SAP bows to user pressure on maintenance and support costs

SUGEN (SAP User Group Executive Network), which represents 12 SAP user groups, had established a SAP Enterprise Support Task Force to get aggregated feedback. At the SUGEN bi-annual meeting last week at SAP Labs in Palo Alto, the task force shared with SAP its findings – and that the same 90% have also not yet seen the full extent of SAP Enterprise Support offering. Matthias Herzog, SUGEN vice-chair and executive sponsor for the task force, says: “We need a joint effort to overcome the differences between SAP and its customer base to ensure value is delivered for the increased maintenance fees.” SAP has set up a joint team with SUGEN to establish KPIs for SAP Enterprise Support, and, in the meantime, SAP is “adjusting” its rollout of SAP Enterprise Support until the new quality measures are achieved. “In addition to the commitment to the value of enterprise support, the members of SUGEN are very pleased that SAP agreed to extend standard support of SAP ERP 6.0,” says Per Högberg, SUGEN vice-chair. Says Léo Apotheker, co-CEO of SAP: “SUGEN and its member user groups serve as a vital sounding board to help SAP validate our new initiatives. From the open feedback received, we offer our commitment to SUGEN and our customers to help them realise the value of SAP Enterprise Support. “We stand by our latest support offering, and we look forward to continuing our dialogue with SUGEN and its members.”