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2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Panaya Inc.
2009 SAP® Support Practices
Benchmark Survey
Survey Results and Executive
Summary
For questions and additional information
e-mail [email protected] or visit www.panayainc.com
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ...................................................................................... 3
Respondent Demographics ............................................................................ 4
SAP System Sizing ........................................................................................ 6
SAP System Characteristics ............................................................................ 7
Support Practices and Challenges ................................................................... 9
Reaction to SAP® Enterprise Support ........................................................... 13
SAP Support Costs ...................................................................................... 15
Disclaimer and Trademark Notices................................................................ 18
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Executive Summary
Survey results are based on 179 responses collected from SAP customers and system integrators through a standardized online questionnaire during April of 2009. 1 Some of survey’s key findings include:
• The average cost of SAP development and support across the surveyed organizations is $5,670 per user per year. 2
• On average, 70% of the cost goes towards in-house resources and 30% towards outsourcing.
• Overall cost is the top support-related challenge, as cited by 70% of the respondents.
• The effort involved in implementing Support Packages is quite considerable, reaching an average of 73 person days per support package, with the majority of the effort associated with testing (42 days).
• When asked about their reaction to the recent changes in SAP’s Enterprise Support policy, the majority of the respondents (68%) do not think the price increase is reasonable. At the same time, a surprising 32% is either supportive of the price increase or neutral to it.
About Panaya Established in 2006, Panaya Inc. provides software tools that save SAP customers up to 50% of their software upgrade and maintenance costs while minimizing risks and proving clear ROI. Provided as Software as a Service (SaaS), Panaya’s SAP environment simulation shows which custom SAP programs will break as a result of an upgrade, explains how to fix them, derives the most efficient test plan, and calculates the required budget and resources for the project. To learn more or apply for a free upgrade evaluation, click here: http://www.panayainc.com/Free-Upgrade-Analysis-for-your-SAP.html
1 The survey can be accessed online at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/117894/benchmark-sap-support-costs. 2 Cost per User = (Total Internal Cost + Outsourcing Cost) / Number of SAP Users
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Respondent Demographics
Eighty percent of the survey respondents represent SAP customers that run their own business on the SAP system. The remaining twenty come from SAP-partner organizations that help other companies with their upgrade projects.
Consultant/SI
20%
Customer
80%
Figure 1: Respondents’ Relationships with SAP
The survey was completed by respondents from all over the world, with the majority coming from Europe and The Americas, followed by Asia & The Pacific and Africa & The Middle East.
Africa & Midde
East
11%
Asia & Pacific
24%
Americas
31%
Europe
34%
Figure 2: Respondents by Region
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Customer organizations responding to the survey come from a variety of industries, with a particularly strong representation of the manufacturing sector.
2%
3%
4%
4%
5%
6%
6%
8%
11%
11%
13%
25%
Healthcare
Professional Services
Aerospace & Defense
Communications
Retail
Financial Services
Construction
Public Sector & Education
Utilities
High Tech
Other
Manufacturing
Figure 3: Responding Customers by Industry
Responding customers represent a fairly even distribution of company size (measured by revenues), ranging from smaller companies with annual revenues of less than $0.5 billion US dollars to larger ones with revenues of over 5 billion dollars.
27%
20%
14%
21%
18%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
<$0.5B $0.5B-1B $1B-2B $2B-5B >$5B
Company Size (2008 Revenues in $US)
Figure 4: Responding Customers by Company Size (2008 in $US)
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
SAP System Sizing
Half of the responding customer organizations operate more than one SAP production system, with some organizations operating over fifty systems.
50%
33%
7%10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
One Two to Five Six to Ten Over Ten
Figure 5: Number of SAP Production Systems (Customer Organizations)
The median number of users for responding customer organizations is 600 and 40% of the organizations have over 1,000 production users.
15%
45%
37%
3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
1-100 101-1,000 1,001-10,000 Over 10,000
Figure 6: Number of SAP Production Users (Customer Organizations)
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
SAP System Characteristics
The vast majority of the respondents (64%) are currently using ERP 2005.
6%
16%
9%
64%
4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
4.6C 4.7 ERP2004 ERP2005 Other
Figure 7: Current Version
The modules most commonly used by survey respondents are FI (98%), CO (95%), and MM (89%). The least used modules are LE (33%), QM (51%), PS (53%), and PM (54%).
