Why SAP RISE Evaluations Go Wrong

SAP RISE is the most structurally complex commercial offer in enterprise software. It bundles S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, HANA Enterprise Cloud infrastructure, SAP Business Technology Platform credits, a managed service wrapper, and a migration incentive programme into a single subscription — and prices the bundle in a way that makes independent cost analysis extremely difficult without access to comparable market transactions.

SAP's account teams are incentivised to close RISE deals before the end of SAP's fiscal year (December 31). The commercial terms they offer in initial proposals are rarely their best position. The TCO models they present routinely exclude three categories of cost that materially affect the financial case: HANA unit overconsumption charges that arise when workload sizing assumptions prove conservative; BTP credit burn beyond the base bundle allocation; and the licence true-up exposure that arises from on-premise shelfware that is not formally retired before the RISE signature date.

The result is that organisations signing RISE without independent advisory routinely discover within twelve to eighteen months that their actual costs exceed the TCO they were presented with at signature. We have seen this pattern across more than 100 engagements. We know exactly where the gaps appear and how to close them contractually before they become your problem.

"SAP's RISE proposal showed a €4.2M annual cost. Our independent TCO model identified €6.8M when HANA overconsumption risk, BTP burn, and integration costs were included. The gap was not disclosed." — Global Manufacturer, 18,000 employees

The Hidden Costs in Every RISE Proposal

SAP RISE proposals are constructed to present a compelling headline number. Understanding what sits beneath that number is the foundation of effective negotiation. Our advisors — who include former SAP licensing measurement leads and S/4HANA commercial architects — have mapped the consistent gaps that appear across every RISE proposal we have reviewed.

  • HANA unit overconsumption: SAP's HANA sizing in RISE proposals is typically based on steady-state workload projections. Year-end processing, M&A activity, and unanticipated data growth routinely push actual consumption above contracted units, triggering overage charges at rates that can add 15–30% to the annual subscription cost.
  • BTP credit scope: The BTP credits bundled in standard RISE packages are not sufficient for organisations running integration-intensive S/4HANA landscapes. Additional BTP credits are priced at rates that are rarely disclosed during the sales cycle and are not reflected in SAP's TCO modelling tools.
  • On-premise licence true-up risk: Organisations retaining even a small on-premise SAP footprint alongside RISE remain exposed to indirect access and digital access audit claims. RISE does not automatically resolve existing indirect access exposure unless specifically contracted.
  • Migration professional services: SAP's RISE pricing does not include the system integrator costs required to migrate from ECC or S/4HANA on-premise. SAP-provided migration estimates are consistently lower than actual project outcomes. We benchmark against real completed projects, not SAP's optimistic projections.
  • Exit and data portability costs: Standard RISE contracts do not include meaningful exit rights or data portability provisions. Without these protections, organisations are commercially locked into SAP indefinitely and face significant switching costs that inflate the effective TCO of the decision.

Documented Outcomes from Recent RISE Engagements

These are anonymised results from completed RISE advisory engagements. All figures are documented and verifiable under NDA.

$9.8M
Total savings for a global manufacturing firm. $3.8M identified through independent TCO correction covering HANA sizing, BTP credit requirements, and integration costs. $6M recovered through restructuring the base subscription, securing a seven-year escalation cap, and eliminating indirect access exposure across 14 third-party integrations.
35%
Total cost reduction for a European retailer after independent analysis showed that a hyperscaler-hosted S/4HANA deployment on Azure was 35% cheaper over five years than SAP's RISE proposal. The finding was used as negotiating leverage to restructure the RISE deal on materially better commercial terms.
$2.1M
Additional BTP credits secured at no incremental cost for a financial services firm. SAP's initial RISE proposal included 18 months of BTP credits. Our negotiation extended credit scope to cover the full integration transformation programme, saving $2.1M in credits that would have been purchased separately post-signature.
Exit Rights
Full contractual exit pathway secured for a public sector organisation where the standard RISE contract contained no meaningful exit mechanism. Negotiation added defined data extraction rights, technology-neutral data format requirements, and a 24-month transition support obligation on SAP — removing a permanent commercial lock-in.

