2009 SAP Support Practices Benchmark Survey

Transcription

1 Panaya Inc SAP Support Practices Benchmark Survey Survey Results and Executive Summary For questions and additional information or visit

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary... 3 Respondent Demographics... 4 SAP System Sizing... 6 SAP System Characteristics... 7 Support Practices and Challenges... 9 Reaction to SAP Enterprise Support SAP Support Costs Disclaimer and Trademark Notices... 18

3 Executive Summary Survey results are based on 179 responses collected from SAP customers and system integrators through a standardized online questionnaire during April of Some of survey s key findings include: The average cost of SAP development and support across the surveyed organizations is $5,670 per user per year. 2 On average, 7 of the cost goes towards in-house resources and towards outsourcing. Overall cost is the top support-related challenge, as cited by 7 of the respondents. The effort involved in implementing Support Packages is quite considerable, reaching an average of 73 person days per support package, with the majority of the effort associated with testing (42 days). When asked about their reaction to the recent changes in SAP s Enterprise Support policy, the majority of the respondents (68%) do not think the price increase is reasonable. At the same time, a surprising 32% is either supportive of the price increase or neutral to it. About Panaya Established in 2006, Panaya Inc. provides software tools that save SAP customers up to 5 of their software upgrade and maintenance costs while minimizing risks and proving clear ROI. Provided as Software as a Service (SaaS), Panaya s SAP environment simulation shows which custom SAP programs will break as a result of an upgrade, explains how to fix them, derives the most efficient test plan, and calculates the required budget and resources for the project. To learn more or apply for a free upgrade evaluation, click here: 1 The survey can be accessed online at 2 Cost per User = (Total Internal Cost + Outsourcing Cost) / Number of SAP Users

4 Respondent Demographics Eighty percent of the survey respondents represent SAP customers that run their own business on the SAP system. The remaining twenty come from SAP-partner organizations that help other companies with their upgrade projects. Consultant/SI Customer 8 Figure 1: Respondents Relationships with SAP The survey was completed by respondents from all over the world, with the majority coming from Europe and The Americas, followed by Asia & The Pacific and Africa & The Middle East. Europe 34% Africa & Midde East 11% Asia & Pacific 24% Americas 31% Figure 2: Respondents by Region

5 Customer organizations responding to the survey come from a variety of industries, with a particularly strong representation of the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing 25% Other High Tech Utilities 11% 11% 13% Public Sector & Education 8% Construction Financial Services Retail Communications Aerospace & Defense Professional Services Healthcare 6% 6% 5% 4% 4% 3% 2% Figure 3: Responding Customers by Industry Responding customers represent a fairly even distribution of company size (measured by revenues), ranging from smaller companies with annual revenues of less than $0.5 billion US dollars to larger ones with revenues of over 5 billion dollars. 27% Company Size (2008 Revenues in $US) 25% 21% 18% 14% 5% <$0.5B $0.5B-1B $1B-2B $2B-5B >$5B Figure 4: Responding Customers by Company Size (2008 in $US)

6 SAP System Sizing Half of the responding customer organizations operate more than one SAP production system, with some organizations operating over fifty systems % 7% One Two to Five Six to Ten Over Ten Figure 5: Number of SAP Production Systems (Customer Organizations) The median number of users for responding customer organizations is 600 and 4 of the organizations have over 1,000 production users. 5 45% 4 35% 25% 5% 45% 37% 3% ,000 1,001-10,000 Over 10,000 Figure 6: Number of SAP Production Users (Customer Organizations)

7 SAP System Characteristics The vast majority of the respondents (64%) are currently using ERP % % 6% 9% 4% 4.6C 4.7 ERP2004 ERP2005 Other Figure 7: Current Version The modules most commonly used by survey respondents are FI (98%), CO (95%), and MM (89%). The least used modules are LE (33%), QM (51%), PS (53%), and PM (54%). CO 95% FI HR 7 98% LE 33% MM 89% PM 54% PP 61% PS QM 53% 51% SD 77% Figure 8: Modules Used

