Moving from SAP ECC or SAP Business Suite toward SAP S/4HANA, RISE with SAP, or another cloud ERP model is not only a technical transformation. As discussed in our latest webinar, it is also a major commercial and licensing decision.
Many SAP customers are currently under pressure to define their future roadmap. Some are considering RISE with SAP. Others are evaluating S/4HANA on-premise, extended maintenance, third-party support, or even alternative ERP strategies.
The central message from the webinarwas clear:
before entering serious negotiations with SAP, customers need visibility into what they own, what they use, what they are authorized to use, and what they will actually need in the future.
What rights do you give up when terminating perpetual SAP licenses?
When a customer moves from a perpetual license model to a subscription-based model such as RISE with SAP, they typically give up the right to use their existing licenses indefinitely.
Under a perpetual license, the customer has bought the right to use the software on an ongoing basis, subject to the terms of the contract. If that contract is terminated as part of a new agreement, the customer may also lose the specific terms and conditions negotiated over many years. This can include commercial rights, usage rights, special clauses, discounts, and flexibility built into the original agreement.
Moving to a subscription model changes the customer’s level of control. Some customers may welcome the fact that SAP takes over more responsibility for infrastructure, upgrades, system operation, and performance. But that convenience also comes with trade-offs. Customers may give up some ability to steer, customize, and manage their own environment.
That is why the business case matters.
The decision should not be made simply because SAP recommends it. Customers should first understand what they are giving up, what they are receiving in return, and whether the new model supports their long-term business strategy.
If license cleanup is so obvious, why is it still such a big topic?
License cleanup sounds simple in theory. In practice, it is still a major issue because many companies do not have a clear picture of their actual SAP usage.
A common assumption is that SAP’s own tools, such as STAR, provide enough information.
STAR can be useful, but it primarily shows what users are authorized to do. That is not always the same as what users actually do.
This distinction is critical. Many SAP environments have grown over 10, 15, or 20 years. Roles and authorizations have often been created, copied, modified, and expanded without being cleaned up regularly. In some cases, companies may have more roles than users. If licensing is calculated based on authorizations, an outdated authorization concept can make the license requirement appear much larger than the real business need.
That is why cleanup remains relevant. It is not enough to run a standard evaluation and accept the result. Customers need to understand whether their roles, authorizations, and actual usage reflect the reality of the business today.
Are companies with 400 SAP users too small for optimization?
No. A company with 400 SAP users is not too small for optimization.
VOQUZ Labs works with customers ranging from smaller SAP environments to very large organizations with hundreds of thousands of users. Naturally, the larger and more complex the environment, the more optimization opportunities there may be. But smaller environments can still carry significant SAP costs.
Even with a few hundred users, companies may be spending hundreds of thousands of euros or dollars on SAP licenses and maintenance. They may also have risks or hidden costs related to indirect access, unused licenses, over-classified users, or products that are no longer needed.
The smaller the environment, the more important it is to make the optimization project cost-effective and focused. But size alone should not be a reason to ignore the topic. If the SAP bill is material to the business, optimization is worth reviewing.
How can you check whether ECC users have the correct license type?
Many ECC customers suspect they have too many Professional users and too few Employee, Limited Professional, or other lower-level user types.
The right way to check is to compare two views: actual usage and authorizations.
Actual usage shows what users really do in the system. Authorizations show what users could theoretically do based on their roles. Both views matter, especially because SAP’s licensing logic increasingly considers roles and authorizations when evaluating future license requirements.
VOQUZ Labs’ samQ tool was specifically mentioned in this context. It analyzes user activity and determines the best-practice license type based on what users actually do. It can also analyze authorizations and show how those authorizations would translate into licensing requirements. This allows customers to compare the two views and see where the gaps are.
That comparison is powerful because it shows whether the issue is actual license demand or simply an authorization structure that has grown out of control. Once the customer understands the difference, they can clean up roles, correct license assignments, and prepare a stronger negotiation position.
Should customers buy extended maintenance for SAP Business Suite or move to S/4HANA?
There is no universal answer.
Extended maintenance may make sense for some customers, especially if the current ECC or Business Suite environment is stable, business-critical, and still aligned with the company’s roadmap. The key questions are practical ones: How many support cases does the company open? How stable is the system? How complex is the environment? What would downtime cost? How quickly does the company really need S/4HANA capabilities?
At the same time, SAP is strongly pushing customers toward RISE with SAP. Customers who want to stay on-premise may need to push harder to get serious S/4HANA on-premise options from SAP. It was noted that SAP often puts RISE pricing front and center, while on-premise alternatives may require more persistence.
