Retail giant Kingfisher rejects SAP ERP upgrade plan

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 ...