Exploring SAP MDG's Cloud-Ready Mode for Business Partners in MDG S/4HANA 2023

Intro

Greetings, master data enthusiasts! This year marks a monumental milestone for SAP Master Data Governance (MDG) as we dive into the most significant overhaul to date. The release of S/4HANA 2023 brings a wave of innovations and improvements that deserve their spotlight.

To ensure we give each feature the attention it deserves, we're breaking down the updates into multiple blogs. In this inaugural post, we'll be shining a spotlight on the game-changing Cloud-Ready Mode introduced in SAP MDG.

Today we will unravel the layers of the Cloud-Ready Mode. In upcoming blogs, we provide you with an in-depth exploration of each enhancement:

• Part 1: Exploring SAP MDG's Cloud-Ready Mode for Business Partners in MDG S/4HANA 2023
• Part 2: The full overview of the newest features introduced in S/4 HANA 2023
• Part 3:  Revision of the federated master data management concept blog launched in 2021

The future of SAP Master Data Governance looks bright, and we're thrilled to embark on this journey with you!

Context from SAP on why they bring us the Cloud-Ready mode

During the ABAP Cloud reveal at TechEd 2022, a buzz of change hit application development, shining a spotlight on cloud readiness. Cloud readiness refers to the suitability of an organization to seamlessly adopt and utilize a cloud environment. In line with this evolution, SAP Master Data Governance (which in 2022 still is heavily reliant on Web Dynpro and Floorplan Manager) rolled out its "cloud-ready mode" in S/4HANA 2023. Let's unpack the real-world implications of SAP MDG, going from tech talk to a down-to-earth understanding.

Change towards Cloud-Ready Mode

Integrated into SAP MDG, cloud edition, and now available in SAP S/4HANA 2023 on-premise, the cloud-ready mode is flexible enough for public or private clouds and on-premise environments. Organizations can activate it in existing SAP MDG on S/4HANA systems, starting from 2023 initially focusing on the business partner data domain (with Material planned for 2025). This adaptability ensures a transition across various MDG versions, marking a step towards a more versatile and forward-looking data governance approach.

Key Features of Cloud-Ready Mode

1. Unified Landscape: The cloud-ready mode brings in a consistent technology framework, making it easy to reuse extensions and coding across different SAP MDG versions.
2. Dynamic Adaptability: Organizations can tweak MDG with cloud-ready extensions to align with modern S/4HANA UI standards, bringing the user-friendly SAP Fiori interface as the go-to technology across all systems and solutions.
3. End-to-end Automation Capabilities: Cloud-ready mode streamlines processes and UI design, supporting end-to-end automation, including workflow functionalities for consolidation and mass processing.
4. Feature-Rich Enhancement: Beyond consistency, cloud-ready mode introduces features like data provider integration, federated governance, attachment support in all processes, and enhanced process visualization capabilities.

Strategic Recommendations

Now that we've scratched the surface of what the cloud-ready mode is, let's talk about our strategy.

1. For Customers implementing fresh MDG: For new customers, Avelon proposes and implements the cloud-ready mode from the get-go, especially in the Business Partner domain, for a smooth and future-ready MDG implementation.
2. Existing MDG Users: Here we take a different approach. During the upgrade of the system, we take a closer look at adopting the cloud-ready mode, making sure it aligns strategically and offers benefits for your specific SAP landscape.
3. Coexistence and Gradual Transition: Change can be gradual. The beauty of the cloud-ready mode lies in its coexistence with the classic mode, allowing for a smooth transition. Think of it as a stepping stone, this means that in our analysis of your company's as-is processes and the design of the to-be processes we can let both classic and cloud-ready work alongside each other for the different data domains. The cloud-ready mode isn't an all-or-nothing deal. You can implement it with business partners right now and choose to convert existing domains like material later on (2025), aligning your MDG strategy with the evolving roadmap from SAP.

Cloud-ready mode features

In our ongoing journey through SAP MDG's Cloud-Ready Mode for Business Partners in MDG S/4HANA 2023, let's dive deep into the operational details and features. A good understanding of these processes helps determine if you should upgrade to this newest version of S/4HANA  2023. Note that we will be releasing our yearly blog where we unveil each of the new features of S/4HANA 2023 in regards to MDG later, but here you can already have a sneak peek of the biggest changes that set the Cloud-Ready Mode apart from Classic mode.

• Business Partner creation and change UI update:

While creating or changing business partners in cloud-ready mode you will notice that the UI technology has been updated from Web Dynpro and Floorplan Manager to Fiori. This is to create a seamless integration in the UX between MDG cloud and MDG on-premise using cloud-ready mode. 

• Business Partner creation and change process overhaul:

Next to the changes in the UI, we can see that the system is no longer referring to change request IDs but rather towards process IDs (see screenshot above). In cloud-ready mode, the processes will follow a similar approach as with consolidation. Dropping the change requests concept for process IDs, meaning the whole workflow creation behind it has been overhauled. Out-of-the-box SAP provides the following standard workflow available but of course, we can assist you in configuring the process to the needs of your company.

• Create Business Partner from Reference with External Data Provider CDQ:

A new feature of central governance is the direct integration of external data into the business partner creation process. Leveraging data from CDQ, users efficiently search for reference data, choose relevant records, and create a business partner without manual data entry. Data like address, legal form, tax numbers and identification number can automatically be derived from CDQ’s database. Likewise, existing BP’s can be enriched by executing the enrichment from the CDQ database. Please note however that clients should have a separate license from our partner CDQ to access this feature.

Conclusion

Our voyage through SAP MDG's Cloud-Ready Mode for Business Partners in S/4HANA 2023 has uncovered a shift in Central Governance of MDG. This release marks a turning point, propelling us into a new era of innovation and adaptability inside that module.

In this first blog out of 3, we explored the power of the Cloud-Ready Mode, shedding light on its core features and strategic implications. However, our journey doesn't end here. To do justice to each facet, we're unwrapping S/4HANA 2023's features in a series of blogs, providing a comprehensive dive into the future of SAP MDG and federated MDM.

The Cloud-Ready Mode isn't just an update; it's the future of central governance. Unified Landscape, Dynamic Adaptability, End-to-End Automation, and Feature-Rich Enhancements redefine master data governance. As we close this chapter, we thank you for joining us on this transformative path. The future of SAP Master Data Governance looks promising, and we from Avelon are excited to guide you through it. Until next time, may your data be seamless and your governance future-ready!