Enterprises not ready for ERP in the cloud, says SAP

SAP has said that it does not expect large organisations to move enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to the cloud anytime soon.

The company has always stated that it will support customers implementing on-premise and on-demand applications.

However, Ian Anstey, head of the vendor's Business ByDesign on-demand software line, explained at SAP World on Wednesday that big business does not want its ERP software in the cloud.

"There are elements of cloud technology that large enterprise customers will run, but they are generally not critical applications," he said.

"There is too much risk and complexity for large companies to move mission-critical applications into the cloud. It is not proven to work, and it will be some time before they consider running an all-corporate cloud."

Anstey added that moving to the cloud also has major implications for the sizeable investments many companies have already made in on-premise software.

Anstey made his comments during an interview with V3.co.uk which centered on why SAP is not marketing Business ByDesign as a product for large businesses.

SAP describes Business ByDesign as a complete on-demand ERP suite for the mid-market that includes software for financials, human resources, supply chain management, business analytics and compliance management.

SAP UK managing director Tim Noble said during the event's keynote that SAP intends Business ByDesign to be used by all of its customers, including subsidiaries of big businesses.

"Business ByDesign has been unbelievably successful among mid-sized businesses, but it can also be used in subsidiaries of large companies that don't want to implement large on-premise projects," said Noble.