An act of courtesy

Despite the SAP corporate jet, he couldn't find his way from the winter health resort of Davos to gray Walldorf. Fresh snow has fallen in Davos, the sky was blue and the World Economic Summit was taking place. But how was it in the days of Professor Henning Kagermann, when people met for the annual press conference in Frankfurt/M? The room was always too small.

The journalists and analysts fought for the right to ask questions. There were committed and knowledgeable discussions and shamelessly overstayed their welcome. The Walldorf back room presented a sad picture this year, with a few journalists from the local newspaper editors and the obligated correspondents from the news agencies present - exciting, insistent questions? None!

Although it would be very exciting to learn how SAP was ultimately able to achieve significant successes and revenues with S/4, which is listed at zero euros in the 2015 price list. Chief Technology Officer Bernd Leukert did not explain, but spoke of veritable and very pleasing contributions.

CFO Luka Mucic put it into perspective that there is certainly also indirect profitability: If someone customizes S/4, they also need the Hana database and a few other SAP software components, which ultimately are and remain chargeable.

In addition to all the IFRS and non-IFRS figures, S/4 was naturally the dominant topic. At the beginning, things were still going well for SAP! One postulated 2700 S/4 customers - nobody asked! In the analyst conference call after the annual press conference, however, someone asked: How many operational S/4 users were there?

Bernd Leukert had to admit that only 100 of the 2700 S/4 line owners are "live". A sobering to catastrophic result, if SAP's words that S/4 is a lean, smart, easy-to-implement system are to be believed.

However, the S/4 promotion at the end of 2015 seems to have worked, with some intrepid existing SAP customers stocking up on free licenses. We'll see what happens this year. And what remains?

It would be an act of courtesy towards existing customers, partners, analysts and journalists to appear more transparent, understandable and closer, also again in the financial center Frankfurt.

It would have been an act of courtesy if the American Bill McDermott had once again found his way to Walldorf, at least for the annual financial press conference. And it would have been an act of courtesy to state clearly that SAP's existing customers who are interested in S/4 are in for a huge wave of charges and that highly profitable license revenues will develop from this for SAP.

S/4 is not a legal successor to any existing SAP product. The "release change" will only take place via a new purchase. Despite the maintenance fee, existing SAP customers will have to purchase the S/4 licenses again.

This can bring in a lot of revenue - but no one wanted to talk about that at the annual press conference! When will SAP be polite to existing customers again?