This IDC study represents a vendor assessment of the SAP-based systems integration ecosystem through the IDC MarketScape model. This assessment discusses both quantitative and qualitative characteristics that explain success in the SAP implementation ecosystem. This IDC MarketScape covers a variety of vendors participating in the SAP implementation space. The evaluation is based on a comprehensive and rigorous framework that assesses vendors relative to the criteria and one another and highlights the factors expected to be the most influential for success in the market in both the short term and the long term.

"With large strategic transformational projects getting fewer and further between, higher growth for the SAP implementation services will be coming from implementation of new technologies, namely HANA, mobility, and implementation of vertical- and functional-specific Rapid Deployment Solutions," says Ali Zaidi, senior analyst, IT Consulting and Systems Integration Business Strategies at IDC. "IDC believes the traditional lines between software and service providers are blurring, more so now since SAP is allowing large systems integrators to sell SAP software directly, and SAP services itself is being brought into customer discussions at a more strategic level than just software implementation. The best practice becomes when systems integrators and SAP can work together seamlessly to deliver a client solution," says Gard Little, research director, IT Consulting and Systems Integration Business Strategies at IDC.