Looming Deadline for SAP ECC Prompts Nordic Firms to RISE

As the clock winds down on SAP’s support for its ERP Central Component (ECC) system, adoption of the company’s RISE with SAP offering is on the upswing among Nordic enterprises, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2024 ISG Provider Lens SAP Ecosystem report for the Nordics finds a notable increase in demand from large enterprises over the past 12–18 months for both on-premises and cloud deployment of S/4HANA. Much of that increase can be attributed to the RISE with SAP program, which offers tools, services and software to help large enterprises adopt SAP solutions, the ISG report says.

SAP is pushing companies to implement S/4HANA as it ends support for its on-premises SAP ECC system at the end of 2027.

“Growing interest among Nordic businesses in RISE with SAP has increased demand for managed cloud services outsourcing,” said Andreas Fahr, partner and head of ISG DACH and Nordics. “Providers are responding by demonstrating their flexibility in accommodating SAP ERP applications across public and private cloud infrastructures.”

With increasing demand for transformation services, SAP and service providers are strategically aligning to offer either public or private cloud solutions depending on enterprise preferences, the ISG report says. While private cloud is currently still the favored choice among enterprises for SAP applications, the landscape of cloud adoption in the Nordics is evolving, ISG says. According to the report, recent market trends indicate a growing demand for public cloud alternatives.

To accommodate this demand, providers are enhancing their operations and introducing new services, actively refining their tools, accelerators and functionalities to deliver tangible benefits to clients, the report says. That includes integrating automation and AI into tools and accelerators for SAP transformations and managed services. In addition, providers are offering industry-specific road maps tailored to meet specific client needs and focusing on reducing time to market, ISG says.

“Nordic enterprises are looking for providers that are capable of delivering services with minimal lead time,” said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “That has prompted providers to bolster their skilled resource strength in the region and led to an increase in certified onshore resources.”