CLOUD UP BUT OUTLOOK DOWN FOR SAP Q1

SAP financial results for Q1 have exceeded analysts’ expectations with cloud revenues totaling €3.18bn, up 22 percent. Cloud revenue for SAP S/4HANA totaled €716m, up 75 percent.

The results for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 saw both IFRS and non-IFRS cloud gross profit increase by 27 percent at constant currencies.

IFRS operating profit meanwhile was down by 45 percent, with non-IFRS operating profit up 12 percent at constant currencies.

GROW with SAP was also launched in Q1, a datasphere solution for midsize firms.

Despite trumping analyst predictions, SAP has adjusted its outlook for the financial year, with cloud revenue and cloud/ software revenue both marked down by €1.3bn. SAP’s operating profit will be €0.2bn less than forecast, with free cash flow reduced by €0.1bn.

SAP states that the wary outlook is due to the divestment of its Qualtrics unit, where 423 million shares were sold in the SAP

Workday races to the finish line with McLaren

McLaren Racing has entered into a multiyear partnership with Workday, as an official partner of the 2023 McLaren Formula 1 team. Workday branding debuted at the Australian Grand Prix on April 2.

As part of this partnership, McLaren will become a customer of Workday’s financial planning software, adding to the growing community of sports organizations using Workday, which includes some of the largest teams and leagues across the globe.

Workday’s technology will help McLaren support and empower its people through better financial subsidiary. The forecast also reflects a general nervousness in Big Tech, which has already seen SAP plan to shed around 3,000 jobs. The Q1 results show SAP currently employs a workforce of 105,132.

On the Q1 results, SAP CEO Christian Klein, said: “We have entered a powerful new phase in our strategic transformation with topline and bottomline results clearly demonstrating the tipping point we passed in the fourth quarter 2022. Our cloud momentum continues at a fast pace which is contributing to our strong revenue and double-digit non-IFRS operating profit growth this quarter.” planning and forecasting, enhancing transparency, simplicity and adaptability across the entire organization.

In addition, the McLaren-Workday partnership is not the company’s first sports collaboration. It follows Workday’s sponsorship of the NFL, as well as players in tennis and golf, with brand ambassadors such as Naomi Osaka, Casey Danielson and many more.

PwC has deepened its commitment to delivering human-led and tech-powered solutions in line with its global strategy, The New Equation, with new acquisitions and partnerships focusing on AI, human resources and supply chain technologies.

Completing its acquisition of people technology consultancy, People Force, 50 employees have joined PwC’s people and organization team in the UK, including People Force’s senior leadership team, led by Pritul Khagram who will be playing a leading role in the Ceridian Dayforce practice.

PwC US has partnered with Microsoft to create scalable offerings using OpenAI’s GPT-4/ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service. It follows PwC’s plans to invest $1bn over the next three years to expand its AI offerings.

Two further AI investments focused on the legal services industry. In an alliance with ContractPodAi, PwC will offer an AI-powered legal contract management platform to reframe the way traditional tax, legal and people services are delivered.

A partnership with AI startup Harvey will give PwC’s Legal Business Solutions professionals exclusive access (among the Big 4) to the platform built on OpenAI and ChatGPT technology. It uses NLP, ML and data analytics to enhance various aspects of legal work. PwC’s network of over 4,000 legal professionals will have access to humanled and technologyenabled legal solutions in areas including contract analysis, regulatory compliance, claims management, due diligence and broader legal advisory and legal consulting services.

Software supply chain security firm ReversingLabs has also entered a PwC strategic partnership. The alliance assists customers to modernize traditional Third Party Risk Management (TPRM) programs that struggle to keep pace with the complexities and interconnectedness of the modern software supply chain.

IBM SEES QUANTUM WINS: EY COLLAB AND CLEVELAND CLINIC INSTALLATION

EY will join IBM Quantum Network, expanding their long-term partnership to enable EY teams to explore solutions using IBM technology.

The firm will access IBM’s fleet of quantum computers via the cloud and form part of the community of organizations advancing quantum computing.

Leveraging IBM quantum technology, EY will research transformative use cases, including CO2 emissions reduction from classical computing, bettering the safety and accuracy of self-driving cars and integrating quantum benefits into data processing and decision-making. It follows IBM’s unveiling of the first onsite private sector IBMmanaged quantum computer deployment in the US, installed at the Cleveland Clinic.

The IBM Quantum System One will be the first quantum computer solely dedicated to healthcare research, aiming to help accelerate biomedical discoveries.

A huge milestone in the firms’ ten-year partnership, it looks to advance biomedical research with high-performance computing, AI and quantum computing. Teams from both companies will leverage the technologies to generate data to enhance research.

Julie Sweet