Google Cloud & SAP taking supply chain to the next level
Two of the world’s biggest players in the digitalisation of supply chains are Google Cloud and SAP.
The Google Cloud Platform is a suite of cloud computing services that provides computing, data storage, data analytics and machine learning, alongside a set of management tools.
SAP, meanwhile, is the most important provider of enterprise-level software solutions.
Google Cloud has an ongoing partnership with SAP to provide SAP-certified infrastructure for all its customers’ SAP systems, such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud (an ERP business suite), SAP Ariba (spend management), and SAP Business Technology Platform (a cloud platform for collaboration through tech such as AI, IoT and blockchain).
At the SAP Sapphire event in 2023, Alphabet – Google's parent company – revealed that it also uses SAP S/4HANA systems on Google Cloud, in order to manage its critical business operations, including finance, supply chain, logistics, planning, and allocations.
It is SAP S/4HANA systems that allow Alphabet to consolidate over 50 billion transactions and process multiple terabytes of data every month, and better support its global operations.
SAP S/4HANA is enterprise resource planning software developed for large enterprises. It is a ready-to-run cloud ERP that delivers the latest industry best practices and continuous innovation.
Google Cloud uses SAP products to scale operations
Alphabet revealed that, to scale its business operations, Alphabet leverages many Google Cloud products and services using a software development kit (SDK) created by Google Cloud’s SAP Engineering team.
This SDK provides “an integration point between SAP and Alphabet’s internal systems”, says Alphabet, adding that it “powers AI and ML solutions that drive decisions and enable business process automation”.
Since launching internally, the SDK is behind Alphabet production supply chain use cases that include supply chain planning, procure to pay, and forward and reverse logistics.
Google Cloud says that for years, its customers have been “asking for ways to easily integrate their SAP systems with Google Cloud services”.
Now, in a newly released paper, it says that the launch of its special SDK, the same technology that has been powering Alphabet’s business operations since 2019 is now available for Google Cloud customers.
Google Cloud says this is part of its mission “to help organisations harness the power of data and AI to drive more intelligent logistics operations and supply chains”.
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