Only seven per cent of SAP customers use Business Objects

Only seven per cent of SAP customers use the firm's business intelligence (BI) offering, Business Objects, according to new figures released on Monday by the SAP UK & Ireland User Group (UKIUG).

The research questioned over 200 members about their use of SAP products and support services.

SAP still has work to do convincing customers to adopt what is now its flagship BI product, according to UKIUG chairman Alan Bowling.

"Many users still don't necessarily see Business Objects as an SAP company, so they are potentially missing out on the value that the combined products can bring," Bowling told V3.

"SAP still has a lot of work to do to educate users about the combined benefits and improve awareness to help drive customer value."

The findings of the survey echo an announcement made by the UKIUG at the company's Sapphire NOW event in Orlando last year, when it pledged to raise the awareness of the company's BusinessObjects portfolio through a new charter. 

As well as studying BI take-up, the UKIUG survey looked at how customers are taking to SAP's tiered support services offering.

The research found that 67 per cent of SAP customers are now on the firm's Enterprise Support offering, compared to 11 per cent that use the recently reintroduced Standard Support.

SAP tried to shift all its customers to a single Enterprise Support contract in 2009 but the higher cost of the support package provoked widespread protests.

In January this year, SAP decided to bring back the Standard Support package priced at 18 per cent of the software licence base, compared to 22 per cent for the Enterprise package.

Existing customers received a special deal on Enterprise Support to begin with, and only had to pay around 19 per cent of the software licence base in costs, although the prices are due to rise in January next year.