Dual SAP Rise license

Robert Platzgummer's illustration of ex-SAP CEO Léo Apotheker at the supermarket checkout is well over ten years old - and is still or has already become topical again. It is frightening how little SAP learns from its own history and how SAP's existing customers are still being excluded.

In addition to many other stumbling blocks and pitfalls, a so-called Rise contract consists of at least two parts: the conversion part, i.e. the move to the cloud, and the cloud subscription, i.e. the rental agreement for the cloud. This insight is not insignificant, as it means that the existing SAP customer has to pay at least two SAP invoices, see illustration on this page.

The DSAG Annual Congress 2024 showed that some existing SAP customers will opt for Rise, and this step is not necessarily wrong: However, Rise change management is not trivial and is also dependent on the SAP team provided. The level of training and S/4 knowledge is not the same for all SAP employees. If you are unlucky as an existing SAP customer, you will be assigned a less experienced SAP Rise team. With an inexperienced SAP team, the Rise path can end in a dead end. However, according to the Rise contract, the user is still obliged to pay the cloud subscription - even if the project is stopped.

The user has to pay twice at the SAP checkout: Conversion and subscription. The situation is comparable to a vacation trip for which flight and hotel costs have to be paid. If the flight is canceled, vacationers receive compensation. The booked hotel must still be paid for in full, even if the rooms remain empty.

The situation is similar at SAP: if the Rise project is canceled, SAP may waive some of the conversion costs - but never the cloud subscription! The existing SAP customer is then left with the wreckage of their ERP between earth and sky: it is no longer possible to return to on-prem land because the license was also converted and surrendered with the Rise contract. Moving forward to the cloud is also not possible because the Rise conversion was not successfully completed.

Why SAP has to pay twice with Rise and why there is no all-inclusive Rise contract remains a secret for SAP. The risk of never arriving in the cloud, but having already paid twice in advance at the SAP supermarket checkout, remains for the time being. The dual SAP Rise license model is therefore to the disadvantage of existing customers with an affinity for the cloud and a continuation of a very old way of doing business.
Former SAP CEO Léo Apotheker was inspired by double-entry bookkeeping back in 2009 and derived the double license fee for NetWeaver functions and other SAP offerings from this. As SAP CEO, Christian Klein has resumed this tradition with Rise - which was not the worst decision for the SAP share price.