The company projected 2024 cloud and software revenue of €29.5 billion to €29.8 billion, up from the €29 billion to €29.5 billion previously projected. The company also said its free cash flow will be €3.5 billion to €4 billion.
The German Speaking SAP User Group (DSAG) said that SAP on-premises customers are being discriminated against because the software vendor is requiring that new innovations, notably generative AI, will be delivered on its cloud platform.
SAP at its TechEd conference delivered its share of AI agent headlines as its Joule generative AI becomes one assistant across its platform, but as a more practical matter more developer options for ABAP and data lake capabilities will have a much larger impact.
SAP in the second quarter said its cloud revenue was up 25% and CEO Christian Klein said its Business AI efforts are "enabling many deals." The company reiterated its outlook for 2024 and raised its 2025 operating profit guidance due to efficiency efforts.
SAP said it will acquire WalkMe in a deal valued at $1.5 billion in a move that could make implementations easier and complement its process and workflow automation efforts.
SAP said it is infusing its Joule generative AI assistant throughout its platform and applications as it made the case that the company is using AI to drive business value.
Amazon Bedrock from AWS will be embedded into SAP's generative AI hub as the two companies expanded a long-running partnership. SAP will also use AWS Graviton3, Trainium and Inferentia chips for SAP HANA Cloud and SAP Business AI workloads.
The "Value Generation" partnership will focus on generative AI and industry cloud applications. SAP is trying to migrate its customer base to the cloud and S4/HANA via its RISE with SAP program.
SAP reported a first quarter loss due to a restructuring charge but said its cloud revenue was up 24% with cloud ERP revenue growth of 32%. SAP said its cloud backlog was €14.2 billion, up 27% from a year ago.
Constellation Research held its February call with Business Transformation 150 and SAP's RISE program, process automation and AI were top-of-mind topics.
SAP shook up its Supervisory Board. SAP's Supervisory Board nominated Pekka Ala-Pietilä to the board as the successor to Chairman Prof. Dr. Hasso Plattner.SAP and Dr. h.c. Punit Renjen said they have "mutually agreed to part ways because of a difference in perspective on the role of SAP Supervisory Board."
At its Technology Days 2024, DSAG elaborated on customer concerns, which often revolve around SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP).
