A new report from Rimini Street found that many SAP customers are shifting to multi-vendor composable ERP strategies instead of fully committing to S/4HANA, as they look for faster innovation, cost control, and greater flexibility.
Rimini Street, a global provider of enterprise software support and managed services, surveyed 455 IT and business leaders to understand how organizations are responding to SAP’s roadmap and subscription-based model. The study revealed that nearly all respondents find it difficult to justify the return on investment (ROI) for migrating to S/4HANA.
About 95% of SAP customers surveyed said that building a strong ROI case for S/4HANA requires significant effort or is genuinely challenging. While 83% admitted they do not fully understand SAP’s latest migration policies and deadlines, and 84% expressed concern about how these changes could affect their operations.
According to the report, frequent changes in SAP’s deadlines, packaging options, and product names have caused uncertainty among its customers, prompting many to explore alternative paths.
The study also showed that 83% of respondents see clear value in a composable ERP approach, which allows faster integration of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). Also, 94% said the model offers the freedom to select best-fit solutions for specific business needs.
“It’s good to see so many SAP customers now fully embracing the idea of open composable architecture and the use of loosely coupled third-party solutions to meet ERP needs,” said Dale Vile, distinguished analyst at Freeform Dynamics. “This business-led, rather than supplier-led approach has been commonplace in other areas of IT for a while as it pays dividends in terms of flexibility, control, and access to new innovations.”
While 77% of those surveyed said they are open to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models, 92% cited increasing and unpredictable subscription costs as a major concern under SAP’s current structure.
The report found that 78% of organizations plan to use multiple vendors to drive innovation across their ERP systems. These companies believe that open, composable models can help them avoid vendor lock-in, adopt emerging technologies more quickly, and switch providers as better options become available.
“As SAP customers navigate costly forced migration decisions and the loss of valuable perpetual licenses, we’re seeing a decisive shift toward composable ERP strategies that deliver faster innovation and real business value,” said David Rowe, chief product and marketing officer of Rimini Street.