A global manufacturer running SAP ECC and BusinessObjects saved $8 million over three years by combining rigorous licence assessment with a strategic switch to third-party support — without disrupting operations or compromising compliance.
The client — a mid-market manufacturing enterprise with global operations — was running SAP ECC 6.0 and SAP BusinessObjects across multiple production sites. Their annual SAP Enterprise Support bill consumed approximately $5 million per year, calculated at SAP’s standard 22% of the original licence base, with annual inflationary uplifts.
The systems were mature, stable, and deeply embedded in operations. Yet SAP’s roadmap pressures were intensifying: the 2027 end-of-mainstream-support deadline for ECC created implicit migration pressure toward S/4HANA, while the annual support costs continued climbing with zero correlation to the value received.
At 22% of a substantial licence base, annual support fees exceeded $5 million — with automatic uplifts meaning the figure increased every year regardless of whether additional value was delivered.
ECC and BusinessObjects were in maintenance mode. SAP’s updates for legacy systems had slowed to security patches and regulatory updates. The company was paying premium prices for a minimal service scope.
SAP’s push toward S/4HANA by 2027 threatened an additional $10–15 million in migration project costs. The CIO needed to separate the upgrade decision from the support cost decision.
IT leadership faced pressure to reduce “run” costs to fund “grow” initiatives. The SAP support bill was the largest single line item in the IT operating budget and the most obvious target for optimisation.
“Over a typical five-year span, the company would pay more in SAP support fees than the original software purchase price — for systems that required virtually no vendor intervention to operate.”
Redress Compliance was engaged to perform a comprehensive SAP licence utilisation assessment before any support changes were considered. The rationale was straightforward: reducing the licence base before switching support providers would lower costs under any support model.
The assessment examined every licence, user allocation, engine metric, and module across the entire SAP estate. The findings were significant but not unusual for an enterprise that had accumulated licences over a decade of SAP ownership.
Dozens of named user accounts had not been accessed in over 12 months. Several BusinessObjects reporting tools purchased during initial deployment had never gained user adoption. Former employees’ accounts remained allocated with active licence assignments. Approximately 15% of the total licence estate was generating zero business value.
A significant proportion of employees held Professional SAP user licences — the most expensive category — despite requiring only read-only report access or basic transaction entry. These users could be served by Limited Professional or Employee Self-Service licence types at a fraction of the cost.
Engine-based licence metrics (volume-measured modules and HANA database runtime allocations) were sized substantially above actual usage. The BusinessObjects user count licensed was significantly higher than concurrent usage justified. These over-provisions inflated the maintenance base unnecessarily.
All identified inactive user licences and unused module entitlements were formally terminated at the next contract anniversary. This removed approximately 15% of the licence estate from the maintenance calculation, eliminating support payments on software delivering zero value.
Over-classified Professional users were downgraded to appropriate licence types (Limited Professional or Employee Self-Service) based on verified usage patterns. This reduced the per-user maintenance cost for hundreds of employees without affecting their ability to perform required functions.
Over-provisioned engine metrics and BusinessObjects allocations were reduced to reflect actual operational requirements plus a reasonable growth buffer. This lowered the volume-based component of the maintenance base.
The licence optimisation alone was projected to reduce annual support costs by over $250,000 per year by shrinking the maintenance base. Equally important, the exercise eliminated compliance risk — the company now had complete visibility into its actual licence position and could demonstrate full compliance in any audit scenario.
With the licence estate optimised, the next opportunity was the remaining support cost itself. The CIO’s team evaluated third-party support as an alternative to SAP’s Enterprise Support, focusing on Rimini Street — the largest independent provider for SAP support.
The evaluation examined four dimensions: cost, service quality, risk, and strategic alignment.
| Dimension | SAP Enterprise Support | Third-Party (Rimini Street) |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | ~$5.0M (22% of licence base) | ~$2.3M (~50% reduction) |
| Annual escalation | Inflationary uplift each year | Multi-year fixed pricing |
| Custom code support | Not covered | Full coverage included |
| Response SLA | Standard queue-based | Dedicated engineer, 15-min critical response |
| New SAP versions | Included | Not available |
| Tax & regulatory updates | Included | Included (delivered as patch scripts) |
| 3-year total cost | ~$15.0M | ~$7.0M |
The decision to leave SAP’s official support ecosystem required careful risk analysis. The CIO and board evaluated four specific risk areas before approving the transition.
The transition from SAP Enterprise Support to Rimini Street was executed over a planned four-month window, coordinated with the SAP contract renewal date to ensure zero gap in coverage.
The company provided SAP with the contractually required notice of non-renewal, officially terminating the maintenance agreement. They confirmed retention of perpetual licence usage rights — the software would continue to operate; only the support services would cease.
