SAP Named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning Overall 2024 Vendor Assessment
SAP, the world’s largest ERP software provider and leading supply chain solution provider, has again been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning Overall 2024 Vendor Assessment. In addition, in four of the five vendor assessments, SAP was named a Leader.
According to the IDC MarketScape, “The company’s ability to cover end-to-end operations and integrate planning within a core system comes ready to implement.” The report also noted that “SAP’s size and scope is globally expansive, and the company’s client base in supply chain planning is extensive.”
Other key strengths recognized include:
- Analytics and dashboarding with both web-based and Excel-based interfaces
- Ready-to-implement and business-tested sets of algorithms across planning
functions - Synchronized planning integrating finance, supply chain planning, and execution
- AI and machine learning demand planning enabling what-if scenario modeling, demand sensing, analytics, new product introduction, and more
- Inventory optimization integrated with SIOP and S&OP processes
SAP was also positioned in the remaining supply chain planning vendor assessments:
- A Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Process Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment
- A Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Life Sciences Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US51047123, November 2024)
- A Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Distribution Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment
- A Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Discrete Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment
- A Major Player in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning in Spare Parts/MRO 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US51541424, December 2024)
SAP’s composable approach to providing planning solutions for its customers coupled with native integration between those composable elements and ERP systems allows companies to orchestrate their supply chain to help meet their specific needs. That same composability can allow companies to extend and expand their solutions at their own rate with minimal disruption to existing processes.
Native connectivity with SAP’s ERP and additional extended function applications can provide the data foundation for multiple artificial intelligence use cases. AI use spans advanced algorithmic machine learning, generative AI for analysis of complex structured and unstructured data, and, soon, agentic AI to analyze data, initiate actions, and ultimately recommend and execute planning decisions. Since supply chain orchestration requires multi-enterprise collaboration, SAP helps provide trading partner connectivity through its best-in-class business network, which can not only connect trading partners for business transactions but also for end-to-end, collaborative, and continuously interactive planning processes.
Supply chain business needs to go far beyond distant promises of what could be and requires solutions that solve real problems today, leveraging the right technology in the right place for the right purpose. SAP’s strategy is to provide data, applications, and AI that help keep the business running while continually evaluating evolving technologies that can be practically applied.
SAP is delighted to be recognized by the IDC MarketScape in supply chain planning. We remain committed to being a trusted partner, providing reliable software solutions that help meet the evolving needs of our customers. We will continue to incorporate new and cutting-edge technologies where they offer clear business value, helping our customers to excel and be their very best.
Sources: IDC Marketscape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning Overall 2024 Vendor Assessment, November 2024, IDC #US52694624e; IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Process Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment, October 2024, IDC #US51273023e; IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Distribution Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment, October 2024, IDC #US51272924e; IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning in Discrete Manufacturing 2024 Vendor Assessment, October 2024, IDC #US51272724e
Jay Foster is global product marketing director for Supply Chain Planning at SAP.
Joule for Developers: The Trusted AI Assistant for SAP Developers
Discover how Joule delivers AI capabilities across SAP Build solutions, including ABAP, to accelerate app development and automation proficiency for developers.
Read the announcement: https://news.sap.com/?p=232583
Learn more: https://www.sap.com/products/artificial-intelligence/business-technology-platform.html
#SAPBuild #SAPBTP #AI #Joule #ABAP
Ernsting’s family Wins EHI Retail Award for Omnichannel Pricing Solution
Every year, Germany’s EHI Retail Institute presents awards for outstanding use of technology in retail. At a ceremony during the EuroCIS 2025 trade fair, it honored the winners of its 18th Retail Technology (reta) Awards. Among them was German fashion chain Ernsting’s family, whose omnichannel pricing solution enables it to maintain consistent prices across all customer touchpoints and to manage promotions in real time. The company’s pricing concept—designed by SAP, CAS, and consenso—is central to its omnichannel strategy.
Plenty of people have started a business in their garage. Few have chosen the laundry room of their parents’ clothing and home textiles store. But that is exactly what Kurt Ernsting did in 1967 when he set up minipreis, a low-price fashion shop that would later become a household name throughout Germany. Today, with its award-winning online presence and some 1,925 stores in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, Ernsting’s family—as the fashion chain is now known—is one of western Europe’s largest omnichannel clothing retailers.
