Cloud Migration Expands France's SAP Ecosystem

The SAP services market in France is growing as more enterprises migrate to SAP S/4HANA and the cloud for greater agility and resilience, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2022 ISG Provider Lenstm SAP Ecosystem report for France finds many companies in France are turning to service providers for the expertise and resources they need to transform their SAP deployments and manage SAP applications. The growing complexity of SAP systems and the need for cloud hosting have triggered major migrations by large enterprises, though midsize companies remain more cautious, the report says.

"In-house management of SAP applications is becoming a thing of the past in France," said Lyonel Roüast, partner and president, ISG SEMEA. "Many companies still retain their traditional ERP, but the move toward managed services contracts has strong momentum."

The COVID-19 pandemic boosted French interest in cloud services after many companies found it hard to ensure the availability and security of their information systems at the height of the crisis, the report says. SAP applications, which are often critical to business, have been among the first entrusted to cloud infrastructure.

"Enterprises in France are finally recognizing the capabilities of cloud service providers," said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. "Most still favor private clouds, but hybrid clouds are gaining acceptance."

At the same time, the increasing complexity of SAP solutions has overwhelmed the IT departments of many companies in France, ISG says. This trend is generating more interest in the sophisticated tools available through SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and the RISE with SAP program. Service providers are becoming major partners in rolling out these solutions. However, some SAP customers in France are still wary that BTP and RISE with SAP will tie them too closely to SAP.

Companies in the French midmarket are taking a different approach to both SAP modernization and service provider selection, the report says. Most midsize SAP customers are still using the traditional ECC6 ERP suite, which SAP plans to stop maintaining in 2027. They have not begun using the cloud and are apprehensive about making major changes. The French midmarket also more strongly favors local providers due to proximity, ease of interaction and the absence of a language barrier.

The report explores a wide range of trends in the French SAP ecosystem, including the importance of customization capabilities, the talent crunch facing service providers and the differing strengths of global and local providers.

The 2022 ISG Provider Lenstm SAP Ecosystem report for France evaluates the capabilities of 29 providers across four quadrants: SAP S/4HANA System Transformation, Managed Application Services for SAP ERP, Managed Platform and Cloud Services for SAP, and SAP Business Technology Platform.

The report names Accenture, Atos and Capgemini as Leaders in all four quadrants. It names DXC Technology and TCS as Leaders in two quadrants each and IBM, oXya and T-Systems as Leaders in one quadrant each.

In addition, T-Systems is named as a Rising Star ? a company with a "promising portfolio" and "high future potential" by ISG's definition ? in two quadrants. PASàPAS and Wipro are named as Rising Stars in one quadrant each.

Customized versions of the report are available from Capgemini and oXya.

The 2022 ISG Provider Lenstm SAP Ecosystem report for France is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

About ISG Provider Lenstm Research

The ISG Provider Lenstm Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 800 clients, including more than 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries?a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry's most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.