A credible third party quote moved SAP 10 to 20 percent on terms rather than on the rate, which is why the threat is worth more held than executed
Reinstatement runs 150 to 200 percent of the support that lapsed. That is the number that makes leaving expensive, and the same number that makes the option valuable.
Prepared by Redress Compliance · August 18, 2026 · SAP advisory. 35 to 45 support and maintenance negotiations advised, 2024 to 2025.
Executive summary
The headline percentage rarely moves, and the base underneath it does. Removing shelfware before renewal cut the base by 10 to 25 percent across the negotiations advised, which is a larger number than any rate concession on offer.
A credible third party quote moved SAP 10 to 20 percent, and it moved terms rather than the rate. The concession arrives as structure, scope and protections, not as a lower percentage.
Reinstatement fees ran 150 to 200 percent of the lapsed support. That is what makes an exit expensive to reverse, and it is why the option has to be genuinely priced rather than merely mentioned.
Inside RISE the maintenance line disappears entirely. Support is folded into the subscription, so a RISE customer and a perpetual customer are holding completely different levers at the same meeting.
Which support path are you actually negotiating?
One of four, and the path decides which levers exist. SAP sells Standard Support near 18 percent, Enterprise Support at 22 percent of net license value, support bundled inside RISE with SAP, and third party support outside SAP entirely.
On a perpetual base you negotiate the percentage and the number it multiplies. Inside RISE there is no maintenance line to negotiate, only a subscription fee you reopen whole.
| Framework | Headline rate | What it buys | What you can move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Support | About 18 percent of net value | Fixes, security notes, legal updates | The base, and the case for the tier |
| Enterprise Support | 22 percent of net value | Service levels, Solution Manager, response times | The base, and a downgrade argument |
| RISE bundled support | Inside the subscription | Cloud operations plus support in one fee | The subscription as a whole, not the support line |
| Third party support | Roughly half the SAP fee | Break and fix, tax and legal, no new versions | Everything, at the cost of new versions |
Know the path before the first meeting
Treating a bundled subscription like a maintenance line wastes leverage you do not hold. The two conversations look similar and share almost no moves.
Why does the base move when the rate does not?
Because the percentage is policy and the base is arithmetic. The rate protects recurring revenue across the whole installed base, so it is defended hard. The licenses it multiplies are specific to you and are frequently wrong.
Shelfware carries full support until somebody removes it. Across the negotiations advised, taking it out before renewal cut the base by 10 to 25 percent, which no rate concession was going to match.
A percentage argument is a conversation about SAP's business model. A base argument is a conversation about your estate. Only one of those is a negotiation you can win, and it is the one nobody opens with.
Shelfware carries full support until somebody removes it
Support is charged on the licensed base, not on the deployed one. Every module nobody uses is billed at the same percentage as the ones running production, every year, until it is taken out of the base.
The SAP support and maintenance brief
The four support paths, the base reduction sequence, the third party comparison, and the reinstatement arithmetic that decides what an exit really costs.
Get the brief →What 35 to 45 SAP support negotiations showed
Fredrik Filipsson advised on roughly 35 to 45 SAP support and maintenance negotiations in 2024 and 2025. The wins came from the base and the structure. The headline rate barely moved in any of them.
Removing shelfware before renewal cut the base by 10 to 25 percent. That work happens before the vendor conversation opens, which is what makes it available at all.
A credible third party quote moved SAP 10 to 20 percent, and the movement arrived as terms. Scope, protections, tier flexibility and structure all softened. The percentage stayed where it was.
Reinstatement fees ran 150 to 200 percent of the support that lapsed. That is the cost of changing your mind, and it means an exit threat has to be priced honestly before it is made, because the vendor has already priced it.
Which is the useful asymmetry. The quote is worth having, and it is worth more as an option you hold than as a move you execute, unless the arithmetic genuinely favors leaving. Our SAP third party support comparison works that case in full.
