Helping SAP Managers Find the
Best Cloud-Based Fax Provider
Managers of SAP environments are poised to take
advantage of the migration to the cloud for fax
communications. The emergence of proven, stable,
and affordable cloud-based fax services now enables
IT managers to replace their aging server hardware
infrastructure and software license and maintenance
investments with a service that integrates fax
directly into their SAP email platform. This paper
will explore the advantages of moving legacy SAP
fax processes into the cloud, and offer guidance
on finding the ideal cloud-hosted fax provider.
Hardware-Based Fax Solutions
Bring Cost and Complexity
According to a recent Gartner report, the need for
speed, agility, and cost-effective IT solutions is being
hindered by hardware-based server applications,
including fax servers. This trend is especially true for
business processes that are repeatable, such as digital
faxing, where companies might generate thousands of
SAP forms daily, including invoices, purchases orders,
statements, etc. and fax them from a common source.
Hardware-based fax solutions pose unique challenges
for IT managers, ranging from high upfront hardware
and software licensing costs and the recurring cost of
telecommunications, to the bureaucratic headaches that
devolve from software upgrade and trouble-shooting
requirements. Sizing the fax server infrastructure to avoid
bottlenecks at times of peak usage means that at other
times this system may sit virtually idle, and components
that aren’t actively working are, of course, wasting money.
In addition to the investment cost is the cost of
maintaining the traditional fax server system. Figure A
illustrates the many components that lay between this
instance of SAP and the telephone network (PSTN),
including the fax server and its component cards, the
dedicated analog or digital telecommunication lines,
and the customized software between SAP and the
application server. Each of these components must be
purchased, implemented, maintained, and supported
by dedicated in-house resources. Then, if a fax card
should subsequently fail, IT must endure yet another
headache and unplanned expense to replace it. The
truth is, no one in IT wants to be responsible for
managing the ‘last-generation’ fax server infrastructure!