Introduction
SAP is the backbone of global enterprise operations. According to its 2024 Corporate Fact Sheet, the ERP SAP platform supports organizations across 26 industries and 12 lines of business. Its core technologies, including SAP S/4HANA, Business Data Cloud (BDC), and Business Technology Platform (BTP), are trusted by nearly all of the world’s largest companies, along with thousands of SMEs. These solutions are not only modernizing ERP systems but also unlocking new levels of speed, insight, and agility. When digital transformation accelerates, businesses are paying closer attention to emerging SAP trends that drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainability.
In Australia and New Zealand, these trends are reshaping how companies plan, grow, and compete. From cloud-first strategies to embedded AI, local businesses are under pressure to adapt or risk falling behind. This article from SotaTek ANZ highlights the key SAP trends for 2025 and how your organization can get ahead with the right tools, roadmap, and support.
Top 5 SAP Trends in Australia and New Zealand
The rise of SAP S/4HANA Adoption
Across Australia and New Zealand, many organizations are still relying on legacy systems, whether it's older SAP ECC platforms, heavily customized on-premise ERPs, or disconnected tools built in-house. These outdated systems often lead to siloed operations, slower decision-making, and growing inefficiencies.
That’s why more businesses are turning to SAP S/4HANA, SAP’s next-generation ERP platform. It provides a unified, real-time view of operations and seamlessly integrates core business functions such as finance, supply chain, human resources, and analytics. The result is faster, more informed decision-making and streamlined processes across the board.
Despite its clear advantages, full adoption in the region remains limited. However, the upcoming 2027 end-of-support deadline for SAP ECC is prompting a surge in planning and migration activity. Some organizations are choosing a brownfield approach - migrating existing systems to S/4HANA while others are opting for greenfield implementations, using the transition as a chance to rebuild processes from the ground up.
Whether on-premise, in the cloud, or hybrid, SAP S/4HANA adoption is becoming a top priority. It’s not just about upgrading technology. It’s about building a modern ERP foundation that supports innovation, agility, and future growth.
Cloud-driven Business Resilience
Modernizing ERP is just the beginning. To stay competitive in today’s unpredictable environment, businesses in Australia and New Zealand must also build systems that can adapt quickly to change. Cloud ERP plays a central role in this shift, which offers the scalability, speed, and security needed to navigate supply chain disruptions, economic volatility, and evolving customer expectations.
In this context, resilience means more than recovery; it means readiness. With a cloud-first approach, organizations can respond faster, innovate more freely, and scale without disruption. This is where RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP come into focus. These end-to-end cloud ERP offerings bundle infrastructure, applications, AI, and analytics into a single, flexible subscription.
RISE with SAP vs GROW with SAP
If you still wonder the differences between RISE with SAP vs GROW with SAP, here’s a brief. RISE with SAP is tailored for large enterprises undergoing complex digital transformations, while GROW with SAP serves the needs of fast-moving mid-sized businesses. Both solutions are gaining traction in ANZ, helping companies simplify operations and accelerate their path to the cloud.
For businesses aiming to future-proof their operations, cloud-driven resilience is becoming a strategic imperative, designed for agility and growth.
Generative AI & Automation in SAP
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are now central to how businesses run their ERP systems. In 2025, Generative AI, machine learning (ML), and robotic process automation (RPA) are rapidly reshaping enterprise operations across Australia and New Zealand. SAP is embedding these technologies directly into its ecosystem, enabling companies to streamline processes, reduce manual work, and unlock new levels of operational intelligence.
Across core modules like finance, supply chain, HR, and customer experience, AI-driven automation helps minimize human error, accelerate workflows, and improve forecasting accuracy. For example, SAP systems can now automate invoice matching, predict stock requirements, or even generate performance reports based on real-time data.
This shift is happening fast. According to recent studies, 29% of companies have already integrated AI into their core business processes—up significantly from the year before. By the end of 2025, that number is expected to climb past 50%, as more organizations roll out AI tools in specific departments and use cases. Research by valantic also shows that over 75% of SAP users surveyed are already seeing measurable business value from AI-enabled applications.
The benefits are clear:
- Increased efficiency by automating repetitive tasks
- Smarter decisions through real-time, AI-powered insights
- Improved accuracy in critical processes like forecasting and order management
From intelligent chatbots and document processing to predictive maintenance and demand planning, Generative AI and automation are transforming how SAP ERP works at every level. As adoption accelerates across ANZ, these capabilities will move from experimental to expected—driving innovation and competitive advantage in every industry.
Regulation, ESG & Compliance as drivers
As ANZ businesses go digital, they must also meet increasingly complex requirements around data sovereignty, ESG reporting, and regulatory compliance. Many legacy systems simply weren’t built to handle this level of transparency and governance.
To address this, SAP has expanded its Sovereign Cloud capabilities in Australia, providing locally-hosted, secure infrastructure for industries like government, utilities, and healthcare. According to the SAP News Center, this includes support for digital supply chain, Concur, and Business Network, ensuring full compliance with local regulations.
SAP also embeds ESG-ready features into its ERP and reporting modules, helping companies track emissions, automate disclosures, and align with sustainability frameworks.
