82 REPORT Partnering for simpler, smarter growth SAP’s partnership with Microsoft will deliver integrated solutions that empower enterprises of all sizes to simplify operations, boost productivity and unlock the full value of cloud AI BY ALICE CHAMBERS Across more than two decades, the digital landscape for businesses has grown exponentially in both size and complexity. In the early wave of enterprise resource planning (ERP) from 1995 to 2005, the integration of core business systems spurred a productivity boom with global output rising by 2.6 per cent annually, according to Jan Gilg, SAP’s chief revenue officer for the Americas, who spoke at the firm’s annual Sapphire event in June 2025. But that momentum has slowed. Despite the explosion of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions and cloud-based tools, productivity growth between 2005 and 2025 fell to just 1.5 per cent, said Gilg. Why? Because more technology doesn’t always mean better outcomes. The abundance of business platforms, solutions and applications has led to fragmentation, especially for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often lack the resources to integrate complex IT ecosystems. The result? Broken processes, inefficiencies and missed opportunities with cloud and AI. “Businesses are leaking value as employees lose close to five working weeks per year and experience cognitive fatigue faster due to disconnected workflows and switching between tools,” said Santina Franchi, president of SAP’s Corporate and GROW business. “Being able to integrate business processes and personal productivity tools helps users collapse the distance between insight and action, bringing business transformative value.” According to Microsoft, SMEs, the backbone of the global economy, generate over half of national income in high-income countries and account for more than 70 per cent of job growth. That’s why SAP and Microsoft have launched a joint initiative, the SAP Business Suite Acceleration Program with Microsoft Cloud, to help businesses, especially SMEs, move faster and work smarter with cloud and AI. While SAP is better known for serving large enterprises, the company also offers powerful solutions specifically designed to help mid-sized businesses scale with confidence and clarity, and 80 per cent of SAP’s customers are SMEs. At the heart of the new Acceleration Program is a promise to deliver faster time to value by empowering customers to harness the benefits of integrated AI tools like Joule and Microsoft Copilot. It makes it easier for companies to upgrade to cloud-based SAP software by combining SAP’s business tools with Microsoft 365, Azure and Copilot. This enables smoother data flow between systems so users can access insights from SAP’s generative AI solution Joule directly from Microsoft tools like Teams and Outlook. “The integration between SAP Business Suite and Microsoft Cloud marks a significant milestone in innovation, where agentic AI is transforming the way businesses operate,” “ Being able to integrate business processes and personal productivity tools helps users collapse the distance between insight and action” SANTINA FRANCHI, SAP
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=