SAP announced its industry cloud initiative in June 2020 at the height of pandemic lockdowns. At a moment of crisis and constraint, we described a vision of freedom and collaboration. We spoke of an “open yet integrated innovation space for SAP, partners, and customers,” one that would let developers build their own cloud-based applications that could tap into SAP’s core process and data domains through open APIs. The idea was to let creative partners large and small develop industry-specific solutions above the waterline without having to brave the intelligent suite’s engine room.

Close to three years later, it’s now clear that SAP’s industry cloud was an idea whose time had come. It’s proving to be an enabling technology of surprising power and scope, and it has created more than just a niche. Industry cloud is proving to be an innovation ecosystem unto itself, one that’s already fostered hundreds of creative solutions to a wide spectrum of business problems. Through our collective embrace of what has proven to be a very powerful idea indeed, industry cloud is also driving profound change at SAP, its partners, and customers.

The numbers tell a compelling story: what started with a handful of partners in four industries now encompasses nearly 300 software partner solutions, with 150 more in the pipeline, across two dozen industries. In addition, our top global strategic service partners alone have invested on the order of US$150 million in industry cloud offerings. And the momentum shows no signs of slowing.