THE 2027 DEADLINE to migrate to the latest version of Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing’s (SAP) enterprise resource planning (ERP) software could cause panic among its customers in the Philippines, a global information and communication (ICT) solutions company said last week.

“SAP is actually transforming into a cloud company,” Simone Pigason, senior vice-president for customer success at delaware Philippines, said in a media briefing. “It is ending its 50+ years old version and then migrating into a cloud version.”

“To be fair with them, they have already maintained the software for more than 50 years,” she said. “They have to also develop their products already.”

SAP is a software producer for business management processes that has established the global standard for ERP software.

ERP software helps businesses streamline their processes, including finance, human resources, manufacturing, supply chain, sales, and procurement, through an integrated system.

In February 2020, SAP announced its maintenance commitment for the S/4HANA business suite until the end of 2040. S/4HANA is the next generation of SAP ERP that supports artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. By committing to the latest version, the mainstream maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7 core applications ends in 2027.

According to Ms. Pigason, only about 20% of current SAP customers in the Philippines have migrated to the new version.

“There’s going to be a tidal wave, a panic attack in the industry. Legacy customers of SAP have to migrate simultaneously,” she said.

Ms. Pigason added that delaware Philippines plans to leverage this for the next three years.

“We have our hands full right now because of the market and there’s just a compelling event that drives us there.”

delaware Philippines targets a 10% revenue growth in 2025 from its 35% projected growth this year.

“My main problem is not sales, there’s a market for me,” Ms. Pigason said. “My problem is how are we going to deliver? We only have so many people to implement SAP.” — Almira Louise S. Martinez

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