DSAG Annual Congress 2023: Technology is good, trust is better

The use of technology and software is not an end in itself, but must pay off commercially for companies and support their business in the best possible way. On the second day of the DSAG Annual Congress 2023, the keynotes addressed, among other things, the question of the extent to which this requirement is currently met by SAP solutions. Or to put it another way: How large is the intersection between the current SAP strategy and the needs of user companies?

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The coverage of the DSAG Annual Congress 2023 at a glance

• Preview: SAP users meet in Bremen

• Day 1: Successfully mastering change

• Day 2: Technology is good, trust is better

• Day 3: Positive summary and political impulses

With SAP S/4HANA on-premise on the sidelines?

SAP’s announcement that it will make key innovations available only for SAP S/4HANA private cloud and SAP S/4HANA public cloud, but no longer for SAP S/4HANA on-premise, has unsettled many companies that chose the on-premise variant for their SAP S/4HANA migration. As loyal SAP customers, they feel that they have been disappointed and have the impression that they have backed the wrong horse with their decision, as Thomas Henzler, DSAG Board Member for Licenses, Service & Support, described.

He also questioned the added value of the two transformation programs RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP. Do they really make the SAP S/4HANA migration easier when, up to now, the discussion has mainly been about licensing and operating models and not about the content and technological aspects? The decision in favor of the cloud is also made more difficult by the fact that many cloud solutions are currently not yet mature and certain functionalities from the on-premise world are not available.

DSAG list of demands

With regard to specific industry solutions, DSAG would like to see clear statements about which industries SAP will focus on in the future and clear operating models for the individual software products. Other demands include end-to-end out-of-the-box integration, comprehensible license metrics, maintenance in line with value for money, and uniform, improved support channels – combined with the goal of making user companies even more successful with the help of SAP software and SAP technology.

Cloud as the basis for rapid innovations

Similar to SAP CEO Christian Klein the day before, SAP Executive Board member Thomas Saueressig also reiterated the elementary role of the cloud in making innovations usable for companies. It is SAP’s claim to be a reliable partner and to offer customers “business transformation as a service”. RISE with SAP is intended to provide companies with the best possible support on their way to the cloud and create a modular architecture that enables them to benefit continuously from innovations. 

Great potential is offered by the targeted use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in business processes. Exemplary use cases are:

• Digital assistant SAP CoPilot, which helps users perform their tasks.

• Self-learning business processes that optimize themselves autonomously

• Accelerating ERP transformation by generating new apps and app extensions

Embedded in SAP applications, AI is also expected to enable companies to better and more efficiently address complex issues such as sustainability and related challenges in the future.