S/4 countdown: AI, cloud and choosing the best partner

We are approaching crunch time. There are less than two years left for the SAP S/4 migration until mainstream maintenance expires at the end of 2027. Although there are paid extension options, many customers are confident that they will complete their migration on time. This is not entirely unfounded: the SAP service ecosystem has undergone a massive upgrade in recent years. Service providers have built up more consultants, gained experience, refined methods and developed tools to accelerate projects. AI is also making inroads: the first providers are already using it to make migrations faster, cheaper and more efficient.

But what does this mean for customers? Does the service portfolio meet their needs? Do they want comprehensive support along the entire value chain or only selective services? Can providers meet industry-specific requirements? And which providers contribute their own assets such as industry solutions or predefined AI use cases? Companies should carefully examine the portfolios of potential migration partners - especially with regard to tools and AI-supported solutions.

PAC has published a new series of radar analyses to support organizations in selecting the right SAP service partner. Based on clearly defined criteria, PAC evaluates strategies, market positions and performance in specific segments. The dynamic tool, which allows companies to weight the criteria according to their own priorities, is particularly valuable. For example, the supplier longlist of a medium-sized company often differs significantly from that of a global corporation. The Radar series covers various regions and the entire SAP value chain: Consulting and System Integration, Application Management, Public and Private Cloud Hosting as well as strategic future topics such as Business AI, Joule and, of course, S/4.

Business AI: Service providers must increasingly support customers with the integration of individual extensions via SAP BTP and the use of Business AI and GenAI. Many providers are therefore expanding their portfolio of ready-made AI use cases. Consulting strength and a broad set of AI assets are becoming decisive selection criteria. PAC Radar shows which providers are leading the way here - such as NTT Data or DXC.

Consulting and system integration: The trend towards brownfield migrations has reduced, but not eliminated, the need for in-depth process consulting. Consulting remains important, especially for analytics, AI and automation. In addition, the need for cloud consulting and integration services is increasing as S/4 increasingly runs in cloud environments. Geopolitical tensions are also increasing the demand for sovereign cloud alternatives. Accenture, TCS, Infosys, Deloitte, NTT Data and Capgemini, among others, are strongly positioned internationally. Atos and DXC also have strong positions in Europe. Local providers such as Inetum or BTC as well as Reply in several European markets also perform well.

Application Management: Cloud-based operating models and „Keep the Core Clean“ are profoundly changing SAP application management. SAP is standardizing many technical services under Rise. Functional application management is increasingly focusing on extensions outside the core as well as on process, integration and compliance support for SaaS solutions.

Hosting: The shift from S/4 Hana to cloud platforms is changing the hosting landscape. Expertise in hyperscaler environments such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud is becoming essential. While private cloud demand has fallen, data sovereignty requirements could strengthen regional hosting again. Providers therefore need consulting expertise for sovereign cloud models - ideally with their own corresponding infrastructure. One example is T-Systems, which has further consolidated its strong position in European SAP hosting through innovations in the area of sovereign infrastructures.

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