It was one among my favourite occasions of the yr final week — the annual convention for the members of the UK and Eire SAP person’s group, UKISUG Join 2023, within the ICC in Birmingham.

As is customary, Paul Cooper, UKISUG Chairman kicking issues off with the outcomes of a member survey highlighting present considerations:

….Take the difficulty of oblique licensing […] after a bumpy trip, we, together with the opposite international person teams, managed to get SAP to acknowledge that the purchasers wanted a extra clear and fairer method to licensing. 

The purpose is that the street has at all times been bumpy. However once we work constructively collectively, challenges might be solved. Proper now we’re at some extent the place we face a breakdown in belief. On premise and hosted clients are sad, to place it mildly. With the assertion from Christian Klein stating that SAP would solely be releasing new improvements into the cloud. 

This isn’t a small minority of shoppers. When this was introduced, we determined to survey our members. First, earlier than we joined and commented on the talk, analysis we have now carried out amongst our members, reveals 79% of you which have moved to S/4HANA are an on-premise or hosted deployment. And that of these which can be planning to maneuver to S/4HANA, 70% plan to maneuver to on-premise or hosted variations. 

Again in 2020, SAP board member Thomas Saueressig, talked about giving clients alternative between cloud and on-premise deployments. We have been instructed that SAP believed in a hybrid future. But Mr. Saueressig didn’t as soon as say that cloud deployments got here with full innovation whereas different flavors of S/4HANA didn’t. We have been additionally instructed that S/4HANA can be supported till 2040. There was no caveats that main innovation may solely be delivered to private and non-private cloud clients, utilizing RISE with SAP or GROW. Why did SAP not inform us that new improvements solely going to be obtainable to cloud clients? Did they not suppose it was necessary in our decision-making course of? These are the questions our members have been asking us. 

I’ve heard the extra cynical amongst you recommend that SAP didn’t disclose this technique earlier than as a result of clients selecting to remain on-premise won’t have made the S/4HANA transfer in any respect. Additionally there are members that SAP itself have instructed to stay on-premise. Why? As a result of the dimensions, complexity and criticality of their SAP implementations have been deemed too troublesome and dangerous to maneuver to the cloud. Will they be exempt from this future SAP improvements? In that case, certainly there ought to have been instructed after they have been initially investing of their transfer to S/4HANA. 

The underside line is clients which have moved to on-premise or hosted implementations of S/4HANA really feel misled. From a UKISUG perspective, it is a important proportion of our membership. If SAP refuses to speak extra on this matter, there’s a actual danger lots of these planning emigrate to S/4HANA might change their plans. Of those that have already migrated to an innovation-less future, will they select to put money into different SAP platforms. I’ve already heard plenty of on-premise and hosted clients recommend they count on large-scale reductions in assist upkeep prices as they’re now operating an inferior model of S/4HANA. I can see that time. Certainly a much less future wealthy product prices much less to assist than keep. Others are asking if SAP intends to refund or partly refund them, is they aren’t offering the services or products they have been instructed about. 

We’ve raised these points with SAP and at present they’ve remained publicly silent and for these of you at SAP listening at present, I urge you to have interaction and work in direction of an answer that rebuilds belief and handle the considerations of our membership, nearly all of whom, as we mentioned earlier than earlier, have on-premise or hosted deployments. Work with us to construct bridges and allow on-premise clients to entry innovation. 

In non-public, some SAP executives have instructed particular person on-premise members that there’s no technical cause why they couldn’t entry nearly all of improvements by BTP. If that is true, then inform us if it isn’t please cease miscommunicating. As clients, what we wish is open and clear relationships with our distributors like SAP, the place we are able to really feel valued and we are able to belief SAP. 

This isn’t one thing that may be resolved by the native crew within the UK island the place our collaboration is extraordinarily sturdy. As a substitute, it requires motion from these on the prime of SAP. Moderately than selecting to please buyers over clients, take into consideration pleasing your clients, as with out them, your buyers will quickly disappear. 

On the Germans person group convention in September, SAP’s CEO mentioned no buyer can be left behind. Hopefully in coming months we are able to work collectively to make this a actuality and make sure that all clients and our members have entry to innovation and aren’t penalized for investing in an on-premise or hybrid model of S/4HANA. 

Earlier than I end at present, I’d prefer to want Conor Riordan, who will take over from me as Chairman subsequent yr, the easiest of luck as he steps as much as Chair. It’s been an absolute pleasure to function Chair of your person group for the final six years. We’ve continued to flourish and evolve.

