How a manufacturing enterprise running SAP ECC and BusinessObjects saved $8 million over three years by right-sizing licenses and switching to third-party support — while maintaining stable operations and full compliance.
A manufacturing enterprise paying ~$5M/year in SAP support fees engaged Redress Compliance for an independent license assessment. The audit revealed 15% of licenses were unused or misclassified. After right-sizing the license portfolio and transitioning from SAP Enterprise Support to Rimini Street third-party maintenance, the company cut annual support costs by 53%, saving approximately $8 million over three years while maintaining stable operations and compliance.
SAP's standard support model is expensive and rigid, often consuming a large chunk of IT budgets. The company was paying SAP roughly 22% of its original license value every year in maintenance fees for SAP ECC (ERP Central Component) and BusinessObjects — several million dollars annually with automatic uplifts for inflation.
The CIO realized that over a typical 5-year span, they could end up paying more in support than the initial software purchase price. In addition, SAP's roadmap pressures (urging migration to S/4HANA by 2027) threatened even more cost in the form of forced upgrades.
SAP Enterprise Support generally costs ~22% of license fees per year. A $10 million SAP license deployment incurs approximately $2.2 million per year in support fees. The manufacturer's annual bill was in that range — a substantial recurring expense providing diminishing returns on mature, stable systems.
ECC and BusinessObjects were mostly in maintenance mode — SAP's updates for legacy systems had slowed, yet costs remained high. The support contract primarily provided break-fix assistance and security patches, which they rarely needed.
Facing overall IT budget constraints, the CIO and CFO viewed the status quo as unsustainable. They needed to trim "run" costs (maintenance) to free up funds for "grow" initiatives (new digital projects).
Over a 5-year period, cumulative SAP support fees can exceed the original license purchase price — while the software remains unchanged. For enterprises running stable, mature systems, this is a massive and recurring opportunity cost.
The organization engaged Redress Compliance to perform a thorough license assessment. This deep dive into how users and systems were consuming SAP licenses uncovered significant inefficiencies:
Dozens of SAP user accounts had not been used in months, and some modules were deployed but not actively utilized. Many ex-employees' accounts remained allocated with named user licenses, and several BusinessObjects reporting tools were unused after initial trials — all still incurring annual maintenance.
A significant number of employees were assigned Professional SAP user licenses (the most expensive category) despite only running read-only reports or basic transactions — roles that could be covered by cheaper Limited Professional or Employee Self-Service licenses. This overallocation meant overspending on support for high-tier licenses that were not truly needed.
In ECC, certain engine-based licenses were sized far above actual usage, inflating the maintenance base. The BusinessObjects user count licensed was significantly higher than concurrent usage justified.
By pruning ~15% of unnecessary licenses and adjusting user license levels, the company projected immediate savings on support fees. The license cleanup alone was estimated to cut annual support costs by over $250,000 by reducing the maintenance base — and improved compliance, eliminating future audit risk.
Armed with these findings, the company right-sized their SAP license portfolio — terminating unused licenses at the annual renewal and downgrading license types where possible. This set a solid foundation: they now knew exactly what licenses they truly needed to maintain.
With license optimization underway, the next opportunity was to address remaining support costs. The CIO's team explored third-party support — contracting an independent provider instead of SAP to receive software support. They evaluated Rimini Street, a leading third-party SAP support provider.
Third-party providers typically charge about half of SAP's support fee. Instead of ~$5M per year to SAP, the company could pay ~$2.3M/year to Rimini — saving over $2.5M annually. Rimini also offered multi-year fixed pricing, avoiding SAP's annual escalation.
SAP's ECC 6.0 mainstream support ends by 2027, pressuring customers to migrate to S/4HANA. With third-party support, the company could stay on ECC indefinitely — Rimini Street supports ECC 6.0 well into the 2030s. This avoided a rushed, multi-million-dollar migration.
Under SAP support, custom code issues are the customer's problem. Rimini promised full support for custom code and integrations as part of the contract — if a custom interface to a plant system broke, the third-party would help fix it.
Instead of being one of thousands in a queue, the company would have a dedicated support team. Rimini provides 24/7 support with guaranteed 15-minute response for critical issues — faster than they historically received from SAP.
No new SAP software versions or feature enhancements (deemed acceptable — ECC was feature-complete for their needs). Third-party must develop patches independently (mitigated by applying all final SAP patches before the switch). Potential strain on SAP vendor relationship (accepted — cost savings took priority). Possible need to purchase new licenses separately if migrating to S/4HANA later (planned for, with savings earmarked for future transition).
After careful board-level review, the company proceeded with the third-party strategy. The move aligned with cost optimization goals and did not impede any immediate business requirements.
