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Upgrade - unease remains

The vast majority of SAP user companies will continue to put off the switch to S/4 Hana in 2022 - according to the results of xSuite's current customer survey.
Dina Haack, xSuite Group
14 March 2022
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This text has been automatically translated from German to English.

Info from SAP's semi-annual report from last July: In the first half of 2021, the number of S/4 customers increased by about 1,000 to over 17,000. Compared to the same period last year, this corresponds to an increase of 17 percent. That is, after all, in the double digits, but also not necessarily an upswing that gives cause for euphoria. There is no discernible reason why this pace should accelerate just now. And even if the speed were doubled or even tripled - it would still only be a few percentage points more who now rely on the new product generation instead of SAP ECC.

Out of sight...

SAP itself is not least responsible for this: By extending mainstream maintenance until 2027, the Walldorf-based company finally took the pressure out itself. Regular customer surveys by xSuite reflect this. The latest survey took place in November 2021 among nearly 70 accounting, SAP and IT professionals from SAP user companies. It yielded the following results: Only 13 percent of companies are already using S/4 Hana or plan to migrate this year. Fifty-six percent plan to tackle the switch between 2023 and 2025, nine percent in 2026 and 2027, and 22 percent not until then or not at all - results that show striking consistency across similar xSuite surveys in recent years.

Innovation backlog

There may be other market surveys. Their (positively or negatively) divergent results can probably also be attributed to divergent survey bases. For a software manufacturer, however, the mood within its own customer base is the only relevant yardstick. And this should certainly raise questions in this case. Because it is doubtful whether the wait-and-see attitude is wise. Inevitably, an innovation backlog will form here. In the not too distant future, this will mean that tens of thousands of SAP customers will want to migrate within three years and will need support from consulting companies. This is a demand that the market is unlikely to meet. It will be good for manufacturers of SAP add-on solutions (and their customers) if their software solutions can handle a migration without any problems and continue to run seamlessly before, during and after the S/4 conversion.

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Dina Haack, xSuite Group

Dina Haack has been at home in the B2B software industry for more than ten years. She is responsible for marketing at the globally active xSuite Group in Ahrensburg. Thematically, she focuses on SAP-integrated business processes and forward-looking e-invoices. She has long since found her way to the cloud. Since February 2022, Dina Haack has been chair of Bitkom's Digital Office Services & Cloud working group.


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Working on the SAP basis is crucial for successful S/4 conversion. 

This gives the Competence Center strategic importance for existing SAP customers. Regardless of the S/4 Hana operating model, topics such as Automation, Monitoring, Security, Application Lifecycle Management and Data Management the basis for S/4 operations.

For the second time, E3 magazine is organizing a summit for the SAP community in Salzburg to provide comprehensive information on all aspects of S/4 Hana groundwork.

Venue

More information will follow shortly.

Event date

Wednesday, May 21, and
Thursday, May 22, 2025

Early Bird Ticket

Available until Friday, January 24, 2025
EUR 390 excl. VAT

Regular ticket

EUR 590 excl. VAT

Venue

Hotel Hilton Heidelberg
Kurfürstenanlage 1
D-69115 Heidelberg

Event date

Wednesday, March 5, and
Thursday, March 6, 2025

Tickets

Regular ticket
EUR 590 excl. VAT
Early Bird Ticket

Available until December 20, 2024

EUR 390 excl. VAT
The event is organized by the E3 magazine of the publishing house B4Bmedia.net AG. The presentations will be accompanied by an exhibition of selected SAP partners. The ticket price includes attendance at all presentations of the Steampunk and BTP Summit 2025, a visit to the exhibition area, participation in the evening event and catering during the official program. The lecture program and the list of exhibitors and sponsors (SAP partners) will be published on this website in due course.