SAP RISE Subscription Renewal Strategy: How to Negotiate Savings & Flexibility

SAP RISE Subscription Renewal Strategy

Introduction: Why SAP RISE Subscription Renewal Needs a Strategy

SAP RISE is typically sold as a 3–5 year subscription. When that term is up, renewing RISE with SAP isn’t a routine task – it’s a high-stakes negotiation.

Without a solid SAP RISE renewal strategy, organizations risk lock-in at higher costs, especially with rising SAP RISE pricing in 2025. SAP often pressures customers to adopt new cloud services or additional features at renewal, which can lead to further increased costs.

Treat the renewal as your best leverage point for cost reduction. Vendors know you could consider alternatives at this juncture, so they may be more willing to offer concessions.

By planning ahead and approaching the RISE renewal negotiation strategically, CIOs and CFOs can secure savings and flexibility that aren’t available mid-term.

In short, renewal time is negotiation time – and a chance to reset any unfavorable terms from the initial contract. Read our overview for SAP Contract Renewal & Optimization Strategies.

Understanding SAP RISE Renewal Contracts

How the RISE contract renewal works:

RISE with SAP contracts run for a fixed term (usually 3 or 5 years). As the end date approaches, you typically have three options: renew the subscription for another term, negotiate a short-term extension, or let the contract expire and move to an alternative solution. It’s critical to review the contract’s renewal notification period. Standard SAP RISE subscription terms often include an auto-renewal clause or require notice (e.g., 3-6 months in advance) if you intend not to renew. Missing these deadlines can leave you stuck with an automatic renewal at unfavorable rates.

End-of-term scenarios:

If you renew RISE, you’ll enter a new contract term (which is an opportunity to adjust pricing or terms). If you extend short-term, it’s usually on the same terms while you finalize a new agreement or transition plan. If you decide to move to alternatives (exit RISE), you need to have an exit plan in place (more on that in the exit strategy section). Be aware that not renewing without a plan could mean loss of access to your SAP systems once the RISE term ends, since you don’t own perpetual licenses under RISE.

RISE renewal vs on-premise SAP support:

Unlike traditional on-premise SAP, where you purchase perpetual licenses and then pay annual maintenance (which auto-renews unless canceled), RISE is pure subscription. With on-prem SAP, your software license doesn’t expire – you can theoretically keep using it even if you stop paying support (albeit without updates or support). In contrast, with RISE’s subscription model, if the subscription ends, so does your right to use the software and associated services.

This gives SAP significant leverage at renewal. Additionally, on-prem support renewals are typically annual and governed by standard support agreements, whereas RISE renewals are full contract renegotiations covering infrastructure, software, and services together.

Understanding this difference is key: in an on-prem world, the default is you own the software and must decide whether to keep support; in RISE, the default is you own nothing at term-end unless you renew or have negotiated conversion rights.

Use our contract renewal checklist, SAP Contract Renewal Checklist: On-Premise Support Edition

Start Early: Building Your SAP RISE Renewal Strategy

Don’t wait until the last minute to address an upcoming RISE with SAP renewal. Start planning 12–18 months before contract expiry.

Early preparation is vital to avoid scrambling and accepting SAP’s first offer due to time pressure.

Here are early strategy steps to take:

• Usage and license audit (12+ months out): Run a thorough usage assessment of your SAP environment under RISE. Evaluate S/4HANA usage, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) consumption, and the underlying infrastructure resources. Identify under-utilized Full User Equivalents (FUEs) and any excess capacity in compute, storage, or extra services. Many companies find they over-allocated users or cloud resources in the initial RISE deal – uncovering these will inform where you can trim costs. For example, if you’re only using 70% of purchased FUEs or have BTP credits going unused, note that for negotiation.
• Internal requirements review (9–12 months out): Engage business and IT leadership to understand future needs. Are you planning growth that requires more capacity or new SAP modules? Or conversely, are some divisions not adopting the system as much as expected? This will help decide whether you need to scale up or can scale down at renewal. Also, assess satisfaction with RISE’s service levels. Any pain points (performance, support responsiveness, etc.) can become negotiation topics for improvement or leverage to consider alternatives.
• Set a clear renewal strategy (6–9 months out): With usage data and business input in hand, define your desired outcome for the renewal. This includes target cost savings (e.g., aiming for a 15% cost reduction), required contract flexibility (maybe the ability to reduce users or swap services mid-term), and whether you will seriously pursue an alternative if SAP’s offer is weak. At this stage, you might issue a request for proposal (RFP) or at least explore what it would take to move off RISE (to self-manage on a hyperscaler, for example). Knowing your walk-away alternative strengthens your position.

