The global and independent platform for the SAP community.

Multiple revenues

The principle of rebilling was introduced by SAP during the reign of McDermott's predecessor, Léo Apotheker. The short-term CEO was a genius salesman and fundraiser.
October 4, 2018
The-Last-Satire
This text has been automatically translated from German to English.

Like his predecessor Léo Apotheker, SAP CEO Bill McDermott is a brilliant salesman. What counts is revenue, and everyone in the SAP empire has to contribute. Board meetings are planning sessions aimed at generating even more revenue.

Strategic product developments are discarded and stopped against the will of SAP's Chief Technology Officer Bernd Leukert. Half-finished products are pushed onto the market. What promises additional licenses and maintenance fees is at the top of the list.

SAP tries to charge simple services multiple times by numerous dodges and tricks! The best example is the so-called indirect usage.

Quickly explained for the license layman: From the moment a paid and installed IT system is not used exactly to the extent and for the purpose that the manufacturer would like, the manufacturer demands subsequent license payments as a "penalty fee". The SAP system is used beyond a "prohibited" limit, which results in direct license payments for this "indirect" use.

Platzgummer Apr09 Dltz
The cartoon by Robert Platzgummer (1975 to 2016) was first published in the E-3 April 2009 issue. It shows the then SAP CEO Léo Apotheker double licensing simple SW products (indirect use). Bill McDermott was happy to adopt this character trait.

In confidential discussions, it is conceded that these are arbitrary definitions of use with the sole objective of increasing revenue, i.e., multiple revenues.

Ultimately, SAP's existing customers are expected to pay again for software they have already purchased simply because SAP believes they are not using it in compliance with the rules. SAP modifies the associated rules almost every quarter.

SAP's multiple revenues are not limited to "indirect" use, however. For existing customers, a different licensing workflow means an increasingly limited range of functions with every further version change, so that in the end the product hardly does what it was once customized to do.

The result is that expensive add-ons have to be relicensed from SAP. Or SAP deletes a product line from the price list without replacement. The existing customer has to license a similar product again: For the end user, the range of functions remains almost identical, but SAP has charged for licenses twice.

The truth of these statements can be easily verified by looking at the balance sheet totals and the share price. SAP is growing and the share price is rising, even though SAP is operating in a largely saturated market. Where do the multiple revenues come from, if not from SAP's licensing tricks?

Write a comment

Working on the SAP basis is crucial for successful S/4 conversion. 

This gives the Competence Center strategic importance for existing SAP customers. Regardless of the S/4 Hana operating model, topics such as Automation, Monitoring, Security, Application Lifecycle Management and Data Management the basis for S/4 operations.

For the second time, E3 magazine is organizing a summit for the SAP community in Salzburg to provide comprehensive information on all aspects of S/4 Hana groundwork.

Venue

More information will follow shortly.

Event date

Wednesday, May 21, and
Thursday, May 22, 2025

Early Bird Ticket

Available until Friday, January 24, 2025
EUR 390 excl. VAT

Regular ticket

EUR 590 excl. VAT

Venue

Hotel Hilton Heidelberg
Kurfürstenanlage 1
D-69115 Heidelberg

Event date

Wednesday, March 5, and
Thursday, March 6, 2025

Tickets

Regular ticket
EUR 590 excl. VAT
Early Bird Ticket

Available until December 20, 2024

EUR 390 excl. VAT
The event is organized by the E3 magazine of the publishing house B4Bmedia.net AG. The presentations will be accompanied by an exhibition of selected SAP partners. The ticket price includes attendance at all presentations of the Steampunk and BTP Summit 2025, a visit to the exhibition area, participation in the evening event and catering during the official program. The lecture program and the list of exhibitors and sponsors (SAP partners) will be published on this website in due course.