How the RISE Advisory Engagement Works

Our RISE advisory follows a structured five-phase approach designed to give you maximum commercial leverage at every stage of the decision. Most engagements complete in eight to fourteen weeks. We can mobilise within days of an initial briefing.

01

Independent TCO Modelling (Weeks 1–3)

We build five and seven-year TCO models comparing SAP's RISE proposal against your current on-premise costs, hyperscaler-hosted S/4HANA alternatives (AWS, Azure, GCP), and managed private cloud options. Our models incorporate real HANA unit overconsumption risk, BTP credit requirements, integration costs, and migration professional services benchmarks drawn from completed projects — not SAP's projections.

02

Commercial Benchmarking (Weeks 2–4)

We benchmark SAP's proposal against our proprietary database of 100+ completed RISE transactions across base subscription pricing, HANA unit rates, BTP credit scope, hyperscaler uplift, SLA terms, exit provisions, and escalation caps. This produces a benchmark report identifying every dimension where SAP is pricing you above market.

03

Negotiation Strategy and Leverage Development (Weeks 3–6)

We develop your negotiation position using TCO findings, benchmark data, alternatives analysis, and an assessment of SAP's fiscal year timing and pipeline pressure. We identify specific leverage points — hyperscaler alternatives, third-party maintenance options for on-premise components, competitive scenarios — and build a negotiation strategy that creates credible pressure on SAP's commercial team.

04

Contract Negotiation and Protection (Weeks 6–14)

We negotiate directly alongside your procurement and legal teams, or provide the detailed commercial playbook for your team to execute. Negotiation covers base subscription pricing, HANA unit flexibility provisions, BTP credit scope and conversion rights, annual escalation caps, SLA mechanisms, exit rights and data portability, M&A change of control provisions, and indirect access clean-up for existing on-premise exposure.

05

Post-Signature Review and Mid-Contract Support

We provide post-signature review to verify that negotiated terms appear correctly in the executed contract, and ongoing mid-contract support as actual consumption patterns emerge. If HANA unit or BTP credit consumption is trending toward overrun, we identify the issue and the remediation options before overcharging appears on an invoice.

Evaluating a RISE Proposal Right Now?

Our advisors are available immediately. Share your RISE proposal under NDA and we will tell you within one week where SAP is pricing you above market and what commercial improvement is achievable.

Please use a corporate email address.

No commitment. No sales pitch. All enquiries covered by mutual NDA.

Why Organisations Choose Redress Over Going Alone

Every organisation entering a RISE negotiation faces the same structural disadvantage: SAP's account team has completed hundreds of RISE transactions and has precise knowledge of where their floor price sits and what contractual protections are negotiable. Your procurement and IT teams are doing this for the first time, against a counterpart who does it every day.

Engaging Redress levels that information asymmetry. Our advisors have sat on both sides of the SAP negotiating table — including former SAP licensing measurement leads, former SAP ELA commercial architects, and former SAP S/4HANA migration leads. We know what SAP's account teams are authorised to offer, what they routinely withhold until asked, and what negotiating positions create genuine commercial pressure.

Former SAP Insider Knowledge

Our team includes former SAP licensing measurement leads and commercial architects who know the internal pricing models, discount approval structures, and commercial floor positions that SAP's account teams operate within. This knowledge is not available through any other advisory firm.

100+ RISE Transaction Database

We maintain a proprietary benchmarking database built from 100+ completed RISE transactions across every major industry and geography. SAP's published pricing is the starting point. Our database shows where comparable organisations actually landed after negotiation.

100% Buyer-Side. No Conflicts.

We do not work for SAP. We do not earn referral fees from system integrators recommending RISE. We have no commercial incentive to recommend RISE over alternatives. Our only financial interest is your contractual outcome. This is structural, not aspirational.

Fixed-Fee. Senior-Only Delivery.

Every RISE engagement is fixed-fee, agreed before work begins. Your engagement is delivered by the same senior advisors you meet in the briefing — not delegated to junior analysts. Average ROI on advisory fee exceeds 20x across our completed RISE engagements.

