP BTP API Management. Freeze configuration, but allow master-data deltas until twelve hours pre-switch. Execute robotic smoke tests across finance close, order-to-cash, procure-to-pay. When the dashboard shows 100 % green, flip the load balancer. Downtime? Seconds—just long enough for DNS caching to refresh. Now the fun begins. Activate revenue-lifting and cost-cutting algorithms: Boards love that you deliver tangible gains inside the first quarter rather than 'sometime next year.' For a $120 million-revenue firm, total programme cost typically lands between 0.9 % and 1.5 % of revenue. Thanks to Sapsol's accelerators you can budget on the low side and still deliver: 35 % inventory reduction via AI demand sensing. via AI demand sensing. 20 % fewer rush orders because real-time MRP spots shortages days earlier. because real-time MRP spots shortages days earlier. 40 % faster period-close courtesy of AI-suggested journal entries. At an 18 % EBITDA margin your break-even point is month 14—a timeline CFOs seldom see with traditional IT projects. Want third-party proof? Review the numbers in Sapsol's manufacturing client success story: Scope bloat – freeze your MVP. Park 'wouldn't it be nice' ideas in a post-go-live backlog. Dirty data – cleanse processes , not just records; otherwise garbage re-enters on day two. Change fatigue – swap eight-hour classroom training for 5-minute embedded Fiori videos and AI co-pilot tips. Shadow IT – publish integration design rules so citizen developers don't build rogue Excel macros that break APIs. Finance & Controlling – close books faster; executives cheer. Procurement – AI invoice match frees working capital instantly. Sales & Distribution – real-time ATP promises reduce churn. Production Planning – predictive quality cuts scrap costs. Staggered go-lives ensure every quarter shows ROI, keeping stakeholders enthusiastic. Traditional MRP reacts to yesterday's averages. Switch on predictive models and you feed weather forecasts, social-media sentiment, and supplier capacity signals into IBP. The system generates safety-stock targets per SKU, per site, per day . Clients routinely free millions in working capital without a single layout change. Employees resist change when new software slows them down. Sapsol embeds natural-language co-pilots so a buyer can ask: 'Show overdue purchase orders above $10 000' and receive an actionable list in seconds. Adoption curves shift from months to days. Accounts-payable teams hate the suspense of blocked invoices. ML models analyse historical tolerances and automatically clear matches that human approvers would sign off anyway. Result: fewer escalations and early-payment discounts claimed on autopilot. Many SMBs assume their web of point-to-point interfaces will sink a cloud migration. Wrong. SAP BTP API Management and event mesh tools wrap ugly flat-file feeds into modern REST or OData endpoints with throttling, monitoring, and token-based security. Over time you retire legacy schedulers and cron jobs, but you start by encapsulating them so cutover remains swift. Cloud scares some auditors, yet S/4HANA Cloud combined with Sapsol's blueprint usually raises your security posture: Micro-segmentation: every workload gets its own security group; lateral movement dies. every workload gets its own security group; lateral movement dies. Real-time anomaly detection: behavioural ML flags suspicious postings within 200 ms. behavioural ML flags suspicious postings within 200 ms. Immutable audit logs: blockchain-backed extensions guarantee line-item integrity. Cyber-insurance premiums have dropped up to 12 % for clients adopting this stack. Digital transformation fails when culture lags technology. Key tactics: Persona-based learning paths – plant operators get scan-gun how-tos; finance teams get Fiori analytics tips. – plant operators get scan-gun how-tos; finance teams get Fiori analytics tips. Gamified dashboards – real-time KPIs create friendly competition for fastest issue resolution. – real-time KPIs create friendly competition for fastest issue resolution. Upskill sprints – lunchtime 'prompt-engineering' sessions turn hesitant staff into AI power users. When people are excited, adoption soars—and ROI with it. Some executives demand a live demo before funding. Sapsol removes guesswork with its Free SAP Proof-of-Concept: Week 1: Load a curated data subset, demonstrate universal journal posting. Load a curated data subset, demonstrate universal journal posting. Week 2: Prototype AI demand sensing and a chatbot in Fiori. Prototype AI demand sensing and a chatbot in Fiori. Week 3: Show delta data sync and night-batch replacement. Show delta data sync and night-batch replacement. Week 4: Present ROI projections using your numbers, not generic benchmarks. Boards rarely argue with their own data. Signature secured. You can limp along on a sunset ERP until 2027 and pray nothing breaks—or you can leap ahead of competitors right now with a zero-downtime, AI-powered SAP S/4HANA Cloud migration. The blueprint in this guide is not theory; it is the condensed wisdom of dozens of successful SMB transformations. Clarify your 'Why.' Follow the Blue-Green roadmap. Activate AI accelerators early. Keep culture on pace with technology. Ready to see what four short weeks can do? Start by booking the free SAP POC and reading the detailed case study. Momentum favours the bold—give your business the modern core it deserves before rivals leave you in batch-processing dust. Begin with the no-risk Free SAP Proof of Concept —and watch your future take shape in just four weeks. Then explore our real-world impact in the SAP S/4HANA case study. Finally, explore the data powerhouse behind modern retail with our deep dive into SAP CAR . In 2025's hyper-competitive landscape, standing still is the only risky move. Let's make sure your next SAP implementation is not just seamless, but future-proof, AI-powered, and ROI-positive from Day One. Contact us at to start your journey. