Decoding SAP’s Pivot to Cloud ERP Private for the 2027 Countdown
Key Takeaways
SAP's rebranding of RISE with SAP emphasizes a journey toward cloud ERP adoption, with the 2025 deadline accelerating this transformation, particularly for smaller organizations.
Existing SAP customers must recognize that the transition to SAP Cloud ERP Private allows them to modernize while retaining familiar control and extensibility, making early planning and partner selection critical.
Data sovereignty and partner governance are essential considerations for organizations navigating the RISE framework, particularly in Europe, where compliance with regulations like GDPR is paramount.
SAP’s decision to rebrand RISE with offering. For SAP users, understanding what this means in practice is now critical to planning their landscapes over the next three to five years.
From Bundle to Journey
RISE with SAP was initially framed as a bundled offering that combined software, infrastructure, and services under a single contract, simplifying the move to SAP S/4HANA in the cloud. In the recently concluded Navigating Data Sovereignty – Choosing the Right RISE with SAP Infrastructure webinar, SAPinsider and T-Systems positioned RISE with SAP now representing the transformation journey from SAP ECC to SAP Business Suite, with SAP Cloud ERP Private now the natural destination for most installed-base customers.
The SAPinsider RISE with SAP 2025 benchmark report confirms that this journey is now firmly underway. As 2025 draws to a close, cloud ERP adoption is clearly accelerating because of the 2027 deadline and intense pressure from SAP for customers to adopt cloud ERP. The report also notes that smaller organizations, those with under $2 billion in revenue, are currently twice as likely to be live on the RISE with SAP/SAP Cloud ERP Private package as larger enterprises, which are more likely to still be in planning or exploration stages.
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What Changes for Existing Customers?
For SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA customers not running SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the rebranding clarifies that SAP Cloud ERP Private is path for modernizing core ERP while retaining many of the control and extensibility patterns they know today. The RISE with SAP 2025 report highlights that SAP’s direct transition support and license conversion credits are among the primary drivers nudging organizations onto this model, even as many still wrestle with cost and unclear business value.
At the same time, the SAPinsider report identifies a growing influence of generative AI on ERP strategy, with a plurality of organizations explicitly reconsidering their cloud ERP strategy in order to access AI capabilities. However, it forecasts a looming resource crunch, as implementation partners are expected to struggle to staff the volume of concurrent projects needed to meet the 2027 and 2030 timelines. This makes early planning and partner selection even more critical for RISE and Cloud ERP Private journeys.
Why the SAP–T‑Systems Partnership Matters
For European organizations, especially those sensitive to GDPR and the potential impact of the US CLOUD Act on their cloud providers, SAP’s cloud ERP story is increasingly tied to sovereign infrastructure choices. The webinar showcases how T-Systems, as aRISE with SAP Premium Supplier, delivers SAP Cloud ERP Private on EU based data centers operated under European law, giving customers a sovereign option within the RISE framework.
With concern about both protecting the sensitive data in SAP systems combined with the need to follow regulatory requirements, this sovereign cloud angle becomes a core design choice rather than a late-stage technicality. Organizations that select partners capable of both sovereign hosting and deep SAP expertise, such as T-Systems, are better positioned to manage risk, staff constraints, and regulatory expectations as they modernize their ERP landscapes.
What This Means for SAPinsiders
Adopt a RISE-first planning mindset that is backed by data. SAP’s goal is for customers to eventually move to SAP Cloud ERP and SAP Business Suite. With the pressure to move to cloud ERP, SAPinsiders should start treating the RISE with SAP model as their default cloud architecture. To achieve this, they should align the transformation roadmap to this reality now to avoid future technical debt. SAPinsiders can also leverage SAPinsider benchmark data on peer adoption to build the business case and validate the risk profile for board-level discussions.
Make the packaged-versus-tailored decision immediately. SAPinsiders should determine early if your organization fits the standardized Clean Core packaged model or requires a tailored approach due to heavy customization and regulatory constraints. In SAP landscapes that are highly complex or regulated, organizations should look for premium suppliers like T-Systems rather than generic hyperscalers. A tailored path allows them to meet specific hybrid or multi-cloud requirements that the standard packaged offering cannot address.
Front-load data sovereignty and partner governance. Data sovereignty and hybrid governance cannot be bolted on after the migration begins. The operator’s location, legal jurisdiction, and key management must be baked into the initial decisions. SAPinsiders should select a partner for their ability to operate within the RISE governance model while ensuring compliance. They should ensure they offer visibility across both SAP and non-SAP workloads to prevent operational silos.
