SAP Contract Renewal & Optimization Strategies (2025 Master Guide for Enterprises)

SAP Contract Renewal & Optimization Strategies

Introduction: Why SAP Contract Renewal Strategy Matters in 2025

SAP contract renewals have become high-stakes events in 2025. Traditional SAP maintenance costs keep rising (SAP raised support fees by ~5% in 2024 after a 3%+ hike in 2023), while SAP’s RISE cloud subscriptions lock customers into multi-year agreements.

At the same time, critical deadlines loom – mainstream support for SAP ECC (the old ERP) ends in 2027, forcing decisions on S/4HANA migration.

This means CIOs, CFOs, and procurement leaders must treat SAP support renewals as strategic negotiations, not routine paperwork.

The goal is to cut costs, avoid vendor lock-in, and ensure the contract aligns with your IT roadmap.

In this guide, we take a straight-shooting look at how enterprises can optimize SAP contract renewals, whether sticking with SAP support, moving to SAP RISE, or leveraging third-party support alternatives.

Understanding Your SAP Contract Renewal Options

Traditional SAP Maintenance Renewal (Perpetual Licenses):

Many enterprises still run on-premises SAP software under perpetual licenses, paying annual support fees (typically ~22% of the license price each year). Renewing this support keeps you entitled to SAP updates, patches, and helpdesk support. However, SAP has been increasing on-premise maintenance fees and investing less in new features for legacy systems. With S/4HANA as SAP’s future, staying on traditional support may mean paying more for diminishing returns. Companies must weigh if the guaranteed upgrades and direct SAP support justify the high cost and annual 4–5% fee uplifts.

SAP RISE Subscription Renewal:

RISE with SAP transforms the model to a cloud subscription (bundling software, infrastructure, and support in one contract). If your enterprise embraced RISE (S/4HANA Cloud via RISE), the renewal will involve negotiating a new subscription term. Unlike perpetual licenses, RISE is typically a 3- to 5-year contract. Its renewal terms can include significant price increases if not negotiated carefully. RISE offers the allure of a managed cloud solution and continuous updates, but it also introduces lock-in: you rely on SAP’s cloud and must plan an exit strategy if you ever want to leave. Understanding the fine print of RISE contracts (like auto-renewal clauses and usage limits) is crucial before renewal.

Third-Party SAP Support:

A growing number of SAP customers are considering third-party support providers as an alternative at renewal time. Companies like independent support vendors (outside of SAP) offer to support your existing SAP systems (ECC or even S/4HANA), often at 50% or greater cost savings. By switching to third-party maintenance, you can dramatically cut support fees and even extend the life of older SAP versions beyond SAP’s official end-of-support date. The trade-off: you forgo SAP’s official updates and upgrades. Third-party support will fix bugs and provide tax/regulatory updates, but you won’t get new SAP features or versions. This option is attractive if you plan to stick with your current SAP system for several years without major changes, or if you need a cost bridge while evaluating a move off SAP. It’s also a powerful negotiation lever – showing SAP you have a viable support alternative can pressure them to offer better renewal terms.

Hybrid Models (Mixing On-Prem and Cloud):

Many large enterprises now have a foot in both camps – for example, some systems on SAP S/4HANA Cloud (RISE or other cloud offerings) and others still on-premises ECC. Renewal discussions might cover both traditional support and cloud subscriptions. A hybrid approach could involve keeping core systems on SAP support while migrating non-critical systems to third-party support to reduce costs. If you’re in a hybrid scenario, ensure you map out all contracts and align their renewal dates and terms strategically. SAP’s goal will be to pull you more into their cloud ecosystem; your goal should be retaining flexibility and only paying for what you truly need.

SAP Support Renewal Negotiation Best Practices

Renewing a traditional SAP support contract (for on-premise licenses) is often treated by SAP as a formality – many contracts auto-renew annually by default. However, you are not obligated to simply accept SAP’s standard terms or price increases.