Executing the switch required careful planning. The IT and procurement teams orchestrated a smooth transition with no gap in coverage:
Timed the change with the SAP support renewal date. Provided 90 days' notice of non-renewal to avoid auto-renewal or penalties. Confirmed retention of perpetual license usage rights — they would simply stop receiving support services.
Signed with Rimini Street covering SAP ECC 6.0 and BusinessObjects. Rimini conducted onboarding: gathered documentation on SAP landscape, customizations, interfaces, and archived all available SAP support notes, patches, and technical documentation.
Applied all pending SAP support packs and patches while still under SAP support. Systems brought to a fully patched baseline state. BusinessObjects servers updated to latest stable patch.
Rimini Street officially assumed support. Users continued using SAP as usual. In the first months, issues were resolved on time with a more personalized approach — when a critical billing job failed, Rimini engineers were on a bridge call within 30 minutes.
Maintained all proofs of license ownership. Continued internal license tracking to ensure entitled usage. Prepared contingency plan for any future SAP requirements, avoiding back-maintenance fees on old systems.
The transition was completed without business disruption. Employees noticed no difference in software functionality. The only changes were on the backend support process — and, of course, the significant reduction in financial outflows for maintenance.
Over the three years following the transition, the cumulative savings totalled approximately $8 million. These savings came from multiple sources:
| Support Scenario | Annual Cost | 3-Year Total |
|---|---|---|
| SAP Official Support (status quo) | ~$5.0M | ~$15.0M |
| Third-Party Support (Rimini Street) | ~$2.3M | ~$7.0M |
| Net Savings | ~$2.7M | ~$8.0M |
The switch to Rimini resulted in ~50% reduction in annual support costs — approximately $2.5M savings each year, totalling ~$7.5M over three years.
License rightsizing reduced the total maintenance scope. This contributed ~$200–300K/year in extra savings. Over three years, that added approximately $0.5–1M saved.
Deferring the S/4HANA migration avoided an estimated $10–15M in project expenses. This capital was freed for other strategic use (not reflected in the $8M figure but significant cost avoidance).
Comfortably continued running SAP ECC 6.0 past SAP's sunset date. With third-party support, they can run ECC through 2030 and beyond — transitioning to new solutions on their own timeline, not SAP's.
Critical support tickets resolved effectively. Routine updates (year-end tax and regulatory patches) delivered on time. Internal satisfaction with ERP support improved slightly — measured by IT service surveys — due to faster response and more knowledgeable engineers.
Remained fully compliant with SAP licensing. By cleansing unused licenses, audit risk was reduced. The company is prepared and confident it would pass any SAP audit with no shortfall.
Once SAP realized the company switched to third-party support, they approached with offers to win back the business — including possible discounts on S/4HANA. The customer is now in a strong negotiating position for any future SAP purchases.
The $8M saved was redirected to higher-value initiatives: the CIO funded several digital transformation projects that had been on hold, including advanced analytics on shop-floor data. Switching support models "freed up" budget to invest in innovation and competitive improvements.
Want similar results for your SAP environment?
SAP License Optimization →Start with a detailed SAP license and usage audit. Identify inactive users, duplicate accounts, and overpriced license assignments. Use SAP's LAW tool or a SAM solution to pinpoint shelfware and misclassified users.
Optimize your license mix before negotiating or switching providers. Downgrade user licenses where appropriate, eliminate unused licenses at the contract anniversary, and reduce your maintenance footprint.
Align support changes with contract renewal dates for seamless continuity. Provide proper notice to SAP if discontinuing support to avoid auto-renewal.
If your SAP environment is stable, get quotes and references from firms like Rimini Street and Spinnaker. Compare cost, SLAs, scope of services (including custom code support), and industry track record.
Apply all final SAP patches before switching. Clarify how the third-party handles critical patches and regulatory changes. Have an internal plan for future SAP requirements.
Communicate cost savings and reinvestment plans to senior management early. Emphasize that core functionality remains unchanged and that leaving SAP support is a common, legal practice used by many Fortune 500 companies.
Even after SAP support ends, track SAP usage vs. entitlements. Enforce policies for reclaiming licenses from departures and preventing unauthorized use of high-level functionality.
Have a strategy to utilize freed budget wisely — invest in cloud infrastructure, analytics, or process automation. This justifies the switch to the board and ensures IT continues delivering new capabilities.
Stay informed on SAP's product roadmap and third-party support timelines. Time your next move optimally — capture cost savings now without painting yourself into a corner later.
Our SAP licensing specialists help enterprises save millions through license assessments, contract optimization, and third-party support advisory.