Cloud-based pricing process
“Because we aim to create seamless shopping experiences for our customers, we’ve already been following an omnichannel strategy for a while,” explains Hans-Jörg Blaeser, director of Technology & IT Services at Ernsting’s family. “This is why ensuring uniform pricing across all sales channels was the next logical step for us—not least because we were redesigning our online shop and needed a new pricing engine and campaign management tool anyway,” adds Dennis Reßmann, head of Software Engineering at the company.
The fashion retailer opted for a cloud-based omnichannel pricing solution. “The cloud architecture allows you to manage price queries centrally across all channels, use intelligent mechanisms to fine-tune price promotions, and integrate new stores and touchpoints with ease,” says Patrick Pierron from implementation partner CAS.
Two components, one award-winning solution
The solution at Ernsting’s family consists of two main components. One is the omnichannel pricing solution itself. This is based on SAP Omnichannel Promotion Pricing, which helps ensure consistent and uniform pricing across all customer touchpoints, such as online shops, brick-and-mortar stores, and customer and “endless shelf” apps, even when Internet connectivity breaks down.
“We operate a dense network of stores, so we are far from immune to this modern-day reality,” says Nils Böhmer, senior IT coordinator for Sales at Ernsting’s family. Lines can be damaged during construction work, routers can fail, and LTE coverage can be patchy, so there are a number of compelling reasons for having offline capabilities. Ernsting’s family therefore uses local PPS (promotion pricing service) boxes, which are offline derivatives of the cloud solution. “These PPS boxes synchronize regularly with the cloud-based omnichannel pricing solution,” Pierron says. “This means that stores always have the latest prices and can process sales even when the Internet is down.”
The second component of the new omnichannel pricing solution is a reduction tool. Based on consenso’s price engine, this tool manages price reductions dynamically according to local conditions, sales figures, and inventories—right down to individual store level. According to Philipp Borgmann, senior team lead for IT Merchandising, and Marcel Ruholl, managing partner at consenso, “This pays off in two ways. First, the system-driven price proposals have a positive effect on the balance sheet. And second, fewer stock transfers mean a lower carbon footprint.”
Seamless interaction
Another benefit of the Ernsting’s family solution is the way it seamlessly integrates the reduction tool, SAP Omnichannel Promotion Pricing, and SAP ERP. Price reductions calculated in the tool are automatically transferred to the central SAP system and distributed in real time to all the stores and to the online shop through SAP Omnichannel Promotion Pricing. “This is the best possible foundation for dynamic, error-free, and hyper-personalized pricing in real time,” says Philip Konitzer, head of Industry Division Retail in SAP Customer Services & Delivery Germany. During the project, he and his team were on hand to answer questions about the functions and performance of the SAP components.
Key elements of success
Despite being highly complex, the new omnichannel pricing solution went live quickly and without incident. The implementation partners who worked on the project attribute this largely to the company’s transparent and effective approach to change management. “All the stakeholders—from operational and strategic teams to management—were fully on board from the get-go,” Pierron recalls. This made it possible to define all the relevant requirements during the preliminary study, compare them with the capabilities in the SAP products, and identify the necessary adjustments at an early stage. Some of these were co-innovated with SAP and incorporated into the standard SAP Omnichannel Promotion Pricing solution; others were developed exclusively for Ernsting’s family in SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).
“The way the project participants interacted was exemplary,” says Ernsting’s family project lead Mark Dinkhoff, head of IT Projects. And the proof is there for all to see: the solution is stable and running smoothly in both the online shop and at the company’s more than 1,900 stores in Germany and Austria. As part of its international expansion strategy, Ernsting’s family opened six new stores in the Netherlands at the end of last year. The roll-out went smoothly there too, confirming that the company’s award-winning omnichannel pricing solution is not only technically robust, but suited to international markets as well. This is great motivation for Ernsting’s family to push ahead with its expansion plans.
SAP Datasphere: Top New Features | February 2025
Learn about the feature highlights in February 2025 with SAP Datasphere!
The announcement of SAP Business Data Cloud made quite some noise. It puts data, analytics, and AI at the center of our portfolio. Get a two-minute overview of SAP Business Data Cloud.
