Momentum appears to be building behind a shift to the cloud among SAP users, with $39bn of the software giant's offerings potentially moving off premise over the next two years.

Although large enterprises with $1bn-plus turnovers are planning to migrate 46 percent of their existing SAP environment to the cloud, according to new research, cost savings are unlikely to be the main driver.

Executives quizzed for the HCL Technologies report are more likely to be turning to the cloud to improve business flexibility and gain access to new technologies than to save money.