Rimini Street touts Agentic AI ERP as upgrades stall

Rimini Street has reported growing adoption of its "Rimini Smart Path" approach, which it said has been used by thousands of organisations seeking to fund technology change through savings from software support and related services.

The company said the approach applies across enterprise software portfolios that include Oracle, SAP and VMware. Rimini Street positions itself as a third-party support provider for those products. It said customers use the model to extend the life of existing systems and reduce reliance on vendor-driven upgrade cycles.

Rimini Street described Rimini Smart Path as a three-step methodology: Support, Optimise and Innovate. It said the steps apply sequentially across systems. The company said the process aims to stabilise existing environments and redirect spending towards new projects.

Budget pressure

Rimini Street pointed to an environment where CIOs face demands to modernise while working within constrained budgets. It cited IDC research indicating that 47% of organisations have delayed innovation due to upgrade requirements, and 92% feel locked into their ERP vendor's roadmap.

The company framed those figures as a sign of dissatisfaction with established enterprise software models. It said organisations often see upgrades, migrations and replatforming as costly and disruptive. It also said complexity in enterprise estates continues to rise.

Support change

Under the Support stage, Rimini Street said organisations replace vendor support arrangements with Rimini Support across Oracle, SAP, VMware and other products. It said this includes support for customisations. Rimini Street said it can provide support "guaranteed for up to 15+ years".

The company also claimed significant reductions in annual support costs. It said organisations can achieve "up to 90% total savings on ERP and other software support". It also cited service levels that include "ultra-responsive 24/7/365 service and guaranteed 10-minute response times for priority cases, delivered on average in less than 2 minutes".

Optimise services

The second stage, Optimise, centres on services that Rimini Street said reduce operating costs and improve performance. It described these as expert-led services. It listed managed services, professional services, proactive security and interoperability solutions.

Rimini Street said organisations use those services to keep IT estates stable while addressing day-to-day operational needs. It said the aim is to free internal resources for other work. The company also said customers seek efficiency and return on investment in existing environments.

Innovation push

The third stage, Innovate, focuses on projects that Rimini Street said customers pursue once systems are stable and resources are freed from routine operations. The company said this includes AI, automation and analytics. It said customers pursue this work "without increasing overall IT spend".

Rimini Street also referenced "Rimini Agentic UX". It described it as a way to expand automation. It said it delivers "reduced workflows and new capabilities at scale".

Rimini Street said organisations can keep existing ERP and other enterprise applications "running smoothly and securely through 2040 and beyond". It said customers can "layer Agentic AI 'over the top'" of existing systems.

Agentic AI

The company said its longer-term direction is "Agentic AI ERP". It described it as a model in which autonomous AI agents orchestrate business processes across composable architectures. It presented the concept as an alternative to heavy investment in traditional ERP upgrade cycles.

"ERP Software is dead. While existing ERP Software and releases can continue to provide great value and be supported by Rimini Street at significant savings for many years to come, we believe ERP Software is peaking in capability, and there is little value to any further investments in ERP Software upgrades, migrations or replatforming," said Seth Ravin, CEO, Rimini Street.

"Agentic AI ERP is the breakthrough that shifts ERP from a passive system of record to an active, intelligent system of action - one capable of orchestrating processes autonomously while delivering exponential gains. The Rimini Smart Path is how you fund innovation within your existing budget - fast - while achieving your strategic, operational and financial goals," said Ravin.

IDC findings

IDC surveyed more than 700 global enterprises and IT leaders across ten countries on enterprise application portfolios and service provider decisions over the next two years, according to Rimini Street. The company cited findings that 74% of organisations believe their ERP has a longer valuable lifespan than vendors support, and 68% value autonomy in deciding whether and when to upgrade enterprise software. It also cited a finding that 72.5% report a composable architecture strategy for core ERP and other applications.

IDC Group Vice President, Enterprise Software, Mickey North Rizza, commented on AI adoption and upgrade strategies. "upgrades, migration and replatforming to the latest software release are not needed to adopt AI," said Rizza.

"adding that 53% of organisations are already integrating AI, agents and automation into their existing systems, that may or may not be in their existing software portfolio. Rizza encourages leaders to transform their software portfolio and consider all possibilities, including challenging vendor narratives and adopting operating models that enable AI-driven modernisation without disruption," said Rizza.

Rimini Street said it has operated since 2005 and has worked with organisations across large enterprises, midmarket and public sector. It said customers have saved more than USD $10 billion in IT costs through its model and have used the savings for other initiatives, including AI-related projects.