Keywords: cloud technology, mobile technology, business intelligence, SAP, Ariba, SuccessFactors, SAP User Group for the UK and Ireland

SAP users need more clarity on latest cloud, mobile and business intelligence efforts

Anna Bowsher | News | 27 November 2012

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Research released last week by the SAP User Group for the UK and Ireland revealed that 58% of SAP users felt the company was not making it attractive enough for on-premise customers to migrate to the cloud. Moreover, 80% of users admitted to not understanding how to upgrade to or integrate SAP’s on-demand cloud modules with their existing SAP implementations.

Alan Bowling, outgoing chairman of the user group said, “We are now at the point where the benefits of cloud are well understood; however, what we as users need is simple and cost-effective deployment strategies. At the same time users want to see how SAP’s recent acquisitions in the cloud space could benefit their organisations. Our figures show that currently the majority of users don’t understand how the acquisitions of Ariba and SuccessFactors will benefit them.

Tim Noble, Managing Director of SAP UK and Ireland, gave some clarity when he said, “SuccessFactors is one of the largest cloud providers in the world. Ariba is the biggest procurement network in the world. These acquisitions, and that of Sybase, drive the innovation that our customers want to do, using the power of SAP on-premise or in the cloud or on a mobile device. These are not done in isolation, but to drive customer innovation. The beauty of it is you are not being forced to go the cloud, or a device. But the confluence of cloud, mobile device and big data is important. We need to communicate more and better about these benefits.”

The survey, which canvassed around 160 SAP customers in the UK and Ireland, also showed that there remains a need for greater education and clarity around SAP's business intelligence (BI) acquisition, BusinessObjects, especially for those who had previously invested in SAP’s BW (business warehouse) and BI software. Seventy per cent of respondents stated they felt that SAP has not been clear enough about the cost of migrating from SAP BW and BI to BusinessObjects.

“Many users have already invested in SAP BI and BW, so they want to know if they will be treated like completely new SAP customers if they move to SAP BusinessObjects. Or will users be given discounts to account for the fact they have already invested in similar technology from SAP? Clarity over these issues will help users tackle the data challenges they are facing more quickly” said Bowling.

Noble conceded in the face of such results that better communication was needed between the company and its customers.