SAP - Return to License Stability

Gradually, it has become clear to even the last SAP customer that SAP expects additional license fees for the use of the Abap development language for in-house developments or when using Abap add-ons from third-party manufacturers.

Keywords are: NetWeaver Foundation for 3rd Party Application or SAP Platform User.

For more than seven years now, these components have been found in the SAP PKL (price and condition list) without this being actively addressed by SAP to customers. This only happened within the last two to three years.

Initially with individual major customers in the context of license measurement when using third-party products, later also with other customers for in-house developments, some of which were created 10 to 15 years ago.

SAP initiative: What's behind it

In the past, it was advertised to use Abap as a development language for the customer's own developments. Partners of SAP were addressed to create add-on developments themselves, since SAP could not create every functionality in every industry depth and therefore Abap was available for developments.

For a long time, it was unclear which user license types from the SAP price list would be eligible if and to the extent that there are users who only use selected functions of these in-house developments or add-on products.

SAP had numerous individual regulations in this area. In some cases, the SAP Limited Professional User was offered, while special users were defined individually for other customers.

For more than five years, the SAP platform user has also been addressed, which was initially offered in a similar value order as the Employee Self Service User. This has changed fundamentally.

Although the SAP platform user still costs only about half of the professional user in addition to other licensing, it costs many times more than the SAP platform user used to. However, this is now generally expected for in-house developments as well.

Whereas in 2001 the SAP PKL still expressly permitted proprietary developments and the development of add-ons, these are increasingly restricted in several steps and finally prohibited in principle.

Cloud instead of Abap

When asked, SAP states that Abap should no longer be used for developments, as additions should only be cloud-based in line with the S/4 strategy.

The Hana Cloud Platform is available for this purpose with the development methods applicable there. Isn't this also due to SAP's problematic sales strategy in the on-premise area, when additional license business is generated with loyal existing customers through the "SAP NetWeaver Foundation for 3rd Party Application" license?

Many customers are asking themselves where this is going to lead when confidence in a stable licensing basis is dwindling and, as in the past with the discussion about the Limited Professional User, further licensing constructs are perhaps also threatening to be added in the future, making investments in SAP software appear hardly calculable for the future.

My plea is that SAP, as also demanded by DSAG, should again offer license stability and return to the basis that has been propagated for many years on the part of SAP. This applies not only to the classic ERP business, but also to S/4 Hana, so that investments that customers had made in the ERP business are not lost when they switch to S/4 Hana.

SAP should proactively draw attention to new license types that already exist in the PKL but are not sufficiently explained even to the expert. There is a risk here that the discussions about the "SAP NetWeaver Foundation for 3rd Party Application" license will also extend to these new license types in the next few years.