SAPinsider Technology Executive Forum Issue 1 2021

M any business and IT leaders who run SAP plan to reinvest in their teams and new technologies in the year 2021, according to SAPinsider res ea rch . We s u r veyed 352 members of the SAPinsider community between December 2020 and February 2021 about their budgets, investments, and teams . We also checked in with our executive community to learn about their upcoming plans for the year. The resounding consensus? Downsizing is out — growth is in. Survey respondents from both studies show that organizations running SAP will increase budgets, investment, and skills in the year 2021. More than half of respondents to our State of the Market survey (63%) said that they are growing their budgets or keeping them the same. Only 16% said they currently have plans to lower their budgets, and 21% have not yet decided. Our leadership survey found similar results in that 66% of leaders report that their budgets will stay the same or increase. SAP Customers Plan to Reinvest in Teams, Skillsets, and Technologies SAPinsider’s Early 2021 Research Looks at Companies’ Investment Plans, What Skillsets Will Become a Priority, and How Company Culture is Changing By Rizal Ahmed, Chief Content Officer, SAPinsider When it comes to the teams that play a critical role in supporting, implementing, and executing day-to-day operations of the SAP ERP system and associated SAP solutions, both studies show that over 90% of respondents expect their SAP teams to stay the same or grow in the coming year. The upward trajectory could be driven by pres- sure on executives and leadership teams to not only maintain core skillsets, but infuse greater knowledge into its workforce around SAP S/4HANA, analytics, artificial intelligence, integration, and automation. These projects have become top priorities, and orga- nizations need to staff accordingly ( Figure 1 ). The Pandemic Confirms: Transformation is Critical Most executives were exploring transformation and innovation projects before the pandemic, and the recent disruption only re-establishes the importance of these initiatives. Planning cycles have been dra- matically adapted and shortened, putting pressure on organizations to provide constant and immediate SAPinsiderOnline.com 8