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 feature The HP-Autonomy lawsuit: Timeline of an M&A disaster When Hewlett Packard bought knowledge management software firm Autonomy, it didn’t realize it was buying into a multibillion accounting cover-up. Shareholders sued HP, and HP sued Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch. Here’s how it played out over the By Peter Sayer Jun 07, 2024 9 mins HP Mergers and Acquisitions Enterprise Applications news Jury clears Autonomy CEO of fraud charges The case stemmed from Hewlett-Packard’s 2011 purchase of Autonomy for $11.1 billion. Some have blamed former CEO Meg Whitman for not testifying in the case. By Evan Schuman Jun 07, 2024 4 mins Fraud Legal Mergers and Acquisitions feature AES enlists AI to boost its sustainable energy business The American power supplier’s machine learning weather and output forecasting platform is fueling revenue growth while advancing the company’s renewable wind, solar, and energy storage goals. By Paula Rooney Jun 07, 2024 7 mins Energy Industry Digital Transformation Artificial Intelligence feature Top 8 IT certifications in demand today IT certifications can help you quickly gain and validate valuable skills and know-how in a domain that will further your career. Here are the most popular IT certs today. By Sarah K. White Jun 07, 2024 10 mins Certifications IT Skills Careers 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