8 The vast majority (81%) of the respondents use SAP NetWeaver Components. Among those that use the SAP NetWeaver Components, BW/BI is the most commonly used (83%). SAP BW/BI 83% No 19% Using Components 81% SAP XI/PI SAP EP 47% 43% TREX 19% Others 35% Figure 9: Components Used Over 41% of the respondents are using SAP industry solutions. Yes 41% No 59% Figure 10: Use of Industry Solutions

9 Support Practices and Challenges Overall cost is the clear top challenge cited by a large majority of the respondents (7) when asked about their support-related challenges. Next in line are response to service requests (46%) and level of enhancement/new functionality (42%). Top 3 Support Challenges Overall IT costs Response to service requests 46% 7 1. Overall cost 2. Response to service requests 3. Level of enhancement/ new functionality Level of enhancement/new functionality Stability of system System response time 42% Downtime 12% Other 7% Figure 11: Support Challenges (Top Two Selected) Part of the ongoing challenge faced by most support organizations is the deployment of SAP Support Packages, which are deployed by 83% of the respondents. Almost half of the respondents (43%) deploy Support Packages as part of a Support Package stack, while 25% select only the required packages. 5 45% 4 35% 25% 5% 43% As part of a support package stack 25% We select only the required support packages 17% As part of an We don t apply support enhancement package packages, only notes Figure 12: SAP Corrections Implementation Policy

10 The vast majority (82%) of those that deploy Support Packages apply more than one package per year. More than half of these organizations (54%) deploy 2-4 support packages per year and over a quarter of the organizations (28%) deploy 5 or more packages yearly. 6 54% % 8% One Two to Four Five to Ten Over Ten Figure 13: Support Packages per Year The effort involved in implementing Support Packages is quite considerable, reaching an average of 73 person days per support package, with the majority of the effort associated with testing (42 days). Preparations 18 Installation 14 Testing Figure 14: Average Support Package Implementation Effort (in person days)

11 Given these figures, it is not surprising that the primary challenge associated with Support Packages is assessing the impact on the existing solution, cited by 58% of the respondents, followed by efficient testing (39% of the respondents) and minimizing downtime (24%). Top 3 Support Package Challenges Assess impact on existing solution Efficient testing 39% 58% 1. Assessing the impact on the existing solution 2. Efficient testing 3. Minimizing downtime Minimize downtime Cost/effort estimation Modification adjustment Justify budget for project/value proposition 24% 18% Project Management End-user training 5% Other 4% Figure 15: Support Package Challenges SAP Enhancement Packages are deployed by 8 of the organizations that are currently on ECC 6.0. Of the organizations that implement Enhancement Packages, almost half (49%) plan to implement 2-4 packages in the next year and plan to implement 5 or more packages. 6 Plan on Enahncement Packages? 5 49% No 4 36% Yes 8 7% 8% One Two to Four Five to Ten Over Ten Figure 16: Enhancement Packages Planned in the Next Year

12 The challenges associated with Enhancement Packages are somewhat similar to those associated with Support Packages, with the added challenge of understanding the new functionality included in the enhancement package, which was cited as one of the two top challenges by over half (51%) of the respondents. Assessing the impact on the existing solution was a close second (47%), followed by understanding how to implement the new functionality (24%). Top 3 Enhancement Package Challenges 1. Undestanding the new functionality 2. Assessing the impact on the existing solution 3. Understanding how to implement Understand the new functionality Assess impact on existing solution Understand how to implement the new functionality in our system Efficient testing Justify budget for project/value proposition Cost/effort estimation Minimize downtime 24% 18% 16% 14% 9% 47% 51% Project Management 6% End-user training 3% Modification adjustment 3% Figure 17: Enhancement Package Challenges Another type of system maintenance task that is practiced by most organizations on an ongoing basis is the release of transports. Most organizations (59%) release transports as often as needed, without a pre-determined release schedule. Another 24% of the organizations release transports at least once a week, while only 18% release them monthly or quarterly. 6 59% % 8% As Needed Weekly or More Often Monthly Quarterly Figure 18: Transport Release Policy

