Strategic Goal

To modernize the quoting environment by improving usability, supporting complex configurations and pricing processes, and preparing the system landscape for the transition from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA.

Challenges

The company’s quoting environment struggled to support the scale and complexity of itssales operations.

  • Limited usability of ECC quoting tools: Sales representatives worked with SAP ECC quotes supported by the VC configurator. The interface was inflexible and not user-friendly, which resulted in significant effort and frustration during the quote entry process.

  • Complexity of multiple quote types: The organization managed numerous quote types, each following different processes, requiring different inputs, andfocusing on different product categories. This made the quoting process difficult to manage centrally.

  • Inefficiencies in handling large quotes: Large quotes required significant time to configure initially and were difficult to navigate and edit once created.

  • Manual and opaque pricing processes: The multi-faceted pricing logic was not fully supported by the system, increasing manual work, reducing transparency, and raising the risk of errors.

  • Performance limitations of SAP CPQ Quote 1.0: The existing CPQ solution performed sub-optimally on very large transactions, offered limited exposure to future innovation, and was tuned more toward SAP ECC rather than an S/4HANA environment.

Solution

The company partnered with CLARITY to modernize its quoting landscape by migrating to SAP CPQ Quote 2.0 and strengthening integration with core SAP systems.

  • Migration from SAP CPQ Quote 1.0 to Quote 2.0: The transition improved system performance and enabled more efficient handling of large and complex transactions.
  • Integration through SAP CPI: SAP Cloud Platform Integration (SAP CPI) was used to connect SAP CPQ with the company’s SAP landscape.
  • Connection with SAP ECC: The solution was integrated with SAP ECC, allowing the quoting process to leverage backend ERP data while supporting the company’s transition to SAP S/4HANA.
  • Variant configuration integration: SAP LO-VC functionality was connected through SAP Variant Configuration and Pricing (SAP VCP), enabling the use of configuration models and pricing logic within the CPQ environment.

Results

The modernized quoting environment improved usability, performance, and flexibility for managing complex sales transactions.

  • Access to backend master data: Integration with SAP ECC and Variant Configuration allowed sales teams to utilize backend master data including material lists, configuration models, pricing, standard exchange rates, material status, and availability within a more user-friendly quoting tool.
  • Improved configuration performance: The SAP Variant Configuration and Pricing engine enhanced performance and reduced sales teams’ dependency on SAP ECC system uptime.
  • Flexible quoting processes: The quoting tool adapts the process and user interface depending on the deal type, allowing different quote scenarios to be handled more efficiently.
  • Better handling of large quotes: Bulk editing tools and improved navigation make it easier for sales teams to work with large and complex quotes.
  • Faster generation of quote documentation: The quote document generation engine enables quick creation of detailed pricing analysis reports summarized at different levels, such as by product type.
  • Greater pricing flexibility: The solution supports pricing customization, including editing different price conditions, performing bulk price updates, and managing customer-specific foreign exchange rate agreements.
  • Future-ready architecture: The transition to SAP CPQ Quote 2.0 improved performance for large quotes and prepares the system landscape for the planned transition to SAP S/4HANA.