Why SAP Maintenance Costs 22% – What You Get and Don’t Get

Why SAP Maintenance Costs 22% – What You Get and Don’t Get

For most SAP customers, the annual maintenance fee – roughly 22% of their software’s license value – is one of the largest ongoing IT expenses.

This support fee recurs annually, providing SAP with a steady revenue stream and leaving customers with a significant budget line item that increases over time.

Naturally, CIOs, CFOs, and IT asset managers are asking: Is the value we receive from SAP maintenance truly aligned with the 22% we pay each year? In other words, what are we actually getting for that hefty fee, and what are we not getting?

This article breaks down the 22% SAP maintenance cost to clarify exactly what’s included and what’s excluded. Read our guide, SAP Maintenance & Support Cost Management: Strategies to Reduce Ongoing SAP Costs.

We’ll examine the structure of SAP’s support fees and highlight the services included in your maintenance contract – from software patches to upgrade rights.

We’ll also shed light on the gaps in coverage, such as implementation help or support for customizations, which often result in additional out-of-pocket costs.

Along the way, we’ll discuss why many organizations question the value of this SAP support fee, and why some are pushing back or exploring alternatives.

Finally, we’ll conclude with five actionable steps for decision-makers to maximize the value of their SAP maintenance – or to make changes if the ROI isn’t adding up.

SAP Maintenance Cost Structure: Understanding the 22% Annual Fee

SAP’s standard support fee typically equals about 20–22% of the net license cost of your SAP software, charged every year. In practice, this means that if you purchased $1 million in SAP licenses, you’ll be paying around $200,000–$220,000 annually to stay on support.

This percentage might seem small at first, but over the years it adds up – after about five years, you’ve paid another $1 million (the entire cost of your original licenses) just in maintenance fees.

Over a decade or more, the cumulative SAP maintenance spend can run into the millions, transforming what some consider a one-time purchase into a significant, long-term, subscription-like expense.

This 22% maintenance cost applies across most on-premises SAP software licenses (often referred to as perpetual licenses). It’s essentially the price of keeping your SAP investment “alive” with vendor support and updates.

Importantly, the maintenance fee is usually calculated on the net price you paid for licenses after any discounts, not the list price – a crucial detail to ensure you aren’t overcharged. Every time you buy additional SAP licenses, your support base grows, and that 22% annual charge grows with it.

Additionally, SAP typically includes clauses for annual inflationary increases (for example, a 3–5% uplift each year), which means your maintenance fees can rise steadily even if you don’t purchase new licenses.

For organizations with older SAP systems, extended support fees may be applicable if you choose to stay on an outdated release beyond its standard support period – these fees can be even higher than 22%. Similarly, SAP offers premium support tiers (like SAP MaxAttention or custom enhanced support agreements) at additional cost.

All of this underscores why it’s critical to understand your maintenance cost structure: it’s a significant recurring obligation that demands regular scrutiny.

CIOs and CFOs need a clear baseline of what they’re paying and why, before evaluating whether the value received is commensurate.

Checklist – Understanding Your SAP Maintenance Baseline:

• Confirm the annual support fee percentage you’re being charged (e.g., 22% of net license value) and verify how it’s calculated on your license base.
• Identify whether any extended support or premium support fees are included in your contracts that might raise your effective maintenance rate.
• Map out your total annual SAP support spend and compare it to your overall IT budget to gauge the size of this cost in context.

What SAP Standard Support Includes

When you pay that 22% maintenance fee, what do you get in return? SAP’s standard support (usually the SAP Enterprise Support package at ~22% of license cost) comes with a bundle of services and entitlements designed to keep your software running and up-to-date.

