Cover story April 2024
SAP Basis with Cloud ALM,
on-prem
and licenses.
Salzburg 2024: Hana and S/4 also need a robust SAP basis. The Customer Competence Center of SAP R/3 and Business Suite 7 is transforming itself with ALM, process mining and enterprise architects. The SAP Competence Center Summit in Salzburg is dedicated to this transformation process.
Cover Story: July/August 2026
Autonomous Illusion
SAP promotes the Autonomous Enterprise as the next step in the evolution of digitalization. But with every decision delegated to AI agents, dependence on the underlying models grows. How autonomous do companies really become as a result, and who controls this autonomy?
S/4 On-Prem and SAP FSM: Two Systems, One Goal
July 30, 2026
Many service organizations use S/4 On-Prem as their central system for work orders and billing. SAP Field Service Management (FSM for short) supports field service operations. However, without well-planned integration, data inconsistencies and redundant data storage can quickly arise.
Were we wrong?
July 29, 2026
Naturally, in the first half of 2026, there was criticism of our criticism of Christian Klein and his fellow board members. The E3 editorial team is concerned and is pointing out the problems in a critical yet constructive manner. The result is truths that SAP, the global ERP company, does not like to hear.
Bitkom on the AI Security Institute
July 28, 2026
The National Security Council has decided to establish an AI security institute. The German AI Security Institute is intended to help better assess the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence and to engage in dialogue with comparable foreign institutions.
The SAP services market in the DACH region in 2026 is characterized by growing disparities in quality: While leading providers perform well across nearly all evaluation criteria, a significant portion of the market remains at a moderate level.
According to Adesso’s GenAI Impact Study, 41 percent of the companies surveyed are currently only exploring the basic applications of AI agents. Just under 31 percent are already using them in production. That sounds like a spirit of optimism, but it is primarily a sign of hesitation.
The Future of SAP Business Warehouse: Should You Migrate to BW/4 HANA or Business Data Cloud?
July 23, 2026
Many companies do not fully tap into the economic potential of their ERP landscape. Usage and operating costs are rising steadily, while opportunities for optimization often go undiscovered. Why taking a close look at licensing and operating models is crucial.
SAP Autonomous Enterprise with TFM
July 30, 2026
Tabular foundation models seem tailor-made for SAP’s ABAP world. In an ERP system where everything is based on tables, an LLM (Large Language Model) has no place. With TabPFN (Tabular Prior-data Fitted Network), the startup Prior Labs can save SAP’s Autonomous Enterprise.
An ERP System Designed for Failure
July 23, 2026
AI knows only one path: to solve a given task optimally and once and for all! What seems like a radical approach to humans is, for the machine, its logical raison d’être. Because AI has no humanistic values, it will continue to optimize until its very end.
SAP Maintenance: The New Win-Win Situation
July 16, 2026
With an antitrust ruling, the EU has provisionally brought an end to an anti-competitive chapter in SAP’s history. The global leader in ERP was accused of exploiting its dominant market position in maintenance and support to force customers into an inescapable service straitjacket.
E3 Roundtable on Generic ERP platforms: Alternative S/4 APIs, AI, and Interfaces
The era of monolithic ERP architectures is ending. SAP customers increasingly reassess cloud-only strategies, clean core requirements, and growing platform dependencies. The E3 Roundtable discusses how composable ERP architectures, independent IT platforms, and hybrid cloud strategies strengthen digital sovereignty and reduce vendor lock-in risks. Using examples such as Boomi, OpenShift, and modern integration platforms, the discussion explores how organizations orchestrate SAP and non-SAP systems while building flexible, future-ready enterprise architectures.
Comments
July 29, 2026
Were we wrong?
Naturally, in the first half of 2026, there was criticism of our criticism of Christian Klein and his fellow board members. The E3 editorial team is concerned and is pointing out the problems in a critical yet constructive manner. The result is truths that SAP, the global ERP company, does not like to hear.
At the 2026 Sapphire events, SAP refined its AI strategy. A vision is taking shape that encompasses autonomy, the partner ecosystem, and the „Autonomous Enterprise.“ It remains to be seen whether these visions will translate into robust solutions.
July 13, 2026
AI: Without Qualifications, Speed Becomes a Risk
Artificial intelligence and agent-driven processes have long since become part of everyday life. But for Copilot and similar tools to deliver useful results, human expertise is essential.
July 10, 2026
Exit, Exit, Exit
The cloud exit problem has not yet been solved, and already the need for another exit strategy for AI is becoming apparent. How will sovereignty ever be achieved?
SAP News
July 28, 2026
Bitkom on the AI Security Institute
The National Security Council has decided to establish an AI security institute. The German AI Security Institute is intended to help better assess the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence and to engage in dialogue with comparable foreign institutions.
