Is This a Strategy or Can It Be Discarded?

Our communication is characterized by metaphors - and strategy doesn't stop there either. Strategy was a core competence of military leaders as a deterrent - as Pericles already knew in ancient Greece. "stratos" means army, "agos" leader. Even in the 19th century, the word still had a military connotation before it became established in the business world in the mid-20th century.

Where do we want to go and how?

But what exactly is strategy, why is it so often missing, and how do we manage not to confuse it with tactics? Here, too, there is no single definition. Generally speaking, strategy means the development and implementation of an overall concept that is geared towards a medium or long-term (overall) goal. It is usually anchored in corporate management. Where do we want to go and why do we want that? Tactics, in turn, describe the way in which an attempt is made to achieve a specific goal; it proceeds step by step and implements or enforces an overall concept. Strategy is therefore more overarching and tactics more concrete and visible - one does not work without the other.

Cloud-first strategy

At SAP, long-standing customers are increasingly having to deal with new strategies, currently those that can be summarized as "Cloud First". The new Business Suite in the cloud, the Business Data Cloud and the long-established Business Technology Platform as the technical foundation speak for this. 

SAP wants to become a cloud company and all measures are contributing to this goal. The SAP ecosystem is also strategically positioned accordingly. Major innovations, such as the company's own AI chatbot Joule, will only be offered exclusively in the cloud in future. Even if many (existing) customers do not agree with this approach, there is one thing SAP cannot currently be accused of: not pursuing a clear strategy.

A strategy is not everything

Such a strategy is so important because it can demonstrably lead to more business start-ups, growth and profitability. However, as we all know, developing it is not everything - as always, it also requires consistent implementation and target group-oriented communication. This involves clear responsibilities, decisions and priorities, as well as stakeholder commitment. Otherwise, the whole thing is in danger of failing.

SAP is a good example of this, and you can often feel it in your own SAP consultant body. It is clear where the company wants to go, and yet the colleagues from Walldorf do us and themselves no favors when they regularly rename their products and offerings. For example, parts of the SAP Business Technology Platform were once called SAP Cloud Platform and previously Hana Cloud Platform. The central pivotal point and also an important tool in terms of brand strategy, but one that loses its impact due to the new names (including the services included). 

Strategy or tactics?

The frequent confusion of strategy with tactics does the rest. If SAP wants to become a cloud-first company, it should consistently place offerings on the market that contribute to this goal, such as Rise or Grow - and then consistently communicate this to the target group. Otherwise, there is a risk that everyone will mean the same thing but talk about different things and then ask themselves the question: Is this strategy or can it go away?

To the partner entry: