The technology space—and the business world—are changing rapidly. The race to explore and capitalize on AI’s potential is accelerating that change even more. However, businesses can only realize AI innovations if they transition from on-premise systems to the cloud to leverage the unparalleled speed and agility they offer.
SAP’s vibrant ecosystem of over 25,000 partners and SAP PartnerEdge open ecosystem members helps ensure customers are supported and thriving across the entire customer journey. These trusted partners share SAP’s vision of helping companies bring our their best and can be the catalyst to true business transformation. Partners apply their deep technical expertise and business experience to build on, sell, service, and run SAP’s leading cloud ERP and AI solutions.
Recognizing this and the need to empower partners to set the right foundation for the cloud, SAP is revamping SAP PartnerEdge—its flagship, global program to engage with partners, no matter their route to market. The program, now 100% cloud-focused, is designed to help recognize and elevate partners that are ready to support customers in the cloud-powered AI economy.
A Closer Look at the Changes Coming in 2025
Prioritizing partners that are in lockstep with SAP’s vision to drive business growth and customer value, we are focusing on the following key pillars for the SAP PartnerEdge program in 2025:
- Aligning with SAP’s cloud vision: We’ve redesigned the program with elements that support and incentivize partners to reflect SAP’s strategic cloud focus. This helps differentiate partners that are fully aligned with SAP’s direction.
- Deepening SAP expertise: Under the new framework, expertise plays an even stronger role in determining partner levels. Competencies and specializations—focused on cloud solutions from SAP—serve as benchmarks of a partner’s maturity and credibility. These also signal to customers that they can trust a partner’s expertise in areas most critical to their business.
- Championing AI adoption: To meet the AI moment, partners are further motivated to innovate on tools that can lower the bar to entry for customers to leverage AI technologies. From no-code simplicity to advanced customization, partners are encouraged to build on SAP’s embedded AI portfolio and create tailored solutions that meet our customers’ unique needs.
- Committing to customer value: Long-term success for our customers is our top priority—and it holds true weight in our partner program as well. By prioritizing solution adoption-led growth, aligning delivery practices to SAP’s cloud methodologies, and delivering measurable outcomes, partners can create lasting value throughout the customer lifecycle, ultimately propelling their partnership too.
An Approach Endorsed by Industry Experts
These changes to the SAP PartnerEdge program signal our deepened commitment to the cloud, AI innovations, and, most importantly, our customers and their success. Industry experts agree, highlighting the drivers behind this transformation and SAP’s proactive approach:
“The convergence of cloud and artificial intelligence is ushering in a new era of business innovation,” said Dave McCarthy, research vice president, Cloud and Edge Services at IDC. “This synergy is driving transformative advancements across industries.”
“SAP understands this shift and is actively taking steps to ensure its partner ecosystem is aligned and paving the path for businesses to leverage breakthrough innovations,” added Steve White, program vice president, Channels and Alliances at IDC.
Supporting Customers to Find Their Best-Fit Partner
Under our new program framework, SAP and partners will be able to experience increased synergy as they move forward focused on the cloud and AI. However, customers will see the greatest benefits. While SAP PartnerEdge is designed for partners, its goal is to ultimately create a robust ecosystem that has the experience, knowledge, and specialization to address the unique needs of all of our customers and create a blueprint for long-term success.
For businesses ready to find their best-fit partner, SAP Partner Finder can provide easy search functionality to quickly find partners that match their industry, line of business, or size. It also showcases each partner’s level, competencies, and unique qualifications, such as the GROW with SAP partner designation.
For customers to find success in the AI-driven era—and to thrive with the pace of innovation it brings—partnerships are more crucial than ever. By combining partner expertise with the power of SAP’s robust portfolio of cloud solutions, AI technologies, and data capabilities, customers can capitalize on this exciting moment as they transform their business.
SAP encourages businesses to explore our ecosystem of partners today and take the next step towards business transformation, greater competitiveness, and growth.
Karl Fahrbach is chief partner officer at SAP.