We also delivered two great releases this month, so let’s check out my top features:
1. SAP Cloud ALM Integration
2. Export and import of IP allowlist
Key Moments:
00:20 SAP Business Data Cloud high-level overview
02:00 SAP Cloud ALM Integration health monitoring
02:57 Export and import of IP allowlist
To learn more about SAP Datasphere, visit: https://sap.to/6057LLV5v
Join our SAP Datasphere community to always stay up to date: https://sap.to/6058LLV5a
Check out our product roadmap for SAP Datasphere: https://sap.to/6059LLV5x
SAP Named a Strategic Challenger in 2025 Fosway 9-Grid™ for Learning Systems
We are excited to announce that SAP has been named a Strategic Challenger in the 2025 Fosway 9-Grid™ for Learning Systems, a multidimensional learning market analysis model. According to Fosway, Strategic Challengers “provide solid performance with solutions that have a richer and broader suite of capability than most other solutions in the Fosway 9-Grid™.”
Investing in learning and talent development has become more critical than ever for organizations, especially in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape. According to the World Economic Forum, employers expect 39% of key skills required in the job market will change by 2030. As technological advancements like AI reshape industries, organizations must equip their workforce with the skills necessary to adapt and stay competitive. At the same time, employees today are increasingly seeking more personalized opportunities for growth and development.
SAP continues to drive innovation in learning and talent development with the enhanced, integrated learning experience in SAP SuccessFactors Learning. A redesigned homepage helps streamline access to required, role-based, and interest-driven learning, while AI-powered tools can automate skills identification and provide personalized recommendations for learning. Customizable templates and enhanced search can further improve accessibility, creating a seamless learning journey.
Additionally, SAP recently launched SAP SuccessFactors Career and Talent Development, an AI-driven solution that can provide personalized career guidance, helping employees develop the skills and experiences needed for growth. Both SAP SuccessFactors Learning and SAP SuccessFactors Career and Talent Development are powered by the talent intelligence hub, a single source of truth for workforce skills that helps enhance visibility and alignment across the talent lifecycle and is built into SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals. These innovations can enable organizations to upskill, retain talent, and build a workforce ready for the future.
“In a tight talent market, building skills is a critical issue for all organizations,” said David Wilson, CEO of Fosway Group. “Too many providers fail to offer personalized, relevant experiences that make an impact. Reflecting its status as a Strategic Challenger, SAP continues to invest in enhancing how learning ensures both employees and organizations thrive in a rapidly evolving skills landscape.”

Organizations of all sizes—from large enterprises to midsize companies—leverage SAP SuccessFactors Learning to help drive their compliance and skills strategies and create a culture centered around continuous learning.
Grundfos, one of the world’s leading pump and water solutions companies, is leveraging the power of the talent intelligence hub in SAP SuccessFactors solutions to become a skills-first organization by shifting the focus from job titles and degrees to a comprehensive understanding of employees’ skills.
“We had been working with skills and competencies for quite some time before the [talent intelligence] hub,” said Søren Nielsen, Grundfos’ business architect for HR Technology. “But the AI enablement and support are already providing different opportunities to address our skills shortage. In terms of educating and growing our people, we can see how the [talent intelligence] hub can recommend the right training at the right time to help people develop the right skills. Maintaining taxonomies, skills, competencies, and behaviors was a huge, cumbersome task when these were connected to roles. Now, we have boiled it down to talking only about skills. And we can set up a framework that supports both the role and the individual with a top-down and bottom-up approach.”
Purolator, one of Canada’s largest courier companies, chose SAP to unify its HR processes and support and develop its frontline teams. With SAP SuccessFactors Learning, the company launched an award-winning leadership development program to transform managers into leaders. “Overall, the program has generated over CAD 21 million in saved revenue,” said Tennyson Devoe, senior director of Safety and Organizational Excellence at Purolator. “Furthermore, we’ve seen a significant reduction in our injury frequency rate and improved union relations.” The program also gave frontline managers the skills to help a long-tenured workforce adapt to new ways of working.
Looking ahead, we are excited to continue innovating in talent management, skills, and the learning user experience to help our customers solve their biggest challenges, address critical skill gaps, and prioritize their greatest differentiators—their people.
