The News: Some of the news coming out of SAP Sapphire event in Orlando this past week that caught my eye was the announcement about RISE with SAP and a new partner co-sell program. Read the full announcement on the SAP site.
SAP Sapphire News: RISE with SAP and New Partner Co-Sell Program Generate Rapid Growth in Cloud Transformation at SAP
Analyst Take: Coming out of SAP Sapphire, one announcement in particular that caught my eye was the impressive growth SAP revealed that it has achieved impressive growth in its cloud transformation services through its RISE with SAP solution and a new partner co-sell program. RISE with SAP, which was released last year, is a cloud-transformation-as-a-service offering consisting of SAP’s ERP as well as a line of business applications delivered as managed SaaS solutions by the company’s partners, which include premium suppliers Accenture and IBM. Hosted in the cloud-based S/4 HANA platform, RISE’s offerings are available through Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
SAP’s Business Technology Platform (BTP) enables partners to integrate SAP and non-SAP technologies into RISE with SAP, making the solution attractive to both partners and customers. As a result, RISE with SAP has been used by over 2,000 customers since its release last year, with 60% of those being net-new customers for the company. SAP’s new co-sell program has authorized 900 partners to offer RISE with SAP.
RISE with Sap Speeds Cloud Transformation Shift
RISE with SAP was created in response to increasing interest from partners and investors in SAP’s transition towards cloud computing services, particularly surrounding its cloud transformation offerings. Designed to enable fast deployment of cloud transformation for customers as well as allow partners to extend their own IP through the platform, RISE with SAP has succeeded in both arenas. SAP’s shift toward cloud transformation has also been accelerated through a new sales plan that heavily incentivizes selling cloud solutions offerings for both SAP’s sales force and partners. This includes the partner co-sell program, which now accounts for roughly 70% of SAP’s indirect revenue.
SAP’s rapid growth in the cloud transformation market results from smart decision-making in product development, technology deployment, partnerships, and sales planning. As the demand for cloud transformation across enterprises continues to grow, RISE with SAP is a prime example of the deep potential that comes with investing in the cloud and the SAP BTS platform designed to enable both SAP and non-SAP technologies is clearly a hit with both customers and partners. The last couple of years have largely shown that disruption is but a heartbeat away at any given moment, and embracing cloud-based technology solutions designed to help avoid disruption, spur innovation, and transform business operations is, well, not an option but a business imperative.
Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum Research as a whole.
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Image Credit: SAP
The original version of this article was first published on Futurum Research.
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years' experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging development, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly's coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”