U.S. Enterprises Look to SAP's S/4HANA to Reduce Complexity, Improve Efficiency

STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. enterprises are embracing SAP's S/4HANA product, with many adopting the ERP software to reduce complexity and improve efficiency by automating their business processes, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) III, a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2019 ISG Provider Lens™ SAP HANA and Leonardo Ecosystem Partners report for the U.S. finds enterprise customers turning to SAP providers to help with installations and updates, especially as SAP rolls out new versions of S/4HANA to keep pace with changing enterprise requirements. In response, SAP providers are increasing their base of certified professionals, not only to meet current needs but to prepare for the 2025 sunset of support for Business Suite and other SAP services.

SAP S/4HANA, which has seen nearly 30 percent growth in its customer base in 2019, is being adopted across large and medium-sized enterprises, especially in the manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, retail, energy, automotive and utilities industries, the report says.

The ISG report finds many of these enterprises prefer installing S/4HANA on premises, instead of hosting it in the cloud – especially those seeking core process transformation, or facing complexity related to geographic scale or application customization.

"We see enterprises taking a customized, thoroughly evaluated and business-needs-driven approach to S/4HANA adoption," said Esteban Herrera, partner and global leader of ISG Research. "Drivers range from ERP landscape transformation to greenfield, brownfield or bluefield conversions based on the complexity of their existing SAP ERP architectures."

SAP providers are using proprietary frameworks with standardized templates and methods to help customers address technical issues, the report says.

In addition, SAP providers are beginning to use software bots in application maintenance services to respond to basic activities such as logging a ticket and reducing the time to resolution. Bots are helping service providers reassign staff to higher value and more complex tasks, the report says. Many providers are using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to aid customers with their move to newer SAP products, the report adds.

The report also examines the SAP Leonardo market and finds many enterprises slow to adopt the software and microservices package that enables customers to leverage technologies like the Internet of Things, machine learning, blockchain, analytics and big data. Many service providers are using SAP Leonardo to build proof-of-concept demonstrations to help address specific industry issues or empower enterprises with emerging technologies, the report says.

The 2019 ISG Provider Lens™ SAP HANA and Leonardo Ecosystem Partners report for the U.S. evaluates the capabilities of 23 providers across four quadrants: SAP S/4HANA & Business Suite on HANA Transformation, SAP S/4HANA & Business Suite on HANA Managed Services, SAP BW/4 on HANA and BW on HANA Transformation & Operations, and SAP Leonardo Transformation.

The report names Accenture, Capgemini and HCL as leaders in all four quadrants and IBM and Wipro as leaders in three. Infosys is named a leader in two quadrants, and Cognizant, Deloitte, DXC, NTT DATA and Tech Mahindra leaders in one.

A customized version of the report is available from Mindtree, named a "rising star" for SAP BW/4 on HANA and BW on HANA Transformation & Operations.

The 2019 ISG Provider Lens™ SAP HANA and Leonardo Ecosystem Partners report for the U.S. is available to ISG Insights™ subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe and Latin America, as well as in the U.S., Germany, the U.K., the Nordics and Brazil, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

The series is a complement to the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, which offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) III is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 70 of the top 100 enterprises in the world, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry's most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

SOURCE Information Services Group, Inc.