JNC’s Enhanced Audit Support Averts $16M Named User License Risk

A global Fortune 500 conglomerate with over 30,000 employees across the US and UK was facing growing licensing complexity due to constant business restructuring through investments and divestments. With revenues around $20 billion, the company operated numerous legacy systems, resulting in fragmented SAP user management and security policies.

Challenges

The organization was notified of an impending SAP audit and was already aware of significant non-compliance, primarily related to named users. Initial estimates suggested a potential exposure of at least $16 million. The situation was further complicated by:

• Ongoing divestments and M&A activities
• Redundant and duplicate users across integrated legacy systems
• Complex and outdated user and role management
• No long-term strategy in place for the eventual R/3 to S/4HANA transition via SAP Cloud ERP Private (formerly known as RISE)

The business urgently needed to address the compliance risk due to the audit and develop a sustainable approach to license management in preparation for cloud transformation.

The Solution

JNC was engaged to proactively simulate the SAP audit and assess the full scope of non-compliance. Key steps included:

• Detailed reporting and categorization of user types (inactive, defaulted, non-dialog, excessive access)
• Identification of role assignments driving excess license consumption
• Recurring data analysis over the full audit period
• Facilitating workshops and stakeholder sessions to align and evolve internal policies
• Remediation planning and implementation support
• Simulation of license conversion via authorization object mapping
• Optimization recommendations for named user licensing under SAP Cloud ERP Private (RISE)

This strategy not only defended the business during the audit but also laid the foundation for a smoother and more cost-effective transition to S/4HANA in the Private Cloud.

Conclusion

Through JNC’s expert guidance and ongoing analysis, the organization successfully avoided a $16 million compliance risk during thee audit. Additionally, future savings were projected through optimized named user licensing under SAP Cloud ERP Private (RISE).

“JNC gave us both the insight and the roadmap we needed. We didn’t just pass the audit — we used it as a springboard to get our licensing house in order ahead of our SAP Cloud ERP Private (RISE) journey.”

*Protecting our clients’ confidence is of utmost importance at JNC. While our case studies are based on true projects, we have used fictitious names and removed or changed other identifiable details