Triad of the community

Every year, the DSAG investment survey marks the start of a new year. This roughly determines the topics for the DSAG Technology Days and the DSAG Annual Congress. The 2024 congress of DSAG members will be held under the motto "Triad". The association is trying to define a triad including SAP, but the current investment survey shows that this project is not really succeeding.

More than half of those surveyed by DSAG assume that the relevance of the software manufacturer for the future of their company will remain the same. The old IT adage therefore applies: Never change a running system!

Only a third of DSAG members state that the relevance of SAP is likely to increase. Obviously they are not sure, because a "rather" sounds like an embarrassing answer. "From SAP's point of view, this is of course a pleasing result. It is certainly also due to the fact that the software manufacturer has strongly penetrated the system landscapes of companies over the past decades. Replacing existing SAP systems is therefore hardly conceivable," concludes DSAG boss Jens Hungershausen. Can the result be positive for SAP? It seems to be more optimism of purpose than euphoria for the future.

DSAG still sees significant potential for expansion at SAP in terms of support for its transformation projects. The relevance of SAP could even decline further due to strong partner offers and alternatives from the IT market. Replacing the core ERP systems is not on the agenda of DSAG members and existing SAP customers, but alternative ERP offerings are gaining in importance and therefore relevance at the margins.

The 2024 investment report confirms this: IT and SAP investment budgets continue to rise, but at fewer companies than in 2023. At the same time, the willingness to invest in S/4 is growing, but user companies see a need for discussion when it comes to the S/4 cloud strategy. Rise and Grow with SAP appears to be gaining in importance among respondents. According to the DSAG Investment Report 2024, the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) may also increase.

The proportion of companies whose IT and SAP investment budgets remain the same or decrease has risen significantly. Market conditions are difficult and uncertain. It is therefore understandable that companies are taking a wait-and-see approach. It is worth noting what the German-language Manager Magazin reported in mid-September: "Ms. Yu Zhang is a multi-supervisory board member and China expert: all other nations rave about Germany's hidden champions, nowhere is the SME sector as powerful as in Germany."

The mixture of industrial location and great cultural nation is very inspiring, says entrepreneur and author Yu Zhang in Manager Magazin online and adds: "In Germany, the false narrative that everything is doomed is currently gaining ground. Yet there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. The DSAG Annual Congress 2024 will also be able to provide an important picture of the mood, as the SAP share price reached an all-time high in the summer, while the mood among partners and users is more subdued.