Customers want more information about cloud and AI strategy from the German ERP giant. Credit: Nitpicker / Shutterstock The German-speaking user group for enterprise software giant SAP says that customers’ willingness to invest in the company’s S/4HANA cloud product is rising, but still lags behind flagship ERP products like ECC 6, and some customers see the need for more discussion on SAP’s prolonged move to the cloud. DSAG, a group representing SAP users in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, also released data from a survey of its members. It found the most-used SAP product was still its traditional ERP line, with 68% of respondents saying they used it, compared to 41% for S/4HANA on-premises and 11% and 6%, respectively, for S/4HANA private and public cloud. DSAG’s chairman, Jens Hungershausen, said that perception of SAP’s cloud strategy was highly mixed, despite small gains made in cloud usage. “The DSAG members surveyed are critical of SAP’s S/4HANA cloud strategy,” he said in a statement. “Only 13% of those surveyed had a positive opinion, just under half had a negative one.” Security and AI were both important topics to DSAG members, as growing percentages cited it as a key topic for the future in the group’s survey. Fully 88% of those polled rated security as of either medium or high relevance to them, while the number of respondents saying they planned to invest in AI more than doubled in the last two years, to 28%. In the latter category, the group again wanted to see SAP take more input from the community, with just 31% rating the company’s AI strategy as “good” or “satisfactory.” Part of the problem for SAP, according to IDC senior vice president for research Bob Parker, is that the company isn’t seen as a leading partner for more transformative technologies, like AI and cloud. “AWS and Azure, Google Cloud, etc., tend to have more enviable positions,” he said. “So SAP is still in the midst of this transition to the cloud.” As for AI, Parker added that SAP’s moves in that area may take some time to bear fruit, but that they’re leading the company in positive directions. A unified data layer called Datasphere should prove a critical capability for businesses looking to take advantage of AI, as will acquisitions like Signavio, which provided a process mining and mapping capability. “So these are all very positive movements for them to start doing more innovative stuff,” he said. “They’re brilliant software engineers in Walldorf, it’ll just take some time, because their install base is very complex.” Related content news Google spurs US to ease immigration rules for tech talent Citing a US talent shortage, the tech giant has urged the Department of Labor to expand Schedule A occupations to include AI, software engineering, and cybersecurity roles. By Sascha Brodsky May 01, 2024 4 mins H-1B Visas Hiring Technology Industry brandpost Sponsored by Cisco Reduce your network complexity with AI Jumpstart your AI-enabled network transformation now to achieve multiple benefits. By Matt Landry May 01, 2024 5 mins Networking brandpost Sponsored by SAP Internet startup launches while embracing adoption Internet provider Brightspeed had to replicate information from its SAP solutions to AI-ready, data analytics platform Google BigQuery. SAP’s adoption strategy helped empower the company to become an intelligent enterprise. By Keith Elliot Greenberg, SAP Contributor May 01, 2024 4 mins Digital Transformation feature Expectations vs. reality: A real-world check on generative AI Now with the benefit of hindsight, organizations are more aware of moving cautiously to ensure gen AI delivers rather than disappoints. By Mary Branscombe May 01, 2024 11 mins Microsoft Generative AI Development Tools PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe