Zeiss, the Oberkochen-based precision optics group and key supplier to the semiconductor industry, reworked its move to SAP's cloud service after years of spending that surpassed €200 million ($232 million). People familiar with the plan, who asked not to be named because it is not public, said the company will switch to a brownfield migration to cut costs.
Brownfield here means taking current software environments and relocating them to the cloud rather than building a brand-new stack. Zeiss began mapping out its cloud journey six years ago, and a spokeswoman said the firm has changed the approach to moving its enterprise resource planning software "to achieve faster progress." She declined to share details on spending or timing.
Those same people said the original plan was a greenfield build, essentially standing up core IT in the cloud from scratch. The first attempt turned out to be tougher than anticipated. The company has shifted course toward a brownfield route and will keep many of its existing data systems, the Zeiss spokeswoman said. External consultancies are steering the work.
Large cloud transformations commonly bring in firms like Accenture, EY, or PricewaterhouseCoopers; they can span years and cost millions. Costs vary substantially, said Byron Ford, an adviser with the Berkeley Partnership who focuses on SAP migrations. He noted that greenfield efforts generally run at least 20% higher than comparable brownfield projects, and can be double, depending on which regions are in scope, how many systems are involved, and what resources the client can bring. For instance, he put the price of moving several systems within one country using a greenfield approach at between £35 million ($47 million) and £40 million, while a comparable worldwide program could be twice that or higher.
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Beginning in 2020, SAP's CEO Christian Klein has urged clients to shift their enterprise software from on-site deployments to a subscription cloud offering. That model is more lucrative for SAP and now makes up over 60% of its revenue. The company is Europe's biggest software producer, providing tools that manage finance, supply chains, and other critical functions, and its software runs at over 90% of Fortune 500 companies. Many customers still haven't completed the switch, and SAP plans to end standard maintenance for its older on‑premise products before next year concludes.
The stakes are real. Moving sensitive business data is delicate work that can cause serious disruption if it goes wrong. Last year, Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. filed a lawsuit against Deloitte over what it described as a botched rollout of SAP's cloud platform, alleging the effort "was a disaster" and produced "an overly customized software system riddled with defects and functionality gaps." The complaint says Deloitte's bill to Zimmer totaled $94 million in fees, a figure that was 36% higher than what Deloitte had indicated.
Deloitte is fighting Zimmer Biomet's "meritless claim," according to a spokesperson. Zimmer Biomet's spokesperson declined to comment. SAP's spokesperson declined to comment on customers' projects.
ASML Holding NV's top-end lithography systems, which produce advanced chips for clients such as Nvidia Corp., rely exclusively on optics supplied by Zeiss. The firm, said semiconductor head Frank Rohmund, is scaling up to meet surging demand.
