SAP and Microsoft bolster relationship for 'the future of work'

Christian Klein (SAP)

SAP and Microsoft have taken their partnership to a new symbiotic level, with each company looking to push each other’s services on their own platforms in an attempt to figure out new working norms. 

As part of the updated partnership, which follows an initial partnership from October 2019, Microsoft Teams will be integrated within SAP’s suite of products, which includes SAP S/4HANA, SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Customer Experience. 

Meanwhile, plans for the accelerated adoption of SAP S/4HANA on Microsoft Azure have been expanded from the 2019 partnership to include cloud automation and integration. Originally, the partnership between the two companies was focused on accelerating deployments of SAP S/4HANA and SAP Cloud Platform on Azure.

The integration of Teams into SAP products, which is due to land in mid-2021, comes as a means of mitigating the impact of working following the establishment of new working norms according to SAP CEO Christian Klein. 

“New ways of working, collaborating and interacting completely transform how we operate,” he said. “By integrating Microsoft Teams across our solution portfolio, we will bring collaboration to the next level, jointly determining the future of work and enabling the frictionless enterprise.” 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella echoed Klein’s sentiments, adding that digital transformations have “never been more urgent” in today’s climate. 

“By bringing together the power of Azure and Teams with SAP’s solutions, we will help more organisations harness the power of the cloud so they can more quickly adapt and innovate going forward,” he said. 

Additionally, the two companies claimed the bolstered relationship will provide simplification for users when moving from on premise editions of SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA in the cloud.  

Other benefits to come out of the new partnership include expanded joint engagements with customers and partners and increased investments in platform and infrastructure towards automated migrations, improved operations, monitoring and security.