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SAP Landscapes in Transition: A Look at the Status Quo

There is no doubt that users' SAP landscapes are (once again) in a state of upheaval. S/4 Hana, Business Transformation Platform, cloud computing, IoT, automation and digitalization are examples of technologies and offerings that are having a fundamental impact on SAP installations and business processes.
Joachim Hackmann, PAC
22 July 2021
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This text has been automatically translated from German to English.

But how do users deal with these offers? How far have they progressed on their path toward cloud computing, S/4 Hana, digitization, etc.? Do they even want to go down this path?

For more transparency on these and other issues, we at PAC, together with E-3 Magazine, have developed a survey started. A first review of the preliminary results (status at the time of writing this article: approx. 70 participants) has produced some surprising, but also expected results.

Focus Cloud

Although the use of public and private clouds is steadily advancing, there are persistent reservations: More than one in three of the IT directors and business managers surveyed cannot see any advantages in operating SAP in the cloud - which, conversely, means that the vast majority certainly expect and appreciate cloud-related improvements such as greater agility, continuous optimization of the software, and cost savings.

However, a look at the response behavior of the participants at management level (C-level) makes one prick up one's ears and adds an interesting note to the above reservations: the majority of them stated that they were unable to estimate the costs and risks of a cloud migration or that they expected increasing costs and risks. Both of these factors have a deterrent effect on top management.

Focus Analytics

The initial results of the survey show: There is no lack of tools, but there is a lack of strategies. The tools offered by SAP are frequently used and - not surprisingly - very popular among the respondents. However, a significant number of participants also use analytics solutions from other manufacturers.

What is worrying is that between 30 and 50 percent (depending on the job profile) of the participants stated that they were aware of the importance of data, but had not yet implemented a strategy. In view of the ever-increasing wealth of data, this is a cause for concern.

As mentioned, these are only preliminary results from our current survey. The picture may still change significantly depending on the progress of the survey. You are cordially invited to confirm or refute the above results by participate in the survey. The questions are answered in just a few minutes, and with your contribution you provide more market transparency in the SAP community.

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Joachim Hackmann, PAC

Vice President - Business Applications and related Services, PAC Germany


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Working on the SAP basis is crucial for successful S/4 conversion. 

This gives the Competence Center strategic importance for existing SAP customers. Regardless of the S/4 Hana operating model, topics such as Automation, Monitoring, Security, Application Lifecycle Management and Data Management the basis for S/4 operations.

For the second time, E3 magazine is organizing a summit for the SAP community in Salzburg to provide comprehensive information on all aspects of S/4 Hana groundwork.

Venue

More information will follow shortly.

Event date

May 21 and 22, 2025

Early Bird Ticket

Available until March 1, 2025
€ 490 excl. VAT

Regular ticket:

€ 590 excl. VAT

Venue

Hotel Hilton Heidelberg,
Kurfürstenanlage 1,
D-69115 Heidelberg

Event date

Wednesday, March 5, and
Thursday, March 6, 2025

Tickets

Regular ticket
EUR 590 excl. VAT
Early Bird Ticket
EUR 490 excl. VAT
The event is organized by the E3 magazine of the publishing house B4Bmedia.net AG. The presentations will be accompanied by an exhibition of selected SAP partners. The ticket price includes attendance at all presentations of the Steampunk and BTP Summit 2025, a visit to the exhibition area, participation in the evening event and catering during the official program. The lecture program and the list of exhibitors and sponsors (SAP partners) will be published on this website in due course.