Apr 14, 2026
•1 minute read
SAPinsider Research
Access the definitive State of the Market guides, with your steps to success from benchmarking the performance of SAP professionals worldwide. See which strategies are yielding the best results, what sets Leaders apart from their peers. Discover actionable, data-driven insights to ensure the success of your initiatives.
SAPinsider Research Webinar – ERP Migration and Transformation 2026Apr 14 — Join SAPinsider for a review of the 2026 ERP Migration and Transformation Benchmark Report, based on responses from 296 SAP customers across industries. In this session, you will see how organizations are really progressing toward SAP S/4HANA and Cloud ERP as the 2027 end of mainstream maintenance approaches. In this session, SAPinsider Chief Research Officer […]
SAPinsider Benchmark Research – Technology Leader’s Strategic Agenda for 2026Mar 31 — Technology leaders in the SAP space must balance the need to continuously innovate and remain current on SAP solutions and technology while supporting the needs of business teams and achieving organizational goals. In 2026, these leaders face significant challenges. Geopolitical instability and global macroeconomic uncertainty must be weighed against the need to complete and optimize ERP transformations, deploy AI within SAP applications, and manage costs effectively. This can make supporting business priorities while driving innovation a challenge that should be explored and understood.
To understand the strategic agenda for technology leaders in 2026, SAPinsider surveyed its community between December 2025 and March 2026 to identify their key priorities for 2026, what they are doing to support business goals, the biggest challenges they are facing as a technology leader, their SAP priorities and planned investments, the status of their ERP journey, and their planned use of AI in SAP-related initiatives. Additionally, respondents were also asked about the global factors they expect will impact their strategies in 2026.
Not surprisingly, increasing operational efficiency and reducing costs were identified by 70% of respondents as their top priority. Managing costs has long been important for technology leaders, even as they strive to implement technologies that support new or changed business requirements. While it is not always possible to manage costs, it may be more possible to increase the efficiency of existing processes, which can, in turn, bring cost savings. Technologies that help achieve these goals are crucial from a business priorities standpoint.
Download the benchmark report to read the full data analysis and receive recommendations for your own plans.
- Discover why foundational investments in SAP BTP are currently outpacing direct spending on artificial intelligence.
- Learn how macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical tensions are actively forcing IT leaders to restructure their SAP roadmaps.
- Understand the critical danger of deprioritizing cybersecurity during rapid ERP transformations and AI deployments.
Mar 31, 2026
•1 minute read
SAPinsider Benchmark Research – ERP Migration and Transformation 2026Mar 31 — The move to SAP S/4HANA continues to accelerate. While this has largely been driven by a need to transition to a fully supported product before the end of mainstream maintenance in 2027 and a growing number of organizations planning to use cloud-based ERP, this year’s data has also revealed that access to generative AI in SAP systems, in addition to SAP’s announcements on AI, are having a considerable impact on the overall transition.
While there has been rapid growth in the number of organizations that have deployed SAP S/4HANA over the past year, a significant proportion of respondents (36%) are still in the process of implementing, evaluating, or building a business case for the transition. A further 4% report that their project is on hold, while 5% currently have no plans for SAP S/4HANA.
SAPinsider has not previously listed SAP S/4HANA Cloud as a separate answer choice when tracking the move to SAP S/4HANA, and the fact that nearly as many respondents (26%) reported that they were using this version compared to a more traditional SAP S/4HANA deployment (29%) provides some interesting insights. First, it confirms the fact that many early adopters of SAP S/4HANA have been transitioning to a RISE with SAP (now SAP Cloud ERP Private) contract as their existing versions have ended mainstream maintenance.
It also shows that those moving to SAP S/4HANA now appear more likely to be moving to SAP S/4HANA Cloud. This is likely due to the challenges with securing traditionally licensed SAP S/4HANA contracts.
However, the fact that 55% of respondents report that they have completed an SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud deployment does not mean that these organizations have completed a transition. Since many organizations have complex existing landscapes, some may continue to run multiple systems in parallel to ensure that everything is working correctly before making a final switch to the new software. Larger customers may also be running multiple ERP instances, and a single SAP S/4HANA deployment does not mean that all their systems have transitioned. An SAP S/4HANA deployment may also represent just a proof of concept or a pilot project while the organization evaluates
the solution.
Just over a third of the survey’s respondents (34%) report having completed a transition to SAP S/4HANA due to these factors. This is consistent with overall numbers that SAPinsider has been tracking over the last five years, showing continued growth in adoption.
Download the benchmark report to read the full data analysis and receive recommendations for your own plans.
Mar 31, 2026
•2 minute read
SAPinsider Benchmark Report | SAP Business Data Cloud Use Cases and AdoptionMar 31 — SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC) is becoming SAP’s unified, governed, AI ready data platform, addressing the limits of legacy architectures that cannot support real time analytics or AI-driven decision-making. While strategic interest is high, adoption is still early: only 3% of organizations have a unified governed data layer, and 38% remain siloed. Governance maturity is also low, with one third lacking formal governance—gaps that slow analytics progress and block AI scalability.
Despite this, investment momentum is strong. Analytics modernization (28%), AI and agent-based use cases (26%), and S/4HANA transformation (26%) are top drivers, signaling a shift toward SAP BDC as an AI-first platform. Early adopters are already deploying predictive analytics, supply chain visibility, and agentic workflows powered by Joule-based AI.
Data products are central to value realization. Finance data products, AI-ready datasets, and cross-domain composites—each at 47% adoption—reflect the need for LLM-ready data to fuel AI and automation. Barriers remain significant, including budget constraints (44%), landscape complexity (34%), unclear positioning (32%), and limited skills (30%). Another 26% lack sufficient SAP BDC knowledge.
Where SAP BDC is in production, results are compelling: >25% improvements in decision-making speed (43%), data quality (36%), AI acceleration (36%), and operational efficiency (38%). The research makes clear that SAP BDC represents a strategic architectural shift. Organizations that modernize data foundations, strengthen governance, and prioritize early AI and finance use cases will gain the strongest competitive advantage.
Mar 31, 2026
•1 minute read
SAPinsider 2026 Research AgendaFeb 12 — Get an inside look at where the SAP ecosystem is headed in 2026 as SAP Insider research leaders Robert Holland and Susan Galbraith walk through this year’s agenda across finance, tax, GRC, cybersecurity, cloud, data, and AI-driven automation. They explain how Intelligence Benchmark Reports and highly focused Spotlight Series Reports are changing, why key findings […]
Feb 12, 2026
•1 minute read
AI Adoption and Maturity in the SAP EcosystemDec 31, 2025 — Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how organizations operate, compete, and deliver value. For SAP customers, AI adoption is accelerating in tandem with digital transformation initiatives such as SAP S/4HANA migration, cloud modernization, and business process automation.
This research looks at how SAPinsiders are approaching AI, examining maturity, technologies, use cases, governance, and the business impact that AI is having. This includes where AI is being used in SAP solutions, AI models in use, platforms used to build and train AI models, and where AI use cases are currently being deployed or developed.
Download the benchmark report to read the full data analysis and receive recommendations for your own plans. Understand the factors impacting SAPinsiders’ AI strategies.
- Explore the impact that AI maturity and adoption have on desired business outcomes and KPIs
- Learn about the technologies that are in use to build and deploy AI tools.
- Discover how AI Leaders are succeeding with their AI adoption and usage strategies.
Dec 31, 2025
•1 minute read
The Office of the SAP CFO and the Future of FinanceDec 31, 2025 — SAP CFO organizations are at a turning point. Our latest benchmark study of 110 SAP-centric enterprises reveals how finance leaders are modernizing their core, automating the close, and leveraging AI to move from transactional efficiency to strategic intelligence.
The Office of the CFO is evolving from a compliance-driven function into a strategic co-pilot for the enterprise. SAPinsider’s 2025 research shows that 54% of organizations have migrated core financial activities to SAP S/4HANA, creating the digital backbone for automation and AI. Yet only 17% report fully integrated finance systems, leaving most stuck at “Level 3 – Established” maturity. This plateau limits agility and slows transformation. CFOs face mounting pressure from regulatory complexity and cybersecurity risks, while internal demands for efficiency and performance drive a shift toward automation and real-time insights.