Starting early gives you time to create leverage. It signals to SAP that you are a savvy customer evaluating all options. It also uncovers any internal stumbling blocks (like needing to buy licenses or budget approval) well before the deadline.

Read how to use third party support as leverage, Switching to SAP Third-Party Support: How to Negotiate Your Exit from SAP Maintenance.

Benchmarking SAP RISE Renewal Pricing in 2025

One of the smartest moves in a RISE renewal negotiation is to benchmark what others are paying and how pricing is trending. SAP RISE pricing in 2025 has been on the rise, reflecting both inflation and SAP’s push for cloud revenues. However, the actual renewal cost can vary widely depending on your initial deal and how much SAP wants to keep your business.

Gather market data:

If possible, gather insights from industry peers or consultants on typical SAP RISE renewal cost ranges. For example, you might find that companies of similar size are getting renewal quotes at, say, 10-20% lower per FUE than your current rate, which indicates you should push for a discount.

Keep an eye on SAP’s public pricing trends too. SAP sometimes announces list price increases for cloud services year-over-year; knowing this helps you argue why your renewal shouldn’t simply follow a standard increase.

SAP’s positioning vs alternatives:

Understand how SAP will position the value of RISE versus a do-it-yourself approach. They will likely emphasize that RISE’s bundled offering (software, infrastructure, and support) is simpler and more integrated than managing an on-premises or hyperscaler solution yourself. They may claim cost advantages due to SAP’s scale or promise future innovations exclusive to RISE customers.

Arm yourself with facts: for instance, calculate what running S/4HANA in your own AWS/Azure environment plus SAP support would cost you, and compare it to RISE’s price. Often, RISE comes at a premium (some estimates put RISE’s bundle at 15-30% higher than self-managed infrastructure plus licenses), largely because of the convenience and SAP-managed service. Use this as leverage – if your analysis shows a DIY approach could save money, bring that to the table.

Use independent benchmarks:

If available, utilize independent SAP RISE negotiation benchmarks. These could be reports or advisors who know the discounts others have achieved or how much customers paid for similar RISE scopes. For example, if the “going rate” for a certain size of deployment is $X per FUE per month and you’re paying more, ask SAP to explain the difference or match the market.

Even without naming sources, indicating that you have third-party data puts pressure on SAP to justify its renewal quote. The key is to avoid accepting the renewal offer in a vacuum – always compare against external yardsticks to ensure you’re not overpaying.

Negotiating RISE Renewal Terms & Discounts

When it comes to RISE renewal negotiation, almost everything can be on the table. You are effectively signing a new contract, so don’t simply roll over existing terms.

Here are critical SAP RISE negotiation tactics that work in 2025:

• Push for renewal discounts: It’s common to ask for a price reduction on renewal, especially if your initial term was at full price or if your usage turned out lower than anticipated. Depending on your spend and how early you adopted RISE, you might negotiate 5–20% off the prior rate. SAP might resist, but remind them that you have options (running on-prem or with a hyperscaler yourself) that could be cheaper. Emphasize budget constraints and cloud competition to make the case for a better deal. Also, if your user count or scope will increase in a renewal, push for volume discounts.
• Negotiate subscription term flexibility: SAP likes multi-year commitments, but you don’t have to agree to another long 3–5 year lock-in without flexibility. If uncertain about the future, try to negotiate a shorter renewal term (e.g., a 1-year or 2-year renewal) or at least include break clauses. Another approach is to ask for flexible renewal terms, such as the ability to terminate certain components early or adjust the term length with notice. This adds contract flexibility so you’re not completely stuck if business needs change. Even if SAP insists on a 3-year term, you might negotiate an option to reduce the user count or swap out products at the 1-year mark with minimal penalty.
• Request price protections: Don’t assume the renewal pricing will stay flat after you sign. Ensure the contract includes price protection against increases. This could be a cap on annual price escalations (for example, limiting increases to 3% per year or tied to a consumer price index) or even a fixed price for the entire renewal term. If SAP’s proposal has any usage-based components (like if you exceed certain thresholds, you pay more), negotiate those rates down or cap them as well. Price protections are essential because they stop SAP from surprising you with a big jump in costs at the next renewal or if you grow usage.
• Seek freebies and value-adds: Beyond direct discounts, negotiate for extras that lower your total cost of ownership. Common asks include free SAP BTP credits, additional training or consulting days, or premium support upgrades at no charge. For instance, you might ask for a pool of BTP service credits to be included each year, which effectively gives you more value for the same spend. Or negotiate a certain number of SAP consulting hours for the implementation of new features, which you would otherwise pay for. These sweeteners can sometimes bridge a gap if SAP is not budging on base price – they throw in added value instead of reducing dollars.
• Contract flexibility clauses: Given RISE’s rigidity during the term (no reductions in FUEs mid-term, etc.), push to embed flexibility at renewal. One tactic is negotiating the right to reduce licenses or resources at certain intervals. For example, “at each anniversary, we can reduce up to 10% of FUEs without penalty if not utilized.” Also, consider adding a clause that allows swapping some RISE services if needed (maybe exchange some unused cloud services for others of equivalent value). While SAP may not readily allow mid-term decreases, they might agree to provisions effective at renewal points or in future terms.
• Protect against indirect or unforeseen costs: Use the renewal discussion to clarify any ambiguous areas that could lead to surprise charges later. For example, ensure that any “indirect usage” or third-party access scenarios are covered and won’t result in extra fees during the new term. If you plan to connect non-SAP applications to your SAP environment, get written assurance on how that is licensed under RISE to avoid a nasty audit bill.