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rimini Street Announces the Extension of Support for All SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA Releases Through 2040
All SAP software licensees can now easily extend the useful life and maximize the full value of their current, proven and stable mission-critical systems and enjoy total maintenance savings of up to 90% without the requirement of a costly and risky migration to S/4HANA on RISE LAS VEGAS, June 05, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support, management and innovation solutions, and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software, today announced it has extended full support coverage for all SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA releases through 2040, without any need to complete a migration to S/4HANA on RISE as required by SAP for clients who want to remain on SAP's Annual Support and receive full support. Rimini Street SAP Clients Gain Long-Term Savings to Self-Fund Innovation Current Rimini Support™ for SAP clients are not impacted by SAP's end-of-maintenance dates. With unmatched support, service and guidance from Rimini Street as a single, trusted partner – clients can keep systems running smoothly, stay in full tax and legal compliance and re-allocate IT budget savings to self-fund innovation. Rimini Street launched Rimini Support for SAP over fifteen years ago and currently supports hundreds of SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA clients. This announcement extending SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA support for another fifteen years applies to both current and new clients who are seeking to drive maximum ROI out of their SAP software investment and enjoy total annual maintenance savings of up to 90% and avoid the cost and risks of a low-value migration to S/4HANA on RISE. "Rimini Street's announcement that it will support all SAP releases until 2040 is most welcome news to SAP ECC customers such as ourselves," said Nobuo Norisue, president of AUTOBACS Digital Initiative Co., the group IT infrastructure of AUTOBACS, Japanese retailer of automotive parts and accessories. "As a very satisfied client of Rimini Support™ for SAP since 2016, having the option to stay on our ECC system until 2040 with the support of Rimini Street opens up many new doors for us, especially at a time when we are designing our next-generation IT foundation and architecture while balancing budgets and delivery timeline. Rimini Street's continued support provides us with more time, funds and options for a smart path forward." "According to industry analysts, an estimated 20,000 SAP ECC licensees have not even licensed S/4HANA, and many of those who have licensed S/4HANA still have not completed an S/4HANA or S/4HANA on RISE migration," said Seth Ravin, CEO of Rimini Street. "The SAP ECC 6.0 and older S/4HANA releases can deliver excellent and stable operations for 15 or more years with Rimini Street's proven, ultra-responsive support for SAP. There is no need for SAP licensees to undergo major costs, risks and disruption to their operations for a software migration that many believe is unnecessary and low value, compared to the value of investing in new technologies like enterprise AI, workflow and task automation – that can bring immediate value to the organization." Rimini Street Extends the Useful Life of All SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA Releases SAP's Mainstream Maintenance for ECC 6.0 is scheduled to end by 2027, but for those on enhancement packs 0-5, the end date is December 31, 2025. Similarly, SAP S/4HANA has several releases where Mainstream Maintenance has already ended or will end in 2025, 2026, or 2027, depending on the version. SAP's Extended Maintenance is available for some versions of ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA, but not all, and at a significant cost increase. The full list of maintenance end dates can be found here. Rimini Street clients can avoid the endless cycles and risks of vendor-mandated upgrades, migrations and replatforming, benefitting from: Immediate savings of up to 50% off SAP annual support fees, with savings of up to 90% on total support costs A named, dedicated Primary Support Engineer (PSE), backed by a deep bench of SAP experts across the globe, and Rimini Street's patented and proprietary AI tools and processes for fast, accurate issue resolution Comprehensive support that covers customizations at no additional charge, helping to lower daily IT operating costs and preserve processes of competitive differentiation Guaranteed SLAs of ten-minute response time for critical cases, averaging less than two-minute response times for both Priority 1 and 2 cases in 2024 "We predict the future of ERP will forever be changed in the next five to ten years, with ERP software replaced by new, faster and more flexible agentic ERP processes that we are already deploying for clients," said Ravin. "Already, Rimini Street clients have saved $9 billion dollars in IT operating costs and are self-funding innovation to propel them forward without being slowed down with unnecessary, costly and risky upgrades, migrations and replatforming. Rimini Street clients are disruptors, not the disrupted." Learn about a SMARTER and FASTER path to innovation here. About Rimini Street, Inc. Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a Russell 2000® Company, is a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support and innovation solutions and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software. The Company offers a comprehensive portfolio of unified solutions to run, manage, support, customize, configure, connect, protect, monitor, and optimize enterprise application, database, and technology software. The Company has signed thousands of contracts with Fortune Global 100, Fortune 500, midmarket, public sector and government organizations who selected Rimini Street as their trusted, proven mission-critical enterprise software solutions provider and achieved better operational outcomes, realized billions of US dollars in savings and funded AI and other innovation investments. To learn more, please visit and connect with Rimini Street on X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements included in this communication are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "continue," "could," "currently," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "intend," "may," "might," "outlook," "plan," "possible," "goal," "potential," "predict," "project," "seem," "seek," "should," "will," "would" or other similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our expectations of future events, future opportunities, global expansion and other growth initiatives and our investments in such initiatives. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of management and are not predictions of actual performance, nor are these statements of historical facts. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties regarding Rimini Street's business, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, adverse developments in and costs associated with defending pending litigation or any new litigation, including the disposition of pending motions to appeal and any new claims; any expenses to be incurred to comply with any injunction ordered by the courts relating to the Rimini II litigation matter and the impact on future period revenue and costs incurred related to these efforts; changes in the business environment in which Rimini Street operates, including the impact of any recessionary macro-economic trends, heightened geopolitical tensions and changes in foreign exchange rates, as well as general financial, economic, regulatory and political conditions affecting the industry in which we operate and the industries in which our clients operate; the evolution of the enterprise software management and support landscape and our ability to educate the market to attract and retain clients and further penetrate our client base; significant competition in the software support services industry and our intentions with respect to our pricing model; customer adoption of our expanded portfolio of products and services and products and services we expect to introduce; our expectations regarding new product offerings, partnerships and alliance programs, including but not limited to our partnership with ServiceNow; our ability to grow our revenue and accurately forecast revenue, along with the results of any efforts to manage costs in light of current revenue expectations and expansion of our offerings; the expected impact of reductions in our workforce during the last and current fiscal year and associated reorganization costs; estimates of our total addressable market and expectations of client savings relative to use of other providers; variability of timing in our sales cycle; risks relating to retention rates, including our ability to accurately predict retention rates; the loss of one or more members of our management team; our ability to attract and retain additional qualified personnel; our business plan, our ability to grow in the future and our ability to achieve and maintain profitability; our plans to wind-down the offering of services for Oracle PeopleSoft products; the volatility of our stock price and related compliance with stock exchange requirements; our need and ability to raise equity or debt financing on favorable terms and our ability to generate cash flows from operations to help fund increased investment in our growth initiatives; risks associated with global operations; our ability to prevent unauthorized access to our information technology systems and other cybersecurity threats; any deficiencies associated with generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies potentially used by us or used by our third-party vendors and service providers; our