Brussels (Reuters) – SAP, the largest software manufacturer in Europe, has granted concessions to European regulators to appease antitrust concerns linked to its commercial practices, have announced sources close to the file, while the group seeks to avoid a fine investigation and potential.

The German company is the world leader in business resource planning software (ERP), used by companies to manage finances, human resources, supply chains, sales and purchases.

SAP has been in the crosshairs of the European Commission for several years, some companies that have expressed concerns about the complexity of the conditions of use and license, the grouping of applications resulting in higher costs and the difficulty of going to competing suppliers.

The group presented a proposal to respond to the regulatory concerns aroused by some of the grievances linked to its ERP software, sources said, which asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the case. They did not give more details on the proposal.

The Commission looks at software

If SAP manages to convince the Commission, which acts as a European competition gendarme, the group could avoid a survey and the risk of a fine of up to 10% of its annual world turnover.

SAP and the European Commission both refused to comment.

In a 2022 questionnaire sent to companies and consulted by Reuters, the European regulator asked about the after-sales assistance services of SAP and the American technological company Oracle, and asked if it was easy for the respondents to move to a competitor supplier.

Oracle did not respond to Reuters’ comments.

Respondents were asked about their freedom to continue their assistance services contract with the original supplier or to go to a competitor. They were also asked if they could freely choose the assistance services and if they encountered any obstacles.

The European Commission sought to find out if it was easy for companies to go from on -site service to a cloud solution and if SAP and Oracle software providers denigrated their competitors.

To remedy these problems, corrective measures would generally aim to offer more flexibility to companies to conclude service contracts on the software of their choice and facilitate their passage to a competitor.

In June, SAP had seized the United States Supreme Court to re-examine a decision forcing it to face a trial brought by the American Teradata data technology company, which accuses it of having violated competition legislation.

(FOO Yun Chee report, Elena Smirnova, edited by Augustin Turpin)

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