With rapidly changing business models in the Life Sciences industry, how do you know which version of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is the right fit for you?
What’s the difference between SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition?
These changes in the Life Sciences Industry are most visible in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology segments of the industry. More and more Life Sciences companies are taking advantage of the expertise, scalability, and economic benefits of outsourcing the manufacturing and packaging of their products. The increasing use of outsourced manufacturing (TriRx, INCOG, Center for Breakthrough Medicine, and similar…) not only allows the Intellectual Property and Research and Development companies to lower the fixed costs of plant and materials, these Life Science firms can spend more of their precious financial and talent resources on product development and market growth.
For Life Sciences companies working within this business model (Non-Manufacturing Life Sciences, similar to fabless semiconductor companies), SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is a fantastic fit to streamline, run, and grow your business.
- SOX & GAAP compliance
- Financial controls, forecasting & Reports
- Process Automation (AI, Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation)
- Supply Chain & Inventory (whether you have your own warehouse or work with a 3PL)
- Ability to scale, Multi-location, Multi-country, Multi-currency
What SAP S/4HANA Cloud solution should you be considering?
|
Process |
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition |
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition |
|
Record to Report |
X |
X |
|
Order to cash |
X |
X |
|
Procure to pay |
X |
X |
|
Plan to produce |
X |
X |
|
Supply Chain |
X |
X |
|
Outsourced Production |
X |
X |
|
Quality |
X/? |
X |
|
GXP |
at CMO/CDMO level |
X |
|
21 CFR part11 |
at CMO/CDMO level |
X |
|
Feature |
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition |
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition |
|
Deployment Model |
Multi-tenant cloud |
Single-tenant cloud |
|
Security & Hosting |
Managed by SAP |
More customer control/choice |
|
Customization |
Limited (Fit to Standard Process configurable) |
More flexibility to customize with direct software development |
|
Extension & Integrations |
App and form development & integrations supported through SAP Business Technology Platform |
Beyond direct code customizations, app, and form development & integrations are supported through the SAP Business Technology Platform |
|
Cost |
Lower upfront implementation cost, subscription-based |
Higher upfront cost, hosting, larger initial user requirements, in-house or Partner system management, potential ongoing fees |
|
Scalability |
Easy to scale |
May require configuration adjustments |
What is the difference between SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition when it comes to Life Sciences?
If you are running your own manufacturing in-house and need the system to be cGMP and FDA compliant, SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition is the right answer for you.
If you want to customize your system beyond the streamlined processes already available in the system, S/4 Private might be the right fit for you.
If you have a large IT staff focused on system customizations that are needed for your business process, S/4 Private might be the right choice for you.
If you are using a CDMO or other outsourced manufacturing option that maintains cGMP and FDA compliance, taking advantage of the fit-to-standard approach of S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition may be the right fit for your company.
If you want to take advantage of the cost and process efficiencies inherent in an industry-based fit-to-standard approach system, S/4 Public Edition is the right fit for you.
If you want to limit the need for IT resources to customize, run, and support your ERP system, S/4 Public may be the right fit for you.
If you want an ERP that can seamlessly integrate with your outsourced service providers and best-of-breed third-party systems through a robust, secure, and scalable platform SAP S/4 with SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) may be the right solution for you
If you are a smaller growing Life Sciences (R&D through production) company looking for a suite-in-a-box ERP system that supports Manufacturing (cGMP Compliance and FDA Validation) there is an SAP system option ready for you, SAP Business ByDesign for Life Sciences.
