How Redress Compliance helped a 65,000-employee oil and gas giant reject SAP's all-in RISE with SAP proposal and negotiate a customised phased migration contract — with hybrid landscape rights, subscription ramp-ups aligned to readiness, and tens of millions in cost avoidance.
| Profile | Detail |
|---|---|
| Industry | Oil & Gas |
| Location | Texas, USA |
| Employees | 65,000 |
| SAP Estate | SAP ECC — complex upstream and downstream integrations |
| Trigger | SAP ECC approaching end-of-support; SAP presented RISE with SAP proposal |
| Engagement | RISE with SAP Contract Negotiation & Phased Migration Strategy |
A Texas-based oil and gas giant with 65,000 employees was charting its path to modernise on SAP S/4HANA. As SAP ECC approached its end-of-support date, SAP's sales team presented a RISE with SAP proposal to facilitate the move — a massive, all-encompassing contract that assumed the enterprise would migrate its entire global operations to SAP's cloud in one big bang.
SAP's proposal was a classic one-size-fits-all deal: a bundled subscription covering software, cloud infrastructure, and services for every user and system — carrying an enormous price tag and rigid terms. From the start, the company had serious reservations:
The proposed RISE subscription required licensing all 65,000 employees from day one — regardless of how many systems or users were actually ready to migrate. The company would pay for the full package while large parts of the business remained on ECC for years.
Complex upstream and downstream applications integrated with SAP were not ready for cloud transition. An immediate switch could jeopardise critical business processes — from refinery management to distribution logistics — and leave expensive assets underutilised.
The standard RISE contract left little room for flexibility in user counts or phased implementation. There was no mechanism to ramp up gradually or adjust if business needs changed.
SAP's aggressive migration timeline posed significant technical and operational risks. A forced "big bang" cutover could cause downtime across mission-critical operations in a safety-sensitive industry.
Determined to avoid a costly misstep, the enterprise brought in Redress Compliance to advise on contract negotiation and strategic planning. The goal: reject the cookie-cutter approach and negotiate a phased migration model that fitted the company's technical readiness and transformation roadmap.
Working closely with the client's IT and procurement teams, Redress Compliance reshaped the conversation with SAP entirely — building a custom strategy that put the customer's needs first.
Redress conducted a thorough audit of the company's SAP ECC estate — identifying inactive users, duplicate licences, and modules that could be retired or consolidated. By right-sizing the user count and eliminating waste, the team drastically lowered the baseline for the S/4HANA subscription.
The analysis showed that the enterprise didn't need as many Full User Equivalents (FUEs) as SAP's proposal assumed — immediately strengthening the company's bargaining position and reducing the total contract value.
| Phase | Scope | Timing | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Finance & HR → RISE with SAP S/4HANA (private cloud) | Year 1 | ~20,000 |
| Pilot | One regional business unit → S/4HANA (proof of concept) | Year 1 | Subset |
| Phase 2 | Manufacturing & supply chain systems | Year 2–3 | Incremental |
| Phase 3 | Remaining operations & full company-wide rollout | Year 3–4 | 65,000 total |
This roadmap became a powerful negotiation tool — it gave SAP a clear vision of when each part of the business would transition, justifying a contract that ramped up over time instead of charging for everything from day one.
Redress negotiated terms allowing a hybrid IT landscape during transition — the company could continue running SAP ECC on-premise for certain operations while moving others to the cloud, without incurring double-licensing costs. A plant maintenance module could remain on ECC for a year longer while finance moved to S/4HANA, all under a coherent licence framework.
The initial subscription covered only Phase 1 scope (subset of users and systems), with options to expand in predefined increments as each phase went live. The company pays for cloud capacity as it actually uses it.
The contract included the right to reallocate or reduce licence counts if business needs changed — converting a rigid package into a living agreement.
A cap on annual price increases for renewal periods was locked in, preventing SAP from escalating costs after the initial term.
SAP agreed that any indirect access between on-premise systems and cloud during the hybrid period would not trigger extra fees — eliminating a common source of unexpected cost.
SAP included a baseline of SAP Business Technology Platform credits and transparent pricing for any excess, eliminating surprises for cloud extensions.
| Outcome | Detail |
|---|---|
| Contract Structure | Phased RISE subscription mirroring migration roadmap — ~20,000 users in Phase 1, scaling to 65,000 |
| Cost Avoidance | Tens of millions of dollars saved vs SAP's original all-in proposal |
| Hybrid Operations | ECC and S/4HANA co-exist without double-licensing costs during transition |
| Contract Flexibility | Right to adjust licence counts, ramp phases, and slow/speed migration based on business needs |
| Renewal Protection | Annual price increase cap locked in; no surprises on escalation |
| Indirect Access | Hybrid-period indirect access explicitly excluded from additional fees |
By right-sizing and phasing, the enterprise avoided an enormous immediate cost. Funds that would have been spent on idle licences are now freed up to invest in training, change management, and process optimisation for a smoother transition.
The hybrid landscape agreement lets the business keep critical operations running on ECC until they're ready to move. During Phase 1, core finance operates in the cloud while production plants continue on ECC seamlessly — with no compliance headaches.
If market conditions or corporate strategy shift, the company can slow down or speed up later phases within agreed boundaries. The contract adapts rather than breaks — de-risking the entire transformation.
SAP's standard RISE proposal is a starting point, not a take-it-or-leave-it offer. With data and expertise, enterprises can reshape the deal to fit their timeline, landscape, and budget.
Auditing current SAP usage before entering RISE negotiations is essential. Inactive users, duplicate licences, and retiring modules all reduce the baseline — directly lowering the subscription cost.
A phased subscription structure ensures you pay for cloud capacity as you use it — not years in advance. The migration roadmap doubles as a negotiation tool and a project governance framework.
During any ECC-to-S/4HANA transition, hybrid landscape clauses are critical. Without them, running both systems simultaneously can trigger double-licensing costs that dwarf any cloud savings.
SAP's sales team is incentivised to close large deals quickly. An independent advisor levels the playing field — bringing benchmarks, contract knowledge, and negotiation discipline that protects the customer's interests.
Share your SAP landscape details. We'll provide an independent assessment of SAP's proposal, a phased migration strategy, and contract negotiation support — typically within 48 hours.