December 32 is too late

Waiting, waiting and postponing are usually bad advisors. Only very few problems disappear into thin air over time. In the case of the "indirect use" license issue, the DSAG user association has long relied on "wait and see" in the hope that SAP will ultimately understand the association and its thousands of members.

This was not the case: SAP has [...] taken an important step to regain the trust of customers, which seemed to have been lost somewhat recently, said DSAG board member Andreas Oczko in a press release.

In April, SAP finally released a new licensing model, which is to be understood as an alternative to the existing "indirect use" application.

The DSAG association was full of praise for this alternative and for itself because it was the only external organization allowed to help SAP develop this licensing model.

In the meantime, the Voice and IA4SP associations considered how to really help existing SAP customers: Ultimately, it's about legal positioning and transparency for the user, who will always see the "license" issue holistically - business, organizational, technical and legal.

Besides the general problems of "license operation" based on USMM, LAW and SolMan, "indirect use" has been the topic with the most requests to speak in the past, because it is very difficult to understand in principle.

The EU Software Directive 2009/24 states:

"The function of computer programs is to connect and operate with the other components of a computer system and the users. [...] This functional connection and interaction is commonly known as interoperability; this interoperability can be defined as the ability to exchange information and to mutually use the information exchanged."

What SAP describes as "indirect use" is known in legal literature as "interoperability."

On December 32, it will be too late: Thus, the task now is to determine whether the ERP monopolist is abusing its superior market position and bending the law by reinterpreting "interoperability" to mean "indirect use."

It was and is necessary to actively have the SAP antitrust issue clarified in Berlin, as a user association had previously initiated in a similar situation with the Swiss Confederation Price Supervisor.

At the same time, comprehensive technical and organizational clarification is naturally required for SAP's existing customers. To this end, a working group made up of SAP partners, user associations and lawyers has designed a one-day seminar that will be held at the Print Media Academy on September 18 this year. Remaining places can still be reserved at e-3.de/lkh be booked.

The license meeting of SAP existing customers in Heidelberg has two tasks: Information and planning of further steps for the holistic and joint solution of the task "interoperability/indirect use".

Uncertainty and lack of knowledge harm SAP just as much as existing customers and partners: On the path to digital transformation with the topics of blockchain and IoT, all parties involved need legal certainty.

A global supply chain with blockchain and the sword of Damocles "indirect use" is unimaginable. Now it is time to solve the licensing tasks, to set the course towards SAP Leonardo (AI, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain, etc.), because on December 32 it will be too late.