SAP Basis Without SAP

A long time ago, a good friend and SAP manager at a large industrial company told me that an SAP sales representative often dropped by to visit him. The SAP representative had been familiar with my friend's ERP system for many years, and they always had interesting discussions on how the system could be developed further and how new functions and business processes could be adapted—this of course also involved new licenses for users and engines.

The days of constructive and friendly interactions with SAP consultants are long gone. Many SAP customers complain about the harsh tone during visits and the constant discussion about the SAP list of prices and conditions—as if there were no other issues within the community.

It is obvious that SAP customers and partners need a continuous supply of information and knowledge to achieve the necessary efficiency when utilizing SAP software. In the meantime, there are many good forces in the community that take this educational mission seriously—first and foremost the DSAG (German-speaking SAP User Group). Many mentors, partners, and consultants are also committed to providing sustainable knowledge.

In contrast to the efforts of the SAP community, SAP tends to take a back seat when it comes to sharing knowledge. Of course, there are plenty of learning opportunities, including free online courses, but these always provide quite singular and specific knowledge. SAP rarely communicates the "big picture" to customers.

The situation used to be different: at least once a year, Professor Hasso Plattner stood on the Sapphire stage and attempted to convey the big picture, the overarching plan SAP had for the future. In previous years, Plattner talked about Hana, of course, but he also explained the superstructure, the strategy, and his vision. Even if not everyone in the audience was able to follow Professor Plattner's explanations, it was still a good feeling to know that SAP was thinking about roadmaps, strategy, and vision.

The exact opposite happened at this year's DSAG Technology Days conference in Hamburg, when SAP CTO Jürgen Müller and DSAG CTO Sebastian Westphal took the stage. The amusing dialogue between Müller and Westphal was highly entertaining, however, for SAP customers, the conversation between the two was not especially enlightening. The few facts mentioned had already been announced in a DSAG press release, and the rest could be read on relevant SAP websites and blogs. The news value was thus close to zero, and Jürgen Müller did not provide many answers.

SAP lives on license revenues. The SAP community lives on the information that SAP provides. If the global ERP market leader does not fulfill its educational mission, the community will wither. Knowledge and communication have become one of the most important success factors. SAP should learn to engage with the SAP community on equal footing. Sapphire and TechEd events are not sufficient for this exchange of information.