New ASUG research focused on SAP S/4HANA offers greater visibility of how ASUG members are engaging with and approaching their ERP upgrade and migration projects. The results showed a steady acceleration in go-lives and provided insights into the challenges ASUG Members experience when migrating to SAP S/4HANA, along with the benefits they unlocked.
David Robinson, President of RISE with SAP, reflected on key findings from the research and discussed how SAP is working with its customers to accelerate SAP S/4HANA implementation.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
As the usage of RISE with SAP for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, continues to increase, with 59% of respondents to ASUG’s SAP S/4HANA research planning to implement in the next year or considering for future use, respondents remain least likely to consider RISE with SAP for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition (with 58% either not considering it or not aware of it) and least aware of GROW with SAP (29% reporting they have never heard of it). What benefits does the private-cloud route for RISE offer to SAP customers, and what are you hearing from customers about the advantages that distinguish the private cloud from the public cloud for their transformations?
Each customer is different, with different starting points, industry constraints, and operating models that shape their distinct digital journey. SAP has a long history of providing choice and optionality in the market, given the importance customers place on leveraging SAP capabilities that fit with their choice of operating models. Based on the size, degree of fit to standard, industry, and operating model preferences, many enterprises continue to choose a dedicated tenant architecture supported via private edition, and for those customers that are seeking a more autonomous experience based on reduced operating model complexity, the public edition is increasing as a standard for enterprises.
As customers embrace the cloud, in which cases should they consider hybrid or public cloud options, and how is SAP working to alleviate common public cloud concerns? For the 16% of ASUG members running SAP S/4HANA on-premises, data security and privacy concerns (54%) are the leading reasons keeping organizations their organizations from moving SAP S/4HANA to the cloud. How is SAP working to specifically address data security and privacy concerns related to the cloud?
As the size of the Cloud ERP customer population has grown to 6,500+ globally, assurance comes as standard. We understand and incorporate into the development and operation standard the critical nature of assurance, which is why SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud is certified to BSI-C5, ISO 27001, ISO 22301, SOC-1, SOC-2, as well as multiple local certifications around the globe. In addition, we have substantial measures in place, including a comprehensive security framework, data protection and privacy compliance, advanced access controls and identity management, regular security updates, and vulnerability management. SAP is committed to transparent incident response and management as well as empowering customer data ownership and control where required. This is all in addition to innovative security technologies and partnerships and, of course, customer support and advisory services.
It’s also important that when we are working with our customers to design the best path to a cloud delivered estate—be that via a shared or dedicated cloud ERP tenant—we will lead with value, which is backed up by assurance. We are proud of our proven track record and have many success stories and case studies of customers who have successfully migrated to the cloud while addressing their security and privacy concerns, demonstrating the effectiveness of SAP's security measures in real-world scenarios.
While budget concerns are not seen as a top migration risk for respondents moving to SAP S/4HANA, costs exceeded expectations for 49% of respondents to this year’s SAP S/4HANA research, while migration projects took longer than expected for 46%. How is SAP working to help customers migrate in a cost- and time-effective manner, and what common pitfalls is SAP helping customers avoid?
We are working closely with a vast and experienced ecosystem that includes global strategic service partners and independent software partners to leverage best practices, automation, generative artificial intelligence (AI), and other emerging innovations. These partnerships are aimed at accelerating migration projects, lowering costs, and mitigating risk. With the cloud ERP framework and the SAP Activate Methodology, SAP has created a journey for our customers to follow to ensure roles and responsibilities are understood by the customer, partner, and SAP prior to the migration.
By utilizing the framework, customers have a cost- and risk-managed journey, including step-by-step processes, checklists, and the necessary tools and applications for success. This also helps avoid missteps in the migration as it is a proven path. Also, with cloud transformations and cloud ERP now reducing the operational burden on IT organizations, customers can better focus on how they retool and refactor their IT operating model, and people can focus on business value and innovation.
As various deadlines loom for SAP ERP on-premises customers and resources from consultancies and integration partners are expected to become scarcer, what is SAP’s plan to support those customers needing to migrate to the cloud but hard-pressed to budget and initiate digital transformation within the next two to three years?
We appreciate that all customers have their own journeys to embark on and manage and are committed to helping drive those journeys with the maximum amount of support available. We have a vast array of enhanced support and resources for customers to use as needed—programs such as SAP Enterprise Support, SAP MaxAttention, and self-serve options such as the SAP Readiness Check and SAP Learning Hub for our customers to engage in the way that makes the most sense for them. For customers who require a partner to play a part in their migration, we have a certified and expert ecosystem. Customers who work with a certified partner benefit from the skilled resources they bring and the co-innovation they create with SAP.
SAP continues to unify a vast array of tools into a simplified toolchain that is designed to support a customer assessment of current state and provide choices to transition to a target cloud ERP and broader end to end cloud estate. Emerging AI capabilities, such as Joule, when used together with ABAP Cloud, the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and tools such as SAP Cloud Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) provides support to implementation, operations, and monitoring, ensuring a smooth migration and ongoing management. All of these tools and resources can be implemented in a phased migration strategy, and of course, we have a huge number of customer references and best practices for leaders to benefit from the knowledge and experience of their peers.