Learn about our position in the 2025 Fosway 9-Grid™ for Learning Systems and discover more about SAP SuccessFactors Learning.
Vinita Venkatesh is vice president of Product Management for SAP SuccessFactors Learning
Accelerating AI-Driven Business Transformation with SAP Preferred Success
The age of artificial intelligence (AI) is here, creating unprecedented opportunities to reshape industries. Yet, the path to meaningful adoption is riddled with challenges ranging from data complexity to organizational resistance.
This is where the latest update of the SAP Preferred Success offering comes in. It now offers a workshop designed to transform AI adoption into a structured, achievable process. Tailored support focuses on scaling AI initiatives confidently and responsibly in cloud solutions from SAP.
Adding a business AI accelerator workshop to SAP Preferred Success demonstrates SAP’s commitment to going beyond advancing technology adoption. Combining deep expertise, strategic frameworks, and cutting-edge AI capabilities, the workshop helps empower companies to unlock their full potential with bold innovations and measurable business outcomes.
Setting a transformative foundation for AI integration
Supported by a comprehensive framework, the business AI accelerator workshop provides essential knowledge, strategic frameworks, and a clear action plan to leverage AI for improved business processes, data-driven decision-making, and enhanced customer experiences. But what makes this new addition remarkable is its focus on delivering reliable, relevant, and responsible AI.
Enhanced with the software industry’s broadest data sets, the service can integrate AI into business processes while upholding the highest standards of ethics, data privacy, and governance. This can enable companies to embrace AI with trust and transparency while achieving tangible outcomes.
Accelerating time to value is another key benefit of the workshop. By rapidly deploying AI models and solutions, organizations can quickly realize the benefits of automation, optimization, and data-driven decision-making. They can participate in tailored sessions to identify high-impact use cases that align with their unique needs and plan a road map for simplifying the complexities of integrating AI capabilities into existing processes.
Beyond its technical strengths, the workshop emphasizes effective change management and comprehensive governance. These practices can foster organizational buy-in, strengthen compliance, and support a smooth transition to AI-driven operations. And when combined with SAP’s scalable, cloud-based AI services, businesses can gain the flexibility to grow sustainably, adapt to evolving demands, and future-proof their operations.
Guiding the path to bold innovation and simplicity
The workshop can provide a structured approach for organizations seeking effective AI adoption. It begins by introducing foundational business AI concepts, SAP’s AI strategy, and the AI services available from SAP. This initial overview highlights AI’s possibilities, helping organizations understand its potential impact on business operations.
Building on this foundation, the workshop conducts an AI readiness assessment of the customer’s SAP landscape, IT infrastructure, and overall consumption behavior. This evaluation identifies suitable AI use cases and establishes a tailored road map for AI adoption.
In parallel, the workshop can strengthen governance, compliance, and ethical considerations by establishing a comprehensive data governance framework. This helps ensure data accuracy, legality, privacy, and security across AI applications, enabling organizations to maintain high data quality, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder trust while mitigating legal risks.
Change management is another essential component of the workshop. Organizations can learn best practices for AI adoption in SAP solutions, including strategies to secure organizational buy-in, reduce resistance, and transition smoothly into AI-driven operations.
Next, a resource and skill set evaluation is conducted to help identify gaps in AI expertise. Organizations can leverage this information to build a skilled team capable of effectively adopting AI solutions and sustaining long-term success.
The workshop then focuses on strategic use-case identification, guiding participants through interactive sessions to uncover high-value AI opportunities aligned with business goals. This process can provide customers with AI use cases tailored to meet each organization’s specific needs and strategic objectives.
By the end of the workshop, organizations can gain a comprehensive action plan that helps transform insights into execution—driving AI adoption with confidence while fostering co-innovation and collaborative growth.
Shaping the future with AI and innovation at the core
We at SAP and our customers can work together to shape a future where technology drives meaningful impact with the business AI accelerator workshop. Whether identifying impactful use cases relevant for business or adopting AI-driven solutions, organizations can maximize the value of their technology investments and help ensure lasting outcomes with greater agility, scalability, and efficiency.
Discover how the SAP Preferred Success offering can guide your organization toward bold innovation, measurable outcomes, and lasting success.
Kiron Satyavarapu is global solution owner of SAP Preferred Success at SAP.