51%
53%
61%
54%
89%
33%
70%
95%
77%
98%
SD
QM
PS
PP
PM
MM
LE
HR
FI
CO
Figure 8: Modules Used
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
The vast majority (81%) of the respondents use SAP® NetWeaver Components. Among those that use the SAP NetWeaver Components, BW/BI is the most commonly used (83%).
Using
Components
81%
No
19%
35%
19%
43%
47%
83%
Others
TREX
SAP EP
SAP XI/PI
SAP
BW/BI
Figure 9: Components Used
Over 41% of the respondents are using SAP industry solutions.
No
59%
Yes
41%
Figure 10: Use of Industry Solutions
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Support Practices and Challenges
Top 3 Support
Challenges
1. Overall cost
2. Response to
service requests 3. Level of
enhancement/ new functionality
Overall cost is the clear top challenge cited by a large majority of the respondents (70%) when asked about their support-related challenges. Next in line are response to service requests (46%) and level of enhancement/new functionality (42%).
7%
12%
15%
15%
42%
46%
70%
Other
Downtime
System response time
Stability of system
Level of enhancement/new functionality
Response to service requests
Overall IT costs
Figure 11: Support Challenges (Top Two Selected)
Part of the ongoing challenge faced by most support organizations is the deployment of SAP Support Packages, which are deployed by 83% of the respondents. Almost half of the respondents (43%) deploy Support Packages as part of a Support Package stack, while 25% select only the required packages.
43%
25%
15%17%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
As part of a support
package stack
We select only the
required support
packages
As part of an
enhancement package
We don’t apply support
packages, only notes
Figure 12: SAP Corrections Implementation Policy
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
The vast majority (82%) of those that deploy Support Packages apply more than one package per year. More than half of these organizations (54%) deploy 2-4 support packages per year and over a quarter of the organizations (28%) deploy 5 or more packages yearly.
8%
20%
54%
18%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
One Two to Four Five to Ten Over Ten
Figure 13: Support Packages per Year
The effort involved in implementing Support Packages is quite considerable, reaching an average of 73 person days per support package, with the majority of the effort associated with testing (42 days).
Preparations
18
Installation
14
Testing
42
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 14: Average Support Package Implementation Effort (in person days)
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Given these figures, it is not surprising that the primary challenge associated with Support Packages is assessing the impact on the existing solution, cited by 58% of the respondents, followed by efficient testing (39% of the respondents) and minimizing downtime (24%).
Top 3 Support Package Challenges 1. Assessing the
impact on the
existing solution 2. Efficient testing
3. Minimizing
downtime
5%
10%
15%
18%
20%
24%
39%
58%
4%Other
End-user training
Project Management
Justify budget for project/value proposition
Modification adjustment
Cost/effort estimation
Minimize downtime
Efficient testing
Assess impact on existing solution
Figure 15: Support Package Challenges
SAP Enhancement Packages are deployed by 80% of the organizations that are currently on ECC 6.0. Of the organizations that implement Enhancement Packages, almost half (49%) plan to implement 2-4 packages in the next year and 15% plan to implement 5 or more packages.
Plan on Enahncement Packages?
Yes
80%
No
20%
36%
49%
7%8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
One Two to Four Five to Ten Over Ten
Figure 16: Enhancement Packages Planned in the Next Year
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
The challenges associated with Enhancement Packages are somewhat similar to those associated with Support Packages, with the added challenge of understanding the new functionality included in the enhancement package, which was cited as one of the two top challenges by over half (51%) of the respondents. Assessing the impact on the existing solution was a close second (47%), followed by understanding how to implement the new functionality (24%).
Top 3 Enhancement Package Challenges 1. Undestanding the
new functionality 2. Assessing the
impact on the existing solution
3. Understanding
how to implement
3%
6%
9%
14%
16%
18%
24%
51%
47%
3%Modification adjustment
End-user training
Project Management
Minimize downtime
Cost/effort estimation
Justify budget for project/value proposition
Efficient testing
Understand how to implement the new functionality in our system
Assess impact on existing solution
Understand the new functionality
Figure 17: Enhancement Package Challenges
Another type of system maintenance task that is practiced by most organizations on an ongoing basis is the release of transports. Most organizations (59%) release transports as often as needed, without a pre-determined release schedule. Another 24% of the organizations release transports at least once a week, while only 18% release them monthly or quarterly.