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Download Our SAP RISE Advisory Guide

Our 40-page guide covers RISE TCO modelling methodology, the 12 contractual protections every RISE buyer must secure, a benchmarking framework drawn from 100+ transactions, and a negotiation checklist for CIOs and procurement directors.

Download the RISE Guide →

Who Uses SAP RISE Advisory

Our RISE advisory is used by enterprise organisations in the $500M–$50B revenue range that are evaluating SAP's RISE proposal, are already mid-contract and discovering unexpected costs, or are preparing for a RISE renewal negotiation. The most common entry points are CIOs and VPs of Technology who have received a RISE proposal and need an independent view before committing to a multi-year subscription; IT Procurement Directors managing the commercial negotiation and needing benchmarking data to counter SAP's account team pressure; CFOs reviewing the financial case for RISE and needing a TCO model that reflects actual rather than projected costs; and General Counsel reviewing RISE contract exposure including exit rights, data portability, SLA mechanisms, and M&A change of control provisions.

We also work with organisations that are 12–24 months into a RISE contract and are discovering that actual costs are exceeding the TCO model they were presented with. Mid-contract renegotiation is a significant component of our RISE practice and we have successfully recovered material sums for clients who signed without independent review. For deeper background on our approach, see the SAP Knowledge Hub, our case studies, and our articles on RISE negotiation strategy and whether RISE is right for your organisation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our RISE advisory covers four areas: independent TCO modelling that includes HANA credit overruns, integration costs, and licence true-ups that SAP's proposals routinely omit; commercial benchmarking against 100+ comparable RISE transactions; contract negotiation securing exit rights, SLA protections, BTP credit scope, and M&A safeguards; and alternatives assessment comparing RISE against hyperscaler-hosted S/4HANA and other deployment models.
Engagements are structured as fixed-fee advisory retainers agreed before work begins. The average RISE engagement identifies $6M in savings through TCO correction, pricing negotiation, and contractual protection — delivering typical ROI exceeding 20x the advisory fee. We do not earn referral fees from SAP or any system integrator. Fee discussions happen during the initial briefing.
We operate under strict mutual NDA. All work is confidential. We do not disclose client identities to SAP or any third party. Our advisors have completed 100+ RISE engagements without any client experiencing adverse consequences from SAP as a result of engaging us. SAP's account teams are aware that independent advisors operate in the market; this does not disadvantage clients in negotiations.
SAP's TCO tools are designed to demonstrate the attractiveness of RISE, not to surface its full cost. They typically exclude HANA unit overconsumption risk, BTP credit burn beyond the base bundle, integration middleware costs, migration professional services overruns, and the licence true-up exposure that arises when on-premise shelfware is not formally retired before signing. Our models are built from real completed transactions, not SAP's projections.
Yes. Mid-contract renegotiation is a significant component of our RISE practice. Many organisations find that actual RISE costs exceed initial projections within the first one to two years. We identify renegotiation leverage, document overcharging claims, and restructure contracts at renewal. We have recovered material sums for clients who signed without independent review.
We can mobilise immediately following an initial briefing. Initial TCO assessment and RISE proposal analysis is typically delivered within two to three weeks of engagement start. Full contract negotiation engagements run eight to fourteen weeks. If you are facing a SAP fiscal year deadline (December 31) or a proposal expiry date, contact us immediately — we have experience managing tight timelines.
We maintain a proprietary database of completed RISE transactions covering base subscription pricing, HANA unit sizing, BTP credit scope, hyperscaler choice, SLA terms, exit provisions, and escalation caps. We benchmark your proposal across each dimension and identify where SAP is pricing you above market. This typically identifies 25–40% commercial improvement opportunity before negotiation begins.
We need SAP's RISE proposal or term sheet, your current on-premise licence and maintenance details, existing SAP correspondence, and access to on-premise infrastructure cost data. All materials are received under NDA. An initial briefing requires nothing beyond a conversation about your RISE situation.