Retail giant Kingfisher rejects SAP ERP upgrade plan
(2025/11/12)
- Reference: 1762939814
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/11/12/retail_giant_kingfisher_says_no/
- Source link:
SAP insists customers wanting "innovation" such as AI must upgrade to its latest platform for ERP, using prescribed cloud migration plans. Kingfisher - which operates 2,000 European retail stores including UK brands Screwfix and B&Q - rejected that approach.
Rather than follow SAP's upgrade strategy, which includes a shift to subscription licenses, the retailer chose an alternative path that it claims delivers the innovation SAP promised without the hefty price tag.
Speaking at the Gartner Symposium conference in Barcelona, Kingfisher Group CTO Chris Blatchford said: "We've been asking vendors for value. We're happy to have a conversation about your upgrade pathway… about new things you're doing. But show us value. Don't just give me a price list. Don't just present me with a new licensing module that somehow spikes my cost by 20x. We're not anti-big vendors — especially of ERP systems — but we do need to see the value."
[1]
Mainstream vendor support for ECC 6.0 — the legacy SAP platform on which Kingfisher relies — ends in a little over two years. Extended support is available until the end of 2030 at a 2 percent premium. With the clock ticking, Kingfisher opted to keep its ECC instance, move it to Google Cloud Platform and hire Rimini Street to support it in a deal which includes support for the retailer’s many customizations to the software.
[2]
[3]
SAP's preferred route is for customers to upgrade from ECC to S/4HANA and at the same time move to the cloud, under a bundled of cloud and partner deal it calls RISE with SAP. The main product package supporting it is SAP Cloud ERP Private, the licensing model for which is [4]concerning users . Users cannot take customizations with them; instead they must move with a “clean core” and add any bespoke features using SAP’s Business Technology Platform.
In 2023, SAP caused an outcry among some users when CEO Christian Klein told investors: "It's very important to emphasize that SAP's newest innovations and capabilities will only be delivered in SAP public cloud and SAP private cloud using RISE with SAP as the enabler."
[5]
Klein later promised [6]no customer would be left behind .
Kingfisher has moved its ERP system to the cloud, but did not migrate to S/4HANA. Yet the retailer says it has still developed AI, personalization and recommendation engines, and flexible pricing models all from its core ERP data.
"We've got conversational bots deployed, which are driving anywhere from 10 to 15 percent conversion on e-commerce websites. That's all linked back into the core ERP data," Blatchford said.
[7]
The retailer uses extract-transform-load tools to move data around and analytics and ML products from Databricks and Google. The development of innovation on top of ECC is possible because of the technology choices made in the plan to move to the cloud, the CTO added.
[8]Larry Ellison's latest craze: Vectorizing all the customers
[9]SAP says some customers are dragging their feet on contract sign-offs
[10]Britain's biggest nuclear site looks set to outlast SAP support again
[11]Russia-backed Indian oil company loses bid to force SAP support as sanctions bite
[12]Europe's largest city council delays fix to disastrous Oracle system once more
"The way we built our architecture is abstracted by design [and] it's modular. It's not completely there yet, but we built API-first, we built the event-driven architecture, so we can start to swap these things [out] pretty quickly. If we don't get the right deal or right proposition, we will do what we've done with the ERP… and several other vendors technologies. It's more complex for us to manage microservices and modular architecture. It's not a panacea. But that allowed us to free up the spend to really invest in [innovation]."
Part of those savings comes from the support provided by Rimini Street: CTO Eric Helmer said its customers pay between 50 and 90 percent less than they did on vendor support.
Blatchford said he likes SAP’s people and thinks the company has good products, however, a software audit was not a happy experience.
"It's part of their commercial approach, but that wasn't fun. The relationship we [have now] is in a much better position than we were. But we had to say what we wanted to say. [It is] not good value. On maintenance, we were just not using SAP nearly enough to justify these numbers. 'You know, do something different.' They didn't do something different, so we said no thanks," Blatchford said.
The Register has asked SAP to comment. ®
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[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/16/sap_dsag_licensing_transparency/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aRRoytBdhFCnASkDJNJUMQAAAUo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/25/no_customer_left_behind_saps/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aRRoytBdhFCnASkDJNJUMQAAAUo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/16/oracle_vectorizes_its_customers/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/23/sap_q3/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/13/sellafield_sap_support/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/29/nayara_sap_sanctions/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/24/uk_mega_council_delays_fix/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Rather than follow SAP's upgrade strategy, which includes a shift to subscription licenses, the retailer chose an alternative path that it claims delivers the innovation SAP promised without the hefty price tag.
