Clear Roles Instead of High Licensing Expenses

For years, SAP roles in many companies were primarily geared towards compliance requirements. The focus was on fulfilling legal standards and avoiding risks through critical combinations of authorizations. This approach may seem sensible from a regulatory perspective, but it neglects economic aspects. Overly broad role definitions result in user profiles that allow far more system access than is necessary for day-to-day work. As a result, users are automatically assigned to higher-priced license categories, which increases the number of cost-intensive full user equivalents. As a result, license costs rise unnecessarily - sometimes unnoticed for years.

SAP Star measurement procedure

With the new SAP-Star measurement method, licenses are no longer issued on a flat-rate basis, but evaluated individually. Every access, every role influences the count of full user equivalents - and therefore the license costs. Incorrect authorization concepts have an immediate financial impact. Many companies underestimate the cost consequences of inaccurate role designs and thus miss out on enormous savings potential. In practice, role concepts that are primarily geared towards compliance objectives dominate. Although this ensures compliance with legal requirements, it often leads to oversized user roles. The result: an unnecessarily high number of expensive licenses, rising costs after the contract is signed and poor conditions for cloud migration.

Licensing by Design

The strategic approach is called licensing by design. This involves restricting access precisely to necessary functions, decoupling high-priced authorizations and consistently aligning roles with actual usage. This noticeably reduces FUE counts - without sacrificing security or efficiency.

Avoid relicensing

If you only start to rethink your license structure during the audit, you are usually too late. Early modelling and simulation make it possible to implement optimizations in good time. This not only improves profitability and strengthens your negotiating position with SAP. With the SAP License Manager from Soterion, companies gain real-time transparency of their license landscape. The software simulates FUE effects, identifies risks and helps to avoid relicensing in a targeted manner. This turns access governance into a competitive advantage.

Conclusion

Switching to the Star license model is more than just a technical detail - it requires a rethink of how access, compliance and costs are managed. Companies that act early will benefit in the long term. The combination of SoD compliance and license optimization is no longer a nice-to-have - it is business-critical. Those who are prepared reduce risks, lower costs and gain long-term control over their SAP landscape.