ability to protect the confidential information of our employees and clients and to comply with privacy regulations; our ability to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting; our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our brand and intellectual property; changes in laws and regulations, including changes in tax laws or unfavorable outcomes of tax positions we take; tariff costs (including tariff relief or the ability to mitigate tariffs, in light of new or increased tariffs imposed by the United States government and the potential for retaliatory trade measures by affected countries); a failure by us to establish adequate tax reserves; our ability to realize benefits from our net operating losses; any negative impact of environmental, social and governance matters on our reputation or business and the exposure of our business to additional costs or risks from our reporting on such matters; our ability to maintain our good standing with the United States government and international governments and capture new contracts with governmental entities; our credit facility's ongoing debt service obligations and financial and operational covenants on our business and related interest rate risk; the sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents to meet our liquidity requirements; the amount and timing of repurchases, if any, under our stock repurchase program and our ability to enhance stockholder value through such program; uncertainty as to the long-term value of Rimini Street's equity securities; catastrophic events that disrupt our business or that of our clients; and those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Rimini Street's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 1, 2025, and as updated from time to time by Rimini Street's future Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other filings by Rimini Street with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, forward-looking statements provide Rimini Street's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this communication. Rimini Street anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Rimini Street's assessments to change. However, while Rimini Street may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Rimini Street specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Rimini Street's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication. © 2025 Rimini Street, Inc. All rights reserved. "Rimini Street" is a registered trademark of Rimini Street, Inc. in the United States and other countries, and Rimini Street, the Rimini Street logo, and combinations thereof, and other marks marked by TM are trademarks of Rimini Street, Inc. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners, and unless otherwise specified, Rimini Street claims no affiliation, endorsement, or association with any such trademark holder or other companies referenced herein. View source version on Contacts Janet RavinVP, Global CommunicationsRimini Street, Inc.+1 702 285-3532pr@
Business Wire
05-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Rimini Street Announces the Extension of Support for All SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA Releases Through 2040
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support, management and innovation solutions, and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software, today announced it has extended full support coverage for all SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA releases through 2040, without any need to complete a migration to S/4HANA on RISE as required by SAP for clients who want to remain on SAP's Annual Support and receive full support. 'The SAP ECC 6.0 and older S/4HANA releases can deliver excellent and stable operations for 15 or more years with Rimini Street's proven, ultra-responsive support for SAP.' - Seth Ravin, CEO, Rimini Street Share Rimini Street SAP Clients Gain Long-Term Savings to Self-Fund Innovation Current Rimini Support™ for SAP clients are not impacted by SAP's end-of-maintenance dates. With unmatched support, service and guidance from Rimini Street as a single, trusted partner – clients can keep systems running smoothly, stay in full tax and legal compliance and re-allocate IT budget savings to self-fund innovation. Rimini Street launched Rimini Support for SAP over fifteen years ago and currently supports hundreds of SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA clients. This announcement extending SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA support for another fifteen years applies to both current and new clients who are seeking to drive maximum ROI out of their SAP software investment and enjoy total annual maintenance savings of up to 90% and avoid the cost and risks of a low-value migration to S/4HANA on RISE. 'Rimini Street's announcement that it will support all SAP releases until 2040 is most welcome news to SAP ECC customers such as ourselves,' said Nobuo Norisue, president of AUTOBACS Digital Initiative Co., the group IT infrastructure of AUTOBACS, Japanese retailer of automotive parts and accessories. 