Every day, companies’ IT departments are confronted with the complexity of SAP landscapes. Users and board members alike expect them to maintain optimal performance without cutting corners, while keeping a tab on operating costs. Ralph Treitz, CEO of benchmarking experts VMS, spoke with SAP.info and explains how benchmarking helps companies get to grips with the complexity of their SAP landscapes.

SAP.info: Complex and expensive. Complaints about operating SAP software are not unheard of – and certain interested parties like to pick up on them. But is it all true?

Treitz: You mustn’t confuse complex with complicated. Even the most simple of things can be presented in a complicated way. In contrast, complexity in application landscapes can’t be completely avoided.

SAP.info: Why isn’t it possible to “keep it simple, stupid”?

Treitz: The real business world is multifaceted and complex. If a software provider wants to support companies as best it can, this complexity inevitably becomes incorporated into the IT environment. SAP systems offer exponential opportunities in terms of differentiated business processes – which makes them genuine masterpieces in the world of IT. They contain a great deal of logic, creativity, and domain knowledge.

SAP.info: Regardless of this, SAP systems tend to grow once they are used in production operation. Response times get worse, and operating costs spiral out of control.

Treitz: Each modification, new implementation, custom development, or additional user community makes an SAP system more complex and increases operating costs to a certain extent. This is due to the very nature of things. At the end of the day, even projects that have a positive economic impact on business processes take their toll on the IT budget before they have any effect. Companies’ IT departments are now tasked with mastering this complexity.