According to Adesso’s GenAI Impact Study, 41 percent of the companies surveyed are currently only exploring the basic applications of AI agents. Just under 31 percent are already using them in production. That sounds like a spirit of optimism, but it is primarily a sign of hesitation.
Hyperscaler power or European control? German companies want both. According to the Valantic study „Sovereign Hypercloud,“ many companies are focusing on expanding their IT infrastructure in Europe to combine the performance of international hyperscalers with greater sovereignty.
In collaboration with Deloitte, UiPath relied on agentic automation, test automation, and a clear separation between the SAP core and the agent layer, and used its own S/4 migration as a stress test for a new ERP operating model.
Business Management
July 23, 2026
The Future of SAP Business Warehouse: Should You Migrate to BW/4 HANA or Business Data Cloud?
Many companies do not fully tap into the economic potential of their ERP landscape. Usage and operating costs are rising steadily, while opportunities for optimization often go undiscovered. Why taking a close look at licensing and operating models is crucial.
July 15, 2026
AI Agents in SAP, with Risk Check
SAP is driving the adoption of AI agents and intelligent automation. However, many companies are unable to implement the necessary system upgrades in the short term. With the right governance and security strategies, AI can still be integrated into existing SAP landscapes.
With its product updates for Q1 2026, SAP is continuing to drive the integration of artificial intelligence into business processes and development environments. The focus is on the Joule AI platform, which is increasingly becoming the central user interface for various solutions.
Many companies do not fully tap into the economic potential of their ERP landscape. Usage and operating costs are rising steadily, while opportunities for optimization often go undiscovered. Why taking a close look at licensing and operating models is crucial.
IT Management
July 30, 2026
S/4 On-Prem and SAP FSM: Two Systems, One Goal
Many service organizations use S/4 On-Prem as their central system for work orders and billing. SAP Field Service Management (FSM for short) supports field service operations. However, without well-planned integration, data inconsistencies and redundant data storage can quickly arise.
July 22, 2026
Rise with SAP: SAP Archive—A Strategic Decision
When migrating to Rise with SAP, the SAP archive is often overlooked. Companies must design their archives, interfaces, and operations on their own—ArchiveLink or CMIS are crucial for costs, compliance, and future-proofing.
July 14, 2026
Multiple Layers of Security: While costs are always a key consideration—they aren't the only factor
When it comes to SAP Basis automation, the focus is usually on cost savings. However, this does not provide an adequate assessment of the situation. Security and resilience are just as important—in fact, in two ways.
July 7, 2026
Sovereignty: Integration Without Cloud Mandates
The SAP Integration Suite is moving closer to the shop floor. With the Edge Integration Cell and SUSE Rancher, it bridges the gap between cloud innovation and local control—a must for regulated industries and PI/PO migrants.
Economy
The SAP services market in the DACH region in 2026 is characterized by growing disparities in quality: While leading providers perform well across nearly all evaluation criteria, a significant portion of the market remains at a moderate level.
While 60 percent of Austrian executives are in the pilot or experimental phase with individual AI solutions, only four percent of the companies surveyed have fully integrated AI into their core processes and made it the strategic backbone of their value creation.
Three-quarters of global AI value creation comes from just 20 percent of companies. Germany ranks ahead of the U.S., the U.K., and Japan in the AI Fitness Index, but lags significantly in AI-driven revenue growth.
For most companies in the DACH region, SAP transformation is a reality of business operations. For 70 percent of SAP customers, the S/4 migration is currently underway or has already been completed. This is shown by the latest SAP 2026 study conducted by Valantic in collaboration with the analyst firm Techconsult.
E3 Book Recommendations
Getting Started with ABAP
Learn ABAP from the ground up! In this book, Felix Roth guides you step by step through the basics of ABAP programming. From installing the development environment and learning the basics of syntax to working with databases and object-oriented concepts, you’ll gain a practical introduction to the language. The examples cover both traditional and modern development approaches and are applicable to both cloud and on-premises systems. The ideal companion for SAP’s Basic ABAP Programming training course (S4D400)!
RETHINKING MARKETING - A Call for a New Mindset and Bold Action
With *Rethinking Marketing*, editors Oliver Klein and Wolfgang Merkle present an anthology that consistently views marketing as a strategic value driver. The contributions from renowned practitioners and experts demonstrate how companies can respond to changing customer expectations, digitalization, and the use of AI. The message is particularly relevant for SAP users: modern technologies only realize their full potential when accompanied by a clear marketing strategy and a consistent focus on the customer. The book combines insightful ideas with practical examples and encourages readers to critically examine established processes. Rather than offering simple, one-size-fits-all solutions, it provides diverse perspectives on the future of marketing. A highly recommended read for executives and decision-makers who want to more closely integrate marketing, data, and technology and position their companies for the future.
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