Here are the best practices to negotiate your SAP maintenance renewal:

• Start Early and Audit Your Usage: Begin planning 9–12 months of your renewal date. SAP requires notice (often 3+ months) if you intend to reduce or cancel licenses at renewal. Conduct an internal license audit to understand your actual usage and compliance. Identify any shelfware (unused licenses or modules) and any areas where you might be out of compliance. This early groundwork arms you with facts – and prevents last-minute scrambling if SAP initiates a surprise audit. Knowing your utilization also means you can drop unused licenses from the renewal and avoid paying support on them (SAP won’t volunteer this; you must request to remove or “true-down” those licenses).
• Anticipate SAP’s Audit and Compliance Tactics: It’s common for SAP to leverage license audits around renewal time. They might claim you owe additional fees for unlicensed use (like indirect access or users over your license count) and then offer to “forgive” it if you renew for a longer term or with an upsell. To counter this, do your own compliance check and address issues proactively. If SAP does present an audit finding, don’t panic – use it as a chance to negotiate. For instance, you might negotiate that any license shortfall be resolved with a discount or as part of a new S/4HANA contract, rather than a straight purchase at list price under pressure.
• Negotiate Maintenance Fee Caps: SAP’s standard maintenance contracts often allow annual price uplifts (commonly ~4% per year or tied to inflation indices). Push back on these increases. During your renewal negotiation, demand price protection – for example, a cap of 0–3% on annual support fee increases, or even a flat freeze for a couple of years. If your company is large or the renewal is part of a bigger deal, you can often secure a support fee freeze or reduction as a condition of signing. The key is to explicitly negotiate it; otherwise, SAP will apply automatic uplifts each year.
• Seek Discounts for Multi-Year or Early Commitment: If you’re renewing a sizable contract, don’t settle for paying the full maintenance sticker price. SAP sales reps have some leeway to offer discounts or one-time credits, especially if you commit to multiple years or sign additional license purchases. For example, you might say, “We will renew three years of support, but at an 8% lower rate than today, locked in.” It helps to cite budget constraints or alternative options (like third-party support quotes) to justify why SAP needs to offer a break. While SAP won’t usually cut the base maintenance percentage without cause, they might provide a credit note, extra services, or a temporary discount to secure your renewal.
• Leverage End-of-Quarter Timing: Time your negotiation to SAP’s sales cycle. SAP, like many vendors, has quotas and incentive periods – quarter-end and especially year-end (Q4) are when reps are under pressure to close deals. If your renewal is in the middle of the year, consider extending or aligning it so that discussions happen near SAP’s Q4 (calendar year-end) or Q2. In these periods, you’re more likely to receive favorable offers, such as extra discount percentage points or free add-ons, because the sales team wants your deal booked before the deadline. Politely remind SAP that you have budgeting timelines too, but be willing to sign by their fiscal year-end if the deal meets your needs – that’s your leverage.
• Demand Transparency on Support Value: Don’t accept boilerplate answers on what you get for the hefty support fees. Ask SAP to outline what improvements or support enhancements you will get in the coming year. Sometimes SAP offers new support features (like enhanced SLA, or tools) – ensure you get those if you’re paying top dollar. Moreover, make SAP explain the basis of any increase. If they cite inflation or cost of living, you can negotiate a smaller increase or a delay. The more you challenge the status quo, the more likely SAP is to treat your account with special care to avoid losing you.

By combining these tactics, you flip the script: instead of an automatic renewal with a price hike, it becomes a renegotiation where SAP must earn your continued business.

SAP RISE Renewal – Key Contract Terms to Challenge

For enterprises that adopted RISE with SAP, the renewal stage is critical. RISE contracts bundle software (S/4HANA and more) with cloud infrastructure and SAP’s managed services, usually over a 3-5 year term.

As you approach a RISE renewal, scrutinize these key contract terms and push back hard:

• Renewal Pricing and Uplifts: One hidden risk in RISE agreements is the absence of price caps after the initial term. SAP often offers an attractive discount for the first term, but at renewal, the price can increase significantly. Insist on negotiating the renewal rates upfront. For example, have the contract specify that after the initial term, any price increase is capped (e.g,. no more than 5%) or that your discount level (say 50% off list) carries into the renewal. Otherwise, you might face sticker shock if SAP tries to raise subscription fees by 20% once you’re deeply invested in their cloud.
• Contract Length and Termination: Be wary of auto-renewal or long extensions. SAP may want to roll you into another 5-year commitment. If your business strategy or user count might change, a shorter renewal (1–2 years) or at least an opt-out clause is safer. Negotiate for the right to cancel or reduce the scope with advance notice. For instance, try to include a clause that allows termination after each year with, say, 6 months’ notice (even if SAP resists, any flexibility you gain here is valuable). At minimum, avoid contracts that automatically lock you in for a long period without a renewal negotiation – you want a seat at the table to adjust terms.
• Flexibility in User Counts and Scope: During RISE renewal, challenge any “no decrease” clauses. Many cloud contracts forbid reducing your subscription volume (users or usage levels) – you can add, but not subtract. This is a classic lock-in tactic. Push to allow adjustments downward at renewal if your needs shrink or you’ve implemented efficiencies. Perhaps negotiate a band (e.g., you can reduce up to 10% of users without penalty at renewal). Also, to clarify the process for adding new cloud services or shifting part of the solution on-premises, keep your architecture options open.
• RISE Exit Clauses: The biggest fear is getting stuck in RISE without an exit plan. Ensure your renewal negotiations include a clear exit strategy clause. This should cover what happens if, after the term, you choose not to continue with RISE: Do you have rights to transition to on-premise S/4HANA (and under what cost)? Will SAP assist in migrating your data out of their cloud? You want provisions for data extraction and an orderly transition. If SAP knows you’re thinking about a potential exit, they may be more flexible on the renewal price to keep you. Even if you fully intend to stay, having an exit clause is critical leverage and a safety net.
• Link to Overall SAP Roadmap: Bring your broader SAP roadmap into the RISE renewal conversation. For example, if you plan to adopt other SAP cloud services (SuccessFactors, Ariba, etc.) or are considering SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud, bundle those discussions. You might negotiate that your RISE renewal includes credits or discounted add-ons for these future projects. Conversely, if you’ve decided not to expand further with SAP, make that clear so SAP doesn’t bundle unwanted products into your renewal quote. Aligning the RISE contract with your strategic roadmap helps you avoid being sold something that doesn’t fit your long-term plans.

Challenging SAP on these RISE terms is essential. Remember, once you’re in a cloud subscription, SAP knows switching off is hard.

This is why you must get as much flexibility and price protection as possible before you sign the renewal.

Benchmarking SAP Renewal Costs and Discounts

How do you know if the deal SAP offers at renewal is fair? Smart customers benchmark and compare.

Here’s how to gauge and improve your SAP renewal economics:

• Understand Typical Discount Ranges: In large SAP licensing deals, significant discounts off the list price are the norm. For example, on a major S/4HANA license purchase, an enterprise might get 50% or more off list. However, for support renewals, SAP historically charged the standard rates. To save money, you may need to bundle your renewal with new purchases or negotiations. Know that SAP’s “rack rate” for maintenance (22% of license) is not sacred – big customers have negotiated that down or received offsets. If peers in your industry report securing, say, a 15% overall reduction in their SAP spend at renewal (through credits or license swaps), use that as a benchmark to push SAP.
• Leverage SAP S/4HANA and RISE Benchmarks: By 2025, many companies will have gone through S/4HANA contract negotiations or RISE deals. If possible, find out what discounts or concessions were achieved by others. For instance, if a similar-sized company got a 3-year price lock on RISE or a free year of maintenance as part of their S/4 conversion, bring that up. You can mention in negotiations, “Other vendors or even SAP deals for companies like us included X – we expect the same consideration.” SAP won’t drop numbers easily, but hinting that you have industry insight puts pressure on them.
• Use Competitor Pricing as Leverage: SAP doesn’t exist in a vacuum – alternatives like Oracle, Microsoft, or Workday can replace parts of SAP. Even if you don’t intend to switch, obtaining competitive quotes is a classic negotiation move. If Oracle Cloud or another ERP offers a compelling deal, you can (tactfully) let SAP know that you’re evaluating it. The mere possibility of losing your business to a rival can motivate SAP to sweeten your renewal terms (larger discounts or improved contract terms). Similarly, quotes from third-party support providers showing 50% cost savings can be presented to SAP: “We have an option that saves us half on support – why shouldn’t we take it unless you give us a reason to stay?” Comparisons like this give SAP a reality check that its prices aren’t the only game in town.
• Total Cost of Ownership Modeling: Benchmark internally by modeling the 5-year cost of different paths. Calculate what you’d spend if you remain on SAP support, switch to third-party support, or migrate to a new cloud solution. Presenting these numbers to SAP (at a high level) can be impactful. For example: “Over the next 3 years, staying on SAP maintenance will cost us $X. By contrast, moving to a third-party or a rival saves us $Y. We need SAP’s renewal offer to significantly bridge that gap.” When SAP sees that you’ve done the math, you gain credibility and bargaining power.
• Keep an Eye on SAP’s Fiscal Calendar: Benchmarking also includes timing. As mentioned earlier, SAP’s eagerness to meet sales targets at year-end can effectively be seen as a “market” condition – meaning you typically get the best discounts or extras in Q4. If your renewal is far from Q4, you might benchmark the idea of a short-term extension so that the real negotiation aligns with that favorable window. Enterprises savvy in procurement sometimes do a 6-month extension to push a renewal into December, aiming for those year-end concessions.

