RISE (SAP Cloud ERP Private) with SAP represents a fundamental shift in how SAP is consumed. By conjoining S/4HANA Cloud, platform services, tools and managed infrastructure into a single subscription, SAP moves customers away from perpetual licensing and owned infrastructure toward a service-based, consumption-driven model.
This approach can simplify technical operations; it also shifts financial and licensing risk. Costs scale dynamically, licensing transparency gets reduced significantly and commercial commitments are often locked in before you really understand your usage patterns. As a result, RISE programs need active, ongoing oversight across licensing, users, architecture and commercial governance, not just technical delivery.
RISE Is a Commercial & Governance Shift, Not Just Technical
RISE is often treated only like a cloud migration project, whilst it changes how SAP environments are licensed, contracted and governed over time.
Here’s what makes RISE different
- Subscription costs that scale with system usage and access
- Licensing models that shift from named users to Full User Equivalent (FUE) consumption
- User access patterns that keep changing during and after migration
- Architectural decisions that directly influence long-term cost
- Contracts that are defined by audit exposure, flexibility and future negotiation power
These factors mean that the decisions you make early within the RISE program can have lasting financial and compliance consequences.
JNC supports organizations through this shift by aligning SAP Licensing, SAP User Management (service offered by ITAA), SAP Commercial Services and SAP Solution Architecture, ensuring cost, access and governance stay controlled through the RISE lifecycle.
Managing Licensing Risk Under RISE
Under RISE, SAP replaces traditional named user licensing with the Full User Equivalent (FUE) model. This is positioned as a simplification because a wide variety of historical license types are consolidated into precisely four FUE categories. While this reduces surface-level complexity, it also abstracts how individual users contribute to overall subscription cost, making cost drivers harder to trace at a user level.
During migration, dormant users, duplicate accounts, and over-provisioned roles can be absorbed into FUE calculations with little visibility. If left unmanaged, these inefficiencies become embedded in the long-term RISE subscription, increasing both ongoing cost and compliance exposure.
Under RISE, SAP is contractually entitled to audit usage monthly. Maintaining control therefore means continuous visibility into user access, licensing entitlements, and actual system usage, rather than relying on periodic or retrospective reviews.
| RISE Challenge | How SUMS Helps | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced visibility into FUE consumption | Monitoring of SAP users across ECC and S/4HANA | Clear understanding of how access translates |
| Dormant, duplicate or unused users | Identification and cleanup of redundant accounts | Reduced licensing inefficiency |
| Over-provisioned access during migration | Validation of assigned vs. used authorizations | Access aligned to real business needs |
| Frequence post go-live access changes | Ongoing user and license monitoring | Sustained compliance over time |
| Increased audit exposure | Audit-ready reporting and defensible data | Lower audit risk and stronger negotiating positions |
By applying structured governance and repeatable controls, SUMS helps organizations prevent inefficient access patterns from getting locked into long-term RISE contracts.
Commercial Control Through SAP Contract and Procurement Services
RISE contracts are typically signed early on within the program, often before you fully understand scope, user volumes and integration complexity. Once you’ve signed, these agreements define your pricing structures, scaling mechanisms, audit rights and future flexibility.
JNC’s SAP Commercial Services support organizations by validating SAP assumptions, reviewing contract terms and maintaining procurement-led oversight throughout the RISE lifecycle. This ensures your commercial positions stay defensible as system usage and requirements evolve.
How SAP Solution Architecture Services Support RISE with SAP
Architectural decisions have direct commercial and licensing consequences. Your system design choices influence user models, integration complexity, security structures and long-term cost.
JNC’s SAP Solution Architecture services provide independent oversight to ensure technical decisions stay aligned with licensing, governance and commercial control.
Architecture Area RISE scope and system design
JNC Architecture Support Validation of scope items and proposed applications against real business processes
Value Delivered Prevents over-scoping and unnecessary subscription cost
Architecture Area User and security model design
JNC Architecture Support Alignment of architecture with access and licensing models
Value Delivered Reduces FUE inflation and access risk
Architecture Area Integration and landscape complexity
JNC Architecture Support Review of interfaces, integrations, and data flows
Value Delivered Stable and scalable system design
Architecture Area Design governance during migration
JNC Architecture Support Independent architecture oversight and QA
Value Delivered Prevents design drift and rework
Architecture Area Post go-live system evolution
JNC Architecture Support Ongoing advisory support
Value Delivered Architecture remains defensible and auditable
Aligning architecture with licensing and access governance reduces the risk of technical decisions driving long-term cost increases under RISE.
The Bottom Line: RISE Needs More Than Just Technical Delivery
Organizations that get the most out of RISE are the ones who see it for what it really is, both a technical upgrade and a commercial shift. They keep up to date on user access, make sure their architectural choices don’t accidentally inflate licensing costs and keep their procurement teams in the loop the whole way through, not just when it’s time to sign the contract.
JNC is here to help your organization avoid those outcomes. By combining SAP licensing expertise, user governance through SUMS, Solution Architecture oversight, and Commercial Advisory Support, we help organizations maintain control and transparency across the entire RISE lifecycle.
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