Over the past year, SAP shares have performed fantastically. This is partly because the company has promised to enhance its entire software portfolio with generative artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, the quality of the software and its potential are no longer the sole guarantees of success – neither for SAP nor for its customers. This is evident in the M&A strategy of the Walldorf-based software company. The recently announced acquisition of WalkMe for 1.5 billion dollars seamlessly aligns with SAP's acquisitions of Signavio and LeanIX, expanding SAP's offerings in supporting companies in their digital transformation.

And this support seems to be needed urgently. Many IT departments are struggling to achieve the efficiency improvements promised by tech providers, as software landscapes become increasingly complex. A significant portion of loudly announced IT projects never reach their desired goals. For instance, discussing an IT project with the executive level in the banking sector, and later conversing with employees about it, can quickly give the impression that it cannot possibly be the same transformation project. Hence, in theory at least, SAP can deliver real added value here.

Another important aspect is that a poorly integrated heterogeneous IT landscape can also seem to reflect poorly on the software companies involved. So it not only harms the client company, but also SAP as a software provide – whether rightly or wrongly is secondary.

In principle, SAP's strategy for corporate customers mirrors what Apple has demonstrated with the iPhone ecosystem for almost two decades for consumers. The entire user experience should be as smooth as possible. From process optimisation to IT landscape management to improving user knowledge on an individual basis. The latter is what WalkMe's Digital Adoption Platformdeizataren is intended to achieve. Therefore, evaluating loss making WalkMe based on a total revenue multiple of 5.6 is actually the wrong approach. SAP is paying the hefty premium because of the strategic value, which is potentially enormous. However, the same applies to the Dax group as it does to customers in digital transformation – the horsepower has yet to be deployed out on the road.