SAP and IBM Point to Client Momentum for SAP Cloud ERP Private on IBM Power Virtual Server

SAP and IBM announced in July that four global enterprises, JYSK, GBM, DIFARE Group, and Plastilene Group, have selected SAP Cloud ERP Private on IBM Power Virtual Server to modernize their ERP workloads. The announcement spans retail, technology services, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and flexible packaging, and the four join the tens of thousands of businesses that already run SAP landscapes on IBM Power servers. Behind the customer names sits a more consequential story for SAP organizations: infrastructure decisions are increasingly being made in service of AI ambitions, not just uptime.

Why Infrastructure Still Decides Cloud ERP Outcomes

According to the announcement, the combination of SAP Cloud ERP Private and IBM Power Virtual Server is designed to reduce the total cost of ownership of cloud ERP operations, support migration to SAP Cloud ERP Private and to SAP Business Warehouse as part of SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) with minimal disruption, and mitigate operational and security risk through IBM Power’s enterprise-grade resilience and IBM Cloud security controls. IBM’s RISE with SAP on IBM Power Virtual Server offering is positioned for a fast, non-disruptive path, designed to move SAP S/4HANA workloads from on-premises IBM Power systems to the cloud within 90 days, and IBM has paired it with an investment program covering early-stage technical assessments, migration execution, and surrounding non-RISE workloads.

Customer details matter more than the platform claims. JYSK, the Danish home furnishing retailer with more than 3,600 stores in 50 countries, is continuing its RISE with SAP journey on IBM infrastructure it has used for years. DIFARE Group in Ecuador and Plastilene Group in Colombia are both long-term IBM Power users, extending their existing estates into the cloud, while GBM is using the platform as a foundation for adopting additional SAP innovations. The pattern is continuity: organizations with established Power landscapes choosing a migration path that does not require re-platforming.

The AI Subtext

The announcement leads with AI for a reason. SAP and IBM cite research from the IBM Institute for Business Value showing that companies embedding AI into ERP systems achieve up to 27% higher ROI. Lalit Patil, CTO for RISE with SAP at SAP SE, framed SAP Cloud ERP Private as the route for on-premises ERP customers to bring “business applications, data and AI together with SAP Business AI Platform.”

The infrastructure story also connects to a consulting one. At Think 2026 in May, IBM announced an expanded collaboration with SAP through the Agent2Agent (A2A) interoperability standard, under which IBM Consulting Advantage agents can now manage SAP’s Joule agents, which work directly with IBM’s watsonx Orchestrate agents. IBM also introduced Context Studio, now available, and Process Studio, coming soon, to help enterprises build AI agents grounded in their own data and convert legacy procedures into agent-ready workflows. For SAP customers, the hyperscaler choice and the agentic AI roadmap are becoming parts of the same decision.

What Research Shows

This announcement lands on ground SAPinsider research has already mapped. The ERP Migration and Transformation 2026 benchmark report found that 43% of organizations now cite SAP’s AI announcements as the primary external factor shaping ERP strategy, overtaking the 2027 end-of-maintenance deadline at 39%. The same research shows that while 55% of respondents report having deployed SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud, only 34% have fully completed the transition, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud usage (26%) now sits nearly level with traditional deployments (29%).

Cost discipline sharpens the picture. SAPinsider’s Technology Leaders’ Strategic Agenda for 2026 found 70% of technology leaders naming operational efficiency and cost reduction as their top priority, with 63% expecting pressure to cut IT and SAP-related costs this year. And SAPinsider’s RISE with SAP 2025 research recorded organizations fully live on SAP Cloud ERP Private rising to 30% from 19% a year earlier, while cautioning that the offering is a platform-as-a-service rather than a cloud-native solution, so planning across skills, technology, and business engagement remains essential.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

Treat infrastructure selection as an AI decision. With 43% of organizations citing SAP’s AI announcements as the top factor shaping ERP strategy, CIOs and enterprise architects evaluating SAP Cloud ERP Private should assess hyperscaler options, including IBM Power Virtual Server, on data access, agent interoperability, and AI readiness, not solely on hosting economics.

Continuity paths can compress timelines, but deployment is not transformation. The 90-day migration design point for existing Power estates is attractive, yet SAPinsider data shows only 34% of organizations have fully transitioned despite 55% reporting deployments. ERP program managers should plan for parallel operations and data harmonization beyond go-live.

Validate TCO claims against 2026 cost pressure. With 70% of technology leaders prioritizing efficiency and 63% expecting cost-reduction pressure, teams should model granular scaling, license-conversion incentives, and partner investment programs before committing to a landing zone.