For SAP, the journey is clearly going in the direction of the cloud ("cloud first"), also in the area of utilities. Nevertheless, SAP will continue to invest in the SAP S/4HANA Utilities on-premise solution. The functional scope of this solution is also set to increase further.
In addition, the functional scope of SAP S/4HANA Utilities and SAP Cloud for Utilities is different - and will continue to be so in the future. The SAP Cloud for Utilities will therefore not completely replace the new SAP IS-U.
The on-premise solution is also tailored under SAP S/4HANA to the traditional business of utilities with commodity goods such as water, electricity and gas. The cloud offering, on the other hand, is designed as an SaaS solution for lean business processes.
A complete switch to the cloud is currently not yet an option for most utilities - especially since a comprehensive, native cloud solution is not yet available.
A hybrid solution is therefore currently the most suitable way for many companies to make their business leaner and more flexible, and thus more competitive, and will probably remain so in the future.
In this way, energy suppliers and other utility companies can take advantage of both the proven SAP IS-U solution under SAP S/4HANA and the new cloud solution.