In summary, treat your SAP renewal like any big procurement: compare options, get market data, and make SAP compete for your business.

Your knowledge of what’s standard (and what others are paying) is a powerful tool to avoid overpaying.

Evaluating SAP Third-Party Support vs. SAP Support Renewal

One of the biggest points of leverage in renewal talks is the question: “Should we stay with SAP support or go third-party?”

Let’s break down the comparison to inform your strategy:

• Cost Savings: Third-party maintenance providers (such as Rimini Street, Spinnaker, and others) typically charge 50% or less of SAP’s annual support fee. For example, if you currently pay $2 million a year to SAP, a third-party might offer similar support for ~$1 million. These immediate savings are hard for any CIO or CFO to ignore. SAP is aware of this, which is why mentioning a third-party quote can be a valuable negotiation tool. On pure costs, third-party wins easily for organizations looking to trim IT spend.
• Scope of Support: SAP support gives you access to SAP’s updates, patches, and new versions (e.g., the ability to upgrade to S/4HANA or apply Enhancement Packs). Third-party support does not include new SAP software versions – they will support what you currently have. However, third-party vendors often excel in personalized service: you usually get a dedicated team, support for customizations, and possibly support for interoperabilities that SAP might not help with. Suppose your SAP environment is stable and you don’t need immediate upgrades. In that case, third-party support can actually provide a very high service level (often these providers boast of better response times than SAP’s standard SLA).
• Risk and Compliance: Leaving SAP support is perfectly legal if you own your licenses, but it introduces considerations. If you end SAP maintenance, you typically lose access to SAP’s online support portal and the right to apply new patches or version upgrades. Security updates stop coming from SAP (though third parties often create their own fixes for critical vulnerabilities). There’s also the psychological factor: some companies feel safer knowing the vendor (SAP) is backing the product. And if you ever want to return to SAP support or upgrade to a new SAP product, SAP may charge backdated support fees or require you to purchase new licenses. Essentially, you need to be fairly sure you can live without SAP’s direct involvement for the foreseeable future if you go third-party.
• Strategic Use in Negotiation: Even if you ultimately decide to remain with SAP’s support, exploring third-party support is wise. It gives you an actionable Plan B. Some enterprises genuinely switch to a third-party for a period of time (say 3-5 years) to save money, then invest those savings into a future migration (maybe to S/4HANA or another system). Others use the third-party option as a bargaining tool – getting a quote or proposal and subtly letting SAP know that the organization is ready to move on if the renewal terms aren’t favorable. We’ve seen scenarios where SAP suddenly offered a special 30% discount on maintenance or bundled extra licenses at no cost when they realized the customer was close to signing with a third-party provider.

To make this evaluation clear, here’s a comparison of SAP direct support vs. third-party support vs. staying with SAP via RISE:

Comparison: SAP Support vs Third-Party Support vs SAP RISE

Use this comparison to decide which route gives the best balance of cost, risk, and flexibility for your organization.

Some enterprises even pursue a phased approach – for instance, keeping critical systems on SAP support for upgrade needs, while moving less critical systems to third-party support to cut costs.

Others avoid RISE lock-in by sticking to on-premise or choosing a different cloud strategy. The key is to align with your IT roadmap: if you’re not ready for S/4HANA or cloud, a third party might buy you time; if you are cloud-focused, then negotiating RISE smartly is essential.

