To increase the willingness of companies to obtain SAP S/4HANA from the public cloud, SAP has further expanded the RISE with SAP program. The “RISE with SAP Migration and Modernization” initiative is designed to provide companies with even more targeted support in implementing a cloud-first strategy and making the switch to SAP S/4HANA Cloud. The value proposition: Even complex ERP systems can be mapped in the public cloud, eliminating the need for custom developments and reducing data silos and process complexity.
Another advantage: When companies switch to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, they have direct access to cloud innovations such as artificial intelligence and sustainability solutions. They also benefit from continuous updates, higher availability, increased security and optimized compliance. The SAP initiative primarily addresses two aspects that often prevent companies from migrating SAP S/4HANA to the public cloud: the complexity of the project and the associated costs.
“RISE with SAP Migration and Modernization” offers a range of digital self-service tools and employee-supported services to help companies migrate to SAP S/4HANA Cloud – regardless of whether they are using SAP ECC or already have SAP S/4HANA on-premise. In addition to these support services, financial incentives are also intended to make the transition to cloud ERP more attractive and facilitate the decision to move.
Until the end of 2024, SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC customers who opt for RISE with SAP or GROW with SAP will receive certain credits that can be offset against maintenance costs, cloud services or cloud subscriptions. The offer applies to SAP S/4HANA Cloud and various business area solutions such as supply chain management, HR and expense management, CRM, business transformation tools and SAP Business Technology Platform. This should enable companies to reduce their migration costs by up to 50% and achieve faster value creation.
In order to increase planning security and avoid delays in the project, future implementations will be carried out exclusively on the basis of the specific methodology of RISE with SAP. This approach comprises the four phases Discover & Prepare, Explore & Plan, Move & Deploy and Run & Innovate and offers suitable tools, best practices and services in each phase to support the migration in the best possible way. The aim is to ensure transparency regarding the progress of the project at all times. SAP partners are also trained accordingly in order to apply the RISE with SAP methodology to the projects they manage.
Another new service is SAP S/4HANA Cloud Safekeeper. It is aimed at companies with older releases of SAP S/4HANA that will soon be out of maintenance. With SAP S/4HANA Cloud Safekeeper, companies have the opportunity to prepare their systems for a change to the latest SAP S/4HANA version. Through the upgrade services, SAP S/4HANA Cloud Safekeeper optimizes the infrastructure and ensures business continuity by providing updates and patches for the existing system for another two years.
The German-speaking SAP User Group (DSAG) welcomes the “RISE with SAP Migration and Modernization” initiative and sees the financial incentives in particular as an approach that takes better account of the investments that companies have previously made in their existing systems. At the same time, DSAG points out that it is now a matter of further improving and expanding the offer in cooperation with SAP, while keeping an eye on the special requirements and problems of companies that have opted for a cloud transformation. It is important to ensure that companies can fully benefit from RISE with SAP and the associated opportunities.