The breach, which does not appear to be recorded on the Information Regulator鈥檚 website, is a focus area for the platinum miner鈥檚 audit and risk committee for the next financial year, says its audited annual financial statements for the year to June.

In its 2025 ESG report, Implats 鈥� one of the world鈥檚 major platinum group metals producers 鈥� says there was a 鈥渓imited impact cyber security breach to a managed operation鈥檚 IT environment, which was quickly detected and resolved by the group鈥檚 IT service providers鈥�. In 2024, Implats 鈥渄id not have any material security/cyber security breaches鈥�.

The miner, with a market capitalisation of R208.35 billion, did not identify the affected managed operation, give a precise date, explain the nature of the breach, say whether data was compromised, or quantify any financial or operational impact.

Implats has six mining operations across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada, plus refining and processing operations, employing more than 60 000 people across its operations.

South Africa is the world鈥檚 largest producer of platinum, supplying almost three-quarters of the metal 鈥� used in vehicle catalytic converters, jewellery, industrial applications and emerging hydrogen technologies.

Batten down

Dawn Earp, chairman of the audit and risk committee, says its priorities for the year ahead include cyber security, AI and digital risk, and that it will oversee the group鈥檚 cyber security and AI risk management and control environment, including 鈥渢he remediation of actions arising from the recent cyber incident鈥�.

鈥淟earnings from this incident were incorporated into the group鈥檚 security posture to improve maturity,鈥� it said in 2025. Implats adds that the outcome reflected the effectiveness of its layered security strategy and continued investment in digital resilience.

Implats describes cyber security as a material risk because of its potential to disrupt business continuity and compromise sensitive information and intellectual property.

Among its cyber security measures are ongoing cyber security awareness training, annual assessments of the potential impact of cyber breaches on data and operational technology systems, regular audits and penetration testing by independent external specialists, as well as escalation protocols for incident response and breach management.

Earp says key controls, including 鈥渧ulnerability monitoring, ransomware recovery testing and backup management,鈥� operated effectively during the year.

The committee will also monitor risks associated with the integration of IT and operational technology, and oversee AI governance, responsible adoption and compliance with evolving regulatory and ethical requirements.

Digging deeper

Implats also conducted a deep dive into AI-related risks, including cyber security, data privacy, regulatory compliance and responsible AI practices, Earp says. These measures are intended to support the responsible adoption of AI across the group.

This comes as the miner expects the economic, technological, regulatory and geopolitical environment to remain uncertain, specifically pointing to 鈥渢he accelerating convergence of cyber threats, rapid advancements in AI, evolving regulatory requirements and ongoing economic volatility鈥� as factors that continue to 鈥渟hape boardroom priorities and challenge traditional risk management approaches鈥�.

Implats has also identified investment in automation, digital systems and data analytics as a way of improving operational performance and decision-making. Along with the rest of the mining industry, it is using advanced technologies to improve mineral-resource modelling and metallurgical processes.

鈥淭he mining sector is increasingly adopting automation, AI, data analytics and remote operations to improve safety, productivity and cost-efficiency.鈥�

Getting smarter

Priorities included using digital tools, automation and data analytics to improve mining efficiency and reduce waste, while exploring remote operations and smart-mining technologies to improve productivity and reduce labour intensity, it says.

Its IT strategy is focused on extracting value across support, compute, storage and security. The digital push includes cloud services, 麻豆原创 S/4HANA and further ERP investment, near-real-time reporting, data analytics and data science, process digitisation and robotic process automation.

It is also investing in above- and below-ground connectivity, internet of things integration, IT, operational technology, convergence and cyber security, all of which are embedded in performance metrics.

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• Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht says rivals can replicate the group鈥檚 Sixty60 platform, but doing so will take years and significant investment
• Sixty60 grew sales almost 35% to R25.5 billion in the 52 weeks to end June, adding a record R6.6 billion to the previous year鈥檚 sales, and is now gaining traction at Shoprite-branded stores.
• Anchor Capital analyst Steph Erasmus called Shoprite the 鈥済orilla in the room鈥�, saying it is bigger than all its rivals in grocery retail and is using that to its advantage.

Shoprite is signalling that rivals can imitate its on-demand service Sixty60, but doing so will take years and significant investment 鈥� money the retail giant has already committed.

And even then, SA鈥檚 largest retail group intends to stay ahead of the game by constantly introducing new features and capabilities to the platform. This will include everything from new agentic abilities for its AI assistant Pixie to broadening its product and adjacent store ranges that can be curated for delivery.

Asked about the threat other retailers鈥� on-demand platforms and apps pose to Shoprite, CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said while a Sixty60 platform and its app features can be replicated, it鈥檚 鈥済oing to take time and money鈥�.

