Look! Do good and talk about it.

Tough cost-cutting measures at many companies are putting additional pressure on Chief Strategy Officers (CSOs). Under these conditions, it is therefore becoming increasingly important to measure the work of strategy departments in a meaningful way and to communicate it transparently both within the company and to stakeholders.

These are the findings of the new study Revealing the chief strategist's hidden value by Roland Berger and the University of St. Gallen. The study is based on a survey of 109 chief strategists of European companies from various industries.

I like it: communicate transparently!

The opposite is happening at SAP. The strategically important S/4 is not presented, but offered as a marketing gag. The highlight of this non-transparent development was this year's annual press conference.

SAP Chief Technology Officer Bernd Leukert postulated 2700 S/4 customers. Only when asked by an analyst did Leukert admit that there are only 100 productive systems.

A system that is simple, lean and quick to customize was not even put into operation by 5 percent of S/4 license holders: Run simple!

Until the end of last year, S/4 was listed at zero euros in the SAP PKL (price and conditions list). So the existing customers among the 2700 S/4 license holders took an option that cost nothing.

How many new customers SAP was able to win with S/4 is not disclosed. There is to be a dedicated S/4 pricing site by CeBIT.

Why?

Because according to SAP's written statement, the new ERP system S/4 is not a legal successor to any existing SAP system. That is: Re-licensing!

And it was precisely this catastrophe that Marco Lenck, head of DSAG e. V., warned of months ago. SAP's existing customers cannot be allowed to finance the development of new ERP software for years with their maintenance fees, only for SAP to demand new license fees in the end.

Do good and talk about it

Communicate your strategy transparently. Listen to Roland Berger. Obviously, these incantations are not perceived in Walldorf.

Not only was it not communicated at SAP's annual press conference, SAP CEO Bill McDermott was not even present in person! He was at the same time in the winter health resort Davos.

When asked how the World Economic Forum went, he self-deprecatingly said that he had met U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Not a transparent word about the gloomy mood in Davos, not a word about the concerns of the global community: China's economic weakness - McDermott thinks everything is best anyway - the crash of the oil price, the turbulence on the financial markets, the political tensions in the Middle East and, of course, not a word about the refugee crisis.

Where does the SAP boss live? What else does he see? SAP doesn't need a former marketing manager as Chief Digital Officer, but a Chief Strategy Officer who communicates transparently - so that it won't be noticeable when Bill McDermott looks around in the distant winter spa town of Davos.