In a joint announcement on Tuesday, IBM and SAP revealed a new offering designed to migrate SAP S/4HANA workloads from IBM Power Systems on-premises to the cloud within 90 days. The initiative, named RISE with SAP on IBM Power Virtual Server, is set to launch in the second quarter of 2025.

Industry analyst Scott Bickley of Info-Tech Research described the announcement as more of a sales and marketing play than a substantive breakthrough. He pointed out that while the press release highlighted IBM’s long-standing relationship with SAP, serving 10,000 customers over 50 years, this number represents only about 2% of SAP's 437,000 customers, indicating limited impact.

Bickley acknowledged the new offering provides another option for SAP customers who want to move to the cloud and run S/4HANA, leveraging IBM’s Power Virtual Server for the transition.

The press release emphasized the benefits of the new offering, claiming it would enable customers to rapidly modernize business processes and achieve greater agility. The collaboration involves IBM and SAP working alongside a network of partners, including IBM Consulting, to deliver combined solutions and support for the migration.

IBM highlighted the offering's unique advantages in a product advisory, noting that it integrates outcome-driven services and Cloud ERP with SAP S/4HANA, designed to facilitate a seamless and rapid transition to the cloud.

IBM’s familiarity with SAP S/4HANA was underscored by its internal ERP modernization effort that began in 2021. The project involved 150,000 users across 175 countries and achieved a 30% reduction in infrastructure costs through server and data footprint rationalization and increased automation.

Robert Kramer, VP and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, regarded the offering as a practical option for companies already utilizing SAP on IBM. He highlighted the potential benefits, including a swift 90-day transition and up to 30% cost savings, as evidenced by IBM’s internal modernization results. Kramer emphasized the importance of modernization for businesses to remain competitive in the evolving ERP landscape.