Companies Weigh Options, Costs for SAP Migration

As enterprises worldwide migrate business-critical applications to the cloud, programs and tools from SAP and its ecosystem partners are gaining traction, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2024 ISG Provider Lens global SAP Ecosystem report finds that companies are beginning to embrace both the RISE with SAP proposition and SAP’s Business Technology Platform (BTP) and Business AI offerings, depending on their individual needs. As more SAP cloud implementations take shape, enterprises are also adopting cloud economics and FinOps capabilities from SAP ecosystem partners to maximize their return on investment.

“Cloud migration is becoming essential for enterprise flexibility and agility but can be complex and expensive for organizations of any size,” said Bill Huber, ISG partner, Digital Platforms and Solutions. “Enterprises planning digital transformations are exploring multiple tools from SAP and its ecosystem.”

RISE with SAP, which allows companies to acquire cloud infrastructure, applications, integration services and support for SAP implementations under a single contract, serves as a catalyst for expediting migrations to SAP S/4HANA at many organizations, especially those embarking on large-scale business transformations, the report says. RISE is attracting customers among larger midmarket organizations and also gaining momentum in the large enterprise segment.

Though some companies are uncertain about long-term cost savings and future flexibility for innovation under RISE with SAP, they are considering the proposition while weighing factors including cost, security, performance, ease of migration and integration with SAP BTP, ISG says. Many service providers are closely aligned with SAP’s vision and offering assistance with RISE adoption.

Companies are looking toward SAP BTP, a multi-cloud, multi-purpose platform for enterprise application integration, to enable faster software deployment and easier adoption of both SAP innovations and updates required by new regulations, the report says. Stakeholders throughout the SAP market are still studying the combination of BTP and SAP Business AI, which is designed to deliver benefits including accelerated project delivery. Enterprises have yet to fully grasp the advantages of combining BTP with Business AI, ISG says.