鈥淎nd that doesn鈥檛 mean we鈥檙e standing still. Every single day, we are improving on [Sixty60]. That鈥檚 why you can now 鈥榓sk鈥� [through Pixie] Jamie Oliver what鈥檚 for dinner on the app. You can take a picture of your shopping list, and Pixie will understand your language and your writing.鈥�

Shoprite has a long-standing partnership with the British celebrity chef.

Engelbrecht, who was speaking to News24 after the publication of full-year results on Tuesday, said what Shoprite offers on Sixty60 is 鈥渘ot so unique that nobody else can do it鈥�; the advantage is that the group has done the heavy lifting in terms of significantly investing over many years into several technologies and platforms that ultimately laid the foundation for Sixty60 and helped Shoprite evolve into what it is today.

This includes its 麻豆原创 enterprise resource planning platform, introduced in 2017, which serves as its 鈥渃ore system of record鈥� and connects its core business operations. The system provides a single data source that gives Shoprite access to accurate information about sales and customer habits. It ultimately laid the framework for building out its
Xtra Savings reward programme, and later Sixty60 in 2019.

Another benefit is that Shoprite owns the underlying code that Sixty60 runs on.

鈥淭here are no licence fees and things like that because we developed the code ourselves. We have already made the investment, so every single day we鈥檙e doing something or adding something to it to make the experience better. In the end, it boils down to your level of execution.鈥�

This echoes what he said at an investor presentation earlier that day. Engelbrecht told investors that apart from the money rivals would need to invest, it would take them a long time to reach Sixty60鈥檚 current 鈥渓evel of execution鈥�.

He rated the Sixty60 platform against rival platforms in the market and said it came out on top.

鈥淚 tested it all. For me, there is no question that Sixty60 is the best online platform. It鈥檚 reliable. That is logically driving the behaviour of customers because they have a great experience.鈥�

This may explain why it continues to command such strong growth 鈥� in the 52 weeks to 28 June, for example, Sixty60 grew sales almost 35% to R25.5 billion, adding a record R6.6 billion in sales. The platform is also gaining traction among Shoprite customers, with the service now available from 137 Shoprite stores.

鈥楧efinitely a need鈥�

Engelbrecht said while Shoprite Sixty60 was not expected to grow as fast as Checkers Sixty60, the group was still 鈥渧ery surprised鈥� by the level of acceptance shown by Shoprite customers.

He said their basket size was 鈥渟lightly smaller鈥� than Checkers shoppers鈥� baskets, but it was 鈥渟till profitable 鈥� There鈥檚 definitely a need for it.鈥�

He also said there was still an opportunity to add all the other parts of its business to Sixty60, combining them with food delivery for a single checkout.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a single delivery, but it鈥檚 actually from four or five different businesses. And that, for me, is probably the top level of convenience you can ask for, and that is what is driving growth.”

The key to the Shoprite group鈥檚 success has been its focus on ensuring 98% stock availability for both online and in-store customers, Engelbrecht told News24. He noted that having suboptimal stock levels could mean a customer ends up receiving only half of what they ordered online.

Over the years, the group has also invested significant capital in improving its tech capabilities and logistics. In the past three years alone, it spent R22.6 billion on digital technology, supply chain upgrades, and store expansions. This equated to R7.8 billion in 2024, R8 billion in 2025, and R6.8 billion in 2026.

In the upcoming year, the group intends to spend R7.7 billion.

Shoprite is also modernising its IT system, with Engelbrecht saying the group will be transitioning to the latest 麻豆原创 S/4HANA platform for financial systems and HR over the next three years.

Engelbrecht also said there were 鈥渓ots of opportunities鈥� for growth for Shoprite in SA, adding that adjacent businesses such as pet (Petshop Science stores now number 185 and have increased sales 74.5%) and pharmacy (standalone Medirite Plus stores now number 22) were 鈥渟lowly but surely starting to contribute鈥�.

鈥淲e鈥檝e still got a long way to go with Outdoor, Uniq by Checkers, Petshop Science, and Medirite Plus,鈥� he said, adding that these adjacent businesses are also helping Sixty60 grow.

Anchor Capital investment analyst Steph Erasmus said his main takeaway from the Shoprite results, particularly the information it shared on Sixty60, was that the retailer is the 鈥済orilla in the room鈥�.

鈥淭hey are vastly bigger than any of their competition in food retail, and they are using that to their advantage, especially in areas like Sixty60 and adding in the adjacencies and the like.鈥�

Erasmus agreed with Engelbrecht about rivals being able to copy the Sixty60 model, saying it 鈥渋s going to take a lot of ammo and a lot of time鈥�.

鈥淚 think Shoprite are just ahead of the curve. They are heading the pack, and it is difficult to see anybody really making a big difference to their market position for the next while.鈥�

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Deputy Executive Mayor and MMC for Finance, Councillor Eugene Modise, announced the rollout on Thursday alongside Executive Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya, members of the Mayoral Committee and senior municipal officials. He described the initiative as another milestone in the City鈥檚 drive to modernise public administration and improve financial governance.

