For companies running SAP Commerce on-premise, it can be tempting to delay moving the solution to the cloud. After a year full of change, piling on an additional migration project can be daunting. But today, we’ll lay out the importance of switching now, and why the process can be much simpler than you think. Here are six benefits to moving your SAP Commerce solution to the cloud.
#1 — Get the latest updates
Support is a huge piece of any platform. It’s important to note that SAP ended support on its SAP Commerce 6.7 on-premise version in August 2020. While SAP still provides a yearly update, you’ll lose out on the monthly updates you get with SAP Commerce Cloud. A lot can happen in a year, and you don’t want your commerce platform missing performance features that may hinder your growth.
By making the switch now, you’ll get the latest updates to give your customers the engaging experience they desire.
#2 — Make customer experience a priority with headless commerce
Headless commerce (included in SAP Commerce Cloud) allows you to decouple your site’s front-end presentation layer from your back-end functional layer. What does this mean for your team? You no longer need to make changes to your back-end code to alter what your customers see. This gives your developers the flexibility to update your storefront quickly, so you can adjust on the fly to cater to your customers. Plus, it saves your team countless hours by removing the need to dig into code for every superficial change.
Additionally, SAP Commerce Cloud features Spartacus, an Angular-based front-end storefront builder. Spartacus is a quick way to create compelling, engaging storefronts that your customers will enjoy using.
These features of SAP Commerce Cloud place the focus where your customers want it — on them! You can experiment with different storefront layouts, and test results and engage customers more deeply. And when you need to update your back-end, you can complete that process without touching your storefront.
#3 — Easily manage traffic spikes
Every year, e-commerce businesses lose money when sudden traffic spikes blindside them. Seasonal spikes are expected but also have an element of surprise. For example, Adobe reports that on Cyber Monday 2020, time-sensitive deals drove massive traffic spikes between the hours of 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. PST, when frenzied consumers spent $2.7 billion online. Then there’s the unpredictable, like in March 2020 when disposable gloves drove a sudden 670% rise in e-commerce sales.
If you’re working with an on-premise solution, your infrastructure may not be ready for big spikes in traffic — an error that could cost you sales and hurt your reputation. However, by moving to SAP Commerce Cloud, you can leverage their infrastructure — automatic scaling based on usage/traffic — to ensure that no matter how many eager customers show up, you’ll have what you need to tackle the increase in demand.
#4 — Disaster-proof your business
2020 proved that, in commerce, it’s crucial to expect the unexpected. What would it mean for your business if an earthquake, hurricane, or fire destroyed your back-end data overnight? With SAP Commerce Cloud, you can make sure that doesn’t happen.
By moving SAP Commerce to the cloud, you can keep redundant copies of your data in data centers around the world — meaning that no matter what happens in your area, your store will keep running through it all. The platform also has AI-based problem detection and alerting protocols for added peace of mind. If you’re interested in reading more, you can check out SAP’s whitepaper here.
#5 — Put yourself in the driver’s seat
SAP Commerce Cloud is all about giving you the power to build, update, and improve your e-commerce storefront. The SAP C/4HANA Cockpit is packed with powerful self-service tools to help you diagnose problems with your store and fix them… without waiting for a support ticket to clear.
Any business owner who waited for days to hear back from support knows exactly how important that is. Those lost hours are expensive and stressful. With SAP Commerce Cloud, you won’t need to sit around waiting for someone to fix your issue. Instead, your team can perform the fixes quickly and have a customer-ready storefront.
#6 — Get help to simplify the process
All of these benefits sound great, but the process itself can feel intimidating — especially if you don’t have experience migrating systems to the cloud.
That’s where Pivotree comes in. We’re an experienced system integrator with a deep understanding of the SAP Commerce platform. We can provide the expertise you need to seamlessly transition to the cloud without the hassle of finding and retaining your own technical resources. Additionally, in the process of helping you evolve with the SAP Commerce platform, we’ll be in a better position to provide you with knowledgeable support in the future.
Stay Competitive in the Ecommerce Space
E-commerce is evolving quickly, and you don’t want to fall behind the competition. With SAP shifting its resources to the cloud, now is the time the shift with them. If you’re an SAP customer currently using an on-premise version of SAP Commerce, contact us today to find out more about migrating to SAP Commerce Cloud.
Click here for your personalized SAP Commerce Cloud upgrade guide.