Garth Ridgway, NTT
BEHIND A €313 BILLION EMPIRE, A CORPORATE TICKING TIME BOMB IS SILENTLY THREATENING TO PARALYZE GLOBAL BUSINESS. SAP, the EU’s most valuable tech giant, is accused of holding thousands of companies HOSTAGE with a brutal forced migration, and insiders are blowing the whistle on a DEEPLY FLAWED plan that could trigger CHAOS.
In a SHOCKING display of corporate arrogance, SAP is blackmailing loyal customers who have relied on its ERP software for DECADES. The message is clear: abandon your stable, working systems for its new S/4HANA platform OR BE CUT OFF from all support. This is not a choice; it’s an ULTIMATUM. The price of defiance? A 2% “extended support” tax and the NIGHTMARE prospect of your entire business operations CRASHING when the lifeline is severed in 2027. One partner admits, “SAP tried to use a STICK to force people to move.”
The reality on the ground is a DISASTER in slow motion. An estimated 40% of North American customers have NOT STARTED migrating. Gartner reveals a staggering 71% of customers haven’t even bought the required licences. These aren’t small firms; they are financial institutions, global manufacturers, and telecoms giants. Their legacy systems are described as “an entire city” of custom code that’s nearly impossible to move. The process is so fraught with “blood and sweat,” says SAP’s own South African MD, that terrified executives are delaying, hoping the monster will disappear.
Meanwhile, SAP pumps out a relentless AI hype train, flaunting its GenAI assistant Joule while experts confess the AI push has had “NO MASSIVE CHANGE” on migration rates. It’s a SMOKESCREEN for a deeper crisis: the company’s once-dominant grip is slipping as frustrated clients like Coca-Cola Beverages Africa FLEE to competitors. Partners warn of a looming skills SHORTAGE and MASSIVE price surges as the deadline nears, leaving laggards with a “monster” of a problem.
This isn’t innovation; it’s a DESPERATE corporate power grab that gambles the stability of the global economy on a flawed, rushed transition. Will YOUR company’s data be the next casualty when the clock runs out? The future of business hangs by a thread, controlled by a single, unaccountable tech titan.


