Analysis of ASUG’s Misleading Article on SAP’s Indirect Access Announcement

ByShaun Snapp

Executive Summary

  • ASUG frequently has false information to provide to SAP customers to mislead them maximally.
  • The reason for this is that ASUG is nothing more than SAP’s puppet.

Introduction

As a puppet of SAP, ASUG is perpetually putting out false information on SAP’s indirect access.

Our References for This Article

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Notice of Lack of Financial Bias: We have no financial ties to SAP or any other entity mentioned in this article.

  • This is published by a research entity, not some lowbrow entity that is part of the SAP ecosystem. 
  • Second, no one paid for this article to be written, and it is not pretending to inform you while being rigged to sell you software or consulting services. Unlike nearly every other article you will find from Google on this topic, it has had no input from any company's marketing or sales department. As you are reading this article, consider how rare this is. The vast majority of information on the Internet on SAP is provided by SAP, which is filled with false claims and sleazy consulting companies and SAP consultants who will tell any lie for personal benefit. Furthermore, SAP pays off all IT analysts -- who have the same concern for accuracy as SAP. Not one of these entities will disclose their pro-SAP financial bias to their readers. 

Most SAP customers have now become aware of the recent news involving indirect access claims and two prominent SAP customers.

Clearly, how software is licensed and actually used have become an increasingly important, yet complex topic. For too long, many ASUG members have operated with vague or confusing definitions of licensing, and the time is well overdue to clarify meaning and intent.

At ASUG, we see this point in time as an opportunity for clarification to common licensing questions with clear, concise communication so that all SAP customers can safely chart their futures.

And as ASUG likes to present and to leave out, this is entirely SAP’s making.

Is SAP Moving Towards Increased Transparency?

SAP says this about their pricing in their indirect access announcement.

Among the many topics that SAP has made progress on over the past year is one that we don’t talk too publicly about: Corporate Pricing and Licensing. We recognize that traditional approaches to business are being replaced by newer, more transparent, modern ways of thinking and acting. Which is why we are committed to modernizing our pricing approach.

SAP uses opaque pricing, and they always have. SAP does this so it can trick customers and maximize profits. SAP will continue issuing statements like this, but then the pricing is kept secret. Not only the price list, which is incredibly complicated and usually requires a pricier separate from the account executive, but also in the discounts that it offers.

ASUG will always reinforce whatever it says. So if SAP says something, ASUG is there to repeat it. This convergence of views is why it is entirely apparent that ASUG is SAP’s puppet.

We know that the vast majority of SAP customers believe they are appropriately licensed and in compliance with their software usage. They’re not out to cheat any of their software and service providers. Thusly, we have communicated to SAP that they should not penalize customers who have worked hard and consciously believe they are appropriately licensed.

This would imply that ASUG has the power of SAP rather than vice versa. ASUG needs to appear independent of SAP, which is why they put something like this out. Secondly, the indirect access enforced by SAP is not valid indirect access. It is entirely out of line with industry standards. To understand SAP’s interpretation of indirect access and understand how it differs from the traditional definition, see the article Type 1 Versus Type 2 Indirect Access.

ASUG Sets Up Meetings for a Free Exchange of Ideas?

In fact, on Monday at ASUG Annual Conference and SAPPHIRE NOW, more than 60 members of ASUG’s exclusive Executive Exchange group met to discuss general licensing trends and indirect access. The first discussion was with ASUG CEO Geoff Scott and Joe Galuszka, digital business transformation consultant at Information Services Group (ISG), who completed a study with ASUG members on SAP auditing and indirect licensing. (Read the previous article with Galuszka on indirect licensing.)

These two individuals, Geof Scott and Joe Galuszka wrote one of the most false and misleading articles on indirect access that exists. I critiqued it in the article ASUG’s Biased and Misleading Article on Indirect Access. I would trust either of these men to tell me the color of the sky, much less be interested in their views on indirect access. I do not think they have sufficient technical backgrounds to understand the topic of indirect access.

“SAP enjoys a vaunted position inside many customers’ businesses—as the core digital nervous system,” says ASUG’s Scott. “As such, SAP should encourage all enterprises to put as much data into the nervous system as possible. Attempts to charge for this access without just cause could jeopardize this position.”

This statement runs counter to what SAP is doing with indirect access. How can SAP expect to bring its indirect access claims against its customers and expect customers to keep putting data into their “core digital nervous system?” Secondly, if you use the term “core digital nervous system,” you are either a propagandist or a simpleton. People who understand IT or have any depth don’t speak that way.

ASUG is There to Help Provide Input to SAP??

With all this in mind, he adds, the ASUG community needs time to appropriately vet and provide input back to SAP on these changes.

“For sure, there’s much more work to do on this topic,” Scott says, “and we, at ASUG, will continue our influence activities and communication with SAP on behalf of our customer base.”

Right, Scott. You do that. We know what good hands influencing indirect access will be with SAP…..err, we mean ASUG.