'As a very satisfied client of Rimini Support™ for SAP since 2016, having the option to stay on our ECC system until 2040 with the support of Rimini Street opens up many new doors for us, especially at a time when we are designing our next-generation IT foundation and architecture while balancing budgets and delivery timeline. Rimini Street's continued support provides us with more time, funds and options for a smart path forward.' 'According to industry analysts, an estimated 20,000 SAP ECC licensees have not even licensed S/4HANA, and many of those who have licensed S/4HANA still have not completed an S/4HANA or S/4HANA on RISE migration,' said Seth Ravin, CEO of Rimini Street. 'The SAP ECC 6.0 and older S/4HANA releases can deliver excellent and stable operations for 15 or more years with Rimini Street's proven, ultra-responsive support for SAP. There is no need for SAP licensees to undergo major costs, risks and disruption to their operations for a software migration that many believe is unnecessary and low value, compared to the value of investing in new technologies like enterprise AI, workflow and task automation – that can bring immediate value to the organization.' Rimini Street Extends the Useful Life of All SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA Releases SAP's Mainstream Maintenance for ECC 6.0 is scheduled to end by 2027, but for those on enhancement packs 0-5, the end date is December 31, 2025. Similarly, SAP S/4HANA has several releases where Mainstream Maintenance has already ended or will end in 2025, 2026, or 2027, depending on the version. SAP's Extended Maintenance is available for some versions of ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA, but not all, and at a significant cost increase. The full list of maintenance end dates can be found here. Rimini Street clients can avoid the endless cycles and risks of vendor-mandated upgrades, migrations and replatforming, benefitting from: Immediate savings of up to 50% off SAP annual support fees, with savings of up to 90% on total support costs A named, dedicated Primary Support Engineer (PSE), backed by a deep bench of SAP experts across the globe, and Rimini Street's patented and proprietary AI tools and processes for fast, accurate issue resolution Comprehensive support that covers customizations at no additional charge, helping to lower daily IT operating costs and preserve processes of competitive differentiation Guaranteed SLAs of ten-minute response time for critical cases, averaging less than two-minute response times for both Priority 1 and 2 cases in 2024 'We predict the future of ERP will forever be changed in the next five to ten years, with ERP software replaced by new, faster and more flexible agentic ERP processes that we are already deploying for clients,' said Ravin. 'Already, Rimini Street clients have saved $9 billion dollars in IT operating costs and are self-funding innovation to propel them forward without being slowed down with unnecessary, costly and risky upgrades, migrations and replatforming. Rimini Street clients are disruptors, not the disrupted.' Learn about a SMARTER and FASTER path to innovation here. About Rimini Street, Inc. Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a Russell 2000 ® Company, is a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support and innovation solutions and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software. The Company offers a comprehensive portfolio of unified solutions to run, manage, support, customize, configure, connect, protect, monitor, and optimize enterprise application, database, and technology software. The Company has signed thousands of contracts with Fortune Global 100, Fortune 500, midmarket, public sector and government organizations who selected Rimini Street as their trusted, proven mission-critical enterprise software solutions provider and achieved better operational outcomes, realized billions of US dollars in savings and funded AI and other innovation investments. To learn more, please visit and connect with Rimini Street on X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements included in this communication are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as 'anticipate,' 'assume,' 'believe,' 'continue,' 'could,' 'currently,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'forecast,' 'future,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'might,' 'outlook,' 'plan,' 'possible,' 'goal,' 'potential,' 'predict,' 'project,' 'seem,' 'seek,' 'should,' 'will,' 'would' or other similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our expectations of future events, future opportunities, global expansion and other growth initiatives and our investments in such initiatives. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of management and are not predictions of actual performance, nor are these statements of historical facts. