Tidus proposes a new model of SAP enablement—one that blends strategic decision support, operations research, project excellence, and architectural alignment to not just implement SAP, but to leverage it as a strategic engine for performance and agility.
1. Market Landscape: SAP in the Banking Ecosystem
SAP has seen a significant uptake in the banking sector due to its robust suite of financial and operational capabilities, particularly via:
- SAP S/4HANA for Banking
- SAP Fioneer solutions
- SAP Treasury and Risk Management
- SAP Financial Products Subledger (FPSL)
- SAP SuccessFactors and Ariba for support functions
SAP’s value lies in its integration across functions, ability to drive real-time analytics, and alignment to regulatory reporting frameworks. However, the complexity of these environments often results in fragmented delivery, budget overruns, and lack of ownership across SAP estates.
2. Key Challenges in SAP Banking Implementations
- a) Strategic Misalignment
Many banks see SAP as an “IT project” rather than a strategic transformation. This leads to:
- Technology-led decisions without business reengineering.
- Missed opportunities to integrate SAP with strategic KPIs.
- Silos between core banking systems and enterprise functions.
- b) Technical Debt and Legacy Processes
Even banks that run SAP often:
- Operate old, heavily customised versions.
- Face difficulty integrating SAP with open banking platforms, digital channels, and cloud-native solutions.
- Cannot migrate fast enough to S/4HANA or SAP Fioneer.
- c) Delivery and Governance Breakdown
Typical issues include:
- Fragmented vendor and system integrator (SI) ecosystems.
- PMO oversight without deep architectural fluency.
- Poor end-to-end testing environments.
- Disjointed change management and rollout cycles.
3. Tidus Approach: Reinventing SAP in Banking
Tidus’ differentiated model addresses the root of underperformance by treating SAP not as an ERP alone, but as an operating and decision system for the bank.
- a) Business-Driven SAP Strategy
- Align SAP scope to enterprise priorities and regulatory horizons.
- Use meta-modelling and enterprise architecture to structure the implementation.
- Model SAP impact on financial products, reporting, liquidity, and risk control.
- b) Project Intelligence and OR-Driven Delivery
- Leverage Operations Research and PMO tooling to optimise timelines, dependencies, resource constraints, and trade-offs.
- Simulate outcomes and cost-impact scenarios before changes are committed.
- Design and monitor a strategic control tower for project delivery and platform performance.
- c) Lifecycle Governance and Technical Optimisation
- Re-engineer governance to prevent build-up of technical debt.
- Introduce end-to-end process orchestration, with automation and orchestration overlays to fill SAP functional or UX gaps.
- Integrate S/4HANA with cloud-native and API-first banking architectures for composability.
- d) Post-Implementation Performance Management
- Benchmark operational performance post go-live.
- Set up continuous improvement and cost-to-serve models.
- Offer SAP+ OR + AI-based planning and scenario modelling as a managed service.
4. High-Value Use Cases for Banks Using SAP
|
Use Case |
Value Opportunity |
Tidus Differentiation |
|
S/4HANA Migration |
Reduced legacy cost, regulatory compliance, data harmonisation |
Strategic migration modelling and optimisation |
|
Treasury & Liquidity Transformation |
Enhanced risk management and funding |
Integrated design with financial systems and ALM |
|
ESG and Regulatory Reporting |
Alignment to EU taxonomy, IFRS, BCBS 239 |
Integration with external data models + automated pipelines |
|
Cost-to-Serve and Shared Services |
Target operating model re-engineering |
Meta-model driven process mapping and restructuring |
|
Embedded Risk and Control |
Integrated risk functions across treasury, ops, and IT |
OR-driven control design, RCA, and risk simulations |
5. Strategic Value of Tidus as a Partner
- Not just a system implementer: We lead with strategy, structure, and execution—tied to business value.
- End-to-end delivery focus: PMO, architecture, engineering, and post-go-live performance under one roof.
- Operations Research + Project Science: Elevating project delivery from Gantt charts to optimal delivery models.
- Modular and scalable engagement: Advisory-led, delivery-ready, and performance-focused engagements.
Conclusion
The time has come for banks to transform their SAP footprint from static ERP to an agile operating model enabler. For those stuck with technical debt, siloed operations, or underutilised SAP investments, Tidus offers a new proposition—one that is not just about implementation, but about strategy, performance, and system intelligence.
