SAP from below
On-prem, private and public cloud
The word Wolkenkuckucksheim comes from a comedy by the ancient poet Aristophanes. In the comedy "The Birds," Cloud Cuckoo Land refers to a city in the clouds that the birds have built for themselves as an intermediate kingdom. SAP CEO Christian Klein, however, sees cloud computing not as an intermediate step, as another milestone in IT evolution, as one of many proposed solutions for digital transformation, but as the end point of an ERP evolution. Just as Christian Klein does not want to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the private and public cloud and its alternative on-prem - he also does not want to discuss an S/4 successor.
End time mood
If SAP's existing customers listen to CEO Klein, they get the impression of a final goal: Everything should have been achieved with S/4 and cloud computing? This paradigm will not hold. From the past, every computer scientist knows that algorithms and data structures are an incontrovertible fact, but nevertheless continue to evolve. There will also have to be successors for Hana and S/4. Of course, it may happen that these successors do not come from SAP, that they may even be programmed by ChatGPT V.9 in 2030 - on the SAP Business Technology Platform with Steampunk.
Basic warranty
Much has changed and much will change in computer science, certain principles of a Von Neumann calculator remain. Boolean algebra endures - with an exception, of course, see quantum physics. But as a dear schoolmate used to say to me: You will be a compiler builder and I will be a quantum mechanic. Really, I stayed with the traditional zeros and ones and SAP should stay more at the base and have it more in focus. The success of an S/4 conversion is still decided at the grassroots level. Digital transformation also needs a stable IT foundation.
Basic Answers
One answer to the IT staff shortage can be found at the grassroots level. Automation can relieve those responsible of routine work, can create free space and reduce the workload, see also E-3 Cover Story June 2023. Here tell Nagarro and Avantra on grassroots progress with structural automation and end-to-end monitoring. The list of possible grassroots answers is long, as our roundtable discussion in the E-3 video studio (YouTube) and the SAP Competence Center Summit show in Salzburg.
