SAP SE has announced that a new IDC economic impact model predicts the revenue SAP partners generate will nearly double over the next four years.
The IDC Vendor Spotlight, sponsored by SAP, “Partner Opportunity in a Changing World,” forecasts that partner revenue could expand from US$141 billion this year to $260 billion by 2024.
In conjunction with the expected SAP partner economy expansion, IDC estimates new employment in the ecosystem will rise to 1.6 million employees by 2024, up from 1 million in 2020. Of the 600,000 new employees to the SAP ecosystem, 280,000 will be net-new consultant roles.
The data shows that due to the pandemic-driven increase in remote work, digital transformation efforts are advancing, and companies are expected to spend more on cloud-based solutions. This translates into a $204.4 billion cloud market opportunity for SAP partners from now until the end of 2024. This cloud revenue figure represents 68% of the total net-new opportunity for our partners over that period of time.
“The pandemic has driven digital transformation into every corner of the enterprise to allow businesses to adapt and continue operating as usual,” said Steve White, program vice president, channels and alliances, IDC. “As the economic situation continues to unfold and businesses move their focus from resiliency to recovery, those that leverage digital and cloud-based solutions will be more agile and future-proof, and we’re seeing that acknowledgment drive significant adoption.”
SAP commissioned the research to explore the impact of the current economic landscape on the partner ecosystem. Throughout the pandemic, SAP partners around the world have created new solutions to better serve customers and end users.
For example, U.S.-based Rizing integrated SAP SuccessFactors solutions and global COVID-19 data into its proprietary data analytics app, Lyra, to provide insight to drive employee wellness, create localized communication and response plans as well as support business continuity and risk management plans. Fujitsu announced its “Open COVID Pledge” to allow free access to the intellectual property rights of participants, including SAP, to help curb the global spread of the disease.
“This research confirms the vast and continually growing market opportunity for SAP partners,” said Karl Fahrbach, chief partner officer, SAP. “SAP’s next-generation partnering movement drives partners’ sustained growth by establishing partner-centric sales and service and connecting with customers in new ways across their life cycle. This higher level of ecosystem engagement can increase customer satisfaction, lead to faster time to value and enhance customer lifetime value.”
