RISE bundles licensing, infrastructure, and services into one opaque subscription priced in Full Use Equivalents. We take the bundle apart, price each piece, and negotiate the agreement with a credible walk away behind it.
This engagement is bought by CIOs and CFOs holding a RISE with SAP proposal, whether for a first move off ECC, a renewal of an existing RISE agreement, or a bundle SAP has attached to another negotiation. The subscription number is large, the components are opaque, and the board wants to know what the organization is actually paying for.
It equally serves procurement teams that sense the pressure behind SAP's push. SAP is under strong internal pressure to move customers to RISE, which hands prepared negotiators real leverage and punishes unprepared ones. The preparation is exactly what this engagement builds.
The RISE structure concentrates risk in a handful of places, and the standard contract does not protect you from any of them:
Every one of these is negotiable before signature and nearly impossible to fix after. The engagement prices the bundle, corrects the sizing, and writes the protections in while leverage still exists.
The engagement follows the four workstreams of our RISE negotiation statement of work. The proposal is broken into components and benchmarked, the FUE count is validated against real users and usage, the contract terms are rewritten where they fail you, and the negotiation runs on a plan timed to SAP's calendar.
| Deliverable | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Commercial review report | The component level cost breakdown, benchmark verdict, target pricing, and the gaps between SAP's proposal and market. |
| FUE sizing report | The validated FUE baseline, identified oversizing and its value, and the flexibility terms required for increases and reductions. |
| Contract review memo | A risk register with severity ratings and recommended amendments, with renewal protections and exit terms called out separately. |
| Negotiation playbook | Sequencing, timing against SAP's fiscal calendar, leverage from credible alternatives, and anticipated SAP tactics. |
| Proposal assessments and final check | A written assessment of every SAP proposal round and a pre signature confirmation that negotiated positions made it into the contract. |
RISE negotiations are won before the first meeting, by knowing whether RISE is even the right answer. We compare the proposal against staying on premise and hyperscaler based alternatives, so you negotiate holding an option SAP knows you could exercise. A vendor that senses you cannot walk prices accordingly.
The benchmark base comes from 500+ engagements across 11 enterprise vendors, including RISE agreements of every size. We know where the per FUE price should land for your profile, which discounts survive renewal, and which contract terms SAP concedes when pressed at quarter end.
Independence keeps the recommendation honest: no reseller agreements with SAP or anyone else, no referral fees, no implementation revenue waiting behind a signed RISE order. If the right answer is not RISE, that is the answer you get.
The engagement is one fixed, all inclusive price across all four workstreams, with up to four advisory calls and email support through the term. Your team keeps the relationship and the signature; we keep the pressure on the numbers.
RISE and SAP renewal outcomes on the record, names included.
A European retail chain avoided a 10 million euro penalty and cut RISE renewal costs by 20 percent.
✓ Published case studyA global manufacturer cut its RISE with SAP proposal by 30 percent through deconstruction and benchmarking.
✓ Published case studyA German automotive manufacturer removed 4 million euros of audit risk and phased its RISE migration on its own timeline.
✓ Published case studyA European retailer converted to S/4HANA with credits preserved and the licensing negotiated from evidence.
No. The 2027 maintenance dates create pressure, but on premise, RISE, and hyperscaler paths all have negotiable economics. Part of this engagement is confirming whether RISE is the right commercial answer at all, so you negotiate with a credible walk away.
A Full Use Equivalent is the unit RISE pricing is built on, converting your user types into one metric. SAP's default mappings routinely oversize the count, and because the commitment is subscription based, an inflated FUE baseline compounds for the whole term.
Published outcomes include a 30 percent reduction for a global manufacturer and a 20 percent renewal cut with a 10 million euro penalty avoided for a European retailer. The movement comes from component pricing, FUE correction, and timing, not from asking nicely.
Termination rights, data egress at a defined cost and format, transition assistance, and clarity on your license position if you leave RISE. Without them, the renewal negotiation three years from now starts with SAP holding your system hostage.
That is one of the most expensive parts of the deal. We analyze the treatment of your installed base, the conversion credits offered, and the consequences of terminating existing agreements, so entitlement value is captured rather than written off.
SAP's quarter ends and December year end move real money. Sales pressure to book RISE deals peaks at those dates, and the negotiation plan sequences your concessions and deadlines against them.
We advise and prepare, and your team fronts the vendor. Every SAP proposal gets a written assessment, every key meeting gets preparation with anticipated tactics, and the final contract package is reviewed before signature.
Fixed price, all inclusive: all four workstreams, up to four advisory calls, and email support. The commercial review report typically lands within 10 business days of complete data, so the engagement fits inside a live deal cycle.
Component prices, a corrected FUE count, renewal caps, and exit terms in writing. That is what signing from strength looks like.
One letter a month. Negotiation moves, audit signals, and price book shifts.