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties regarding Rimini Street's business, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, adverse developments in and costs associated with defending pending litigation or any new litigation, including the disposition of pending motions to appeal and any new claims; any expenses to be incurred to comply with any injunction ordered by the courts relating to the Rimini II litigation matter and the impact on future period revenue and costs incurred related to these efforts; changes in the business environment in which Rimini Street operates, including the impact of any recessionary macro-economic trends, heightened geopolitical tensions and changes in foreign exchange rates, as well as general financial, economic, regulatory and political conditions affecting the industry in which we operate and the industries in which our clients operate; the evolution of the enterprise software management and support landscape and our ability to educate the market to attract and retain clients and further penetrate our client base; significant competition in the software support services industry and our intentions with respect to our pricing model; customer adoption of our expanded portfolio of products and services and products and services we expect to introduce; our expectations regarding new product offerings, partnerships and alliance programs, including but not limited to our partnership with ServiceNow; our ability to grow our revenue and accurately forecast revenue, along with the results of any efforts to manage costs in light of current revenue expectations and expansion of our offerings; the expected impact of reductions in our workforce during the last and current fiscal year and associated reorganization costs; estimates of our total addressable market and expectations of client savings relative to use of other providers; variability of timing in our sales cycle; risks relating to retention rates, including our ability to accurately predict retention rates; the loss of one or more members of our management team; our ability to attract and retain additional qualified personnel; our business plan, our ability to grow in the future and our ability to achieve and maintain profitability; our plans to wind-down the offering of services for Oracle PeopleSoft products; the volatility of our stock price and related compliance with stock exchange requirements; our need and ability to raise equity or debt financing on favorable terms and our ability to generate cash flows from operations to help fund increased investment in our growth initiatives; risks associated with global operations; our ability to prevent unauthorized access to our information technology systems and other cybersecurity threats; any deficiencies associated with generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies potentially used by us or used by our third-party vendors and service providers; our ability to protect the confidential information of our employees and clients and to comply with privacy regulations; our ability to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting; our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our brand and intellectual property; changes in laws and regulations, including changes in tax laws or unfavorable outcomes of tax positions we take; tariff costs (including tariff relief or the ability to mitigate tariffs, in light of new or increased tariffs imposed by the United States government and the potential for retaliatory trade measures by affected countries); a failure by us to establish adequate tax reserves; our ability to realize benefits from our net operating losses; any negative impact of environmental, social and governance matters on our reputation or business and the exposure of our business to additional costs or risks from our reporting on such matters; our ability to maintain our good standing with the United States government and international governments and capture new contracts with governmental entities; our credit facility's ongoing debt service obligations and financial and operational covenants on our business and related interest rate risk; the sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents to meet our liquidity requirements; the amount and timing of repurchases, if any, under our stock repurchase program and our ability to enhance stockholder value through such program; uncertainty as to the long-term value of Rimini Street's equity securities; catastrophic events that disrupt our business or that of our clients; and those discussed under the heading 'Risk Factors' in Rimini Street's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 1, 2025, and as updated from time to time by Rimini Street's future Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other filings by Rimini Street with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, forward-looking statements provide Rimini Street's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this communication. Rimini Street anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Rimini Street's assessments to change. However, while Rimini Street may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Rimini Street specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Rimini Street's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication. © 2025 Rimini Street, Inc. All rights reserved. 'Rimini Street' is a registered trademark of Rimini Street, Inc. in the United States and other countries, and Rimini Street, the Rimini Street logo, and combinations thereof, and other marks marked by TM are trademarks of Rimini Street, Inc. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners, and unless otherwise specified, Rimini Street claims no affiliation, endorsement, or association with any such trademark holder or other companies referenced herein.
