Open Source and Cloud Computing

Giving the Hana database, which is new to SAP's existing customers, an open source platform is increasingly proving to be a smart strategy. Today, it's not just about the Linux/Hana combination, but also about many other open source components such as CloudFoundry, OpenStack, GitHub, Docker, OpenShift, and so on.

SAP's "cloud first" and "cloud only" decision, on the other hand, is a disaster. The SAP user association DSAG put it very clearly: Cloud only brings ERP into a dilemma. SAP will not succeed in achieving a unique selling point with "cloud computing" - the competitors are too big and too cheap: AWS, MS Azure, Google.

The current cloud trend does not fit into the existing SAP concept anyway: Hybrid Cloud. SAP could still get along with multicloud if its own SAP Cloud Platform remains the leader in a cloud alliance of AWS, Azure and Google.

But hybrid cloud with mixed operation of on-premise and on-demand, of private cloud and public cloud, etc. does not want to fit into the SAP dogma of "cloud only".

Others do it better: IBM took over Red Hat and will build a convincing hybrid cloud concept with the Linux specialists. There is a lot at stake for IBM, because the IT provider now ranks behind AWS, MS Azure, Google and Alibaba. No one wants to know where SAP is positioned.

What now? SAP could adapt its cloud-only strategy and take over Suse Linux and, with the help of these specialists, build a convincing open source concept for the SAP community - as an on-premise and cloud solution.

Suse as part of SAP would also be an essential part of any future Hana success, and SAP could use Suse expertise to write a whole new cloud story, this time grounded and verified.