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​The political polls nor the nation couldn’t predict the result, however, this month saw the Liberal Party retain the top dog position in Australian politics.

The long campaign and many low punches thrown by both the Labour and Liberal parties saw two very different approaches to the direction of Australia in the next four years. But how does Liberal’s win affect SAP industries? We take a look at mining, retail, utilities, and government sectors and how they’re affected by this result. We also discuss if Speller International can predict any SAP changes.

Retail Sector
It’s well known that retail sales have regular ups and downs affected by events like federal elections. However, there’s little evidence to support that an election negatively impacts consumer spending. But for now, consumers are putting their spending on hold to ‘wait and see’ what 2019 and the new Liberal policies will bring.So when it comes to SAP in the retail industry are we seeing change?

We are seeing some positive change, with consumer spending lower, the competition amongst Retailers is high. With them desperately trying to ensure they get their fair share of the spend and keep costs down. Investing in Technology which will automate process, lower head count as well as predict customer activity and make it easy for consumers to part with their money we are seeing the Retail Industry fairly busy in the SAP world.

Many of our customers are looking at and are implementing the “newer” SAP Products. These include SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba & SAP CAR and some customer experience technologies. We even have a couple of large global Retail chains starting to set up shop in Australia whilst in the midst of Global SAP roll outs. So watch this space! Of course it’s not all sunshine and lollypops with long term SAP customer The Reject Shop struggling and starting to close down their stores. I predict that sadly, if the Retailer is too budget focused and not prepared to invest in the newer technologies which enhance their business then they will soon fall behind.

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Mining Sector
Queensland contributed largely to the Liberal victory. The Adani Carmichael Coal mine was the driving agenda behind the voting, and as Labour could not back the project, many Queenslanders voted Liberal to guarantee job security. But with whispers that the coal mining industry is on the decline what does this mean for SAP in the mining sector?

SAP has long been a “system of choice” for the miners, many of whom are already on SAP ECC 6 and with the Liberal’s remaining in power it can only mean some stability for this sector. However, we are seeing that the reduced spend in this sector has made it hard for any of them to get the S/4Hana business case off the ground. Unfortunately, the move/migration to S/4Hana on these large global systems does not provide initial benefit, it is very costly and the “sell” is really about future vision and remaining supported – a difficult sell when they are already cutting costs.

Utilities Sector
In regards to Electricity, Liberal promised price cuts of up to 15 percent for more than 500,000 families and small businesses, and further support providing $75 for singles and $125 for couples.But these promises are for Electricity, what about other utilities, and what changing can we predict for 2019 when SAP is concerned?

The short answer for us is no matter what the economy is like and no matter who holds government, Utilities is always busy! Again, SAP has been a system of choice for the Utilities sector and that does not seem to be changing with the push to S/4Hana. It does seem to be a matter of “when” they go and not “If” they go, with many of the major Utilities companies already in full swing project mode, already gone live or at least preparing to make the move. In addition, naturally with the mass data and the government’s push to not waste energy and make it cheaper and be more flexible for consumers – Data Analytics is big in this space.

Government Sector
When we consider how the Liberal party affects the government sector, our minds are drawn to Taxes, Health, Education, and Roads.How are these government departments affected by the Liberal Party’s win when it comes to SAP and do Speller International see any significant changes for the future?

The consistency of the Liberal party remaining in power can only be a positive on how the SAP government sector is performing – government being the busiest SAP industry for us. The federal government and SAP Australia struck up a very good deal indeed when it came to the pricing on SAP ECC licences, which I am sure assisted in the decision making process when evaluation systems/products. Australian government (both federal and state) really has been leading the way, with government departments conducting some of Australia’s largest SAP programs of work and creating many jobs for Australian citizens.

That’s the breakdown on politics and Speller Internationals’ predictions on how SAP industries will perform with the Liberal party remaining in power. And indeed, things will slightly change, but there are no major disruptions in the near future.

If you have any questions or anything to add to this conversation, please feel free to comment below.