How Do Enterprise Software Providers Adapt their Strategies to the Cloud? An Analysis through Sap Hana Journey based on the Evolution of Sap’S Discourse (2010-2018)

This paper seeks to provide a better understanding of software business providers’ strategy when adapting to the emergence of cloud computing markets. Based on a longitudinal case-study and on a historical content analysis of SAP’s discourse, it highlights four main periods of adaptation, since 2009. The analysis of these four periods emphasizes the existence of an initial superior technology (HANA) on the ERP market when referring to cloud-based solutions. Overall, the evolution of SAP’s strategy is understood as a change from a high level of control over the administration of its technological environment to a more flexible strategy that gives alternative options such as Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) mode. Yet, content analysis shows that SAP never sought to give that much freedom to client firms, given their capabilities for designing but also for mitigating corresponding risks.