- Your quote benchmarked against 500,000+ real closed deals, adjusted for size, region, and industry
- The maintenance base reconciled against the licenses actually in use
- Reinstatement and tier language flagged with the exact quote, the page, and the replacement text
Should the estate sit on Enterprise Support at all?
Not automatically. Most estates default to Enterprise Support at 22 percent and never use the mission critical response paths they are paying for. The SAP ERP pages describe what each on premise offer includes.
SAP resists a downgrade to Standard Support, because the higher rate protects revenue across the installed base rather than because the estate needs it. That makes it a resistance to test rather than a rule to accept.
- Count the mission critical tickets you actually raised, which is the evidence the tier conversation turns on.
- Check whether you run your own monitoring, because a stable estate that does is buying tooling twice.
- Ask for the downgrade in writing and treat the refusal as the start of the conversation rather than the end of it.
The 2027 clock changes the frame
Mainstream maintenance timelines for the older suite are published by SAP maintenance strategy, and a support negotiation held near that date is really a conversation about the migration behind it.
What the negotiations measured, 2024 to 2025
Two cuts of the engagement file frame where the money moved.
Before the renewal conversation opened, across the negotiations advised, against a headline rate that barely moved.
The cost of reversing an exit, which is what an unpriced third party threat quietly exposes you to.
Both numbers point the same way. The support negotiation is decided by the estate and the paper, and the percentage everyone argues about is the part least likely to change. Our third party support report covers the wider market position.
Watch the briefing · 5:24Optimize the Estate FirstThe SAP work that pays for the negotiation, done before the first meeting rather than during it.
Your first five moves
- Establish which support path you are on, because a perpetual base and a RISE subscription share almost no levers.
- Remove shelfware before the renewal conversation opens, which cut the base by 10 to 25 percent across the negotiations advised.
- Price a third party quote properly, including reinstatement at 150 to 200 percent, so the option is real rather than rhetorical.
- Test the Enterprise Support tier against your own ticket history, and ask for the downgrade in writing when the estate is stable.
- Spend the leverage on terms, not on the percentage. The SAP practice reconciles the base before the first meeting, which is where the movement actually came from.
Frequently asked questions
Does the SAP support rate ever move?
Rarely. The percentage protects recurring revenue across the whole installed base. What moves is the base it multiplies and the terms around it, which is where the negotiations advised found their wins.
How much can removing shelfware save?
Between 10 and 25 percent of the maintenance base across the negotiations advised. It has to be done before the renewal conversation opens, which is what makes it available.
What does a third party quote actually achieve?
It moved SAP 10 to 20 percent, and it moved terms rather than the rate. Scope, protections and structure softened while the headline percentage stayed where it was.
What does it cost to reverse an exit from SAP support?
Reinstatement ran 150 to 200 percent of the support that lapsed. That is why an exit threat needs to be priced honestly before it is made.
What is the difference between Standard and Enterprise Support?
Standard sits near 18 percent and covers fixes, security notes and legal updates. Enterprise sits at 22 percent and adds service levels, Solution Manager tooling and mission critical response times.
Should a stable estate downgrade to Standard Support?
Often yes. Most estates default to Enterprise and never use the mission critical paths, so an estate that runs its own monitoring is frequently paying for tooling twice.
What happens to support inside RISE?
It stops being a separate line. Support is bundled into the subscription alongside infrastructure and cloud operations, so there is no maintenance percentage left to negotiate on its own.
Is third party support cheaper?
Roughly half the SAP fee, for break and fix plus tax and legal updates, with no new versions. Whether that is the right trade depends on the roadmap rather than on the rate.
When should an SAP support negotiation open?
Before the estate work is finished, but after it has started. The base reduction is the lever, and it cannot be produced inside the final weeks of a renewal.
Does the 2027 maintenance date change the negotiation?
Yes. A support conversation held near the published maintenance dates for the older suite is really a conversation about the migration behind it, and it should be structured that way.
