Is the hatchet about to be dug up between SAP and its French-speaking customers? In the past, the German publisher has often had to carry out tough negotiations with USF and its members. This prospect is once again looming on the horizon.
The source of the grievances is SAP’s announcement at the end of July of an increase in maintenance costs for 2024. The increase will not be uniform for everyone since it concerns exclusively products operated on site, i.e. – say on-premise.
Pay more for me: USF denounces double punishment
From January 1, the increase in maintenance will reach 5% on average. For the professional association of French-speaking users of SAP solutions (3,700 members, including 75% of the CAC40), this decision is questionable to say the least.
In 2023, the publisher had already decreed a comparable increase. Of course, SAP is “entitled to increase the amount of license maintenance for its products every year”, and this “on the basis of indices duly mentioned in the contractual clauses”, concedes the USF.
But the organization considers “that these increases are justified for the sole purpose of allowing the publisher to deliver more value to its customers.” However, companies using on-premise solutions should not benefit from additional value.
On the contrary, on-prem customers would be the big losers from the strategy set by Christian Klein, the CEO of SAP. In May, the leader was clear, stipulating that the latest innovations would go exclusively to the cloud (public and private).
Cloud ERP still faces obstacles
With regard to the USF, it is therefore a “double penalty”: paying more to no longer access the new features. The gift from the German publisher at +5% earns him a lot of grimace in return. The disagreement is not new.
Already in 2014, the president of the USF criticized SAP for favoring the cloud to the detriment of users of on-premise solutions. The company was called upon to temper its enthusiasm and give its customers time to migrate.
But they are not in a hurry, nor are they convinced. The reasons given are multiple: “not enough identified value, not in the company’s strategic priorities, or even no budgetary resources due to a difficult economic situation.”
SAP is therefore requested to revise its maintenance roadmap. “The only credible alternative for the publisher is to offer its customers maintenance at a reduced cost, corresponding to the actual service provided,” sets the USF as a requirement.