Key inclusions are:

• Access to SAP Support Portal and Knowledge Base: Maintenance customers gain entry to SAP’s online support hub. This portal provides documentation, troubleshooting guides, and a vast knowledge base of SAP Notes (technical articles and fixes for known issues). You can also log support incidents (tickets) to get help from SAP’s support engineers when you encounter problems.
• Patches, Bug Fixes, and Legal Updates: SAP continuously develops patches to fix bugs and security vulnerabilities in its software. As part of maintenance, you receive these fixes for your SAP systems. Crucially, SAP also delivers legal and regulatory updates (for example, changes in tax or payroll laws) to keep your system compliant with new requirements. This ensures your SAP applications remain stable and up to date without requiring additional license purchases.
• Minor Upgrades and Enhancements: Standard support includes the right to implement incremental improvements to the software. SAP periodically releases enhancement packs or service packs that add new features or performance improvements to your existing SAP products. As a maintenance customer, you can download and apply these updates at no extra cost, so you benefit from ongoing improvements to the software you already own.
• License Rights to New Releases: A major benefit of staying on maintenance is eligibility for the next big version of your SAP software. If you’re running an older SAP ERP system, keeping up your support payments means that when you’re ready to move to SAP’s next-generation product (for example, migrating from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA), you won’t need to purchase new licenses for that upgrade – your existing licenses can be exchanged or upgraded under maintenance. In essence, your initial license investment is protected, giving you access to SAP’s latest technology as it evolves.
• 24/7 Support for Critical Issues: SAP’s support entitles you to around-the-clock help for the most urgent problems. If a Priority 1 incident occurs – such as a production system being down – SAP’s support team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond and begin resolving the issue. This provides peace of mind, knowing that expert help is always just a call away in a crisis.

Benefits Delivered by SAP Maintenance:

• Compliance updates that keep your system aligned with changing legal and tax requirements.
• Ongoing access to SAP’s innovation pipeline (new features and versions) as part of your existing investments.
• Assurance of product lifecycle support and expert assistance when issues arise, helping minimize downtime risk.

Table – Features of SAP Standard Support:

Checklist – Have You Used These Features in the Last 12 Months?

• Applied SAP-provided updates or patches to your systems?
• Logged any Priority 1 (critical) support incidents with SAP?
• Planned or executed a version upgrade using your maintenance entitlements?

What SAP Maintenance Does Not Include

While the 22% support fee covers many basics, several important services are not included in SAP’s standard support. This often catches customers off guard and forces them to budget extra for certain needs.

Notable exclusions from the standard maintenance program include:

• Implementation and Project Services: The maintenance contract does not cover hands-on help for rolling out new systems, performing major upgrades, or migrating to new platforms. For example, if you plan to deploy a new SAP module or move from SAP ECC to S/4HANA, SAP support will provide the necessary software and tools, but not the manpower or expertise to execute the project. You’ll need to use your own IT team or hire consultants to handle the project work (installation, configuration, data migration, testing, etc.). In short, the 22% fee provides access to updates and technical fixes, but the actual implementation work is not included in that fee.
• Custom Code and Customization Support: Most SAP customers customize their systems with tailor-made reports, programs, or integrations; however, SAP’s standard support does not troubleshoot or maintain custom code. If an issue is traced to your custom code or a non-standard integration, SAP will typically deem it out of scope. You are responsible for debugging and fixing any issues in custom-built objects – whether that means using your internal developers or paying external experts. In essence, SAP support covers the standard software, while your unique customizations are your responsibility to support.
• New Modules or Major New Functionality: The 22% maintenance fee does not entitle you to brand-new products or modules that SAP releases outside your purchased portfolio. If SAP introduces a new solution that wasn’t part of your original license agreement, you’ll have to buy a license for it separately; it’s not given automatically as part of your maintenance. Your support contract ensures you get updates and new versions for the products you already own, but it won’t unlock completely new capabilities you haven’t licensed. In other words, SAP maintenance keeps the lights on for what you have – it won’t magically add new modules or features for free.
• Proactive Advisory and Optimization: Standard support is reactive – SAP helps when you raise a problem, but it doesn’t proactively optimize your system or provide ongoing advisory services. Activities like performance tuning, system health checks, or strategic planning for your SAP roadmap are not included in the basic support fee. Obtaining that kind of guidance usually requires upgrading to a premium support tier or hiring consultants. The maintenance fee serves as a safety net for break-fix issues, rather than providing personalized coaching or continuous improvement services.

How to Negotiate SAP Maintenance Fees: Can You Negotiate SAP Maintenance Fees? Yes – Here’s How.

