SAP defends forced price hike against user anger
'If you do not want that now, you want later'
By Chris Williams → Published on Monday 28 July 2008 14:13 GMT
SAP today rejected claims by British customers that its new scheme to support prices are unfairly slap small businesses with additional costs for services they will not use.
The group of users in the UK SAP issued a statement Friday urging the German software giant to rethink mandatory rise in support costs from 17 percent to 22 percent of contract value. Over the next four years will be all customers transladados the standard package of support for the Enterprise package, which includes coverage for software than SAP.
Company spokesman Bill Wohl denied that the forced changes are designed to swell the coffers of SAP. "Our motivation is not profit," he said. "They [the user groups] have their perspective, and customers do not want to pay more."
There may be some complaints as a result of that refusal. The real cost increase is about 30 percent, and analysts have estimated that the migration will be worth € 1 billion annually to SAP for the moment was completed in 2012.
Alan Bowling, chairman of the SAP users in the UK, said Friday: "Many of our members may not want or need this extra level of support."
Wohl said that the aid package is already obsolete, and that small groups whose IT systems do not require even greater supply of specti grow in it. "What we're focusing on is what customers have been telling us they want," he said. "We do not think the standard package of support has kept pace with today's IT environments."
SAP said that his contact with customers about the price increase has been "very positive" but had made some minor changes in response to criticism. Complaints from German customers led to the timetable being relaxed to allow outfits running legacy systems to catch up. Other changes are possible, Wohl said.
Admitting that the movement is bound to upset some customers, he challenged those who complain to consider the competition. "The increase in the value justifies the extra expense ... when you make comparisons between SAP and Oracle and SAP and Microsoft, our offer is significantly more valuable."