Enterprise software giant SAP aims to address concerns about its cloud-only innovation strategy by providing financial incentives for users to migrate to its subscription-based Rise with SAP cloud offering. The company is offering a 60% credit of the first year's fees to on-premises S/4HANA users who migrate to Rise with SAP, intending to alleviate approximately half of the typical migration cost. This move follows criticism of SAP's strategy, where early adopters of S/4HANA faced exclusivity to new features, pushing them towards the cloud. SAP is extending the credit incentive to all on-premises S/4HANA users in 2024, including legacy ERP Central Component (ECC) software users, with a 45% credit for ECC migrations.
SAP's Chief Product Officer for Cloud ERP, Jan Gilg, emphasized the company's efforts to provide a cost-effective solution for users while acknowledging the need to balance migration costs and innovation access. The financial incentives are seen as a positive step by user groups, such as the UK & Ireland SAP User Group and the German-speaking SAP User Group (DSAG). However, SAP acknowledges the need to address implementation costs and has introduced a standardized methodology for migrations to Rise, encouraging
partners to adhere to the defined process. The company is also exploring AI technology to enhance migration tooling, particularly focusing on custom code refactoring within the proprietary ABAP language of S/4HANA.
