DSAG Annual Congress 2022: Shaping is better than keeping up

At the start of the DSAG Annual Congress 2022 in Leipzig, there was reason to celebrate: The German-speaking SAP User Group (DSAG) is 25 years old. In his keynote, DSAG Chairman Jens Hungershausen took the opportunity to look back on a success story that began in 1997 and has turned DSAG into the largest SAP user association with around 3,800 member companies. SAP – which itself turned 50 this year – also offered its congratulations and donated €25,000 to World Hunger Aid to mark its birthday.

Use RISE with SAP for your digital business transformation

The coverage of the DSAG Annual Congress 2022 at a glance:

• Preview: IBsolution at the DSAG Annual Congress 2022

• Day 1: Shaping is better than keeping up

• Day 2: People and processes as key factors for transformation

• Day 3: Summary and philosophy

Changing times cause permanent uncertainty

At the DSAG Annual Congress 2022, DSAG executives not only want to look back, but also to look forward. After all, the challenges facing companies “in their quest for success” – as the official congress motto puts it – are great. First the Corona pandemic, then disrupted supply chains, raw material shortages, energy crises, climate change and the war in Ukraine are creating constant uncertainty for companies and represent the often-cited turning point in history.

Digitalization and business transformation are crucial levers for companies to continue to be successful in the future under uncertain and rapidly changing conditions. It is essential to keep pace with the changes or even stay ahead of them. In Leipzig, DSAG is looking for answers to the question of what it takes for companies to succeed and how viable, future-proof IT solutions can contribute to this.

The future of IT is hybrid

In this context, companies attach great relevance to SAP as a software provider. As a joint survey by DSAG, the American SAP user group ASUG and the Japanese SAP user group JSUG revealed, SAP’s on-premise solutions are of high or medium importance to 93% of the companies surveyed. Looking to the future, it is striking on the one hand that the importance of on-premise remains at a high level (85%) and on the other that SAP cloud solutions are becoming significantly more relevant: While only 42% of respondents currently attach high or medium importance to them, the proportion will rise to 77% in the future. In this respect, it can be deduced from the survey that hybrid scenarios will be even more the rule in the future than they have been to date.

Accordingly, DSAG formulates the recognition of the hybrid reality in the companies as one of the central demands towards SAP. Other items on the DSAG wish list include binding roadmaps for SAP’s cloud products, the optimization of heterogeneous landscapes through integration and improved interfaces, and the offer of end-to-end transformation programs for companies with a strong process orientation.

Agility as a prerequisite for resilience

On behalf of SAP CEO Christian Klein, who was unable to come to Leipzig in person, Executive Board member Thomas Saueressig took over the SAP keynote and stated, Continuous crisis management is the new normal that sets the framework for companies. Agile and digital companies are much better equipped for the new normal, as they are more resistant to crises. In this environment, IT has the central task of supporting business users in making the right decisions.

Those who are able to react agilely and flexibly to changes, adapt their business models, draw on a global network in the supply chain and consistently drive the issue of sustainability create the best possible conditions for success. From Thomas Saueressig’s point of view, RISE with SAP is the ideal offer to accompany companies on their way into the future and to provide holistic support for business transformation.

News from the SAP portfolio

SAP is adjusting its release and maintenance strategy so that on-premise customers can also use innovations in SAP S/4HANA more quickly and easily. Starting with SAP S/4HANA 2023, major releases will be published in a two-year cycle in the future. In addition, feature packs will be rolled out every six months, making new functionalities available at short notice.

SAP is also continuing to drive forward the integration of the product portfolio. SAP now provides around 3,300 standardized interfaces on the API Business Hub and offers around 2,600 predefined integration scenarios. In terms of user experience, Horizon represents the new unified UX for SAP Fiori applications, while SAP Mobile Start serves as the mobile entry point for SAP applications and content.

Integration and user experience remain two important factors in unifying the broad SAP product portfolio. The enhancements pay toward the goal of providing companies with what SAP calls Next Generation Enterprise Software. This should be characterized by the following features: collaborative working, modularity, sustainability, intelligence and network capability.