SAP experts from around the world joined this first of its kind virtual event, the Snow 2021 SAP Forum, to discuss how customers can make the most of their investment in SAP technology.
In previous years, Snow has hosted the forum as in-person events across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas. But this year, we were thrilled to see a whole new level of engagement in a digital format.
See some of the highlights below including conversations around Indirect/Digital Access, the move to S/4HANA, industry insights, how the SAP platform is evolving and more:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bemm3LfQCa8%3Fenablejsapi%3D1%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.snowsoftware.com
SAP customers are no longer cutting budgets
During the forum, Robert Hollands, Vice President of Research at SAPInsider, shared findings from their recent 2021 Benchmark Report on the State of the Market. With the largest and fastest-growing SAP community worldwide including more than 435,000 members across 103 countries, SAPInsider is one of the leading authorities in the market on SAP.
The benchmark report revealed that 30% of respondents had to eliminate or postpone SAP projects with another 11% saying they had to reduce staff working with SAP because of what happened with the pandemic last year.
However, 63% of those surveyed said they expected SAP budgets to stay the same or even increase in 2021. Likewise, most companies will increase staff and expand their existing skillsets this year, with 92% of respondents reporting their SAP support staff will stay the same or grow.
Visibility is a top priority
As organizations focus on growth, efficiency and visibility remain top priorities. SAP customers are focusing on making the most of their budgets and developing a good understanding of what’s happening in the SAP landscape so that they have sufficient leverage during negotiations. S/4HANA remains a big topic of conversation and one of the key areas of investment for many organizations. During this period of uncertainty, customers recognize that having visibility over what is currently in their environments and in use is key to maximizing ROI from any future investment.
The results of these findings match what we’ve heard from our own customers and the questions raised during the forums. Organizations want to understand their spending and make the most of their investment in SAP technologies. But having clear visibility of contractual entitlements is only part of it. Being able to match entitlements in the most optimal way to usage is crucial to truly understand spend.
Identifying current exposure for indirect access
Indirect/Digital Access proved to be a hot topic during the forum with several conversations focusing on how to get a thorough grasp of who is accessing SAP data through a third-party connection. SAP is offering incentives to switch to the digital access model, but without knowing current exposure for indirect access, it is hard for customers to know which type of license model to adopt.
Snow experts discussed the licensing options available and how Snow Optimizer for SAP® can provide visibility of indirect access scenarios to help organizations make the right choice.
The Rise with SAP offering
Yet another buzzy topic from the forum was the new Rise with SAP offering that was announced as a way of simplifying and streamlining customers’ transition to S/4HANA. It’s very early days for this offering and it will be interesting to see how it shapes up in the coming months. This announcement doesn’t change the date for the end of support of Business Suite 7 in 2027, so customers still need to consider the move to S/4HANA. As S/4HANA is a new product rather than an upgrade, anything that makes this transition easier for organizations can’t be a bad thing. But it is still imperative for SAP customers to understand their current licensing landscape and usage so they only pay for what they need in the new S/4 world.
To learn more about the market changes and key challenges facing SAP licensed organizations in 2021, watch our full event on-demand.