SAP Technology, Innovation, and Openness

SAP customer satisfaction does not apply to older customers

SAP has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, becoming a predominantly cloud-based company. This shift has been largely communicated to financial analysts, though it has not been as prominently featured in external communications. In the financial sector, SAP is often compared with other major players such as Oracle, Microsoft, Workday, Salesforce, and, of course, Meta and AWS. The term "cloud" is currently a dominant buzzword in the industry. SAP CEO Christian Klein and CFO Dominik Asam have adeptly navigated these expectations, and their success serves as testament to their foresight. The SAP share price has reached a new high!

The German-language Handelsblatt conducted an in-depth analysis on customer satisfaction. Since assuming the role of sole CEO four and a half years ago, SAP CEO Christian Klein has made "customer satisfaction" the cornerstone of the company's strategy. The initial setback to the share price has been transformed into a model of success.

Any assessment of the 2024 annual conference of the DSAG (German-speaking user group) in Leipzig would lead to a different conclusion. Many long-standing SAP customers believe that the cloud strategy of the world's leading ERP provider has not delivered on its promises. The road to the SAP cloud, "RISE with SAP," has encountered numerous obstacles and pitfalls. Meanwhile, the SAP community employs legions of lawyers to survive the S/4 Hana release change unscathed. A RISE contract signed by a lawyer from Munich at the DSAG Annual Congress was met with astonishment by around 300 SAP customers in Leipzig. The technical and legal pitfalls of RISE with SAP are almost unmanageable.

Customer satisfaction? The level of satisfaction expressed by Handelsblatt is largely confined to new SAP customers. For those who are fortunate enough to have the capital to start with an ERP system on a greenfield site, SAP's public cloud provides a reliable solution. It is more challenging for long-standing customers with legacy R/3 and ECC systems to make modifications, adaptations, and special requests.

SAP technology is based on Abap

Technology, i.e. a doctrine on IT and ERP technology, is currently not something you will find at SAP. However, SAP is making significant investments in cloud and AI technology. There is an unofficial competitive dynamic with hyperscalers, who are publicly referred to as strategic partners. Platform technologies such as the SAP Business Technology Platform are not only available from SAP, but also from Microsoft Azure, AWS, and the Google Cloud.

For SAP customers, the challenge is not choosing a suitable cloud; it is the digital transformation. A successful ERP system (SAP ERP/ECC 6.0) must be transferred to the new S/4 Hana world with numerous modifications. It is not uncommon for customer satisfaction to be an unattainable goal in the context of this transformation process, given the significant financial investment and the often limited business or organizational benefits. Many CIOs are unable to provide evidence of genuine innovation when they request the necessary resources from the CFO, which can lead to difficulties in securing the required support. Many S/4 conversion projects are merely flawless, technical release changes.

SAP's Abap is not only the company's own programming language, but also forms the core of ECC and S/4. There are numerous legacy issues in this area that require attention. The SAP community is gradually acquiring the skills required to transform business knowledge into the new S/4 world, with a focus on the latest Abap concepts on the SAP Business Technology Platform.

SAP acquires AI and refines it

The extent to which SAP customers need AI in the form of ChatGPT has not yet been investigated. For this reason, SAP is testing a strategy and is enhancing its own ERP system S/4 Hana in many areas with purchased AI technology. Ultimately, however, Christian Klein and Dominik Asam are probably most concerned with the repeated use of the buzzwords "cloud" and "AI," which are obviously quite popular on the stock market and in financial circles.

The extent to which existing SAP customers need AI in the form of ChatGPT has not yet been scientifically investigated. SAP is therefore trying out a strategy of small steps and is enhancing its own ERP system S/4 Hana in many areas with purchased AI technology. Ultimately, however, Christian Klein and Dominik Asam are probably concerned with the repeated use of the buzzwords cloud and AI, which obviously goes down very well on the stock market and in financial circles.

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