59%
24%
8%10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
As Needed Weekly or More Often Monthly Quarterly
Figure 18: Transport Release Policy
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Reaction to SAP® Enterprise Support
68% do not think the price increase
that comes with the new SAP® Enterprise Support offer is reasonable.
As of January 2009, SAP launched SAP® Enterprise Support, which offers a broader scope of services at an increased price. 3 While the majority of the respondents (68%) do not think the price increase is reasonable, a surprising 32% is either supportive of the price increase or neutral to it.
40%
28%
23%
6%3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 19: Is the Price Increase Reasonable?
Close to half of the
respondents do not appreciate
the value of the new SAP® Enterprise Support offer.
Respondents showed a slightly more positive attitude when asked about the value they see in the new enterprise support offer. Still, close to half of the respondents (49%) either disagree or strongly disagree when asked if they appreciate the value of the offer.
29%
20%
31%
12%
9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 20: Appreciate the Value of the New Enterprise Support Offer
3 The survey was conducted prior to modifications to the offer later introduced by SAP.
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Overall, 30% of the respondents believe that the new support offer will have an impact on their organizations.
16%14%
34%
14%
22%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 21: Little or No Impact from the New Enterprise Support Offer
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
SAP Support Costs
The average cost of SAP development and support is $5,670 per user per year.
SAP customers allocate a considerable amount of resources to the ongoing support of their applications. The average cost of SAP development and support across the surveyed organizations is $5,670 per user per year (the cost of internal and outsourced resources divided by the number of SAP users). Costs are higher in Europe and the Americas compared to the rest of the world.
$6,789
$5,537
$3,957
$-
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
$7,000
Europe Americas ROW
Figure 22: Average Annual Support Costs per User
Almost all the organizations surveyed outsource some of their SAP development and support work. On average, 30% of the spending is used for outsourcing.
Outsourcing
Costs ($US)
30%
In-house Costs
($US)
70%
Figure 23: Outsourcing vs. In-house Costs
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Staffing of in-house resources is primarily skewed towards application support (32%) and development/programming (27%).
General/Admin
14%
Application
Support
32%Development/
Programming
27%
Basis
16%
Other
11%
Figure 24: Distribution of In-House Resources
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Respondents’ Relationships with SAP ............................................... 4 Figure 2: Respondents by Region .................................................................. 4 Figure 3: Responding Customers by Industry .................................................. 5 Figure 4: Responding Customers by Company Size (2008 in $US) ..................... 5 Figure 5: Number of SAP Production Systems (Customer Organizations) ............ 6 Figure 6: Number of SAP Production Users (Customer Organizations) ................ 6 Figure 7: Current Version ............................................................................. 7 Figure 8: Modules Used ................................................................................ 7 Figure 9: Components Used .......................................................................... 8 Figure 10: Use of Industry Solutions .............................................................. 8 Figure 11: Support Challenges (Top Two Selected) ......................................... 9 Figure 12: SAP Corrections Implementation Policy ........................................... 9 Figure 13: Support Packages per Year ......................................................... 10 Figure 14: Average Support Package Implementation Effort (in person days) ... 10 Figure 15: Support Package Challenges ....................................................... 11 Figure 16: Enhancement Packages Planned in the Next Year .......................... 11 Figure 17: Enhancement Package Challenges ............................................... 12 Figure 18: Transport Release Policy ............................................................. 12 Figure 19: Is the Price Increase Reasonable? ................................................ 13 Figure 20: Appreciate the Value of the New Enterprise Support Offer .............. 13 Figure 21: Little or No Impact from the New Enterprise Support Offer ............. 14 Figure 22: Average Annual Support Costs per User ........................................ 15 Figure 23: Outsourcing vs. In-house Costs ................................................... 15 Figure 24: Distribution of In-House Resources .............................................. 16
2009 SAP® Support Practices Survey
© Panaya Inc, 2009 www.panayainc.com
Disclaimer and Trademark Notices
This report is provided by Panaya Inc. It is completely independent of and not affiliated
with SAP AG.
SAP is a registered trademark of SAP AG. SAP and other SAP products and services
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