The "SAP 2014" case is set in 2014, and is focused on strategic decisions SAP needed to make at that time regarding their enterprise software offerings, including the HANA database, and their overall marketplace and cloud strategy. Consider the following headline and quote that we also discussed in class (taken from https://www.itpro.co.uk/business-operations/enterprise-resource-planning- erp/354707/sap-to-extend-business-suite-7-support ) The headline: "SAP to extend Business Suite 7 support following S/4HANA complaints" The quote: "'[The survey] did not show a single customer not planning to migrate to SAP S/4HANA," he said. 'In addition, the German-Speaking User Group indicates in their lately published survey that customer investments in SAP S/4HANA are increasing significantly.'" However: the "punch line" of the article was that SAP extended the end of life deadline for Business Suite 7 by 2 years, from 2025 to 2027...with extended support available until 2030. (See also the official SAP commitment to 2027 on their website - 2nd paragraph - https://support.sap.com/en/release-upgrade-maintenance/maintenance- information/maintenance-strategy/s4hana-business-suite7.html .) Consider that SAP S4/HANA was first introduced in February, 2015, which puts its introduction squarely in the midst of the strategic planning discussed in the case. It's now 9 years later, and while there is tremendous interest in S4/HANA (ref: the above quote), companies - and SAP itself - are struggling to make the migration from Business Suite 7 to S4/HANA move along at a desirable pace. In fact, consider this additional quote from the above-referenced article: "Not everyone has welcomed the news, though. CEO of software firm IFS, Darren Roos, said: "While extending support to 2027 may provide the illusion of addressing customer concern, it doesn't help them. It only delays the problem," he said. "Even with a two-year extension, there simply aren't the skills or resources available to migrate everyone by that deadline." But then, as part of that same quote from Darren Roos: "For many customers, there still isn't real, quantifiable value in S/4 HANA."

For purposes of this case write-up, your team has been engaged by SAP to advise on the company's strategic re-planning that succeeds what was done in 2014 as described in the case. Answer the following questions, as part of this effort: 1) Using "now" as your baseline - February, 2023 - objectively, critically, and comprehensively evaluate the decisions that SAP made between 2010 and 2014, as described in the case reading: acquisitions, their HANA strategy, market strategy, product portfolio, and especially their overall cloud strategy. What did they do right? Why? What did they miss? Why? Support your positions as extensively and comprehensively as possible including extensive reference to the specifics in the case reading. 2) Where do they go from here - February, 2023 - for the next 5-7 years, specifically with S4/HANA, in light of this recent decision to extend the life of Business Suite 7...and in light of the apparent skills shortage to help companies migrate to S4/HANA? But also, in a larger sense, what about their "heading for the cloud" strategy? Should they build out SAP cloud services? What about partnering with AWS, Azure, Google, and others? Should they be concerned about a possible "backlash" against cloud solutions and costs (ref: what we discussed in class) and continue to offer data center options as well? What about other SAP products and offerings: their business intelligence capabilities? Midmarket strategy? Consulting and professional services, both their own and through partners...can that help migration specifically, or their overall company strategy in general...and if so, how? IMPORTANT: Your response for this portion of your submission must be more than just a narrative: you must use charts, graphs, timelines, etc. to "tell a solid story and make the strongest case possible." Avoid generalized "statements of goodness" along the lines of "SAP should build out their cloud services and also build partnerships..." - you need to justify, explore costs, potential drawbacks, their ability to support dual paths, etc.