Precisely, in collaboration with the Americas SAP Users Group (ASUG), has released new survey findings indicating that a majority of organizations are accelerating their migration to SAP S/4HANA. The "Transforming SAP® Processes Through Automation: 2026 Trends and Challenges" report reveals that 59% of companies are now fully or partially live on the new platform, a significant increase from the previous year, even as they navigate rising process complexity and competing priorities.
Quick Intel
59% of companies are now fully or partially live on SAP S/4HANA.
This is a 13 percentage point increase from 2024 survey results.
Automation adoption has plateaued at 57% as migration diverts resources.
Top migration barriers are business process change and customizations.
Process complexity is the number one challenge for automation.
Data quality issues are a critical but often overlooked migration challenge.
Migration Gains Momentum Amid Persistent Hurdles
The survey shows strong momentum for S/4HANA adoption, with nearly two-thirds of companies expected to be fully live or actively migrating by the end of 2025. However, the path is not without significant obstacles. The top-cited barriers to a successful migration include managing business process changes, aligning existing customizations with SAP's "Clean Core" approach, and overcoming organizational resistance. Data quality has also emerged as a critical challenge, with many organizations struggling with accuracy and transformation issues when moving legacy data into the new S/4HANA environment.
Automation Growth Stalls as Resources Shift
While automation remains a strategic goal for SAP modernization, its adoption has plateaued. Growth has slowed as companies concentrate financial and personnel resources on meeting the pressing 2027 migration deadline. The primary barriers to automation have also evolved, with process complexity now ranking as the top challenge, surpassing integration difficulties. Organizations report struggling to understand and define process requirements, which is essential for implementing effective automation.
Disjointed User Interfaces Create Friction
The transition to modern user experiences presents another layer of complexity. Over half of the companies surveyed report operating in mixed UI environments, using a combination of SAP GUI, Fiori, and GUI for HTML. While Fiori adoption is growing, inconsistent UI strategies remain a major source of friction for users and a reason many delay automation projects. Organizations are seeking automation solutions that can deliver a consistent experience across all these interfaces to maintain productivity.
The findings highlight that organizations successfully navigating this period are those striking a balance between executing on their migration timeline and advancing strategic automation initiatives that will deliver long-term value and efficiency once the new platform is in place.
ASUG is the world's largest SAP user group. Originally founded by a group of visionary SAP customers in 1991, its mission is to help people and organizations get the most value from their investment in SAP technology. ASUG currently serves thousands of businesses via companywide memberships, connecting more than 130,000 professionals with networking and educational resources to help them master new challenges. Through in-person and virtual events, on-demand digital resources, and ongoing advocacy for its membership, ASUG helps SAP customers make more possible. Learn more at www.asug.com.
As a global leader in data integrity, Precisely ensures that your data is accurate, consistent, and contextual. Our portfolio, including the Precisely Data Integrity Suite, helps integrate your data, improve data quality, govern data usage, geocode and analyze location data, and enrich it with complementary datasets for confident business decisions. Over 12,000 organizations in more than 100 countries, including 95 of the Fortune 100, trust Precisely software, data, and data strategy consulting to power AI, automation, and analytics initiatives.
TechIntelPro empowers B2B technology decision-makers with the latest industry trends, deep insights, leadership perspectives and actionable intelligence to drive both organizational and professional milestones—and thrive on the tech pulse.