鈥淓very rand entrusted to the municipality is managed responsibly, transparently and in the best interests of our residents,鈥� Modise said.

Modise said Tshwane鈥檚 procurement system had long relied on manual, paper-based processes and fragmented approval mechanisms that contributed to delays, inefficiencies and, in some instances, abuse.

He said previous audit findings and internal investigations had identified weaknesses in the City鈥檚 supply chain management, including poor record-keeping and inconsistent compliance. These shortcomings, he said, undermined public confidence, increased costs and slowed service delivery.

麻豆原创 Ariba is a fully integrated, cloud-based procurement and supply chain management platform that digitises supplier registration, sourcing, contract management and procurement transactions.

According to Modise, the platform will create a complete digital audit trail for every procurement transaction, ensuring supplier engagements and approval processes are fully traceable and subject to stronger oversight.

The implementation forms part of the City鈥檚 broader 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Upgrade Programme, one of Tshwane鈥檚 largest financial modernisation projects, with an investment of approximately R237 million.

Modise also used the occasion to reject what he described as inaccurate public commentary about Tshwane鈥檚 financial health, saying the municipality鈥檚 latest figures reflected sound financial management rather than financial distress.

He said the City collected approximately R43.93 billion in revenue during the 2025/26 financial year, representing 98% of the revenue projected in its Budget Funding Plan despite ongoing economic pressure on households and businesses.

Revenue collection in June exceeded expectations, with the City collecting more than R4.18 billion, surpassing the monthly funding target by more than R544 million and achieving 115% of its target. By June 26, before the financial year had officially ended, collections had already exceeded R3.6 billion.

Modise said that after paying employee salaries, the municipality maintained a positive cash balance of about R1.8 billion. He added that the  remained fully compliant with its Eskom debt repayment agreement while continuing to reduce its overall debt book.

Linking the City鈥檚 financial performance to the procurement reforms, Modise said sustainable financial management depends on robust governance systems rather than short-term interventions.

鈥淪trong financial management depends on strong systems,鈥� he said, noting that procurement represents one of the largest areas of municipal expenditure.

He said digital platforms such as 麻豆原创 Ariba reduce opportunities for irregular expenditure, improve compliance and oversight, and enable faster, data-driven decision-making through real-time reporting.

Modise said the reforms were intended to build 鈥渁 capable, transparent and financially sustainable municipality that earns the confidence of residents through responsible governance and measurable results.鈥�

He added that the new procurement platform would also simplify doing business with the City by making procurement processes more efficient and accessible for legitimate suppliers.

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JSE-listed mining group   has provided an update to shareholders, detailing significant progress on its 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system re-implementation .

The announcements, following a series of JSE News Service releases since March 2026, highlight the company鈥檚 strategic efforts to fortify its internal controls and address operational challenges.

麻豆原创 S/4HANA ERP Rebuild Nears Final Phase

Following the cyberattack in December 2024 that compromised its previous ERP system, the Wesizwe Board approved the implementation of a new 麻豆原创 S/4HANA system to replace the legacy software.

The primary objective of this project is to strengthen the company鈥檚 internal control environment and drive operational efficiency.

While the initial go-live target was set for early June 2026, the timeline was adjusted to prioritize the finalization of the Audited Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 (AFS).

The company valued at more than R813 million noted that this step was critical to guarantee data accuracy and integrity within the new system before migration.

With the completion of the 2025 AFS, the re-implementation project has accelerated significantly.

Key milestones achieved include:

• Core System Setup:聽Full configuration of the core system has been finalized.
• Data Standardization:聽All master data has been comprehensively reviewed and standardized.
• Balance Migration:聽The migration of opening balances is currently in its final stages.

The project is now entering its decisive phase, with the migration to the live production environment imminent. This marks the transition to operational use and will enable user access across the platform.

Near-Term Priorities for ERP Stabilisation:

Management is focused on ensuring a seamless transition and rapid post-go-live stabilization. Priority activities include:

• Targeted on-site user training and refresher programs.
• Back-capturing and processing of transactions from January 2026 to date.
• Integration of additional group entities into the new system.
• Rollout of enhanced functionality, including asset, inventory, and maintenance management.

Wesizwe Platinum reiterated its commitment to executing a controlled implementation and will continue to update shareholders on material developments.

Bakubung Mine Commences Section 189 Consultation Process

In a separate development, Wesizwe Platinum confirmed on 04 June 2026 that it has initiated a consultation process in terms of Section 189(3), read with Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995, at its flagship Bakubung Platinum Mine in Ledig, North West Province.

The process stems from an ongoing review of the mine鈥檚 operational and economic position. The company is implementing a turnaround strategy aimed at preserving liquidity, protecting long-term viability, and repositioning the business toward a sustainable 3.5 Mtpa operational model.