SAP UK Managing Director Ryan Poggi was subsequent on stage to answer the remarks. He emphasised joint SAP and buyer success, and the significance of transparency:

The most recent improvements are what preserve us—and also you, as a result of I firmly consider that we stay [in the same environment] aggressive—in a particularly difficult surroundings. And what we’ve heard persistently is that you simply count on us, as a accomplice, to be one step forward. And to problem the established order once we consider that collectively we’re not maximizing our potential. 

Change isn’t straightforward and we face the identical challenges as everybody. How can we direct a finite variety of assets to supply essentially the most worth to our clients and make sure that we keep our place on the forefront of an business we helped create? —which is what you rightfully count on from us. How do you deliver the most recent expertise, for instance, generative AI, to you in environments the place they add essentially the most worth, lots of which require the cloud? And at last, how can we make sure that inflation, which within the final yr has been as excessive as 9% and impacts us all, doesn’t create an surroundings that detracts from our means to ship? 

And the truth is, like it’s for a lot of of you, this requires some powerful funding choices. However it will by no means change our dedication to supporting all UKI clients at any stage of your transformation, which is one thing our board has additionally dedicated to. However I additionally observe that irrespective of how a lot time we dedicate to this subject on this stage, there’ll nonetheless be questions. 

So my dedication to you and my ask of you is that we proceed to have these clear conversations with our groups and encourage a connection to the precise stakeholders on either side. Our door is at all times open. And as I mentioned with Paul once we first met, or met relatively, on the podcast, I actually do consider that the idea for a real partnership is that open, clear dialogue. And half and parcel of that’s what I confer with as understanding the why. 

That doesn’t imply that understanding why we make the choices we make, otherwise you make the choices you make, will remedy the whole lot. However it is going to, I consider, assist create that basis of belief. Now, after what’s simply been mentioned, this may increasingly appear somewhat tone deaf, however I’m positive none of you might be shocked to see RISE right here or round. 

I do know that for a lot of of you it has felt like all you’ve heard us say is “RISE is the reply, what’s the query?”. However let me take a second to clarify the context of why we launched RISE. And to everybody pondering, properly, to promote extra S/4HANA Cloud, give me a second. RISE was really born straight in response to buyer suggestions. You shared with us that it was too troublesome to work with SAP, that it felt like SAP was solely centered on promoting merchandise. You have been rightfully demanding extra from us. The market was additionally very clear. 

If we need to be the cloud firm, we must be a proactive accomplice and transfer from an answer and project-delivery focus to being accountable for the operational supply and consequence. RISE was born from that suggestions, to develop into the proactive accomplice that you simply have been demanding, bringing one of the best of our ecosystem collectively, whereas nonetheless supplying you with flexibility of alternative when it comes to hyperscaler or providers supplier, all whereas making certain SAP stays accountable for the result. 

RISE isn’t solely about S4, it’s a cloud working mannequin that leverages the facility of our ecosystem for you. And this yr, we have now seen that the understanding of RISE throughout the UKI has progressed considerably, due to the assistance of our joint workshops and this discussion board, the person group. We’ll hear somewhat bit later straight from one among our clients about how and whether or not they understand this alteration. 

As I mentioned, understanding the why doesn’t remedy the whole lot, however hopefully it offers a greater understanding of how we’re attempting to construct that partnership. And this implies evolving the best way we accomplice with all clients, as a result of historical past has confirmed that lasting financial turnaround in UKI requires development within the SME market. 

Using over 16 million folks, these organizations make up over 80% of the market. A lot of you right here at present, we can’t overstate the significance of those firms to financial restoration. However not solely can SMEs out-compete with the precise accomplice, they’re in a position to change your entire taking part in discipline. 

The problem, nevertheless, is to not enable complexity to creep in as they develop. And that is the place expertise involves the fore, by permitting you to focus in your development by offering a platform that delivers stabilization. GROW with SAP makes this accessible to all organizations, a proactive partnership throughout our ecosystem, supplying you with the flexibility to leverage match to plain within the cloud from day one.

[… my door is] at all times open and we worth clear dialog. I belief that over the course of this occasion our crew will proceed to exhibit how we’re laser centered on incomes your belief and the followership within the UKI. I very a lot look ahead to persevering with to work with all of you and all of our clients in 2024 and past and it’s been a pleasure to be right here. Thanks very a lot. 

For extra dialogue on this, please check out this Diginomica article by Derek du Preez