SAP Renewal Timing and Strategy

When it comes to SAP contract renewals, timing is a strategic weapon. Being deliberate about when and how you engage can tilt the outcome in your favor:

• Plan Renewals 9–12 Months Ahead: Don’t wait until the last month of your contract to start discussions. A best practice is to begin internal planning as much as a year in advance. This includes reviewing the contract for any notice periods (SAP typically requires advance notice if you intend not to renew or to reduce licenses). Mark these dates on your calendar. Starting early also gives you time to explore alternatives (like third-party support proposals or internal budget shifts) without time pressure. You want SAP to sense that you have a well-thought-out plan, not that you’re scrambling at the last minute (which inevitably favors the vendor).
• Align with SAP’s Sales Deadlines: We mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: try to negotiate near SAP’s quarter-end or year-end. If your renewal is naturally due in, say, July (Q3), you might open discussions to renew a bit early or extend slightly so that the deal can close in Q4 (December). SAP reps have quarterly targets, and calendar year-end is SAP’s fiscal year-end – by late Q4, they may give unusually steep concessions to meet their goals. For example, an enterprise could extend a support contract by 6 months to sync the next renewal with year-end, then demand aggressive discounts, knowing SAP at that point will be hungry to close. Timing won’t replace solid negotiation, but it multiplies your leverage when combined with competitive pressure.
• Use a Renewal Roadmap: Develop a renewal roadmap that projects your SAP needs and costs for the next 3–5 years under different scenarios. This roadmap should include key milestones like: when you might migrate to S/4HANA, when certain divisions might switch systems, or when cloud adoption is expected. By mapping this out, you can decide the ideal length of any renewed contract. For instance, if you plan a major system change in 2 years, don’t get stuck in a 5-year renewal – negotiate a 2-year renewal or flexibility to adjust at the 2-year mark. The roadmap also helps you budget for various outcomes. Sharing high-level parts of this roadmap with SAP (strategically) can be useful: if SAP knows you are considering a move to the cloud in 2026, they might offer incentives in this renewal to keep you till then.
• Coordinate Stakeholders Early: A successful renewal strategy involves IT, finance, procurement, and legal from the start. Form a cross-functional team to set negotiation goals and limits (e.g., maximum budget, must-have terms). Procurement can benchmark prices, IT can specify what is truly needed vs. optional, legal can catch unfavorable clauses, and finance (CFO) can champion cost-saving directives. When SAP sees that your CIO and CFO are directly engaged in the renewal process, they’ll understand that standard tactics might not fly easily. Internal alignment also means you won’t concede on one front (like a technical add-on you don’t need) in exchange for a discount, only to have finance upset later – you’ll know your priorities beforehand.
• Exploit SAP’s Product Roadmap: SAP’s own roadmap can provide leverage. For example, with the 2027 ECC support deadline, SAP is eager to push cloud solutions. If you’re not ready, use that: ask for a short-term renewal or special deal to bridge you to 2027 without committing to RISE yet. Conversely, if you are ready to consider S/4HANA, use the fact that SAP wants success stories: they might give you a better price now rather than risk you waiting or going elsewhere. Also, keep an eye on any announcements (like changes in support policies or new products) around the time of your renewal; sometimes SAP adjusts its programs (e.g., temporary maintenance fee freezes or credits) and you should capitalize on any such offers.

In essence, don’t treat renewal as a date on a calendar – treat it as a campaign. The “when” and “how” you engage SAP can save significant money.

By planning out the timing and bringing a unified strategy, you ensure you’re dictating the pace and agenda of the renewal, rather than reacting to SAP’s timeline.

License Optimization Before Renewal

One of your strongest negotiation cards is showing SAP that you’ve optimized your license usage and are prepared to trim waste.

Before signing any renewal, take these steps to make sure you’re not overpaying:

