Esker Partners, Invests in B/2BNOW in Support of SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP

Esker, a worldwide leader in AI-driven process automation solutions and pioneer in cloud computing, announced a strategic partnership with Wisconsin-based B/2BNOW, a leading provider of electronic data interchange (EDI) solutions for the SAP S/4HANA Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The partnership is focused on providing better automation and an improved experience on S/4HANA and helping customers prepare for the transition from SAP’s legacy ERP business suite, of which SAP is discontinuing support by 2025.

“The SAP ecosystem is very important to our business and the customers who rely on SAP, and we recognize the significance of the new S/4HANA platform,” said Steve Smith, COO at Esker. “As a leader in process automation solutions, our goal in partnering with and investing in B/2BNOW is to contribute to the success of the SAP ecosystem and increase adoption of S/4HANA by SAP users.”

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As a relatively new startup company, B/2BNOW just completed its initial round of seed funding, of which Esker was responsible for 40 percent of the total amount raised. In light of this investment from Esker, Smith will be joining B/2BNOW’s board of directors.

B/2BNOW is one of the earliest adopters in the S/4HANA space. While traditional managed service providers are waiting to support the platform until it’s more established, the company is the first in the world to implement an EDI solution for S/4HANA public cloud. B/2BNOW’s solution gives businesses that are ready to switch to S/4HANA an advantage by providing offerings that can work with S/4HANA, both now and as the platform matures.

“We’re fully embracing the power of experiential data, taking difficult-to-process data streams—those traditionally only used by IT departments—and converting them into a format that can be used across the organization,” said Mike Kersels, CEO and founder of B/2BNOW. “This partnership will allow us to leverage Esker’s industry-leading UI to present data in ways that are most effective to each department and empower businesses to base decisions on trend reporting and real-time dashboards.”

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The partnership also benefits the community of Madison, Wisconsin, as both Esker and B/2BNOW have headquarters in the area. B/2BNOW is registered as a Qualified New Business Venture with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, which is focused on growing local talent and encourages companies to hire locally. The growth that both companies expect to experience as a result of the partnership will further establish Madison as an up-and-coming tech community and promote the “technology renaissance” currently underway in the Midwest.

“Our goal is to work closely with B/2BNOW within the SAP HANA space to provide a complete process automation solution integrated with SAP’s cloud solution,” Smith added. “We’ll also partner with them on sales and marketing opportunities to expand our reach within this space. Both companies are actively pursuing the same market, with expertise in different areas, but by combining our experience it will enhance our ability to grow.”

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