Complex foreign trade

The cloud, as an option for virtual data storage, is becoming more and more important. Those who want to venture into the cloud as an existing SAP customer can do so today with various offers.

There are public cloud scenarios, for example in the CRM area, or more delimited virtual private cloud scenarios that can be realized in the SAP Hana Enterprise Cloud (SAP HEC).

As with any new technology and operational option, the question for user companies is: "Which of these is specifically useful for us?"

Critical diversity

In foreign trade, the challenges for SAP customers are often more complex than, for example, when using classic ERP software modules in the core process areas.

The SAP GTS system, as SAP's standard solution for foreign trade, must also be operated alongside the ERP upstream systems.

In cross-system process design, IT is also faced with the content-related challenge of understanding the broad technical vocabulary of the various contacts from the export control, customs, sales, and shipping departments, combining their requirements, and implementing them in country-specific, legally compliant booking processes.

The GTS sub-services Compliance Management (export control), Customs Management (customs clearance), Risk Management (preferential customs determination) and Electronic Compliance Reporting (ECR - trade statistics) are to be regarded as separate specialist areas which, although they are interrelated, follow their own rules.

At the same time, the world of foreign trade offers sections that can be clearly subdivided in terms of subject matter and system, the result of which - such as an approved customs declaration, a correctly allocated and written-off export license, or the comprehensibly determined preferential status of a final product - is "standardized" by the authorities of the respective countries involved.

It is legitimate to ask whether the time and energy required to master the formalities, including their IT mapping, really has to be invested by the company's own employees.

Added to this is the increasing complexity and thus the manageability of the formalities if the GTS solution is to be used as a central foreign trade platform and rolled out company-wide. Only insiders know, for example, how an EAR-600 series component must be correctly specified in the ACE filing or what the document codes 5EVU and 2ADP represent in Austria and when they must be specified.

Also, the fact of the legal responsibility of one's own company before the authorities is no longer an argument against outsourcing foreign trade processes.

Finally, complex logistical operations under bonded warehouse approval are often completely outsourced to freight forwarders.

This can be done just as well via an IT system and with the greatest possible transparency.

Requirements catalog for the entire customer problem

What is the requirements catalog for foreign trade that captures the entire customer problem? This is the guiding question for determining a true, all-around cloud solution in foreign trade.

It needs to be clarified who is responsible for which tasks that are necessary to provide a demand-oriented, software-supported process supply.

An SAP GTS cloud provider should therefore be able to deliver all tasks from licensing to application support from a single source using a modular principle.

It is not about partial aspects, not just about hosting, nor about qualified services alone. It is about providing a complete "Business Process as a Service" for foreign trade.

Scalable, comprehensive care

The first item in the catalog of requirements for a solution partner is the housing and hosting of the system server.

The service provider takes over the operation and (COBIT-, ISO-certified) security of the servers in its data center. This does not just mean the GTS system and a secure VPN tunnel to the upstream system.

This service also includes the NetWeaver installation, the provision of the converter solution for communication with customs, and the document and content servers for print-compliant content presentation and the use and connection of archive solutions.

Two licensing scenarios are possible: The classic BYOL (Bring Your Own License) or offerings such as the Partner Managed Cloud (PMC).

With these license agreements, customers can benefit directly from SAP's advantageous conditions.

Basic Maintenance

The second requirement concerns what is known as basic maintenance. This means monitoring the daily availability and functionality of the system.

For example, it checks whether database tables are in danger of overflowing, SAP Notes or upgrades are pending, interfaces and message exchange are functioning, and XML data uploads are taking place.

In short: Reliable operation and technically flawless use of implemented services is ensured.

The third component is implementation expertise, i.e. classic SAP GTS consulting. Analyses based on experience and leading practices lead to quick wins, i.e. easily achievable process improvements, when the GTS system is transferred to the cloud.

In the further course of the collaboration, previously unused GTS sub-services can also be completely tapped and integrated into the existing process landscape.

With a team of experienced GTS consultants and technologists, it is ensured that a system outsourced to the cloud does not remain static there, but that a constant flow back for improvements and adjustments is guaranteed.

This can also include training for the company's own user community.

Better prepared for S/4

Application management support rounds off the cloud package.

Regardless of whether the user has been blocked, an export accompanying document cannot be printed, the license allocation is not carried out as desired or a boycott list hit seems inexplicable - with an efficient, telephone-accessible, fast support organization at your side, the technical and professional hurdles, which often enough already arise when formulating the problem, can be overcome more easily.

With these four components, it is possible to reliably master the challenges of planning, operation and functional expansion of SAP GTS. In addition, companies that use SAP GTS are well prepared for a later switch to S/4 Hana.

With a cloud solution, it becomes easier to design and consider actual system strategies (rollouts, country and service focus, master data setup) as unexpected incidents, regular maintenance, data updates and upcoming regulatory changes are also on the service provider's radar and handled quasi minimally invasive in the background.

Although all four services make up the overall package, the design is individually scalable, allowing gradual growth into the solution by expanding collaboration.

The key question in decision-making usually remains whether a managed services solution offers measurable added value.

It is, in addition to the realization that their own IT staff will be freed up again to actually address company-specific issues, the question of cost that tips the scales.

To determine the quantitative added value, it is necessary to quantify cost factors that were previously not perceived. This is regularly a very company-specific analysis that specifically looks at the services to be outsourced and evaluates their efficiency and possible savings potential.

Experience shows that the quantitative savings potential through a cloud model in the area of GTS is very likely to be around 35 percent compared to on-premise operation.

With such substantial savings potential, the cloud for foreign trade is also recommended in carve-out scenarios, when parts of a company are spun off from a group of companies to become independent.

In practice, it happens that foreign trade processes are neglected or even overlooked during system redesign. These mistakes in large-scale projects can be prevented by using experienced consultants and GTS system administrators.

Certified complete solution

Qualitative aspects such as implementation experience, team size, interdisciplinarity, clear responsibilities and the absence of further subcontractors (near/off-shoring) play a central role in the selection of the service provider.

cbs has the experience of more than ten years of foreign trade processing with SAP GTS in more than 50 successful implementations.

The cbs GTS Cloud is currently the only complete solution for global export control and efficient customs management certified by SAP as a Partner Managed Cloud (PMC). As a subsidiary of Materna, the cbs consultants know what matters in cross-border process design.

Hosting in Materna's German TÜV and ISO27001-certified data center also ensures that the highest standards of data protection and security are met. The cbs GTS Cloud was developed on the basis of this experience, because foreign trade processes in particular offer an ideal introduction to the topic of cloud step by step.