At the S/4HANA Symposium London hosted by the UK & Ireland SAP User Group, we came away with a clear sense that the SAP market is fragmenting, but also, somewhat paradoxically, aligning.

From our conversations across the day and at recent events, it’s evident that SAP customers fall into two camps when it comes to SAP S/4HANA. There is the group who have moved, are moving or are actively planning their transition, as part of either a modernisation strategy or a broader business transformation agenda. But what feels different, and more pronounced, is the certainty of those who are not moving anytime soon. There is a significant proportion of customers who have decided they are not planning to meet the 2027 deadline, with some not seriously considering a move until into the 2030s.

That divergence is important. It reflects a shift from deadline-driven thinking to more deliberate, value-based decision-making and it means that different SAP customers across all industries are starting to display very different sets of priorities and objectives: some are focused on the move to S/4HANA, others who are not planning to migrate are looking at how they can drive business value from their existing systems, and those who are already on S/4HANA are looking to identify ways to reduce cost or drive more value from their new environment.

But despite all of that, it was striking that, regardless of which camp customers fell into, the conversation very quickly converged around data. Across every setting, from informal discussions at our stand to customer-led sessions, we heard the same message: data is no longer a supporting activity. It is central.

Matt Parmenter from SAP led a session on data readiness with the emphasis not on migration mechanics but on preparation, framing data readiness as a design challenge rather than a clean-up task. He positioned concepts like data audit and data quality assessment as early, foundational steps and talked about companies starting with a “snapshot” of their data estate to understand the scale and nature of the challenge. This turns an abstract concern into something practical, something that can be planned and managed as a project in its own right.

The SAP customers who presented talked in similar terms. Those further along in their S/4HANA journeys were particularly candid about their regret that data had not been given enough attention early on. Several described how data issues became the factor that slowed progress and introduced cost or forced rework. One retail customer explained that they wished they had treated data as a core workstream from the very beginning, rather than something to address later.

At the same time, we also heard from customers at our booth about the operational realities of data in SAP. Organisations such as Dutch Railways spoke about the burden of historical data, years of information, much of it unused, and the importance of not carrying it forward by default. In newer environments, especially under RISE-style models, that data has a direct financial impact in terms of infrastructure and hosting costs. The question is no longer abstract or conceptual: data management and data retention is having a material impact on the cost of running SAP.

That leads to a more pragmatic view of data readiness. It starts with reduction, identifying what is relevant, archiving or removing what is not, and avoiding the migration of obsolete or low-value data. Just as importantly, it requires controls to prevent the same problems from re-emerging.

Our own session with the University of Sheffield, alongside CTO Arthur Clune, brought these ideas into sharper focus. Together, we explained how early data discovery work has created a fact-based foundation for Sheffield’s ERP strategy. It also reinforced something we have been saying for years but which now seems to be landing more broadly: in many cases, solution design is data design. Business design from the inside out.

What is starting to feel different is the growing realisation of the importance of the health, accuracy, age and footprint of business data. When we talked about designing business partner models, asset structures or materials data, people immediately connected that to system outcomes. There is a growing recognition that you cannot separate process from data. The two are inherently linked.

A big part of this shift is being driven by AI. As organisations start to explore capabilities like Joule, the importance of well-structured, high-quality data becomes even more pronounced. The value of AI is directly dependent on the data it operates on. That changes the stakes. It is no longer just about efficiency or simplification; it is about enabling entirely new ways of working.

Overall, what we took away from the day is that, while customers may be on very different timelines and trajectories with regard to S/4HANA, they are increasingly aligned in their understanding of what really matters. Data is not a technical afterthought. It is not something to fix at the end. It is a workstream in its own right, requiring early attention, clear ownership and senior-level engagement.

We will be talking about all of this more in May. First, on 7 May, in a webinar with our friends from Smartshift and Aliter – watch this space for dates and links. On the same day, we will be publishing our comprehensive report on the causes and costs of SAP transformation delays and disruption, narrowing in on the role and importance of data migration. And then of course, we will be at Sapphire in Orlando (11 May) and Madrid (19 May). We hope to see you there.