In the world of product development, innovation often is the No. 1 priority. However, true success lies not just in what we build, but in how it’s experienced. When product teams shift their focus from features to customer satisfaction, they unlock the power to create solutions that resonate deeply with users.
Let’s explore how embracing customer insights transform good intentions into meaningful impact across SAP Business Suite.
Build relationships with customers, not attachments to products
Product teams pour enormous passion and effort into building innovative solutions. Yet the real impact comes when that same energy is focused not just on what we build, but how it is experienced.
A product can be packed with features and innovation, but none of that matters if the overall experience does not meet real user needs. That is why product experience eats product capabilities for breakfast.
From good intentions to real impact: outcome over output
Today, at SAP we are in the fortunate position of having access to rich data that helps us understand:
- How customers use our software
- How they truly experience it
- What they actually need from SAP Business Suite
Customer insights replace internal assumptions with the reality how end-users are interacting and using the different capabilities of our software. Instead of guessing what matters, we uncover it through data-driven discovery. Instead of building based on what we think is needed, we deliver what’s proven to create value.
This is how product managers evolve: from intuition-led decision-makers to data-driven strategists, designing solutions that align with real-world use – and with the business outcomes our customers care about.
Three layers of insight that drive better software
This insight-driven approach is grounded in real data that reflects how customers use and experience our software. To improve how software is built, introduced, and adopted, we focus on three essential types of product insight.
- License consumption reveals usage gaps and efficiency opportunities: What has the customer licensed and how much of it is actually being used? This gap often reveals untapped potential and opportunities for greater efficiency across SAP Business Suite.
- Functional usage highlights adoption patterns and usability challenges: Which apps, features, and capabilities are being used regularly? Equally important: what’s being underused or not used at all, and why? Low adoption does not always mean low value. It might indicate complexity, lack of awareness, or gaps in enablement.
- Product experience feedback captures the human voice behind the data: How do users feel about the product? Are they satisfied? Where do they get stuck? This feedback adds human context to the raw data. In 2024 alone, end users, customers, partners, and consultants submitted more than 2.7 million product improvement requests and feedback records via in-product feedback surveys and our Customer Influence site, a rich source of insight to guide meaningful change.
Together, these three layers give our teams the foundation of a holistic view — of both product performance and of the experience behind it. And that experience is often the difference between a product that is used and one that is valued. This understanding enables smarter decisions, faster iteration, and ultimately software that reflects and supports the way customers work.
Product 360: SAP Business AI-powered one-stop insights hub
It is not only about collecting feedback; it’s about closing the loop, so every voice helps shape the product. And it’s about making sure our customers can see that we listen and understand what they really need.
Turning insights into action for product teams and customers
We are not just collecting this data for our product teams at SAP; we’re making it transparent and actionable for customers. Through SAP for Me, customers can access dashboards that visualize license utilization and feature usage within their own portfolio, along with key value drivers and benchmarks across peers and industries. For SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, they also receive aggregated feedback summaries from their end users, with more products to follow.
To turn these insights into real outcomes, we combine the power of SAP Business AI and Joule with in-app guidance tools like WalkMe solutions. This allows users to see where action is needed and to immediately take the right steps. From surfacing relevant KPIs to guiding users through change and process adoption, we are making enablement part of the flow of work.
By shifting our focus from what we build to how it’s experienced, we are not only improving software; we’re elevating the entire customer journey. Every insight, every piece of feedback, and every usage pattern brings us closer to delivering solutions that truly matter.
The more we understand how products are experienced, the better we can shape what comes next — for our customers, our teams, and the future of SAP Business Suite. Because when we fall in love with our customers, not just the product, we create value that lasts and experiences that lead the way forward.
Florian Heretsch is senior vice president and global head of SAP Product Experience.
