DSAG Annual Congress 2024

The theme of this year's annual conference of the DSAG (German-speaking SAP User Group) was "The triad of the future: users, SAP, and partners setting the pace for transformation. A harmonious tone is what is called for, because a look at the DSAG Investment Report 2024 paints a similar picture as last year. About half of the respondents still say they are not very far along in their digital transformation. And a recent DSAG-ASUG survey on the topic of AI (artificial intelligence) confirms this picture. According to the survey, only eleven percent of respondents can easily keep up with the speed of change on a technical, social and/or economic level, 59 percent can do so to some extent, and 24 percent cannot keep up.

Ability to change

"Partners play an important role in this triad, for example by supporting companies and organizations in their digital transformation with tailored services and solutions. They also help improve business processes and make them more efficient. And last but not least, they develop and drive innovations in close cooperation with SAP and the ecosystem," said Jens Hungershausen, DSAG CEO. The partners are active in many committees and are often both users and providers of SAP-related services and solutions. This makes them important intermediaries between SAP and customers. According to the partners, this requires even closer cooperation with SAP. "It is important for SAP to involve them more closely in decisions about the solution portfolio and its implementation. Better communication with support from SAP is the key," concludes Jens Hungershausen.

Cloud ERP

One driver of digital transformation is the cloud. "From DSAG's perspective, the cloud ERP (cloud and cloud enterprise resource planning systems) are the right way forward for many use cases and industries. After all, the use of such solutions undoubtedly has great potential," says the DSAG CEO. However, DSAG also believes that on-premises systems will remain highly relevant for some time to come, for example in industries with highly complex processes or due to legal or data protection conditions or individual requirements. "Cloud solutions will be increasingly used in the coming years and will become an integral part of the IT infrastructure. But this will require suitable cloud solutions. The future will continue to be hybrid," says Jens Hungershausen. Accordingly, companies need clear answers to questions such as how they can use the added value of the cloud or the flexibility of the operating model.

Need for discussion on the subject of on-prem

SAP is now offering companies digital transformation solutions to accelerate their migration to cloud ERP. With the "RISE with SAP Migration and Modernization" program, SAP is responding to a DSAG request to support on-prem customers who have already followed SAP's strategy for S/4 Hana with cloud migration. According to the DSAG Investment Report 2024, some of the member companies surveyed do not yet consider SAP's S/4 Hana cloud strategy suitable for their company. Just under half of the respondents said this. It should be noted, however, that the survey was conducted in part before the launch of SAP's program. Nevertheless, there is still a need for discussion. "The disadvantage of on-premises customers when it comes to innovation, the perceived pressure to move to the cloud, and the increasing dependency on SAP are just a few examples," says Jens Hungershausen.

AI in focus

Another topic that is becoming increasingly important to companies is artificial intelligence. According to the latest DSAG-ASUG survey, only seven percent consider themselves experts in AI and eight percent in generative AI. In addition, 54 percent of respondents are currently learning a lot about AI and 48 percent about generative AI. The result shows that the development of expertise is in full swing.

A look at SAP shows that the company is actively working to adapt its AI solution portfolio to the profound changes in business, government, and society. The roadmap already includes the gradual integration of AI capabilities into business processes under the name SAP Business AI. The fact that the focus here is primarily on the cloud, however, provides material for lively discussions between DSAG and SAP about the connection and use of the corresponding results in the on-premises systems as well.

Transparency, clarity and data

Transparency and clarity about where AI is used and what data it is based on is very important to 92 percent of respondents. "Being able to act independently of the SAP operating model is essential, given that SAP has promised to deliver innovations for S/4 Hana consistently and over the long term with the maintenance extension until 2040," says Hungershausen. And what applies to the S/4 Private Cloud must also be available for S/4 Hana On-prem with the same scope of services.

RISE with SAP on StackIT

Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of the Schwarz Group, and SAP announced a partnership in the cloud at the annual conference. Schwarz Digits will offer RISE with SAP via its data-sovereign cloud solution StackIT on its own infrastructure. SAP customers will also have the option to run their S/4 environment in the data-sovereign StackIT cloud. In addition, Schwarz Group companies will move their entire ERP landscape to the StackIT cloud via RISE with SAP. At Sapphire in Orlando in 2023, SAP and the Schwarz Group companies announced their partnership to protect both SAP's IT infrastructure and custom cloud services and RISE with XM Cyber.

Annual General Meeting 2024

Elections to the Board of Directors are a traditional agenda item at the Annual General Meeting. The current members of the Executive Board for Transformation & Sustainability, Sales, Production and Logistics, and Austria were up for re-election. All three were confirmed in their positions for another two years. The DSAG members in Switzerland elected Markus Bierl as a specialist board member. The CIO of the Swiss Franke Group takes over from Jean-Claude Flury, who passes the baton to his successor after four successful terms in this role.

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