Independent. Fixed-fee. 100+ RISE engagements. $6M average savings per engagement.
RISE with SAP is the most significant commercial decision in the SAP ecosystem — and the most frequently misrepresented. SAP presents RISE as a cost-neutral or cost-saving cloud migration. Independent TCO modeling consistently shows the opposite: hidden costs in HANA credits, BTP overruns, premium support charges, integration rework, and license true-ups that SAP's RISE team does not disclose upfront routinely push the real five-year cost 30–60% above SAP's proposal. This page explains how Redress Compliance's SAP RISE advisory service delivers the real numbers — and better terms.
SAP RISE advisory is the independent process of evaluating, negotiating, and protecting a RISE with SAP commitment. It covers four dimensions: financial analysis (real TCO versus SAP's model), commercial negotiation (pricing and terms benchmarked against 100+ comparable deals), contract protection (exit rights, SLAs, data portability, and M&A provisions SAP's standard terms exclude), and alternatives assessment (whether RISE is actually the right choice for your organization versus hyperscaler-hosted S/4HANA or another model).
SAP's RISE account team is compensated on RISE adoption and deal size. They will never tell you RISE is not the right choice for your organization, that the pricing is above market, or that the contract terms expose you to lock-in risk. Independent advisory provides the counterbalance that SAP's commercial structure does not.
SAP also uses RISE as a commercial lever in audit and renewal contexts — tying compliance settlement or renewal terms to RISE adoption. This conflation is a commercial tactic, not a technical requirement. Our SAP audit defense service separates the audit conversation from the RISE decision entirely, ensuring both are resolved on their own merits.
Before any negotiation begins, we model the true total cost of ownership of RISE: base subscription, HANA sizing and credit consumption, BTP scope and credits, premium support charges, migration and integration costs, escalation provisions, and the license conversion economics for your existing SAP estate. We then compare this against hyperscaler-hosted S/4HANA, private cloud, and hybrid alternatives using real infrastructure pricing and actual migration cost benchmarks. For a global manufacturing group, this TCO analysis exposed $6M in hidden costs that SAP's proposal had not disclosed — before a single contract term had been negotiated.
We benchmark SAP's RISE proposal against our database of 100+ comparable RISE transactions — by industry, organization size, S/4HANA scope, and HANA sizing. This tells us exactly where SAP's proposal sits relative to market on every line: base subscription discount, HANA credit pricing, BTP credit allocation, premium support rate, and escalation cap. We identify the specific improvements available on each element and the competitive leverage we will apply to achieve them.
We build the negotiation strategy around three levers: the TCO comparison showing RISE is not cost-neutral relative to alternatives, the benchmark data showing SAP's pricing is above market for comparable deals, and competitive alternatives (hyperscaler-hosted S/4HANA in particular) that give your organization credible walk-away options SAP's account team must take seriously. We also analyze SAP's fiscal year calendar and deal desk approval thresholds to structure the negotiation for maximum commercial outcome.
We negotiate every element of the RISE contract: base subscription pricing, HANA sizing and credit flexibility, BTP scope, annual escalation caps, exit provisions, SLA enforcement mechanisms, data portability guarantees, and M&A safeguards. SAP's standard RISE contract provides minimal exit rights and limited SLA protections. We negotiate the provisions SAP's standard form excludes — ensuring your organization is protected if RISE underperforms or if your business strategy changes during the multi-year commitment.
For organizations currently in an SAP audit that SAP is linking to a RISE commitment, our SAP audit defense service separates those conversations and resolves each independently.
Clients typically achieve 25–40% better commercial outcomes on their RISE engagement versus SAP's initial proposal, combining subscription pricing improvement with HANA right-sizing, BTP credit optimization, and escalation cap negotiation.
Savings delivered for a global manufacturing group: independent TCO exposed $6M in hidden costs SAP had not disclosed, and negotiation reduced the five-year RISE commitment from $24M to $14.2M with exit provisions and escalation caps secured.
Saved for a global retailer where independent TCO modeling showed hyperscaler-hosted S/4HANA was 35% cheaper than RISE over five years with significantly better flexibility. The client chose the alternative based on the Redress analysis.
SAP RISE advisory covers independent TCO modeling, commercial benchmarking against 100+ RISE deals, contract negotiation including exit rights and SLA protections, migration licensing strategy, and alternatives assessment. It ensures every aspect of your RISE decision is informed, negotiated, and protected.
Fixed-fee, agreed before engagement. The average RISE engagement identifies $6M in savings, delivering typical ROI exceeding 20x the advisory fee.
Initial TCO assessment and proposal analysis delivered within two to three weeks. Full negotiation engagement runs eight to fourteen weeks depending on deal complexity and SAP's responsiveness.
SAP's RISE proposal, your current SAP license and support contract details, on-premise infrastructure cost data for TCO comparison, and any SAP RISE account team correspondence. We work under NDA from the first engagement.
Yes. Mid-term renegotiation is a significant part of our RISE advisory work. We identify renegotiation leverage and drive a mid-term restructure where RISE TCO has exceeded SAP's original projections.
We model five-year and seven-year TCO for RISE versus hyperscaler-hosted S/4HANA, private cloud, hybrid, and managed service alternatives — using real infrastructure pricing, actual migration cost benchmarks, and SAP's published and negotiated pricing. SAP's own TCO model excludes the costs most commonly causing RISE to exceed initial projections.
If SAP has presented a RISE proposal and you have no independent TCO model or benchmark to evaluate it against, you are making a $10M+ decision on SAP's numbers alone. Book a free 30-minute consultation today.