SAP improves sustainability initiatives

SAP's new tool could reduce data collection errors

Enterprise software giant SAP has launched a tool designed to help companies streamline the management of sustainability initiatives.

The SAP Business Objects Sustainability Performance Management application allows firms to more easily set sustainability goals and objectives, measure and communicate performance, and reduce data collection costs and errors, according to the vendor.

The software features an easy-to-use interface that streamlines internal and external reporting, and users can select from a centralised library of key sustainability performance indicators (KPIs) based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, or create their own, said SAP.

The product also automates the collection of this KPI data from a variety of sources across the enterprise and integrates with existing SAP sustainability products, including SAP ERP; the SAP Environment, Health, and Safety Management application; and the SAP Carbon Impact on-demand solution.

Once collected, the software’s powerful analytics capabilities will enable customers to examine performance and demonstrate return on investment; turning data into actionable insight, said SAP.

“Sustainability is increasingly mission-critical across the corporate world,” said Stephen Stokes, vice president of Sustainability and Green Technologies at AMR Research.

“It is becoming a key element of business strategy, with the potential to deliver new levels of efficiency and operational performance, innovation and organisational transformation. Managing and reporting an organisation’s sustainable performance via transparent and high quality data collation, analysis, optimisation and modelling is a new basis for defining and communicating operational excellence.”