SAP customers confused by firm's cloud roadmap

SAP has a confusing cloud computing roadmap that is putting customers off deploying its on-demand applications, according to new research.

The SAP User Group conducted a survey with 100 of the firm's customers and found that 58 per cent of them believed there to be a lack of clarity over SAP's cloud roadmap, while 27 per cent of them did not even know what SAP's cloud computing offerings were.

Many of the respondents – 59 per cent – said they were particularly confused by how to upgrade or integrate SAP's on-demand modules with its on-premise applications.

SAP will need to act fast to make its cloud roadmap clear to customers, particularly as 80 per cent of the professionals surveyed said they plan to deploy SAP's on-demand applications in the future.

"I don't understand the cloud computing roadmap but SAP is obviously doing a lot of work in the area," SAP UK User Group chief executive Craig Dale told V3.

"I think SAP is getting better at giving customers understanding. It is holding quite a bit of conversation around its roadmap and what customers' cloud architecture should look like."

Dale also said that from his conversations with SAP customers, he has found that many worry the cloud will add to their data protection woes.

SAP's cloud strategy has been centred largely on its Business ByDesign offering. It was launched in 2007, although technical difficulties meant that it was 2010 before it was ready for large-scale use by customers, with the release of Business ByDesign 2.5.

Recently, SAP has begun focusing on integrating Business ByDesign with its on-premise offerings to encourage more widespread use across organisations. SAP has also begun marketing the on-demand applications to large enterprises as well as small and medium-sized businesses.