Speaking at the Gartner Symposium conference in Barcelona, Kingfisher Group CTO Chris Blatchford said: "We've been asking vendors for value. We're happy to have a conversation about your upgrade pathway… about new things you're doing. But show us value. Don't just give me a price list. Don't just present me with a new licensing module that somehow spikes my cost by 20x. We're not anti-big vendors — especially of ERP systems — but we do need to see the value."
[1]
Mainstream vendor support for ECC 6.0 — the legacy SAP platform on which Kingfisher relies — ends in a little over two years. Extended support is available until the end of 2030 at a 2 percent premium. With the clock ticking, Kingfisher opted to keep its ECC instance, move it to Google Cloud Platform and hire Rimini Street to support it in a deal which includes support for the retailer’s many customizations to the software.
[2]
[3]
SAP's preferred route is for customers to upgrade from ECC to S/4HANA and at the same time move to the cloud, under a bundled of cloud and partner deal it calls RISE with SAP. The main product package supporting it is SAP Cloud ERP Private, the licensing model for which is [4]concerning users . Users cannot take customizations with them; instead they must move with a “clean core” and add any bespoke features using SAP’s Business Technology Platform.
In 2023, SAP caused an outcry among some users when CEO Christian Klein told investors: "It's very important to emphasize that SAP's newest innovations and capabilities will only be delivered in SAP public cloud and SAP private cloud using RISE with SAP as the enabler."
[5]
Klein later promised [6]no customer would be left behind .
Kingfisher has moved its ERP system to the cloud, but did not migrate to S/4HANA. Yet the retailer says it has still developed AI, personalization and recommendation engines, and flexible pricing models all from its core ERP data.
"We've got conversational bots deployed, which are driving anywhere from 10 to 15 percent conversion on e-commerce websites. That's all linked back into the core ERP data," Blatchford said.
[7]
The retailer uses extract-transform-load tools to move data around and analytics and ML products from Databricks and Google. The development of innovation on top of ECC is possible because of the technology choices made in the plan to move to the cloud, the CTO added.
[8]Larry Ellison's latest craze: Vectorizing all the customers
[9]SAP says some customers are dragging their feet on contract sign-offs
[10]Britain's biggest nuclear site looks set to outlast SAP support again
[11]Russia-backed Indian oil company loses bid to force SAP support as sanctions bite
[12]Europe's largest city council delays fix to disastrous Oracle system once more
"The way we built our architecture is abstracted by design [and] it's modular. It's not completely there yet, but we built API-first, we built the event-driven architecture, so we can start to swap these things [out] pretty quickly. If we don't get the right deal or right proposition, we will do what we've done with the ERP… and several other vendors technologies. It's more complex for us to manage microservices and modular architecture. It's not a panacea. But that allowed us to free up the spend to really invest in [innovation]."
Part of those savings comes from the support provided by Rimini Street: CTO Eric Helmer said its customers pay between 50 and 90 percent less than they did on vendor support.
Blatchford said he likes SAP’s people and thinks the company has good products, however, a software audit was not a happy experience.
"It's part of their commercial approach, but that wasn't fun. The relationship we [have now] is in a much better position than we were. But we had to say what we wanted to say. [It is] not good value. On maintenance, we were just not using SAP nearly enough to justify these numbers. 'You know, do something different.' They didn't do something different, so we said no thanks," Blatchford said.
The Register has asked SAP to comment. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aRRoytBdhFCnASkDJNJUMQAAAUo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/16/sap_dsag_licensing_transparency/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aRRoytBdhFCnASkDJNJUMQAAAUo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/25/no_customer_left_behind_saps/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aRRoytBdhFCnASkDJNJUMQAAAUo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/16/oracle_vectorizes_its_customers/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/23/sap_q3/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/13/sellafield_sap_support/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/29/nayara_sap_sanctions/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/24/uk_mega_council_delays_fix/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Charlie Clark
To be fair, what else would you expect from a retailer?
I find the comments and the request for "value" refreshingly honest. I can't remember the last time I saw any of the large software vendors bother to the use word, and their managed services clouds are just price rises waiting to happen.
Paul Crawford
If only one of those vendors could support search/filtering by useful attributes of the goods they sell? Take this example on Screwfix for coach screws:
https://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nails-fixings/coach-screws/cat840476
I can select by pack size, or price range, but not screw diameter or length. You know the useful attributes one might need to select one that does the job...
They can't migrate
ATrickett
I know people who worked on their ECC system, it was so bespoke they haven't got a chance of migrating it to the S4/Hana without a lot of pain. They spent a fortune on re-writing the core to do their own thing - that won't play well if they try to migrate to a new version of SAP...
"show me the value"
Pascal Monett
Amen to that !
"Yet the retailer says it has still developed AI, personalization and recommendation engines"
Thanks for the warning. I'll be careful when using B&Q or Screwfix sites.