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Unlocking Value In Data Analytics: The Power Of Cloud Integration Tech
Govinda, Senior Manager at Cognizant, has 14+ years of expertise in SAP & Non-SAP Data Analytics, delivering innovative BI solutions. getty Data analytics platforms like SAP continue to be the foundation of enterprise operations across industries. From managing financial transactions and procurement to overseeing utility billing and customer service, SAP ECC and S/4HANA play a critical role in day-to-day business processes. These systems were built for data integrity, compliance and operational reliability. However, they were not designed to seamlessly support real-time data analytics or integration with cloud-based platforms. In this article, I'll explore how enterprises are overcoming the limitations of traditional data extraction by adopting data analytics platform connectors to enable secure, real-time data integration with cloud platforms. This is a topic that is particularly important to me as a senior manager in the tech space. As business leaders push for faster, data-driven decision-making, IT organizations are expected to deliver insights that go beyond traditional data analytics reporting. Cloud data platforms like Snowflake, Databricks, Azure Synapse Analytics, BigQuery and more offer elastic scalability, multi-source data blending and advanced analytical capabilities that traditional SAP systems lack. For enterprises seeking agility, combining data analytics platform foundations with these cloud data platforms' analytical horsepower is a compelling proposition. This integration, however, requires addressing architectural and operational barriers that stand in the way. Despite data analytics platforms' structured data quality, their architecture is inherently complex. Most modules rely on highly normalized tables where information is distributed across dozens or hundreds of interconnected records. For example, retrieving a single customer invoice might require joining data from multiple master data, transaction and configuration tables. This structure, while ideal for operational consistency, complicates external data access. In addition, many enterprises use custom enhancements or industry-specific solutions like SAP IS-U, which introduce proprietary fields and logic. These customizations increase the difficulty of standardizing data extraction. Security further complicates integration: these platforms' role-based authorization is highly granular, and bypassing it through external tools may introduce compliance risks. Traditional ETL (extract, transform, load) approaches have long been used to extract platform data into data warehouses. However, they suffer from several limitations in today's cloud-first environment: • They often require staging data in intermediate storage layers, increasing latency and cost. • Real-time data capture is difficult, as most rely on scheduled batch jobs. • Platform performance can degrade when large queries are executed repeatedly. • Data transformations often need to be manually maintained in both the ETL tool and target system. Moreover, many off-the-shelf integration tools lack deep awareness of analytics platforms' metadata and relationships. As a result, businesses struggle with partial, inconsistent or outdated datasets in the cloud—defeating the purpose of unified analytics. To address these limitations, organizations are turning to integration solutions. These tools are installed directly within the platform stack and are, specifically in SAP's case, certified by the provider to ensure compliance, performance and extensibility. They operate within the security and metadata framework, allowing them to read data with full awareness of business logic, table relationships and role-based access controls. A leading example of this is SNP Glue, which represents a class of solutions enabling secure, real-time data replication from SAP to cloud platforms. Rather than pulling data externally, these connectors push data from within SAP, minimizing disruption and enhancing control. While SNP Glue is a prominent example, other SAP-certified connectors are emerging with similar capabilities, reflecting a broader industry trend. Connectors like this provide a variety of benefits, including the following: • Real-Time Decision Enablement: Change data capture (CDC) and delta logic minimize load times and ensure cloud platforms reflect the latest analytics platform data. • Security And Governance: Data analytics platforms' internal role structures and authorizations are respected, maintaining enterprise-grade compliance. • Simplified Architecture: No third-party middleware or external staging areas are needed, reducing technical debt. • Support For Custom Enhancements: These tools recognize Z-tables and industry-specific modules, allowing comprehensive data coverage. In the utility industry, SAP IS-U is commonly used for managing metering, billing and customer service. However, operational reporting needs often go beyond what SAP's native tools provide. By integrating SAP IS-U data with cloud platforms like Snowflake, utilities can: • Merge meter reading data with external weather feeds to improve demand forecasting. • Detect anomalies in billing patterns to reduce fraud and revenue leakage. • Optimize field technician routing using geospatial analytics. These capabilities support real-time responsiveness, especially critical in outage management, regulatory reporting and sustainability initiatives. When connecting data analytics platforms with cloud data platforms, there are a few best practices that I would urge you to keep in mind: • Begin With A Data Strategy: Identify high-value use cases, such as forecasting, compliance or service optimization. • Establish Unified Governance: Extend your data catalog and lineage tracking to a cloud platform. • Test Incrementally: Start with a pilot on a specific module before scaling organization-wide. • Align IT And Business Stakeholders: Ensure technical capabilities map to real business outcomes. The integration of data