Stop Shadow Systems: How an SAP-Native Portal Ends Spreadsheet Chaos

Introduction: Why Shadow Systems Develop

When governance feels slow, teams often create workarounds, using spreadsheets, Access files, and shared drives. While these shadow systems may promise speed, they lead to fragmented master data, weakened compliance, and increased rework. The solution isn’t more policies; it’s a faster, more straightforward, SAP-native approach that business users prefer from day one.

Self-service, no-code portals on the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) make the “official way” the quickest way. This approach reduces cycle times, improves first-time accuracy, and restores confidence in decision-making, all without adding to the IT backlog.

What Is Self-Service Data Governance?

Self-service governance allows domain experts to take ownership of their data. Through intuitive portals and guided workflows, users can:

• Initiate requests to create, change, or retire master data.
• Validate data at entry using built-in rules and AI-assisted checks.
• Approve changes through role-based workflows.
• Track request status using dashboards and notifications.

This process does not bypass IT; instead, IT establishes the necessary guardrails, integrations, and security measures. The key difference lies in speed and ownership: business users can act promptly within governed, auditable processes that ensure accuracy, compliance, and accountability.

The SAP-Native Alternative: A Self-Serve Portal Users Choose

Make the official path faster than the workaround

An SAP BTP-native portal, SimpleMDG provides business users with a guided, governed place to create and update master
data without waiting for IT tickets.

• Built where work happens. Native integration with SAP means single sign-on, consistent roles, and direct posting to the correct company code, plant, and sales areas. No exports. No copy/paste.
• Governance by design. Validations, routing, and SoD (Segregation of Duties) checks run at the point of entry. Policies become rules, not PDFs that no one opens.
• AI prevents rework. The portal checks for duplicates, suggests enrichments, and flags anomalies before approval while lifting first-time-right rates.
• No-code flexibility. Business teams adjust forms, picklists, and rules in minutes. IT sets guardrails and integrations, not every field.
• Scale without chaos. Standardized templates across100+ master data types keep processes consistent as you expand to new geographies or business units.
• S/4HANA-ready. Clean masters, repeatable workflows, and audit trails remove friction from your move to S/4HANA.

Result: The portal becomes the easiest, fastest, and safest way to get work done so users choose it over
spreadsheets, every time.

Where Shadow Systems Hit the Business

Shadow systems look quick, but they tax the enterprise.

• Working capital. Wrong vendor banking data and duplicate customers delay payments and collections. Cash is trapped, DSO increases, and discounts slip.
• Supply continuity. Material misclassifications and missing plant views stall purchasing, push expedites, and cause stockouts or overstock.
• Analytics trust. Duplicates and inconsistent attributes distort demand, pricing, and margin reports. Leaders hesitate to act.
• Compliance exposure. Email approvals and uncontrolled templates leave gaps in evidence. Findings multiply at audit time.
• Customer and supplier experience. Incorrect addresses, tax details, and partner functions drive returns, chargebacks, and friction.
• IT overhead. Teams triage spreadsheet errors and reconcile versions instead of advancing the roadmap.

Replace the drag with a governed portal and you convert effort into value with cleaner data, faster cycles, and fewer surprises.

How It Works in Practice (and Why Users Stick with It)

The flow is simple, even though the work is complex.

Users keep the portal because it saves time on day one.

Vendor Creation (replaces vendor spreadsheets)

• Submit – A guided Fiori-style form shows only relevant fields. Examples and tooltips reduce guesswork.
• Validate – Rules check tax details, addresses, and banking formats, while AI scans for duplicates across vendor and company code.
• Approve – Procurement, Compliance, and Finance approve with SoD enforcement and SLA-based escalations.
• Post – The record posts to SAP with the correct purchasing and company-code views.
• Track & Audit – Live status for requesters; full activity log for auditors.
• Outcome: Weeks – hours; clean AP cycles; fewer blocked invoices.

Material Extension (replaces plant-level trackers)

• Submit – The planner selects a template; the portal reveals plant and storage location fields only when needed.
• Validate – Units of measure (UoM), MRP, valuation class, and conversions are checked at entry.
• Approve – Costing and Plant Manager approve in parallel; the system escalates when SLAs near breach.
• Post – plant views extend; BOM and routing dependencies are validated.
• Outcome – On-time production; consistent planning; no email trackers.

Customer Master Change (replaces CRM exports)

• Submit – Sales Ops updates partner functions and addresses with field-level guidance.
• Validate – Tax jurisdictions, addresses and credit-relevant fields run through rules; AI flags anomalies.
• Approve – Credit and Compliance approvals are triggered by the risk profile.
• Post – Changes apply; impacted open orders re-validated if required.
• Outcome – Fewer invoice returns; faster cash collection.

Why users stay: fewer clicks, fewer rejections, instant status, and zero double entry.

Adoption Playbook: Ending Spreadsheet Dependence

Make adoption intentional, measurable, and irreversible.

• Start where pain is highest. Pick one master type with an obvious backlog (often vendor or material). Success creates momentum.
• Co-design with champions. Engage power users from each function to shape forms, picklists, and rules. Publish their names in the rollout notes.
• Launch with training in the flow. Use tooltips, snippets, and 60-second clips linked to each field and step. Skip slide decks.
• Publish SLAs and dashboards. Show adoption by business unit, TTR, and FTR weekly. Celebrate leaders, coach laggards.
• Decommission legacy templates. Set a date. Redirect old spreadsheet links to the portal. Provide a “why this changed” page and a feedback form.
• Iterate continuously without new projects. Use SimpleMDG’s no-code builder to refine rules and forms based on real usage—weekly at first, then monthly.
• Scale by playbook. Repeat the pattern across domains using pre-built accelerators for faster time-to-value.

Goal: make the portal the path of least resistance and eliminate alternatives.

KPIs That Prove Shadow Systems Are Gone

Measure what matters, and make it visible.

• Adoption Rate – % of governance requests raised in the portal vs. email/sheets.
• Time-to-Resolution (TTR) – Submission to SAP posting.
• First-Time-Right (FTR) – Posted without rework.
• Duplicate Rate – Duplicates per 1,000 created/changed records.
• SLA Attainment – % completed within target time by category.
• Compliance Exceptions – Audit findings tied to master data.

Instrumentation tips:

• Track adoption and TTR by business unit and country.
• Add a “reason for rework” field to drive root-cause fixes.
• Review KPIs in a 30-minute monthly forum with business, data, and IT leads.

Why SimpleMDG Wins Against Spreadsheets

Map the pain to the remedy.

• Speed vs. Backlog
  Pre-built workflows and guided forms cut cycle time.
• Quality vs. rework
  AI duplicate checks and policy-as-code rules lift first-time-right and prevent insufficient data at the source.
• Visibility vs. Emails
  Real-time dashboards replace status threads; users always know “what’s next.”
• Control vs. Risk
  Role-based approvals, SoD enforcement, and immutable audit trails satisfy auditors.
• Scalability vs. Fragmentation
  100+ master data type accelerators and a no-code interface keep processes consistent as you scale.
• SAP Fit vs. Workarounds
  BTP-native design ensures secure identity, stable integration, and S/4HANA readiness.

Outcome: Users get the speed they want. You get the control you need.