RISE or GROW

RISE, the ERP goody bag

The ECC successor S/4 is around ten years young and was presented as an on-prem system. A cosmetic operation was supposed to turn the on-prem S/4 with an over ten-year-old Hana into a cloud beauty. The operation was a botch and S/4 is currently neither a worthy successor to ERP/ECC 6.0 nor an answer to the numerous cloud-native offerings from competitors.

What does a bride's father do when a bride's attractiveness is not compelling enough? He increases the dowry. RISE is the S/4 goody bag designed to make the dusty ERP program more attractive and ensure cloud bliss.

The idea behind RISE for S/4 was to provide a complete, worry-free package. The result was an incomprehensible conglomerate of IT tools, services, and software. Three years after Christian Klein's presentation, SAP is still struggling to find a clear definition. Customers will search in vain for an explanatory white paper from SAP.

SAP itself poses the question on its own website: what is RISE? The global ERP market leader provides an answer that is more a reflection of the AI zeitgeist than a true understanding of ERP: "The RISE with SAP offering includes AI-based cloud ERP managed and optimized by SAP. It provides services and tools based on SAP's clean-core approach. This allows you to migrate on-premises systems, transform business processes, continuously drive innovation and benefit from the agility of the cloud."

ERP used to be easier

According to SAP, RISE also includes AI-powered cloud ERP. So, the SAP cloud and the world's best ERP now need AI support to work? SAP's statement about RISE on its own website provides food for thought.

There is a growing realization that RISE is just slow-selling, ten-year-old S/4 in nicer packaging. RISE is the last chance to get the bride married off.

GROW is RISE squared

Just as S/4 failed, RISE will not save SAP. The emergency program Grow seems to be an exit strategy. However, SAP does not seem very sure of itself. At every opportunity—most recently at Sapphire 2024 in Orlando—there are new options for SAP customers interested in RISE and GROW. Those who opt for the programs are assigned an enterprise ERP architect.

It is good to know that an outdated S/4 can only be tamed with an experienced IT enterprise architect. But in the end, it's also a confession on SAP's part: we don't have a worthy successor to ECC! The RISE and GROW dowry is now unmanageable.

Private and public cloud computing

Even the strange suggestion that RISE is an answer for customers who want to move to the private cloud or prefer on-prem, and that GROW is only for new customers who are forced to move to the public cloud, is a mockery of SAP history. As long as SAP continues to pack new features and services into the RISE and GROW offerings instead of publishing clear definitions in a white paper, the speculation of the SAP community will prevent any true S/4 success. SAP is beating itself to death with RISE and GROW.