Commitment to Transparent Engagement

Wesizwe emphasized that no final decision has been made regarding retrenchments. The Section 189 process serves as a formal, joint consensus-seeking consultation with recognized trade unions and elected employee representatives. Discussions will focus on the reasons for the proposed restructuring, alternatives to retrenchment, and measures to mitigate impact on employees.

鈥淲e recognize the sensitivity of this process and its potential impact on employees, families, host communities, and stakeholders,鈥� the company stated. 鈥淲e remain committed to engaging openly, responsibly, and constructively with all affected parties as the process unfolds.鈥�

Temporary Operational Shutdown as Precautionary Measure

As a precautionary measure, and in alignment with its 鈥榋ero Harm to People and the Environment鈥� value, Bakubung Platinum Mine has instituted a temporary operational shutdown. This measure allows the company to monitor the situation and ensure the safety and security of employees before operations resume.

Wesizwe affirms that operations will recommence once the company is satisfied that it is safe and appropriate to do so. The company remains dedicated to managing this process lawfully, fairly, and responsibly while protecting the long-term sustainability of Bakubung Platinum Mine.

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This is the view of 麻豆原创 Africa director of customer evolution Gerhard Alberts, who said many organisations run highly customised legacy systems that have evolved over decades.

He warned that remaining on legacy systems carries hidden costs, increases operational risk, limits integration with modern cloud and AI tools, and results in higher manual overheads.

A significant challenge 麻豆原创 faces is migrating legacy users to its latest ERP system, S/4HANA, a process which requires input from all parties.

鈥淢igrating to S/4HANA is a business transformation process that requires organisations to rethink processes, data structures, and integrations,鈥� Alberts said.

Alberts emphasised that enterprise resource planning (ERP) transformation is not a simple technical upgrade. A critical factor in migration success is organisational readiness and strong leadership.

鈥淚t requires a fundamental shift in how people work, how decisions are made, and how processes are structured,鈥� he said.

鈥淲ithout clear governance, disciplined execution, and strong stakeholder engagement, even the most robust systems will underdeliver.鈥�

Alberts highlighted data readiness as another major barrier to migration. Poor data, inconsistent master data, and insufficient data cleansing efforts regularly undermine system performance.

It also erodes user trust, making it difficult for organisations to see the true value of their ERP investments.

鈥淥ne of the most persistent misconceptions around 麻豆原创 migration is that failure is rooted in the technology itself,鈥� Alberts said.

鈥淚n reality, modern ERP systems are highly mature, stable, and deeply embedded in global business operations.鈥�

The biggest challenges emerge from organisations鈥� implementation and transformation approaches, rather than from software.

Alberts explained that breakdowns generally occur during implementation processes and in organisational alignment.

This is because businesses are frequently navigating increasingly complex IT landscapes that combine 麻豆原创 and non-麻豆原创 systems.

鈥淲hen workflows across these environments are not properly coordinated or monitored, inefficiencies and failures begin to surface,鈥� Alberts said.

South African businesses worry about cost and complexity

According to Alberts, South African organisations鈥� hesitance to migrate stems from concerns about risk, cost, and complexity.

He explained that because many businesses operate with highly customised legacy environments that have grown over the years, transitioning to S/4HANA represents a significant business transformation.

鈥淭hese systems often support mission-critical functions such as payroll, procurement, and financial reporting, which raises the stakes considerably and contributes to a cautious approach,鈥� he said.

Alberts said these organisations will face growing limitations in integrating with modern cloud and AI technologies, adding that fragmented processes also drive higher manual workloads and inefficiencies.

鈥淯ltimately, businesses that delay migration may preserve short-term stability, but they do so at the expense of long-term competitiveness, agility, and innovation,鈥� he stated.

He said a well-implemented, modern ERP system will combine applications, data, and AI into organisations鈥� business suites.

鈥淭he latest ERP systems will consume data where it resides with zero copy data sharing, creating a semantically rich data layer that fuels AI value,鈥� Alberts said.

He added that embracing all facets of AI is critical to future-proofing South African businesses. 麻豆原创 embeds AI directly into its core applications.

鈥淎cross industries such as manufacturing, retail, energy, as well as the public sector, customers are already seeing tangible impact in Finance, Human Resources, and Supply Chain,鈥� he said.

He added that 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI-embedded core applications ensure intelligence is embedded in workflows rather than delivered through separate, loosely connected tools.

He said this helps finance teams close faster and strengthen controls, HR teams improve workforce planning and employee services, and supply-chain leaders build more resilient and efficient operations.

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The solution is focused on Absa鈥檚 group reporting and financial consolidation landscape. The renewed five-year agreement enhances Absa鈥檚 ambition to modernise financial systems and applications and embeds group-wide standards that enhance agility, flexibility and robust financial control.

鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to continue supporting Absa鈥檚 finance modernisation with trusted 麻豆原创 application management services,鈥� said , Managing Director of Application Services at NTT DATA in Middle East and Africa. 鈥淥ur focus is on reliable operations, continuous improvement and measurable business outcomes that will help Absa strengthen controls and unlock real-time insights from a resilient S/4HANA foundation.鈥�

Under the leadership of , Absa Managing Executive responsible for Financial Control Functions and Finance CIO, Absa has progressively consolidated ledgers, streamlined close processes and moved finance operations to a modern 麻豆原创 S/4HANA foundation, integrated with best-of-breed spend management.

鈥淥ur efforts to build a single source of financial truth for Absa across Africa are ongoing,鈥� said John. 鈥淩enewing and extending our partnership with NTT DATA ensures we have the specialist 麻豆原创 capability and dependable operations to match the scale of our ambition, supporting stronger controls, faster close cycles and the data quality our business stakeholders expect. This is a South Africa-led transformation with Africa-wide impact and our unified platform positions Absa to grow with resilience and transparency.鈥�

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麻豆原创 was founded in 1972 by five former IBM employees. In a publicity shot from the time, they鈥檙e posed around a table in a nondescript office, all holding pens and hunched over a large blueprint. The hair is bouffant, the suits dark, and no one is smiling. These are clearly men who take their jobs very seriously.

As the story goes, Xerox wanted its systems migrated to IBM, and the latter firm put five engineers on the project, who all worked in Mannheim, Germany. The project ground to a halt for reasons unclear, but the five had seen the gap in the market, and left to form their company, which they called Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung, or System Analysis and Programme Development. It has been a long haul since the 鈥�70s, with the company constantly tinkering with its solutions while persuading many of the world鈥檚 largest firms that they can run their businesses better with its suite of solutions.

At the core of this suite is . This is an in-memory database, and聽data聽is stored in RAM instead of disk. These databases can handle spikes in traffic, such as at telcos or聽banks, and allow for real-time analytics. Customers can have the platform installed in their own server room, or in the public or private cloud, or both. And with each passing year, more features are added, such as GenAI assistant ; its sparkly icon now appears on seemingly every page of the platform. Joule, on which 麻豆原创 partnered with , can run queries on all kinds of data, produce forecasts, book meetings, and make graphs and charts on the fly.

There was still an impression in the market that 麻豆原创 was extremely expensive, very complicated, and not very pretty.

Garth Ridgway, NTT

All this work has borne fruit, and in March 2025, the company overtook Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk to become the EU鈥檚 most valuable company, with a market cap of 鈧�313bn. It reported strong results for its third quarter in October 2025, seeing revenue rise by 7% to 鈧�9.08bn. Cloud revenue saw growth of 22%. But there are challenges ahead, not least of which is convincing customers that it鈥檚 now past the time to migrate their workloads from the old system called ECC, which is usually run on-prem, to S4. The company would like nothing better than for all its customers to move to S4, but many are proving to be recalcitrant. Support for ECC, introduced in 2015, is meant to come to an end in 2027, but customers can buy extended support until 2030, which will cost them an extra 2% in addition to their annual maintenance costs. Many companies contend that the current systems seem to be working just fine, and many are also cognisant, and terrified, of the upheaval the聽migration聽is going to cause. To this, the company dangles the prospect of new features with S4, along with the constant refrain that support for the old systems is, at some point, going to grind to a halt.

An estimated 40% of 麻豆原创 customers in North America are yet to start migrating, according to a survey run by the Americas鈥� 麻豆原创 User Group. About 60% of the 173 members are already live on S4, or are in the process of moving over, according to the research in November. Gartner said in March 2025 that most ECC customers had still not bought S4 licences. It said that in Q4 in 2024, 29% of 35 000 ECC customers had bought or subscribed to S4 licences.

Christian Hestermann, Gartner senior director and analyst for business applications, believes this is likely to remain the status quo. Speaking to聽The Register, he said that since September 2023, the company鈥檚 messaging had been about AI and Joule. 鈥淭he message now is, ‘You have to have AI, or you’ll not be able to survive’. So far, that did not have a major influence. So none of those big events or big announcements has made a massive change up to now; the [migration] progress has remained fairly steady.”

No such third-party survey has been run in South Africa, and the company doesn鈥檛 make public either its customer numbers or how many have migrated.

I asked , CTO, 麻豆原创; , MD of 麻豆原创 South Africa; and , senior director, 麻豆原创, at NTT, for their views on how this migration conversation is progressing, and they spoke as one voice. Pillay says 麻豆原创 had 鈥渕ade a clear line in the sand鈥� with the date past which it won鈥檛 continue with maintenance. 鈥淐ustomers are aware of that and are making their plans to transform.鈥�

Pillay was appointed to the top job in August 2025, and says she鈥檚 going to ensure the local operation is well equipped to have these conversations with its customers, as well as partners.

Why haven鈥檛 they moved yet?

It鈥檚 a matter of context, she says. 鈥淲e have customers who have been with us for 20, 30 years, and that鈥檚 a godsend. But they bring a lot of legacy with them, and not just technical legacy. They have unarchived environments, non-optimised processes, or a lot of custom-built systems. They may have implemented ERP back in the day, and, in most cases, it was a project with a long duration, with a lot of blood and sweat going into it. Most companies understand they need to take that technology transformation journey, but they鈥檙e trying to balance the timing and effort required to bring a legacy system across [to S/4HANA]. There鈥檚 hesitation, because in the back of their minds, they remember that when they did it [last], it was really very difficult.鈥�

Financial services is one vertical where customers have realised the imperative of the move, she says. The move was a 鈥渘o-brainer鈥� for Pillay, and offered data analysis, AI, agentic AI, and GenAI capabilities. She says if a customer isn鈥檛 speaking to 麻豆原创 about the move, it may well be too late to get a system installed before the cut-off date.

鈥淲e鈥檙e prioritising helping those who are speaking to us to make that decision. We have to work with every customer individually to understand how they can do that transformation. There are different routes, based on capacity, budget and risk appetite. If you delay a decision, it鈥檚 going to be too late.鈥�

The slow movers are also going to bring pressure to bear on system integrator partners, as Pillay envisages them being at capacity, or overcapacity, doing 麻豆原创 implementations as the deadline draws ever closer.

鈥淭hen you鈥檒l pay for skills, either locally, or you鈥檒l have to look abroad. There鈥檚 going to be a material impact if a business takes this decision later on, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to discuss with our customers and help them plan properly, so they don鈥檛 get into a position where they say, 鈥榃ow, we鈥檝e left this too late, and now this is a monster鈥�.鈥�

麻豆原创 NTT鈥檚 Ridgway says he鈥檚 spent the better part of three decades implementing 麻豆原创 at customers, during which time the ERP landscape has changed dramatically. In the past, it was a two-horse race, the other being Oracle, and both companies served the large enterprise almost exclusively, he says. Large implementations took a lot longer than they do nowadays, two to four years, on average. He says 麻豆原创 now comes more pre-configured, or more off-the-shelf than in the past. He and his team will do a quick discovery at a customer, and will then do what he calls a 鈥渧anilla鈥� implementation to get the system up and running. Any innovation can come later, post the go-live date.

Another change in the market is that 麻豆原创 is now competing for business with companies such as Microsoft and Sage.聽Ridgway says he鈥檚 seen a shift in the attitude and sales pitch from 麻豆原创.聽鈥淚n South Africa, there was a time when 麻豆原创 owned 60%, 65% of the large enterprise ERP market, and Oracle was lagging behind. Every single large enterprise in South Africa has some form of ERP. There was still an impression in the market that 麻豆原创 was extremely expensive, very complicated, and not very pretty.鈥�

As for looks, he says the new interface is more user-friendly, and 鈥渕uch nicer to play with鈥�. The company has also realised that there aren鈥檛 any R100mn projects out there anymore, which has meant its gone looking for customers among medium-sized businesses. 鈥淭hese aren鈥檛 small businesses, but they鈥檙e just not the $1bn organisations. I don鈥檛 think 麻豆原创 wants to play in the small space, because that鈥檚 where Sage and QuickBooks are playing. But there鈥檚 a massive market in the mid-tier, which wasn鈥檛 untapped, but which 麻豆原创 wasn鈥檛 focused on,鈥� he says.

Customers have also become 鈥渟marter than they used to be鈥�. 鈥淚n the old days, we would go and sell 麻豆原创 to them, explaining what it did. Today, the CIO knows everything about 麻豆原创 and what it can do for them. It鈥檚 less about consulting around the roadmap, and more about, 鈥楾his is what I want. Can you get me there?鈥� CIOs are m ore well-read, and they know what they want. It鈥檚 no longer about selling the technology; maybe it wasn鈥檛 ever about selling the technology. It鈥檚 more about selling the business solution. Once it鈥檚 implemented, what are the benefits that they鈥檙e going to realise? What is the innovation that we can bring to it, and what will be the ease of integration?鈥�

Ridgway says the biggest part of its business is its application managed service (AMS) offering, and it鈥檚 serving around 100 clients on that platform.

