10,000 SAP Positions

SAP's failure to align its entire business model with its business issues, the fact it has fallen prey to the technical paradigm of the public cloud, has led financial analysts and investors to foresee a promising future for SAP. So, as occurred during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, let 100 flowers bloom! The Hundred Flowers Movement in China was a campaign that allowed citizens to offer criticism and advice to the government and the party.

 As a result of a significant corporate restructuring, the initial plan for this year involved the potential termination of approximately 8,000 employees. SAP has revised its plans, and the current estimate is that 10,000 employees will be affected. The company's current strategy is to rapidly transform into a public cloud company, a move that will significantly impact the ERP market. This leads us to the following: pick 100 flowers!

With a robust public cloud strategy, the only way SAP can benefit is by streamline its operations, by reducing the number of staff with legacy on-prem and private cloud expertise. At the same time, the well-documented scaling benefits of a public cloud also ensure SAP benefits. Let 100 flowers be planted and harvested!

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether SAP's radical public cloud strategy will maintain its relevance for its European customer base. A survey conducted by the German-speaking SAP user group (DSAG e. V.) at the beginning of this year indicates that, among DSAG members, the relevance of SAP is perceived as remaining the same or declining slightly. Despite new product offerings such as AI and the cloud, SAP has not yet succeeded in becoming more attractive to its traditional customer base.

 SAP has consistently generated sufficient revenue from its core business software offerings. It is also evident that the contribution margins were higher for the database manufacturer Oracle. However, this was not due to a superior strategy, but rather to a distinct business model. SAP's S/4 public cloud strategy aims to emulate the success of hyperscalers by pursuing maximum profit through maximum standardization. It is unlikely that comprehensive ERP software will be able to offer the same capabilities as other, more specialized software, such as AI, email, e-commerce, storage, and databases. Nonetheless, SAP aims to become a public cloud company in line with hyperscalers, and is thus streamlining the functions of its ERP heritage to align with a public cloud.

 One day, generative AI may offer a superior ERP in the public cloud, potentially undermining SAP's efforts. Let a hundred flowers bloom again! In the age of generative AI, abandoning ERP knowledge in the form of standardization and employee layoffs may prove a dead end.