• Perform a Self Audit (License True-Up/True-Down): Use SAP’s tools like USMM and LAW, or your own software asset management data, to get a clear picture of license utilization. Identify inactive user accounts, duplicate users, and underutilized modules. It’s common to discover that a chunk of your named user licenses are assigned to people who no longer need them (e.g. ex-employees or users with minimal activity). Gather this evidence and determine exactly how many licenses you truly need of each type. Also, check your engines/packages usage against what you purchased. If you’re below certain metrics, you might not need all the capacity licensed.
• Reclassify and Right-Size User Licenses: SAP has multiple user categories (Professional, Limited, Employee Self-Service, etc.), each with different price points. Over time, users’ roles can change, but their license type might not have been adjusted. Reclassify users to the appropriate license level – for example, if some users only run reports or simple tasks, they might be fine with a lower-tier license instead of an expensive Professional license. This exercise can free up higher-value licenses for reuse or identify surplus. When renewal time comes, you can present SAP with a request: for instance, swap 100 professional licenses for 100 limited licenses, and remove 50 that are not needed at all. This directly cuts maintenance costs (since maintenance is tied to license count and type). SAP may resist dropping licenses, but if you show they were never used, you have a strong case.
• Remove Shelfware (Unused Products): Many companies have SAP modules or add-ons that were bought but never fully deployed (so-called shelfware). Common examples might be a niche SAP engine, or an extra component of SAP you thought you’d use but didn’t. If you’re paying 22% maintenance on those unused licenses every year, that’s pure waste. Identify these and plan to eliminate them. The negotiation angle: ask SAP to terminate support on those specific products and stop charging for them. Sometimes, SAP might allow you to terminate a product’s licenses entirely at renewal (reducing your maintenance base) – especially if you are buying something new in exchange. Or they might allow you to swap the shelfware value into credit for another SAP solution (e.g. trade unused ERP modules for discount on a SuccessFactors purchase). Either way, don’t continue paying for what you don’t use.
• Optimize Indirect Usage and Named Users: Another aspect is indirect access – if non-SAP systems are accessing SAP data (like a web portal creating SAP orders), make sure you have the right licensing model (SAP’s Digital Access documents, etc.). If you plan to adopt the digital access model, negotiate that as part of renewal so you avoid surprise fees later. Also consider concurrency and roles: sometimes you can reduce named user counts if not all users are active concurrently (though SAP doesn’t naturally offer concurrent user licenses, you might negotiate some test or developer user flexibility). Show SAP that you’ve scrubbed your user list to only legit, active users. This diligence can scare off SAP from pushing an audit, and it signals that you won’t pay for phantoms.
• Quantify Savings as Leverage: Before going into negotiations, translate your optimization findings into dollar savings. For example, “We identified 200 licenses to drop, which equates to $300,000/year in maintenance fees.” or “By adjusting license types, we save $100k annually.” Present these as either savings you will realize by going to third-party (because third-party will only charge for what you actually use) or savings you expect SAP to help you achieve. One tactic: ask SAP to credit a portion of these savings back to you in the renewal. For instance, if you’re dropping shelfware, you might say, “We expect our maintenance to decrease by X due to this removal.” If SAP balks (they often resist lowering the maintenance base), use it to negotiate something else of equal value (like free additional licenses for a needed product, or a services package at no charge). The key is that you have done the math and you’re not leaving money on the table.

By optimizing licenses ahead of the renewal, you not only cut costs directly, but you also strengthen your hand.

SAP representatives prefer dealing with customers who haven’t done their homework – because then they can upsell or maintain status quo. When you come to the table showing that you’ve cleaned house and know exactly what you need (and don’t need), you shift the power.

You’re effectively telling SAP, “We will not pay one penny more than necessary – so give us a deal that reflects our lean, efficient license usage or we’ll find alternatives.” It’s a compelling message that can lead to substantial concessions.

Step-by-Step SAP Exit Strategy Checklist

In some cases, the best negotiation outcome is achieved by being truly ready to exit SAP’s support or even SAP software entirely.

Whether you plan to switch to a third-party support provider or you’re considering phasing out SAP, it’s wise to prepare an exit strategy.

Here is a step-by-step checklist to ensure you can pivot away from SAP smoothly if needed:

1. Document Renewal Dates and Notice Deadlines: Identify all your SAP contracts’ end dates and any required notice period to avoid auto-renewal. Note the last date by which you can inform SAP of cancellations or changes. Missing a notice window could lock you in for another year, so this is critical.
2. Conduct a Comprehensive License & Usage Audit: Before exiting, make sure you know your entitlements and actual usage. Verify that you have documentation for all licenses owned. Clean up any compliance issues (e.g., unauthorized use or indirect access scenarios) now, while under contract – you do not want SAP pursuing license claims after you drop support. Essentially, leave no loose ends that SAP can use against you later.
3. Evaluate Alternative Support or Systems: Research and engage with third-party SAP support providers well ahead of time if you intend to use one. Ensure they can support your specific SAP version, modules, customizations, and local requirements. If your strategy is to migrate off SAP to another platform, assess those alternatives (Oracle, cloud ERP, etc.) and perhaps run a proof-of-concept. Having a clear alternative lined up will give you confidence to execute the exit.
4. Develop a Transition Plan: Plan the cutover from SAP support to the new support (or system). For a third-party support switch, schedule the start of the new provider’s coverage to seamlessly begin when SAP support ends. Arrange knowledge transfer sessions so the new team understands your environment. If you are also switching systems, outline interim operations: Will you need read-only access to SAP data? How will you handle any system downtime or data migration? A detailed plan helps avoid disruptions to business operations when the exit occurs.
5. Secure Necessary SAP Assets and Updates: Before your SAP support expires, download and archive any critical resources from SAP’s support portal. This includes the latest support packs, patches, SAP Notes, installation files, and documentation for your system. Third-party providers often ask you to have the latest patch level before cutover. Once your SAP support is gone, you lose the right to download these, so get everything you might need for future maintenance of the system. Essentially, build your own knowledge base of SAP materials to reference post-exit.
6. Communicate Intent and Negotiate Exit Terms: If you decide to leave, formally inform SAP in writing as required. Sometimes, this triggers outreach from SAP to persuade you to stay, which you can use to negotiate a last-minute improved offer. If you’re open to it, you could entertain a final proposal from SAP (in case they suddenly offer a huge discount), but be prepared to follow through on exit. Also, clarify any post-termination rights: for example, if you later decide to rejoin SAP support, what would it cost? It’s good to know the re-entry terms, even if it’s just understanding SAP’s standard policy (often back maintenance fees for the lapsed period). Negotiate anything critical, like the right to use existing licenses indefinitely (you have that for perpetual licenses), and keep evidence of your licenses (get a certificate of ownership if possible).
7. Execute and Monitor New Support Arrangements: Once off SAP support, keep a close eye on system performance and support ticket resolution with your new provider. Ensure they meet the promised service levels. Internally, make users aware of the support change so they don’t inadvertently reach out to SAP. Update any internal helpdesk routing to point to the new support. It can also be useful to run quarterly reviews with the third-party provider or your IT team to ensure everything is stable. The goal is to demonstrate that leaving SAP support did not harm your operations – this validates your strategy and keeps SAP from using fear, uncertainty, and doubt to lure you back.

Following this checklist will help your organization confidently navigate an exit from SAP’s direct support. Even if you don’t end up leaving, having this exit strategy gives you leverage in negotiations.

SAP is far more likely to offer concessions if they know you’re truly prepared to walk away. In short, hope for a fair deal from SAP, but prepare to walk if you don’t get one – that mindset will serve you well in getting the best possible outcome.

Related articles

• SAP Contract Renewal Checklist: On-Premise Support Edition
• SAP RISE Subscription Renewal Strategy: How to Negotiate Savings & Flexibility
• Switching to SAP Third-Party Support: How to Negotiate Your Exit from SAP Maintenance
• SAP Renewal Optimization: Right-Sizing Licenses & Reducing Shelfware
• Plan B for SAP Renewals: Alternatives If Negotiations Fall Through

FAQ: SAP Contract Renewal & Optimization (2025)

Q1: Can I reduce SAP licenses at renewal?
A1: Yes. Renewal is the ideal time to remove unused licenses. Use usage data to justify dropping or “truing-down” licenses and avoid paying maintenance on shelfware.

Q2: How much discount can I expect on an SAP renewal?
A2: Large enterprises often negotiate double-digit percentage savings. Deals near SAP’s quarter or year-end can see especially aggressive discounts or extras thrown in.

Q3: What happens if I don’t renew SAP support?
A3: SAP will eventually stop providing fixes or help. You retain rights to use your software, but you lose updates. Many choose a third-party support firm to cover this gap.

Q4: Is SAP RISE renewal negotiable?
A4: Absolutely. Everything in a RISE contract – pricing, term length, renewal cap, exit clause – is negotiable. Don’t accept standard renewal terms without pushing for flexibility.

Q5: Can I switch to third-party support at renewal time?
A5: Yes, if you own perpetual SAP licenses. Switching can cut costs ~50%. Just be aware you’ll pause SAP upgrades. It’s a common strategy to save money or gain leverage.

Q6: Should I align my SAP contract renewal with an S/4HANA migration?
A6: Ideally, yes. Syncing your renewal cycle with your S/4HANA project timeline maximizes leverage. You can avoid paying for overlapping systems and negotiate migration incentives.

Q7: How do SAP license audits affect renewal negotiations?
A7: SAP audits can create pressure. Conduct internal audits first to ensure you understand your compliance. If SAP finds issues, use it to negotiate – e.g., resolve findings with discounted licenses as part of the new deal.

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