As for the transition to S4, he thinks 麻豆原创, 鈥渢ried to use a stick to force people to move. It realised that there weren鈥檛 enough consultants and capacity worldwide to move every single 麻豆原创 customer from ECC to S4. It found a lot of resistance from clients, and it had a couple of clients that left them because they felt irritated by the stick and the threat of having support cut off. Coca-Cola Beverages Africa moved off 麻豆原创 and went onto [Microsoft] Dynamics, which I think it found quite difficult. It鈥檚 a massive change and huge investment to start all over again. So 麻豆原创 did lose some clients, but it eventually moved the date out to 2027. It also changed the sales approach from a stick to more of a carrot.鈥�

The carrot appears to involve talking up the benefits and exciting new features of S4. Ridgway says 麻豆原创 has dramatically changed the way it does business. 鈥淚n the past, I think 麻豆原创 was seen as very arrogant, very expensive and very complex. Today, it seems less arrogant and is playing in a different market.鈥�

The company is now far more flexible with its pricing and subscription models. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also not as complex as it used to be. I鈥檝e been involved in projects that took 24 months from start to go-live. We鈥檝e just completed a project that was five weeks from start to go-live.鈥�

Do you still have customers who are on ECC? 鈥淟ots,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he biggest part of our consulting business is trying to convince customers who are on ECC that we get to the cloud, and we can get them to S4, with all the innovations and advantages.

鈥淪ome customers will say, 鈥榠f it鈥檚 not broken, I don鈥檛 need to fix it. It鈥檚 giving me what I need鈥�,鈥� he says, but he believes this will add business risk because if something does go wrong, 鈥渃ome January 1 2028, you have no support from 麻豆原创鈥�.

This conversation with customers reminds him of those held when the cloud model was nascent around a decade ago, and 鈥渆verybody said they had to move to the cloud鈥�, which he says is similar to where AI is at the moment. 鈥淣obody actually knows what it means. A lot of clients did rush to the cloud, and realised two years later that it was quite expensive, and it鈥檚 more complicated. But we鈥檙e a lot more mature now, 10 years in. There are a lot of clients who are hybrid. I think the way 麻豆原创 designed its solution allows for that.鈥�

He says with the application managed services part of the business, NTT will provide support for customers, many of which will sign up for a 36-month contract that will give them access to a call centre with certified, senior agents. As for what the customers are struggling with, he says the majority of the calls are related to password resets and authorisations.

Herzig, 麻豆原创 CTO, speaking at this year鈥檚 Saphire conference in Madrid, said the company doesn鈥檛 disclose the official numbers, but it has around 10 000 customers worldwide that are on the cloud path. 鈥淭he majority of customers are now making the cloud decision, specifically because the maintenance will definitely be over in 2028. And with all the innovation, there鈥檚 a very clear reason why they need to move.鈥�

Why don鈥檛 they want to move?

鈥淚t depends on the customer,鈥� he says. 鈥淭heir systems have grown, historically, and they鈥檝e been heavily customised. Back in the day, you could code left and right, because the code was open. Every table and every function module, and the systems integrators added their part to it. They did a lot of custom code. Maybe they were adding functionality, but they didn鈥檛 know [what effect it would have]. You鈥檇 start off with a very clean version of what 麻豆原创 delivered, and then we innovated with the product. We built capabilities, and we changed the technology, and the customer did the same. And the longer this branching took, the harder it is to reconcile.鈥�

* Article first published on聽

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As part of its broader digital transformation strategy, Al-Futtaim Automotive, a division of Al-Futtaim, partnered with SNP and IBM to modernize and future-proof its 麻豆原创 environment. The project involved converting a 16-terabyte 麻豆原创 ECC system to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, an initiative of significant scale and complexity. Despite this, the transformation was completed ahead of schedule in August 2025, with only 30.5 hours of technical downtime.

“This project showcases what can be achieved when deep expertise and partnership come together”, says , CEO of SNP SE. “I am humbled to meet our partners at Al-Futtaim Group here in Dubai to celebrate this milestone together. Their trust in SNP underscores our commitment to the region, supporting their growth journey as they embrace digital transformation.”

This article first appeared here:

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With mainstream support for legacy 麻豆原创 ECC systems ending in 2027, IBM guided Toyota through a Brownfield upgrade strategy, enabling a seamless transition to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA while preserving existing business process investments. This approach minimized disruption, accelerated deployment timelines, and ensured continuity for critical operations.

Driving Transformation Across Core Business Functions

Vehicle Management Modernization

IBM led the upgrade of Toyota鈥檚 national Vehicle Management System鈥攁 mission-critical platform for managing orders, inventory, sales, and financial reporting across manufacturing and dealerships. By migrating to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, Toyota now benefits from real-time data visibility, improved inventory optimization, and faster responsiveness to customer demand.

Human Capital Management Enhancement

The second phase focused on modernizing Toyota鈥檚 HR systems, including payroll and personnel administration. IBM delivered a streamlined 麻豆原创 S/4HANA-based HCM platform that simplifies workforce processes and lays the foundation for enhanced talent management and employee engagement.