Enhanced User Experience with SAP Fiori Evolution
User experience (UX) has moved from a “nice-to-have” to a critical success factor in SAP adoption. As businesses in Australia and New Zealand modernize their ERP systems, they are placing greater focus on how users interact with those systems, across departments, roles, and devices. That’s where SAP Fiori continues to lead.
The latest evolution of SAP Fiori introduces smarter, AI-driven interfaces, adaptive dashboards, and responsive layouts that work seamlessly across desktop, tablet, and mobile. These improvements aren’t just aesthetic—they help users find the right data faster, complete tasks with fewer clicks, and stay productive regardless of where they work.
A clean, intuitive interface leads to faster onboarding, higher system adoption, and better decision-making. When employees can navigate the system without friction, day-to-day efficiency improves across finance, procurement, HR, and customer-facing teams. For enterprises managing hybrid or remote workforces, this consistency is essential.
More companies are now embedding UX priorities into their SAP modernization strategies, ensuring that each new feature is not only functional but also easy and enjoyable to use. With SAP Fiori’s ongoing evolution, user-centric design is no longer just a front-end concern. It’s a key driver of productivity, adoption, and long-term ERP success.
Preparing your Businesses for SAP Trends
Staying ahead of SAP trends means laying the right foundation—both technologically and strategically. That begins with transitioning from legacy systems to SAP S/4HANA, creating a modern ERP core that supports real-time analytics, AI integration, and modular expansion. With cloud adoption accelerating across ANZ, solutions like RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP offer flexible paths to resilience, speed, and scalability.
Equipping your teams with the right skills is just as important. As SAP systems become more cloud-native and intelligence-driven, capabilities in ABAP Cloud, BTP development, and Fiori UX will be crucial to unlocking long-term value and innovation.
To accelerate the journey, partnering with experienced, SAP-certified providers ensures a smoother transition, from roadmap design to deployment and ongoing optimization. With proven expertise across ERP, AI, and UX, SotaTek ANZ helps businesses in Australia and New Zealand turn SAP trends into competitive advantage.
How SotaTek ANZ can support businesses in SAP Adoption Journey
At every step of your ERP transformation, SotaTek ANZ offers full‑spectrum, end‑to‑end support. As a certified SAP Silver Partner, we combine local ANZ insight with global delivery strength, ensuring your SAP journey is not only technically sound but also aligned with regional business realities.
How SotaTek ANZ can support businesses in SAP Adoption Journey
Here’s how we help turn the major SAP trends into business outcomes:
- S/4HANA Readiness, Migration & Implementation: Whether you’re moving from SAP ECC, adopting SAP S/4HANA (on‑premise, cloud or hybrid), or starting fresh, we support the full lifecycle: assessment, design, conversion, and go‑live. We follow SAP Activate best practices and tailor modules such as FI/CO, MM, SD, PP to your growth needs.
- Cloud‑ERP & Platform Services (RISE / GROW / BTP / BDC): We enable your move to cloud‑first resilience by helping you deploy packages like RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP—embedding infrastructure, applications, AI and analytics within a single contract. Additionally, we extend capabilities via SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) to support integration, data innovation and modular growth.
- Custom Development, Integration & UX: From ABAP development, Fiori/UI5 applications, to RICEF objects and API/Integration Suite configurations, we tailor your SAP landscape to industry‑specific workflows. This ensures seamless communication with external systems (CRM, ecommerce, MES) and delivers the intuitive user experience that modern users expect.
- Application Management & Continuous Improvement: Post‑go‑live is where long‑term value is realised. We offer 24/7 Application Management Services (AMS) with L1/L2/L3 support, monitoring, optimization and patching under defined SLAs. This means your SAP environment remains stable, secure and aligned with evolving business requirements.
- Consulting & Advisory Services: We help you shape the right strategic roadmap: system health checks, licensing optimisation, business process re‑engineering, and recommendations for AI and automation use cases. So you’re not just reacting to trends, you’re proactively planning for them.
Why work with SotaTek ANZ?
- 60 + SAP engineers, 30 + SAP projects completed with a 95% on‑time delivery rate.
- Industry‑agnostic experience across manufacturing, logistics, finance, education and more.
- A hybrid delivery model that brings ANZ‑based architects together with global development teams - delivering speed, flexibility and cost efficiency.
With SotaTek ANZ as your partner, you gain more than just technical delivery. You gain a partner committed to turning the latest SAP trends into measurable, enterprise‑ready outcomes that support growth, agility and competitive strength in the Australia & New Zealand region.
Conclusion
The future of SAP in New Zealand and Australia enterprises is being shaped by powerful trends, from S/4HANA adoption and cloud ERP transformation, to AI integration, automation, and intelligent user experiences. These innovations are not just enhancing systems. They’re redefining how businesses operate, compete, and grow in an increasingly digital economy.
To stay ahead, companies need more than modern technology. They need the right strategy, skilled teams, and a partner who understands both global SAP innovation and local market dynamics. Whether you're starting your SAP journey or scaling what you’ve built, SotaTek ANZ is ready to help you turn vision into measurable business outcomes.
Contact us for free SAP consultation now!
https://sotatek.com.au/ 
+61-410-365-172 