The tone of negotiation should be firm but collaborative. You want SAP to feel that keeping your business requires meeting reasonable demands.

If they sense you are simply going through the motions and will renew no matter what, you lose leverage. So, make it clear through your questions and requests that you are prepared to explore other options if the renewal terms don’t meet your needs.

Leveraging Alternatives: RISE vs On-Prem vs Hyperscaler

One of your strongest bargaining chips in a RISE renewal is the credible consideration of alternatives. Essentially, you must convince SAP (and yourself) that you have a Plan B.

The main alternatives are to revert to a traditional self-managed model, either on-premise or in a public cloud (hyperscaler) environment, instead of RISE. Let’s compare these scenarios:

In the table above, “On-Prem or Self-Managed” can mean running SAP in your own data center or hosting it on a public cloud like AWS/Azure without SAP’s RISE bundle. The key difference is whether you stick with SAP’s support or go with a third-party support provider after exiting RISE.

Using alternatives as leverage:

To negotiate effectively, gather estimates for these alternatives. What would it cost to acquire the necessary S/4HANA licenses and run the system on AWS with your preferred support model? Even if you prefer to stay on RISE, having a detailed alternative cost model gives you bargaining power.

Suppose SAP’s renewal quote is significantly higher than your alternative’s projected cost. In that case, you can present that comparison (at least qualitatively) to SAP: “Our analysis shows we could save $X over three years by moving off RISE.” This often prompts SAP to enhance its offerings to close the gap.

Moreover, consider timing your discussions with news of any SAP RISE alternatives or market movements. If, for example, a major enterprise recently decided to leave RISE for a hyperscaler or a private cloud model, subtly mentioning that trend can make SAP more eager to retain you on RISE with a better deal.

Keep in mind that actually executing an exit from RISE is a complex project (as we outline below), but the mere ability to do so gives you negotiating credibility.

SAP sales teams know that if a customer has lined up a viable exit plan, they must work harder to keep them.

SAP RISE Exit Strategy at Renewal

It’s essential to have an SAP RISE exit strategy in mind, even if your preferred outcome is to renew. Planning for an exit protects you from worst-case scenarios and strengthens your negotiation hand.

Here’s what to consider regarding exit at renewal:

• What happens if you don’t renew: If you choose not to renew RISE and do nothing else, your access to SAP systems provided under RISE will eventually shut off. There’s usually a defined period after contract expiration (e.g., 30-60 days) for you to extract your data. Beyond that, without a new agreement, you lose the right to use S/4HANA and related cloud services. This means that unless you have another arrangement, your business could face a disruption. Clearly, that’s not an option, so planning an exit means ensuring continuity of SAP operations through another licensing model or alternative system.
• Negotiate exit clauses in advance: A savvy move is to negotiate contract clauses that facilitate a transition if needed. For example, ask for the right to extend the RISE contract by a few months at the end solely to support a transition (at a predetermined cost) if you decide not to renew long-term. Another key clause to negotiate is the ability to convert your RISE subscription licenses into on-premise licenses. SAP sometimes offers a conversion mechanism (you might pay a conversion fee or a certain percentage of the license list price) to turn your subscription entitlement into perpetual licenses. Getting this agreed in writing during the renewal negotiation (even if you plan to renew) means you have a fallback if things go south in a future term.
• Avoid automatic renewal traps: Be very cautious of any auto-renewal or evergreen clauses in the contract. Ideally, negotiate that the contract will not auto-renew without explicit agreement, so you are always in control at term end. Some SAP contracts might say that if you don’t give notice, the service continues on a year-to-year basis (possibly at list prices or with a hefty uplift). Insist on clarity: if you forget to give notice, what pricing applies? It should never default to a dramatically higher cost. Best case, remove auto-renew entirely or ensure that if it happens, the rates and terms are the same or better, not worse. Also, clarify that expiration of the RISE term does not automatically trigger any new unwanted commitments (for example, SAP shouldn’t roll you into a generic cloud agreement or support agreement without your consent).