Speed, Continuity, and Risk Reduction

Both upgrades were delivered on schedule and without operational disruption, ensuring Toyota maintained business continuity while modernizing its core systems. IBM鈥檚 proven methodologies and deep 麻豆原创 expertise enabled a risk-mitigated transformation aligned with Toyota鈥檚 strategic objectives.

鈥淲e are proud to support Toyota South Africa Motors in their digital transformation journey by delivering technology solutions that accelerate innovation and strengthen business resilience,鈥� said , Managing Partner, IBM Consulting South Africa. 鈥淎t IBM, we call this the Science of Consulting – combining human expertise, AI, and technology to deliver scalable, data-driven transformations. By improving data visibility and governance, we help organizations like Toyota achieve their goals with speed and confidence.鈥�

, Managing Director, Southern Africa at 麻豆原创, says: 鈥淭he best companies run on trusted data, optimised business processes and real-time intelligence into every part of the business. By upgrading to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, companies like Toyota unlock a suite of intelligent technologies that help transform business processes with intelligent automation. We commend Toyota and IBM on this powerful business transformation initiative and wish them well as they continue their rollout.鈥�

A Partnership Built for the Future

Building on these successes, IBM is collaborating with Toyota on the next phase of its 麻豆原创 modernization program, focusing on parts management systems. IBM and 麻豆原创鈥檚 long-standing partnership brings together hybrid cloud infrastructure, automation, and generative AI innovations powered by IBM watsonx鈩�, enabling clients to unlock new value and drive industry-specific transformation.

With over 18,000 certified 麻豆原创 consultants and 300+ 麻豆原创 S/4HANA implementations in the past five years, IBM helps organizations define transformation roadmaps, co-innovate solutions, and deploy modernization strategies with speed, scale, and AI-driven outcomes.

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These are important, but many migration projects come to a grinding halt because of an area that often goes unnoticed: Customer-Vendor Integration (CVI).

In S/4HANA, 麻豆原创 introduced the Business Partner model as the single, unified master data object. CVI synchronises and converts Customers and Vendors into Business Partners, and 麻豆原创 S/4HANA migration cannot happen until the CVI is complete.

A prerequisite

CVI is perhaps the most common 鈥済otcha鈥� in 麻豆原创 migrations. Even those few companies that are aware of the fact that something needs to get done tend to assume it鈥檚 optional or can be done later.

Data structure changes like CVI often feel like backend IT work rather than a strategic enabler, so it gets pushed down the priority list. The fact that the focus is on customer and vendor records doesn鈥檛 help, making CVI appear like a housekeeping exercise.

Some teams assume CVI will just happen as part of the technical conversion to S/4HANA, not realising that CVI is a separate and often lengthy project that needs business involvement, governance, and cleanup.

Without CVI completion, the migration cannot begin, it鈥檚 the bridge between old ECC master data and the S/4HANA world. Unfortunately, by the time most companies realise this, their migration project has already been delayed.

It鈥檚 at this point that many organisations also realise how fragmented, inconsistent, or duplicated their customer and vendor data is. CVI forces these issues into the open, but by then, it鈥檚 often too late.

Building the foundation

The same way no-one would build a house without starting with a foundation, you can鈥檛 start a 麻豆原创 migration without CVI in place. However, CVI is more than a simple data exercise. It requires co-ordination across finance, procurement, and sales teams, not to mention technical preparation.

This is why we recommend an audit of existing Customer and Vendor records in ECC alongside the design of the CVI strategy. This will help assess data quality issues and decide how various groups, roles, and categories will be structured. Aligning with business processes will then be much easier, after which the technical elements can come into play.

While many companies try to do this themselves, most find that they don鈥檛 have the time or skills to ensure that there is no need to redo elements, leading to downtime and budget overruns. Using a partner allows the business to access the cross-functional expertise they need to align IT and business teams, so the migration actually works in practice.

From chaos to control

CVI projects are notorious for unexpected challenges such as duplicate records, incomplete data & inconsistent processes. A seasoned partner has seen these issues before and knows how to resolve them quickly without derailing timelines.

CVI forces companies to confront messy customer and vendor data. Partners offer data cleansing and governance best practices, ensuring the migration doesn鈥檛 just move bad data into a new system.

On their own, internal teams often underestimate the time and effort needed for CVI. A partner brings proven methodologies, accelerators, and tools that cut down the workload and speed up readiness for the actual S/4HANA migration. Since CVI requires collaboration between finance, sales, procurement, and IT, partners can act as facilitators to get stakeholders aligned and moving forward.

Done right, CVI is more than a prerequisite. It鈥檚 the foundation for better customer, supplier, and partner insights in the new 麻豆原创 landscape. A partner ensures CVI doesn鈥檛 just tick a box, but sets up long-term business value.

A partner transforms CVI from a painful bottleneck into a strategic enabler, helping to ensure the migration goes smoothly, avoids nasty surprises, and delivers the promised business benefits of S/4HANA.

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