{"id":165586,"date":"2026-08-06T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/?p=165586"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:06:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T08:06:36","slug":"data-sovereignty-and-interoperability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/datensouveraenitaet-und-interoperabilitaet\/","title":{"rendered":"Data Sovereignty and Interoperability"},"content":{"rendered":"
SAP and Its Dominant Market Position<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In mid-2026, the European Commission concluded proceedings against SAP, thereby fundamentally altering the competitive landscape in the market for ERP maintenance and support. Under case number AT.40823, the EU competition authority accepted legally binding commitments from SAP to settle a formal antitrust proceeding under Article 102 of the TFEU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proceedings were preceded by an investigation launched in September 2025, in which the Commission preliminarily determined that SAP was abusing its dominant market position in on-premises ERP software to systematically hinder third-party maintenance providers such as Rimini Street, unduly restricting customers\u2019 freedom of choice, and imposing artificially inflated support costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Revision of the SAP Price and Terms List (PKL)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The commitments accepted by the EU\u2014which are now enforceable in court\u2014compel SAP to undertake a fundamental revision of its contractual support guidelines and its Price and Terms List (PTL). As a key element, SAP must abandon the principle of support uniformity and clarify so-called \u201clandscape splits\u201d: In the future, customers will be allowed to divide their SAP system landscape into independent, commercial installations and decide separately for each part whether to continue with the expensive manufacturer support, engage a more affordable third-party maintenance provider, or discontinue support for unused components entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until now, SAP has prohibited customers from mixing different support levels or providers and has required them to sign the same contract for their entire installed software base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Cancellation Rights for Shelfware<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The EU ordered SAP to accept expanded, discount-neutral termination rights for its existing customers regarding unused licenses (shelfware). Under clearly defined, objective scenarios, existing SAP customers can now cancel licenses and the associated maintenance fees without SAP artificially inflating the cost of remaining licenses by retroactively eliminating existing volume discounts (prohibition on re-discounting).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These special cases include products in the final maintenance phase\u2014known as \u201cCustomer-Specific Maintenance\u201d\u2014during which SAP provides only limited services; implementation projects that have demonstrably failed due to SAP\u2019s fault; customer bankruptcies, significant workforce reductions of 10 percent or more over a two-year period, and divestitures, in which licenses can be transferred to the buyer without transfer fees and without loss of discounts, or unused remaining licenses can be terminated without replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Relaunch of the Maintenance Base and Return to Operations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In addition, SAP must actively offer broader access to Single-metric contracts starting at a contract volume of 500,000 euros, which allows customers to reduce their maintenance base by up to 20 percent per year as usage declines while still retaining the right to use the software for an unlimited period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t
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