The Problem with SAP User Groups on S/4HANA for AnyDB

ByShaun Snapp

Executive Summary

  • SAP took advantage of customers by restricting S/4HANA to HANA.
  • How can SAP be pressured to open up S/4HANA to other databases?

Introduction

This is a perfect time for SAP user groups to pressure SAP to open S/4HANA to other databases. However, who can do this?

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. 

The Uselessness of SAP User Groups

Unfortunately, while SAP customers’ interests are enormous on this topic, no SAP user group is willing to confront SAP with this demand. Each of the user groups is too friendly with SAP and, therefore, cannot adequately represent the users’ interests. ASUG members, in particular, could ask, “what are you good for?”

ASUG is useless outside of setting up conferences and figuring out where booths should go, managing the catering for events, etc. You can’t trust them to moderate any disagreement with any objectivity with SAP because SAP tells them what to do. ASUG is a neutered entity and holding pen for CIOs between SAP gigs that care more about their relationship to SAP than any of the companies that are ASUG members, which we covered in the article How ASUG Lost Its Way and Sold Out to SAP.

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Conclusion

It this amazing when you think about it. Consulting firms, user groups, Gartner, and Forrester — SAP has infiltrated them all, and none of them represents the interests of customers. Only DSAG seems even to attempt to challenge SAP.