SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) announced its new BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management software application yesterday to help businesses better manage their sustainability performance and objectives.
The SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management solution is designed so that businesses can more easily and effectively set sustainability goals, measure how they are doing and to help reduce the amount of time and resources that are traditionally required when gathering information.
Peter Graf, SAP’s chief sustainability officer, said during a conference call yesterday that sustainability can be defined as increasing the short and long-term profitability by being able to holistically manage economic, social and environmental risks and opportunities.
“This is the first time we have a solution which allows companies to holistically manage their entire sustainability performance,” Graf said. “The solution we’re launching collects data and consolidates information into one point of view so companies can aggressively manage their sustainability efforts. The Sustainability Performance Management solution enriches our overall portfolio of sustainability solutions.”
In addition to this solution, SAP also has acquired and developed Carbon Impact, following its acquisition of Clear Standard. Carbon Impact is a carbon measurement solution that connects with an organization’s backend SAP systems to provide end-to-end measurement and dashboarding capabilities of what a business’ carbon impact is.
Traditionally, measuring a business’ sustainability performance via phone calls, spreadsheets and so forth, is often a cumbersome and expensive task, Graf said.
“Executives want to understand how their company is doing and customers, investors and some governments require organizations and their supply chains to live up to certain sustainability standards,” Graf said. “SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management lets organizations see how they’re doing by having one point of view across all areas of the business.”
The solution also includes a central KPI (key performance indicator) library, collected from a variety of sources that enable customers to measure how they’re doing against certain metrics. Currently, the library includes more than KPIs, Graf said.
SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management also provides out of the box integration so businesses can collect data from SAP, as well as non-SAP systems. It can also be used as a stand-alone solution, Graf said. Users also have the ability to enter data in by hand in a structured process that’s auditable.
John Gagel, manager for sustainable practices, environmental health and safety at Lexmark, an SAP customer and also a co-innovator partner with the solution, said the SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management software application will let the company “drill down into the details of the business to get more (employees) to buy into the sustainability practices” of the organization.
“The tool will help us be more efficient and effective with our time and resources,” Gagel said. “The tool presents a holistic approach and view into our environmental, social and economic practices and objectives.”
The SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management solution is now available globally from SAP and its business partners.