platforms with cloud platforms is not just a technical upgrade—it's a transformation enabler. It can allow organizations to unify core business data with real-time analytics, enabling better forecasting, operational agility and customer insights. This shift is especially valuable in industries with large footprints and high data volatility. Native connectors exemplify how enterprises can modernize without sacrificing governance or performance. By reducing reliance on brittle ETL scripts and manual reconciliations, these tools empower organizations to shift from periodic reporting to continuous intelligence. With cleaner architecture and real-time access to data in cloud platforms, CIOs and data leaders can unlock new business models, drive automation and stay ahead of disruption. As digital transformation accelerates, now is the time to revisit your integration strategy and unlock the full potential of your enterprise data. In this new data economy, data analytics platforms are no longer just systems of record. With the right integration approach, they can become vital engines for innovation, analytics and enterprise-wide decision-making. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Techday NZ
26-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Smart billing app delivers up to USD $4 million in savings
Celonis and the Good Quarter Company have co-developed a smart billing application designed to help utility companies improve operational efficiency and customer satisfaction in their meter-to-cash processes. The application, named the Celonis Utilities Smart Billing app, aims to optimise the sequence of steps from meter readings through to cash collection, a workflow central to the effective delivery of utility services. Utility companies have long faced challenges in the meter-to-cash cycle, including issues such as inaccurate meter readings or malfunctioning meters, data entry errors, inconsistencies in bill generation caused by fragmented systems, and ineffective payment collection. These problems can result in revenue loss, unstable cash flow, and dissatisfaction among customers. Israel Expósito, Industry Principal, Telecommunications & Utilities at Celonis, said: "The Utilities Smart Billing app empowers utilities to transform their billing operations and enables them to move from reactive issue management to proactive, data-led performance improvement." The app brings a process intelligence layer to utilities' existing infrastructure, integrating with enterprise solutions such as SAP ECC and S/4HANA Utilities. This integration allows companies to retain their current systems while benefitting from new data-driven insights and operational enhancements. Ashwin Santhanam, Founder of The Good Quarter Company, commented: "By bringing Celonis Process Intelligence to the meter-to-cash cycle, we were able to build a solution that provides real-time process visibility and business context necessary for long-term business transformation and process excellence." The main objectives of the app include reducing the risk of errors by improving invoice accuracy, reading precision, and detecting previously unbilled revenue. It addresses issues such as late or forgotten meter reads, incomplete invoices or payments, and reliance on estimates instead of actual data. The result is improved risk mitigation and revenue capture. To optimise working capital, the app is designed to accelerate cash flow by issuing invoices in a timely manner and increasing the proportion of on-time payments. It does this by concentrating on the problems of delayed invoices and overdue payments. Operational costs are tackled by increasing the rate of successful, accurate meter readings on the first attempt and decreasing the need for manual interventions. The software achieves this through improved routing and prioritisation of meter-read tasks, more effective handling of exceptions, and minimisation of rework and cancellations. Among the app's features is the Billing Timeliness Tracker, which helps ensure invoices are sent promptly by monitoring and seeking to optimise billing cycle times. The Meter Read Performance Analyser evaluates meter reading accuracy and timeliness to identify problematic areas or meters. An Invoice Volume Forecaster utilises historic usage trends to project future invoice volumes, aiding utilities in resource planning. The Executive Dashboard provides management with a high-level overview of meter-to-cash metrics for rapid issue identification and decision-making. The Leading Indicator Alert System detects early warning signs of potential problems within the meter-to-cash workflow, such as a rise in read failures or delays in billing, allowing companies to intervene before issues escalate. The Performance Benchmarking Tool compares current results with targets and industry standards, helping companies spot areas needing improvement. Utility organisations using the app have reported immediate benefits. A North American utility with several billion USD in revenue experienced significant meter-to-cash challenges following a period of rapid growth. Upon deploying the app, the company gained real-time process visibility and was able to implement targeted improvements. The application identified costly unresolved exceptions that were responsible for invoice delays and offered insights to streamline exception handling, leading to a substantial reduction in manual meter rereads and associated truck rolls. The deployment delivered measurable gains, including identification of USD $1.5 million in savings related to truck rolls within four to six weeks, and between USD $3 million and USD $4 million in savings across the entire meter-to-cash process. Additional advantages included a reduction in manual work, a more rapid meter-to-cash cycle due to proactive monitoring, and support for a more data-driven approach to business operations. The Celonis Utilities Smart Billing app is part of the Celonis Platform Apps Program, which provides companies with solutions developed by ecosystem partners on the Celonis Process Intelligence Platform.
