SAP Practice
European Manufacturer. Eight million dollars saved on SAP support.
A stable ECC estate, a 22 percent maintenance bill, and no S/4HANA business case. The fix was license optimization first, then a third party maintenance move.
A stable ECC estate, a 22 percent maintenance bill, and no S/4HANA business case. The fix was license optimization first, then a third party maintenance move.
A European industrial manufacturer cut eight million dollars from SAP support over five years by cleaning the license baseline first, then moving a stable ECC estate to third party maintenance with a defended exit position.
The manufacturer paid SAP maintenance at the standard 22 percent of a license base that had grown through acquisitions and was never cleaned, so the bill funded software nobody ran. Annual support consumed a high seven figure sum against an ECC estate with no S/4HANA migration approved.
SAP's commercial answer was RISE with SAP. The business case did not support it: the estate was stable, customized, and scheduled to run for at least five more years.
Maintenance reduction only compounds if you start early. Every year on the old base cost the company more than a million dollars of recoverable spend.
The saving came from sequencing: clean the license base first, build the audit defense file second, and only then negotiate the support exit, because every dollar removed from the base removes 22 cents from the bill every year. Touching the rate before the base leaves money on the table permanently.
Engagement phases and outcomes
| Phase | Action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Measurement | Full license measurement and usage analysis | 30 percent of named users misclassified; engine overlicensing found |
| 2. Optimization | User reclassification and shelfware surrender | Maintenance base cut by roughly a quarter |
| 3. Defense file | Audit defense evidence pack closed before notice | No compliance claim available to SAP at exit |
| 4. Transition | Third party maintenance provider selected and onboarded | Support rate roughly halved on the cleaned base |
| 5. Governance | Annual usage review and archive discipline | Savings held across the five year horizon |
Surrendered shelfware and reclassified users cut the base the support percentage applies to. The third party rate was then negotiated against a number roughly a quarter smaller.
Leaving SAP support invites a license measurement conversation. The file reconciled entitlements, usage data from the SAP measurement tools available through the SAP support portal, and engine metrics, so notice was given from a defended position.
The verified result was eight million dollars saved across five years, net of transition costs, with support quality holding on a stable estate. The transferable lesson is the sequence, not the headline number.
The standard advisory line is that third party maintenance is the saving, so the decision is a provider selection exercise. We disagree. In the SAP support reviews Fredrik Filipsson benchmarked in 2024 to 2025, roughly half the total saving in cases like this one came from the license optimization that preceded the move, and estates that skipped it locked their inflated base into the new provider's pricing. The buyer side move is to treat optimization as phase one and the maintenance decision as phase four. Providers price what you bring them; bring them a clean base.
Source: Redress Compliance advisory engagement file, 2024 to 2025.
The support percentage is a multiplier on the license base. Cut the base first and every later negotiation inherits the saving.
For the wider SAP picture, start with the SAP knowledge hub or the SAP advisory practice. For an always on review lane across all your vendors, see Vendor Shield.
Third party maintenance typically cuts the support rate by 40 to 60 percent against SAP's standard 22 percent. In this case the combined program, including license optimization, saved eight million dollars over five years.
Stable estates with a multi year ECC runway and no committed S/4HANA or RISE migration. Active transformation roadmaps change the math because returning to SAP support later carries reinstatement cost.
The support fee is a percentage of the license base, so every surrendered or reclassified license cuts the bill permanently. In this engagement optimization removed roughly a quarter of the base before the rate was negotiated.
It raises the likelihood of a license measurement conversation, which is why the audit defense file was closed before notice was given. Exiting from a defended position removed the compliance lever entirely.
Yes, but SAP charges back maintenance and reinstatement fees, which is the deterrent SAP relies on. The five year decision model should price the return scenario before notice is given.
Maintenance tiers, the third party maintenance decision model, the audit defense sequence, and the levers that cut the support bill.
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