The past decade has brought intense business and technology disruption — especially for procurement , finance , and supply chain leaders . Now a new challenge sits on the horizon . By 2025 , SAP intends to end mainstream support for its SAP ® Supplier Relationship Management ( SRM ) solution — an on-premise offering that many organizations use for procure-to-pay processes today . What should you know ? We asked Frederic Girardeau-Montaut , leader of Deloitte Consulting LLP ’ s SAP Ariba practice , to share his insights .

Why the rush to transition away from SAP Supplier Relationship Management ?

The year 2025 is closer than it seems . It takes time to understand your options , build the business case , create your roadmap , and do the actual work . Wait too long , and you could find yourself operating with an unsupported solution and missing out on future innovations . For many SAP customers , the next step will be the SAP ® Ariba ® cloud suite . That ’ s where SAP is focusing its energy , innovations , and solution enhancements when it comes to procurement .

But is jumping to SAP Ariba too soon a risk ? What if needs dramatically change between now and 2025 ?

There are always risks , which is why you shouldn ’ t undertake the journey alone . You need a partner that can help orchestrate your transformation . But there ’ s another big force that helps reduce the risk , and that ’ s cloud . With cloud , you can respond , scale , and evolve as the market evolves . You can become a more kinetic enterprise — one that moves fast and with impact . Cloud also allows you to more seamlessly integrate capabilities — so you can link SAP Ariba solutions with the SAP S / 4HANA ® digital core , for example , and take it one step further with SAP ® Integrated Business Planning . The payoff ? You can drive intelligent automation and insights across the entire plan-to-procureto-pay spectrum .

What kind of help will organizations need ?

First , experience matters . The learning curve can be steep . At Deloitte , we have been steadily building on our insights as we help industry leaders worldwide move from SAP SRM to SAP Ariba — from on-prem to cloud . Our 30-year relationship with SAP — and our vast implementation experience — provides a solid foundation for doing that . Second , this is more than a technology upgrade . This is an opportunity for a true digital business transformation . This is your chance to enable intelligent spend management that can drive savings and efficiencies across the business … your chance to transform the tax picture … your chance to build tomorrow ’ s digital supply network . To do those things , you need a complete team — not just a technology team . You need specialists in tax , spend , cloud , risk , IT implementation , industry-specific business strategy , and more . And you likely will need it on a global scale . That ’ s the kind of team Deloitte leverages to help our clients — no matter where they are in their journeys . It ’ s about helping them strengthen operations , improve processes , innovate , and evolve — in a holistic way that goes beyond just a technology platform .

Want additional insights ? Contact SAP @ deloitte . com to learn more or to schedule a demo of SAP Ariba solutions in action .