A Perfect Technology Partnership Turns 25

Successful enterprise technology partnerships have something in common with a perfect cup of coffee. 

Both deliver ample value and appear relatively straightforward to make, at least on the surface. Take a deeper look, and you’ll see the substantial behind-the-scenes effort and creativity required to bring together a combination of the right ingredients, in just the right way, to make something truly special. 

For more than a quarter-century, SAP and Vertex have worked closely together to drive innovation and better business outcomes for our joint customers. The longevity of our trusted relationship makes sense. After all, SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce, and 100% of those transactions require reliable tax determination. Our shared customers are seeking help with reducing friction and complexity in the tax determination and compliance processes.

Companies also need to know whether a transaction is taxable and, if so, what is the correct tax treatment. Tax determination sounds straightforward, but that is rarely the case. Consider that delicious cup of java, whose tax rate depends on its size, ingredients, where those ingredients were sourced, and how it’s being served. Now, multiply those variables by the number of different tax authorities and regulations that exist globally (tens of thousands), and it becomes clear how a seemingly simple transaction requires substantial behind-the-scenes orchestration.

Vertex’s global indirect tax solutions integrate with numerous platforms and applications throughout the SAP ecosystem in a way that looks and feels seamless to our joint customers. This effortless experience is possible through the following:

• Collaboration: Cross-functional teams from Vertex and SAP meet regularly to plan and produce solution and functionality updates, as well as new offerings that help our joint customers address challenges and uncover additional opportunities for value. This customer-centric focus has helped Vertex become a key strategic partner to SAP, which has in turn generated far more partnering opportunities. “As a strategic SAP partner, our ongoing collaborations produce greater alignment between our organizations and our solutions to deliver best-in-class software that help our customers simplify the management of global tax compliance,” notes Vertex CEO David DeStefano. 
• Innovation: Our continual collaboration with SAP allows us to harvest new ideas and innovations that help our mutual customers make better tax decisions while accelerating efficiencies and reducing costs. This is a big part of why Vertex was the first SAP partner to complete a co-innovation program for tax with SAP S/4HANA Cloud®. This has also been how we have been able to consistently deliver new complementary tools to enhance the integration of our solutions with SAP, while optimizing tax management.
• Trust: Vertex’s relationship with SAP is built on trust, and it equips our customers with confidence in our offerings. The longevity and deep relationships that Vertex and SAP have built enables customers to have confidence that their significant investments in SAP and Vertex technologies will deliver major returns in each of their unique journeys to create more value to their own customers. 

“It’s these qualities that are at the core of our relationship with SAP for the last 25 years and continues to be an important part of our success,” states DeStefano.

The perfect cup of coffee requires exhaustive and multifaceted work that few consumers ever see. Soil needs to be cultivated; beans must be planted, harvested, dried, and exported. Those beans must be ground and roasted. A similar amount of unseen work and shared expertise goes into advancing a longstanding enterprise technology partnership that strives to deliver an unparalleled customer experience.