SAP forecasts clarity in the cloud

SAP intends to answer these questions in the course of the RISE and GROW programs. This is where clearly defined and regulated migration processes take place, and SAP basically dictates how the move should occur. Do you think it’s okay from the point of view of the user companies to relinquish control to a certain extent?

In some conversations with customers, the issue of control arises. With RISE, we only handle the basic operation of the SAP system. We’re experts in this stack around HANA cloud. We also keep up with all the infrastructure innovations, and we excel at the lifecycle management level. After all, we built all of this ourselves. Beyond this basic operation, customers have the freedom to customize.

SAP is also neutral when it comes to choosing a partner with whom customers want to implement the RISE package. Ideally, the next upgrades will be highly automated. There are no more costly projects that consume millions to keep SAP systems up to date. In my opinion, it makes a lot of sense to entrust this SAP basic operation to us. We offer high-quality service-level agreements, high system availability, and robust cybersecurity measures. Other providers do the same, but users must buy everything end-to-end from one provider. We’re more flexible and open.

Restructuring is currently a main topic at SAP. Is this the biggest in the company’s history?

I rather view it as an evolution. We began our own transformation more than three years ago and decided to focus on the cloud. Besides that, we’ve had some other developments, such as the breakthrough of generative AI in 2023, which significantly sped up the pace of innovation. Internally, we need to remove the barriers our customers and our employees face. We’re very deliberate about what we take on. After all, every reorganization takes time and requires proper change management. But the change is necessary because SAP is going through a transformation, and that also demands an organizational transformation.

Where do you want SAP to be in five years?