Modernization isn’t optional. 47% of organizations now prioritize automating the financial close, and leaders achieving 1–3 day close (just 5% today) gain a decisive competitive advantage in agility and decision-making. AI adoption is accelerating, 69% of respondents use AI in finance, primarily for forecasting and anomaly detection. Those leveraging AI report faster cycle times and less manual effort, freeing capacity for strategic planning. The report provides actionable recommendations for CFOs at every maturity level, from fixing data foundations to piloting agentic AI and moving toward autonomous finance.
Download the full report to benchmark your SAP CFO transformation and learn how to accelerate modernization.
Dec 31, 2025
•2 minute read
Enterprise Data and Analytics in the Era of AINov 30, 2025 — Digital business generates more data than traditional business, and that information is foundational to supporting innovation and realizing desired business outcomes such as improved forecasting accuracy, faster and better decision-making, enhanced customer and user experiences, and setting up the ground work for AI adoption and innovation. Companies that have invested in modernizing their data and analytics strategies and technologies are seeing results, both in the outcomes mentioned as well as many Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
To identify the key factors, strategies, expectations, challenges, and technologies driving enterprise data and analytics strategies, SAPinsider surveyed community members across multiple industries, locations, and roles. This research explored the data and analytics maturity of respondents’ organizations and identified key traits across maturity segments as they journey towards becoming data-driven and AI-enabled.
Download the benchmark report to read the full data analysis and receive recommendations for your own plans. Understand the factors impacting SAPiniders’ data and analytics strategies.
- Explore the impact that data and analytics maturity has on desired business outcomes and KPIs.
- Learn about the technologies that are in use to build data and analytics foundations.
- Discover how Data Leaders are succeeding with their data and analytics strategies.
Nov 30, 2025
•2 minute read
The Technology Leader’s 2025 Transformation Report CardNov 30, 2025 — When we asked technology leaders about their agenda for 2025, SAP S/4HANA and AI were among their top focuses over and over again. As 2025 is coming to a close, some organizations made progress on those fronts, while others are still too far behind in their overall transformation process look at value-added emerging technologies such as AI.
SAPinsider surveyed technology leaders in September through November of 2025 to review how they did on their paths to transformation and digitization over the year. This included a maturity analysis, examining how the strategies and technologies at Digital Leaders compares to Digital Beginners. Download the benchmark report to read the full data analysis and receive recommendations for your own plans.
- Understand the factors driving Technology Leaders’ transformation and AI strategies.
- Explore the impact that transformation maturity has on key business outcomes.
- Learn about the SAP S/4HANA strategies and deployment preferences of Technology Leaders
- Discover how Digital Leaders have achieved success on their transformations and are accelerating AI adoption.
Nov 30, 2025
•1 minute read
SAPinsider Benchmark Research – RISE with SAP 2025Nov 26, 2025 — As 2025 ends, the narrative around SAP migration has shifted from “why move?” to “how fast?”
This SAPinsider report, based on a survey of 122 community members conducted in late 2025, highlights a marked acceleration in cloud ERP adoption as the 2027 end-of-maintenance deadline approaches.
Now commercially referred to as SAP Cloud ERP Private, the RISE with SAP package is seeing varied adoption rates; smaller organizations (under $2 billion in revenue) are currently twice as likely to be live on the solution compared to larger enterprises, which are predominantly in the planning or exploration phases.
While SAP’s dedicated transition support and license conversion credits are the primary drivers for migration, cost and unclear business value remain significant barriers for holdouts. The report also identifies a growing influence of Generative AI on ERP strategy. However, it warns of critical gaps in security compliance and an impending shortage of skilled implementation resources.
Download the benchmark report to read the full data analysis and receive recommendations for your own plans.
- Understand why there is a concerning lack of security awareness
- Why we forecast that implementation partners will struggle to staff the volume of concurrent projects required to meet the 2027 and 2030 deadlines.
- How SAP’s direct support and financial incentives are driving adoption rates
Nov 26, 2025
•1 minute read
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