Published in “The Future of Procurement” supplement distributed by The Times on 4 June 2019

Balancing tight budgets at the same time as adopting innovative solutions that enable businesses to thrive is a central aim of procurement professionals

One way to innovate is to migrate on-premise enterprise software to the cloud. However, software-as-a-service solutions to replace highly functional, heavily customised on-premise applications are not ready. Third-party software support allows companies to retain their on-premise enterprise software, improve service quality and save money that can accelerate innovation.

Although a number of leading software vendors are ending the life of primary software versions, they will not have a fully functioning cloud-based replacement for seven to ten years. The third-party Oracle and SAP support market provides a bridge for companies that want to keep what they have until cloud offerings mature.

“Large enterprises, even those which have historically been slow to consider third-party Oracle and SAP support, are now engaging with us,” says Kurt Moydell, senior vice president of global sales and marketing at Spinnaker Support, a leading global provider of Oracle and SAP third-party support and managed services.

According to research firm Gartner, the third-party Oracle and SAP market is on track to reach $8 billion by the end of 2022, an annual growth rate of 26 per cent. As the third-party support model has matured and it has become clear high-quality services can be delivered at an often significantly reduced price, a diverse range of businesses are now considering the advantages of this model.

Read the full article.