As the race to the cloud rapidly intensified over the years, it became natural for large enterprises to seek out equally large GSIs (global system integrators). When considering the $10bn in annual revenue, thousands of employees across hundreds of countries and substantial complex business-critical SAP systems, this seemed like the right choice at the time. Now, however, the pool of GSIs and SIs has widened, and the options have increased tenfold. The value that GSIs offer organizations is unquestionable. It’s more the point that businesses no longer have to rely on GSIs for everything. It now comes down to choosing a partner that is the right fit.
The Rise of Niche System Integrators
Out of innovation and an evolving market rose smaller, more specialized system integrators. While these providers lack the broad cross-solution offering that GSIs bring to the table, they focus on depth. Take Lemongrass, for example. We’re a global company, with just one focus: SAP on Cloud. That’s all we do. We live and breathe it.
Again, it’s not that niche SIs are in a position to completely replace GSIs – and nor should they! It’s more about matching the right integrator to the job. Here are a few key considerations for you when looking for the right partner for your business transformations.
Who matches their criteria?
- Utilizing automation
It’s true, GSIs have a much greater workforce, with hundreds of thousands of consultants at the ready, waiting to spring into action. However, when it comes to system integration, it’s not all about the people. Automation plays an integral role. Automation has evolved dramatically in recent years, and it’s become a critical part of all things Cloud. GSIs have the ongoing battle of keeping 100,000 people busy and chargeable, all while covering their costs and maintaining a constant stream of revenue. This is why GSIs can be so expensive but more expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better – it may just mean more people to pay. When clients partner with system integrators, they do so to make SAP less expensive, easily adaptable, and more innovative. This is greatly enabled by the extensive use of automation. - A niche focus
Where GSIs have the resource to cover large expanses of the market, more specialist SIs have no such luxury. It has therefore been in their best interests to narrow their focus and find that niche that the market lacks. Everything naturally becomes laser-focused from then onwards. Where GSIs are generalists, niche SIs are specialists and everything they do – from the people they recruit, to their methods and ways of working, to their training, tooling and sales – are all focused on that one thing. - Standardized vs customized
Being well established in the industry means GSIs have a process and business model that has worked – and continues to work – very well for them and their clients and partners. Their standardized training, therefore, teaches everyone to do things in the same way. It’s the ‘if it ain’t broke’ attitude. For younger, niche system integrators, like Lemongrass, there’s a real opportunity to offer the market something that the GSIs physically cannot: agility. The focus for SIs like us is to deliver solutions, not people, and we make it our mission to tailor each service to the client. - Global operations
It’s important not to assume that GSIs are the only firms with a global presence. Additionally, multi-national GSIs don’t always function as one company; they operate based on geographical siloes. Niche SIs, while smaller, can still extend their reach far and wide as needed. At Lemongrass, we have a 100% success rate with Enterprises in EMEA, APAC and the Americas. - Business models
While some GSIs have a minimum size project threshold, niche SIs, like Lemongrass, do get out of bed for less than $1 million – much less, in fact. That’s simply the nature of the SAP landscape. Projects can dramatically range in size. Successful Niche SIs treat every single client the same, regardless of budget. This means you would never get just the Sales A-Team or the Delivery A-Team to partner with – it all comes as a packaged deal. We bring our A-Team every time. - Enterprise IQ
Feedback from one of our client executives highlights another key differentiator between some GSIs and niche SIs. Given their size and business model, GSIs sometimes don’t have the same specialist knowledge needed for certain types of projects, and it is often just a race to the bottom to get the lowest day rate to win the work. For projects that require a narrower focus rather than broad coverage, businesses would be better off looking for a niche SI that has a greater “Enterprise IQ” in that specific area.
Pinpointing a specialty
Every system integrator has its strengths and weaknesses – that’s the nature of business. Organizations that wish to do a complete overhaul of all systems across their entire infrastructure would probably prefer a GSI given their extensive resources and broad focus. But, for those with just one thing on their mind, a niche SI is probably the better way to go.
For example, Lemongrass tackles SAP on Cloud only – and we were born this way. Our team has spent years learning everything there is to know about this corner of the industry – harnessing the core skills needed for any potential project that comes through the door – including program and project management, SAP technical skills, Hyperscaler infrastructure skills and much more.
A typical issue that we come across is that some companies’ internal SAP teams often don’t have the necessary cloud skills, and their development teams have a limited working understanding of SAP. That’s why we do what we do. Our SAP and infrastructure consultants know what patterns to build, what automation to deploy, and more importantly, our SAP consultants can speak credibly to an infrastructure team, and our infrastructure consultants can talk to SAP teams. We’re fully bilingual in the world of SAP on Cloud.
The tables are turning in industry, and GSIs are no longer dominating the market. Large or small, global or national, generalist or specialist – businesses are practically spoilt for choice! The days of relying on large GSIs are over. Those who assumed that big enterprises needed big system integrators have seen the light, and now they’ve got an à la carte menu of SIs to choose from. Instead of just looking for an SI partner, businesses are now looking for the right SI partner.
