SAP | Mega Vendors | SAP Licensing

Take control to optimize the costs of your SAP estate

SAP have been very acquisitive over the last 15 years, and this has added layers’ upon of layers of complexity when trying to understand your overall licensing position and ensuring value is being obtained from the investment. ERP is typically the largest part of a SAP footprint and in terms of opportunity, the best place to focus on is the standard metrics. When looking into these enterprise applications there is always confusion and complexity around what has been provisioned and what is actually required. You need to license what is provisioned, but this might not reflect what you actually need. Understanding and optimizing profiles often provides the biggest bang for your buck.

Something that is becoming more common are the issues associated with the virtualization of some of the older SAP technologies such as Business Objects. This is very similar to the issues, for example, you might find with the virtualization of Oracle DB and SAP is currently very active in terms of finding users where virtualization terms are not being met within existing or historical contracts.

In general, SAP contracts are very in difficult to change. This means that once you have made the commitment it is virtually impossible to downsize or reduce spend. Therefore, it is crucial you have a clear understanding of your specific obligations before signing up. You then have limited opportunities, which will only happen every few years, to reassess and change contractual arrangements so seeking expertise advice in advance of signing on the dotted line to is essential.

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SAP S/4 HANA Advisory

After 2027 SAP will only be supporting Customers who are converted to S/4 HANA. Many of Livingstone Group’s clients are already in the process of planning the technical migration since this is a quite complex exercise. Whilst the technical migration is complicated, the license contract conversion will also present its own challenges. It is essential to understand the new products offered and the impact on updated licences. Additionally, there are changes to user types which are very different from the old SAP. Livingstone’s experts will help you understand what is new in S/4 HANA and when & why you should migrate.

Watch our recent video on this topic - SAP S/4Hana: What do I need to know?

SAP Commercial & Contractual Optimization

SAP customers now face the challenges of rapidly increasing complexity and cost, a variety of causes need to be considered and addressed if organizations are to remain in control, compliant and on budget. These challenges are being driven by the required migration to S/4 Hana by 2027 and migrating to new cloud solutions, these are not just major technical considerations, but they also have important commercial and contractual implications that need to be carefully planned and managed. SAP has some of the most complex pricing and commercial contracts in the industry, pricing is dependent upon a range of variables including an organization’s named users, industry solution or engines.

Our approach is made up of two key phases, typically delivered over a 3 to 9 month period prior to the key contract change notification date within your SAP agreement. During this engagement period we work in partnership with key stakeholders to help them articulate their overall requirement and harmonize it across all stakeholder groups, to define an optimal Bill of Material (BOM) and contract solution.

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SAP Cloud Migration

SAP has been gradually testing and refining what Cloud provision works best for its customers – for example considering the pros and cons of a public versus private cloud approach. But this journey is very much still ongoing – and so organizations must understand the more recent changes and consequent challenges arising from SAP’s Cloud transformation. It is important to consider what level of control to have over your IT estate – RISE with SAP, for example, means SAP will have full control - and also what level of flexibility is needed in terms of custom developments, updates, and upgrades. Understanding SAP's licencing is another major challenge, striking the right balance between contractual terms and required flexibility in the face of future uncertainties will be crucial to your organization’s success.

Managing an SAP Cloud transformation is a complex process and requires in-depth knowledge. When it comes to SAP Cloud transformation, our SAP Managed Services support organizations every step of the way – before, during, and after negotiations. We divide and conquer by taking a phased approach to the entire process, taking the burden off IT teams and business leaders.

Find out more in our SAP Cloud Migration White Paper