The main recommendation was not “always move” or “always stay.” The recommendation was to prepare properly. Customers should understand their current licensing, optimize their environment, model future requirements, and then compare the full TCO of the realistic options: ECC with extended maintenance, S/4HANA on-premise, RISE with SAP, third-party support, or a broader ERP strategy.
Should customers tell SAP they are considering another ERP because SAP Private Cloud Edition (PCE) is too expensive?
This can be a valid negotiation point, but it should not be used casually.
Many customers are actively considering alternatives. Some are looking at third-party support providers. Others are considering whether SAP should remain only the core finance platform while other business areas move to best-of-breed solutions. Some are even evaluating other ERP platforms.
If SAP PCE or RISE pricing is significantly higher than the current ECC on-premise cost, customers should not simply accept the proposal. They should challenge it. However, the argument is strongest when it is backed by facts: current SAP spend, infrastructure cost, maintenance cost, license usage, shelfware, future requirements, and realistic alternative scenarios.
Threatening to leave SAP without preparation is weak. Showing SAP that the company has a credible alternative strategy is much stronger.
If a customer is considering third-party support or moving away from SAP maintenance, they must first understand and clean up their current license position. SAP may audit customers who are preparing to leave maintenance, so visibility and compliance are essential before making that move.
How far into the future should SAP license planning look?
License planning should cover the expected contract period and the customer’s realistic growth scenario.
During our last webinar we discussed planning over several years, depending on the customer’s roadmap and negotiation timeline. In practice, customers should model future growth for the full period they are negotiating. That may be three, five, seven, or even ten years, depending on the contract and transformation plan.
However, the point is not only to calculate the exact number of future users or licenses. Once the future requirement is understood, the negotiation becomes broader. Customers can negotiate discount levels, swap rights, exchange rights, termination rights, audit protection, and other commercial terms that may create more value than simply adjusting license quantities.
The goal is to avoid signing a contract that only fits today’s situation.
A good SAP agreement should support the business for the next phase of growth, not lock the company into the wrong structure for years.
Why are SAP savings often hidden?
SAP savings are often hidden because customers do not know where to look.
Many companies assume that because the system works, the licensing must also be fine. But SAP environments often contain years of accumulated shelfware, unused products, outdated roles, over-classified users, and commercial terms that no longer match the business.
“If you do not open the bonnet, you will not know what is making the noise”.
In SAP licensing, the problem is often even harder because there may be no obvious noise. The company may be overspending for years without anyone noticing.
This is why proactive analysis matters. Customers should not wait until an audit, a RISE proposal, or a renewal event forces them to act. The best time to understand your SAP position is before SAP puts a proposal on the table.
What should customers do before negotiating with SAP?
The webinar’s practical message was simple: regain control before entering the negotiation.
That means customers should:
- Understand their current contracts and commercial rights.
- Analyze actual SAP usage.
- Review roles and authorizations.
- Identify shelfware and underused products.
- Check for overuse or compliance exposure.
- Model realistic future requirements.
- Compare RISE, S/4HANA on-premise, extended maintenance, and other strategic options.
- Build a clear business case before engaging with SAP.
Customers should not allow SAP to define the entire conversation. SAP may present RISE as the preferred or only realistic path, but the customer still needs to decide what is best for the business.
A cloud transformation can be a risk if it becomes a simple lift-and-shift of an already inefficient license estate. But if handled properly, it can also be an opportunity to clean up the environment, reduce waste, redirect budget to innovation, and negotiate a contract that fits the next ten years.
The key takeaway from the webinar is that SAP customers should not be passive in the move to cloud ERP.
Whether the future is RISE with SAP, S/4HANA on-premise, extended maintenance, third-party support, or a hybrid strategy, the customer needs visibility first. Without that visibility, SAP controls the conversation. With it, the customer can negotiate from a position of strength.
License optimization is not only about cutting cost. It is about making sure the next SAP contract reflects what the business actually needs, what it will need in the future, and what it should no longer pay for.
You can watch the full webinar here: https://www.voquzlabs.com/webinar-on-demand/samq-hidden-sap-savings-optimize-bom-shelfware-fues-before-cloud
Before you enter your next SAP negotiation, make sure you know what you actually use, what you no longer need, and where your biggest optimization opportunities are.
Book a meeting with one of our SAP licensing experts and find out how VOQUZ Labs can help you prepare for RISE with SAP, S/4HANA, extended maintenance, or your next contract negotiation.
