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ERP Pulse Index
Methodology

How the researchworks.

Plain answers to what we measure, how we calculate it and what happens to your answers. If something here is unclear, email contact@sapstackindex.com.

What the research measures

The State of SAP 2026: ECC Exit & AI Reality covers five areas, each answered by someone speaking for their organization:

  • Landscape: which SAP ERP runs the business, how it is deployed and which areas run on it.
  • The ECC decision: migration status, target, approach, planned go-live and a budget band. We never ask for exact contract values or prices.
  • Life after go-live: for S/4HANA teams, the self-rated value so far and common post-go-live symptoms.
  • AI in SAP: adoption stage, what was tried, how it went, what got in the way, and how AI budgets are governed.
  • Team and operations: SAP team staffing, support model and cost trend, work done outside SAP, and recent operational events (for example a late delivery that was spotted too late).

Why it exists

SAP teams make some of the most expensive technology decisions their companies face, often with little evidence about what comparable organizations chose and how it turned out. This research makes that evidence available, in aggregate, to the people making those decisions.

Who can take part

SAP leads and CoE owners, IT application managers, architects, in-house functional leads, and finance, operations or data leaders who work with SAP, answering for an organization they work for. Consultants answering for a client are asked not to take part.

How data is gathered

Through a self-completed online survey (version 2026.1) of about five minutes. Most questions are multiple choice, and “don’t know” is always available. Questions that don’t apply are skipped: teams on S/4HANA aren’t asked about ECC, for example. Answers are validated on submission.

How results are calculated

  • One organization, one voice. Organizations are matched by website domain. When several people answer for the same organization, its most recent submission counts, and earlier ones are kept only for audit. Organizations that don’t share a website are counted individually.
  • Small-cohort suppression. Any figure backed by fewer than 5 organizations is not published.
  • Real data only. The published report is built only from real responses. Charts appear one by one as each passes the threshold, and the report is final once at least 25 organizations have answered.
  • Personal benchmarks are calculated from your own answers with transparent rules (not AI-generated). Peer comparisons use real responses only.

Sample limitations

Participation is voluntary, so the sample is self-selected and does not statistically represent the SAP customer base. Teams that are actively working through a migration or an AI program may be more likely to take part.

How information is protected

  • Published research never names organizations or respondents.
  • Company websites, email addresses and names are encrypted before they are stored.
  • Your personal benchmark page is reachable only through its unguessable link.
  • Each submission stores which permissions were granted, the exact wording shown and the policy version (2026-10-18).

How data may be used and shared

The research is run by the ERP Pulse Index research team. Your answers are used for aggregated research and to generate your personal benchmark.

  • Include my answers in the research (required to submit). Your answers are combined with other companies' and published only as aggregates. Any group of fewer than 5 organizations is suppressed, and your company and your name are never shown in the report.
  • Send my benchmark and the 2026 report to this email (optional). We use this address to send your benchmark and the report. Unsubscribe any time.
  • I'm open to a short follow-up conversation (optional). Someone from the research team, or a partner working on the challenges you described, may contact you once about your answers. Leave this unticked and nobody will contact you for any reason other than sending the report.

Without the follow-up permission, your contact details are used only to send your benchmark and the report. With it, your company, your answers and your contact details may be shared with the research team’s partners so they can contact you once about the challenges you described. You can withdraw that permission at any time by emailing contact@sapstackindex.com with the reference on your benchmark page. Read the full privacy notice.

Independent community research. Not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by SAP SE. SAP, SAP ECC, S/4HANA, RISE with SAP, GROW with SAP, BTP and Joule are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE.