The conversion path you choose decides whether decades of SAP investment is preserved or written off. We build the entitlement baseline, model every path, and negotiate the conversion so you never pay twice for what you already own.
This engagement is bought by organizations holding a significant ECC installed base: named users, package engines, and a maintenance stream built over decades. The S/4HANA licensing model is fundamentally different, and SAP's proposed conversion paths are engineered around its own revenue recognition and cloud targets, not around preserving your entitlement value.
It fits companies at every stage of the migration decision: scoping the move, holding a conversion quote, or mid negotiation with a deadline attached. The earlier the entitlement baseline exists, the more of the conversion credit conversation you control.
Without independent analysis, ECC to S/4HANA conversions repeat the same expensive mistakes:
Each mistake traces back to the same root: negotiating from SAP's picture of your estate instead of your own. The engagement replaces that picture with a verified baseline before any commercial conversation.
The engagement follows the four workstreams of our S/4HANA migration licensing statement of work. The ECC estate is verified from contracts and measurement data, every conversion path is modeled side by side, the pricing is benchmarked against comparable conversions, and the negotiation runs to a plan.
| Deliverable | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Entitlement baseline report | The verified license position, the maintenance base, identified shelfware, and the entitlement value available for conversion. |
| Conversion analysis report | The conversion paths compared side by side, a recommended structure, target credit position, user and metric mapping, and the digital access recommendation. |
| Commercial benchmark and target sheet | Target prices, discount thresholds, walk away positions, and the levers available to reach them. |
| Negotiation playbook | Sequencing, fiscal calendar timing, framing of your position, and anticipated SAP tactics. |
| Proposal assessments and contract review | Written assessments of each SAP proposal round and a final contract review memo with recommended redlines before signature. |
SAP presents conversion options that favor its own revenue recognition and cloud transition targets. That is not malice, it is incentive, and the only counterweight is an independent entitlement baseline that proves what your estate is worth before the conversion prices it.
The analysis covers the decisions that actually move money: product versus contract conversion, shelfware dropped or converted, users mapped from real usage rather than default ratios, and digital access settled inside the deal while you still hold leverage.
We carry no stake in the outcome beyond the result: no reseller agreements, no referral fees, no implementation revenue behind the migration order. If phasing the commitment or holding part of the estate on ECC is the better answer, you hear it.
One fixed, all inclusive fee covers all four workstreams, up to four advisory calls, and email support through the term, with the first deliverable inside 10 business days so the analysis fits your migration timeline instead of stretching it.
Migration and conversion engagements on the record.
A European retailer converted to S/4HANA with credits preserved and the licensing negotiated from evidence.
✓ Published case studyA German automotive manufacturer phased its migration on its own timeline and removed 4 million euros of audit risk.
✓ Published case studyA global manufacturer cut its RISE with SAP proposal by 30 percent through deconstruction and benchmarking.
✓ Published case studyA university system cut SAP licensing costs 31 percent through a centralized usage review.
Product conversion swaps individual ECC products for S/4HANA equivalents and keeps the rest of the contract; contract conversion replaces the whole agreement with a new S/4HANA contract. The right path depends on your shelfware, discounts, and maintenance base, which is why we model both with real numbers.
SAP applies a credit for existing entitlements against the new S/4HANA agreement. The credit SAP proposes is a starting position, not a rule: its size depends on how shelfware is treated, which entitlements are counted, and how the negotiation is run.
Deliberately handled, it is either converted into value or terminated to cut the maintenance base. Left to SAP's default, it is carried into the new agreement at full cost or surrendered without credit. We identify it first, then decide its treatment per item.
No. SAP is incentivized to attach RISE or cloud components to conversion deals, especially near deadlines. Any cloud element should be separately priced and separately justified, and our analysis covers the on premise versus cloud implications before you commit.
Usually yes. The conversion is the moment of maximum leverage: settling indirect use inside the deal is routinely cheaper than facing it later as an audit claim once the migration is signed and the leverage is gone.
By mapping from actual usage data rather than SAP's default proposals. ECC named users map to S/4HANA types in ways that can double cost if the mapping is careless, and the sizing analysis corrects that before pricing.
Mainstream ECC maintenance ends in 2027, and SAP sells hard against that date. The deadline is real but the panic is optional: phasing, extension options, and third party support alternatives all keep leverage on your side.
Fixed price, all inclusive: all four workstreams, up to four advisory calls, and email support. The entitlement baseline lands within 10 business days of complete data, and the conversion analysis and benchmark within 10 business days after.
A verified baseline, every path modeled, credits maximized, and the contract negotiated from evidence. That is a migration that does not pay twice.
One letter a month. Negotiation moves, audit signals, and price book shifts.