Rimini Street’s onboarding team gathered comprehensive documentation of the SAP landscape: system architecture, custom code inventory, integration maps, and interface specifications. All available SAP support notes, patches, and technical documentation were archived for reference.
The IT team applied all pending SAP support packs and patches under the still-active SAP support entitlement. Systems were brought to a fully patched baseline. BusinessObjects servers received the latest stable patch. This ensured no outstanding known issues existed at the transition point.
Rimini Street assumed full support responsibility. Users continued operating SAP normally. Support tickets were now routed to Rimini’s dedicated engineering team. The first critical incident — a billing job failure — was triaged within 30 minutes with a bridge call between Rimini engineers and internal IT staff.
The company maintained heightened monitoring of support quality metrics: response times, resolution rates, and user satisfaction scores. All contractual SLAs were met or exceeded. Internal IT satisfaction surveys showed marginal improvement over the SAP support baseline, attributed to faster response and more knowledgeable engineers familiar with their custom environment.
The combined impact of licence optimisation and third-party support delivered $8 million in cumulative savings over the three-year period following transition — a 53% reduction in total SAP support expenditure.
| Savings Source | Annual Impact | 3-Year Total |
|---|---|---|
| Support fee reduction (SAP → Rimini) | ~$2.5M/year | ~$7.5M |
| Licence optimisation (reduced maintenance base) | ~$250K/year | ~$0.75M |
| Total quantified savings | ~$2.7M/year | ~$8.0M |
| Strategic cost avoidance (deferred S/4HANA migration) | $10–15M project deferred until genuine business case exists | |
Starting position: $5M annual SAP support cost on stable ECC 6.0 and BusinessObjects environment with 15% shelfware and significant licence misclassification.
Actions taken: Comprehensive licence assessment, shelfware termination, user reclassification, engine right-sizing, followed by strategic transition to Rimini Street third-party support.
Financial result: $8 million cumulative savings over 3 years (53% cost reduction). $2.7 million per year redirected from maintenance to innovation. S/4HANA migration deferred until genuine business case, avoiding $10–15M in premature project costs.
Operational result: Zero service disruptions. All contractual SLAs met or exceeded. Full compliance maintained. Enhanced support for custom code and integrations. IT user satisfaction improved marginally versus SAP support baseline.
The financial results were compelling, but the operational and strategic benefits proved equally valuable over the three-year period.
The company comfortably continued running ECC 6.0 beyond SAP’s recommended sunset dates. With third-party support, they have coverage through 2030 and beyond, enabling migration to S/4HANA on their own timeline rather than SAP’s.
The licence assessment and ongoing governance ensured full compliance throughout. The company reduced audit risk by eliminating shelfware and maintaining accurate records of all licence entitlements and usage.
Having demonstrated willingness to leave SAP’s ecosystem, the company now holds significant leverage for any future SAP engagement. SAP subsequently approached with offers for discounted S/4HANA licences and cloud subscriptions.
The $2.7M annual savings funded previously stalled digital initiatives including advanced analytics for manufacturing operations, e-commerce platform improvements, and integration modernisation projects.
The decision to switch SAP support models is not binary. Enterprises must evaluate their specific circumstances against a structured framework that accounts for system maturity, upgrade plans, risk tolerance, and financial objectives. This case study illustrates the optimal scenario — a stable environment with minimal upgrade requirements — but the framework applies across a range of situations.
Stable ECC or BW systems in maintenance mode. No major SAP upgrades planned within 3–5 years. Custom code forms a significant part of the landscape. Annual support exceeds $1 million. Internal IT team capable of managing day-to-day SAP operations.
Active S/4HANA migration planned within 2–3 years. Some legacy systems will remain on ECC during transition. New SAP cloud products being adopted alongside stable legacy modules. Move legacy to third-party while maintaining SAP support on actively evolving components.
Active deployment of new SAP functionality. Ongoing S/4HANA implementation requiring support packs and enhancements. Heavy reliance on SAP’s innovation roadmap. Regulatory requirements mandate vendor-provided updates. These scenarios justify the premium of SAP Enterprise Support.
Regardless of the support decision, licence optimisation delivers value. Removing shelfware, reclassifying users, and right-sizing engines reduces costs under any support model and strengthens compliance. This should be the first step in every SAP cost reduction initiative.
The manufacturing enterprise in this case study demonstrated that the financial impact of combining licence optimisation with third-party support creates a compounding savings effect. The licence audit reduced the maintenance base, which lowered costs under both SAP and third-party pricing. The third-party switch then halved the remaining support cost. Together, these actions delivered 53% total cost reduction — significantly more than either action alone would have achieved.
“The most successful SAP cost optimisation programmes treat licence management and support strategy as interconnected decisions, not independent workstreams. Optimise the estate first, then select the support model that best serves the optimised footprint.”