13 Reaction to SAP Enterprise Support As of January 2009, SAP launched SAP Enterprise Support, which offers a broader scope of services at an increased price. 3 While the majority of the respondents (68%) do not think the price increase is reasonable, a surprising 32% is either supportive of the price increase or neutral to it. 68% do not think the price increase that comes with the new SAP Enterprise Support offer is reasonable. 45% 4 35% 25% 5% 4 28% 23% 6% 3% Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Figure 19: Is the Price Increase Reasonable? Respondents showed a slightly more positive attitude when asked about the value they see in the new enterprise support offer. Still, close to half of the respondents (49%) either disagree or strongly disagree when asked if they appreciate the value of the offer. Close to half of the respondents do not appreciate the value of the new SAP Enterprise Support offer. 35% 25% 29% 31% 12% 9% 5% Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Figure 20: Appreciate the Value of the New Enterprise Support Offer 3 The survey was conducted prior to modifications to the offer later introduced by SAP.

14 Overall, of the respondents believe that the new support offer will have an impact on their organizations. 4 35% 34% 25% 22% 16% 14% 14% 5% Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Figure 21: Little or No Impact from the New Enterprise Support Offer

15 SAP Support Costs SAP customers allocate a considerable amount of resources to the ongoing support of their applications. The average cost of SAP development and support across the surveyed organizations is $5,670 per user per year (the cost of internal and outsourced resources divided by the number of SAP users). Costs are higher in Europe and the Americas compared to the rest of the world. The average cost of SAP development and support is $5,670 per user per year. $7,000 $6,000 $5,000 $4,000 $6,789 $5,537 $3,957 $3,000 $2,000 $1,000 $- Europe Americas ROW Figure 22: Average Annual Support Costs per User Almost all the organizations surveyed outsource some of their SAP development and support work. On average, of the spending is used for outsourcing. Outsourcing Costs ($US) In-house Costs ($US) 7 Figure 23: Outsourcing vs. In-house Costs

16 Staffing of in-house resources is primarily skewed towards application support (32%) and development/programming (27%). Other 11% General/Admin 14% Basis 16% Development/ Programming 27% Application Support 32% Figure 24: Distribution of In-House Resources

17 Table of Figures Figure 1: Respondents Relationships with SAP... 4 Figure 2: Respondents by Region... 4 Figure 3: Responding Customers by Industry... 5 Figure 4: Responding Customers by Company Size (2008 in $US)... 5 Figure 5: Number of SAP Production Systems (Customer Organizations)... 6 Figure 6: Number of SAP Production Users (Customer Organizations)... 6 Figure 7: Current Version... 7 Figure 8: Modules Used... 7 Figure 9: Components Used... 8 Figure 10: Use of Industry Solutions... 8 Figure 11: Support Challenges (Top Two Selected)... 9 Figure 12: SAP Corrections Implementation Policy... 9 Figure 13: Support Packages per Year Figure 14: Average Support Package Implementation Effort (in person days) Figure 15: Support Package Challenges Figure 16: Enhancement Packages Planned in the Next Year Figure 17: Enhancement Package Challenges Figure 18: Transport Release Policy Figure 19: Is the Price Increase Reasonable? Figure 20: Appreciate the Value of the New Enterprise Support Offer Figure 21: Little or No Impact from the New Enterprise Support Offer Figure 22: Average Annual Support Costs per User Figure 23: Outsourcing vs. In-house Costs Figure 24: Distribution of In-House Resources... 16

18 Disclaimer and Trademark Notices This report is provided by Panaya Inc. It is completely independent of and not affiliated with SAP AG. SAP is a registered trademark of SAP AG. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY Panaya Inc. makes no representation or warranties, either express or implied by or with respect to anything in this document, and shall not be liable for any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or for any indirect special or consequential damages. COPYRIGHT NOTICE No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written consent of Panaya Inc. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this publication, Panaya Inc. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. This publication is subject to change without notice. Copyright Panaya Inc. All rights reserved.