Planning an exit doesn’t mean you will take it, but it ensures you’re not over a barrel.

If SAP knows you have an exit strategy and contractual rights to execute it, they are more likely to be reasonable in renewal talks. In the next section, we outline a step-by-step SAP exit strategy checklist to help you prepare for that path.

Step-by-Step SAP RISE Exit Strategy Checklist

1. Review Contract and Notice Period: Check your RISE agreement for termination notice requirements and any clauses related to end-of-term options. Mark the latest date by which you must notify SAP of non-renewal to avoid auto-renewal.
2. Assess License Conversion Options: Determine what it takes to continue using SAP if you exit RISE. Will SAP allow conversion of your subscription into perpetual S/4HANA licenses? If not, you may need to purchase new licenses. Open a discussion with SAP (or refer to contract terms) about conversion fees or credit for past subscription spend toward new licenses.
3. Plan Infrastructure & Migration: Decide where you would run your SAP systems post-RISE. Options include your own data center, a chosen hyperscaler (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), or a hosting partner. Initiate sizing exercises and cost estimates for the required infrastructure. Also, plan the migration approach (e.g., exporting the system from RISE cloud and importing it to your environment) and the timeline needed. Ensure you have access to backups or system copies as part of the exit.
4. Select a Support Model: Choose how you will support and maintain the SAP software after exiting RISE. This means deciding between SAP support (purchasing a support contract for the new licenses, typically SAP Enterprise Support) or third-party support (hiring a firm specializing in SAP support to cover you). Engage with SAP or third-party providers early to understand costs and service differences. If going with SAP support, negotiate the maintenance contract terms. If third-party, verify they can support your specific SAP version and any customizations.
5. Data and Customization Continuity: Catalog all integrations, custom developments, and connected cloud services in your current RISE environment. Ensure that if you exit, you have a plan to reconnect or redeploy these in the new environment. For instance, if you use SAP BTP services under RISE, you may need separate licenses or alternate solutions upon exit. Begin extracting critical data and documentation well in advance, including interface details and security configurations, so that you can rebuild them outside of RISE.
6. Execute a Dry-Run (if possible): If time permits, do a trial migration of a non-production system out of RISE to your target environment. This will surface any technical challenges in moving away from RISE’s managed infrastructure (for example, networking configurations or proprietary SAP cloud extensions that need adjustment). A dry run ensures that when the day comes, you can transition with minimal downtime.
7. Engage SAP on Exit Support: Surprisingly, SAP might assist you in an exit (especially if you’re moving to a different SAP solution or on-prem model, rather than a competitor’s product). Negotiate for transition support services as part of either your renewal or exit agreement. This could include SAP assisting with data migration or providing extended access to systems for a brief period after the contract ends to ensure a smooth handover.

By following this checklist, you create a viable contingency plan. When SAP knows you have this plan ready, your negotiating position for renewal strengthens immensely.

You can approach the table saying, “We prefer to continue with SAP, but we are fully prepared to operate without RISE under conditions X, Y, Z.” That kind of posture often leads to better offers from SAP to entice you to stay.

FAQ: SAP RISE Subscription Renewal

Q1: Does SAP RISE auto-renew?
A1: Yes, many RISE contracts auto-renew unless you terminate in advance. Negotiate your contract so that it ends unless you choose to renew, thereby avoiding unintended extensions.

Q2: Can we reduce RISE FUEs at renewal?
A2: Yes, renewal is typically the only chance to adjust down. Negotiate rightsizing to avoid paying for unused user licenses or capacity in the future.

Q3: Can we move from RISE back to on-prem?
A3: Yes – if your contract allows it. Arrange license conversion or purchase, and negotiate exit clauses early to enable a smooth move to on-prem or self-managed cloud.

Q4: How do we benchmark our RISE renewal discount?
A4: Compare your current pricing to similar companies (size, industry, region). Use independent SAP licensing benchmarks or expert advisors to gauge if your renewal quote is fair and push for better if not.

Q5: Can SAP increase RISE prices mid-term?
A5: Typically not within a fixed term. However, clarify your contract. It’s wise to negotiate a price lock or cap so all services remain at a set rate during the term.

Q6: What should finance leaders watch in RISE renewals?
A6: Focus on the total cost of ownership, not just annual fees. Ensure caps on future price hikes, flexible payment terms, and get credits or services that offset costs to maximize value.

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