Gaps in SAP Standard Support:

• No coverage for customizations or non-standard integrations.
• No free access to new modules or advanced functionality beyond what you’ve licensed.
• Limited practical innovation support – you get software updates, but the realization of business value from them is up to you.

Table – What You Don’t Get for 22%:

Checklist – Identify What You’re Paying Extra For:

• Tally any external consulting hours or fees spent to fill gaps that SAP support doesn’t cover (implementations, custom development, etc.).
• List additional software or add-on licenses you’ve purchased because certain functionality wasn’t included under standard support.
• Track the cost of maintaining and fixing custom code in your SAP environment, and compare it to your annual SAP maintenance fee.

The Value Gap – Why Customers Push Back

Given the high cost of SAP maintenance, many organizations eventually ask: “Are we getting our money’s worth?” The value gap refers to the disconnect between the hefty 22% fees paid and the actual value or usage derived from that support.

In many companies, maintenance fees continue to rise (due to annual rate increases or expanded licenses) while their use of SAP remains steady or even declines.

You might be paying more each year but still running the same SAP footprint with no significant new benefits – a recipe for frustration. This perceived lack of return on investment is causing CIOs, CFOs, and IT leaders to push back on SAP’s support costs.

Companies on older releases often apply only a few of the patches and upgrades they’re entitled to, and others continue to pay support for shelfware – licenses or modules they own but never fully utilize. In both cases, a large chunk of what they’re paying for isn’t delivering value.

SAP touts the innovation available through maintenance, but if those new features never get implemented in your business, the promised value never materializes.

At that point, the maintenance fee starts to feel like a “tax” on the status quo rather than an investment in improvement.

No wonder some customers are exploring drastic moves – from negotiating fee reductions and cutting out unused licenses to even switching to third-party support providers – all in an effort to rebalance cost and value.

Signs You’re Not Getting Value:

• Maintenance spending continues to increase, even though your SAP usage (in terms of active users and modules in use) remains flat or declines.
• You’re paying support on shelfware – licenses or components you own but aren’t using.
• You seldom apply the patches, enhancements, or new features that SAP provides, meaning much of what you’re paying for isn’t utilized.

Checklist – Do You Have a Value Gap?

• Have you tracked how many SAP updates, patches, or new features your organization actually used in the last year versus how much you paid in support fees?
• Have you evaluated the tangible innovations or improvements your business gained from SAP maintenance, compared to what was promised?
• Have you raised executive awareness (CIO/CFO level) of a potential low ROI on your SAP support spend?

5 Actionable Next Steps

1. Run a maintenance value audit. Analyze the last 12 months of your SAP support usage versus what you paid. How many patches, hotfixes, or support incidents did you actually use? Quantifying this will highlight the gap (if any) between what you’re paying for and what you’re actually utilizing.
2. Identify shelfware licenses. Review your SAP license portfolio and pinpoint any modules or user licenses that aren’t actively used. These “shelfware” items still cost you 22% each year in support fees. Consider negotiating with SAP to remove or retire unused licenses from your maintenance contract, thereby eliminating the need to pay for software you no longer use.
3. Push for fee caps or discounts. When it’s time to renew or make a new purchase, engage SAP about adjusting the support fee terms. For example, negotiate a hard cap on annual maintenance increases (to control year-over-year cost growth) or seek a reduced support percentage for a large license purchase. The goal is to secure more predictable costs and ensure you’re not overpaying relative to the value received.
4. Evaluate third-party support. Consider independent support providers as an alternative to SAP’s maintenance. Third-party providers often charge about half of SAP’s fee and will support your existing system (even your customizations) at a lower cost. Weigh the trade-offs: you’ll save money, but you forgo SAP’s direct updates and future product enhancements. This option isn’t for everyone, but exploring it can also give you leverage in negotiations with SAP.
5. Establish an annual maintenance review. Establish a governance practice to formally review your SAP maintenance value annually. Involve IT and finance stakeholders to assess what you received from SAP support in the past year versus what it cost. This review may prompt you to remove certain unused products from support, plan an upgrade to utilize paid benefits, or renegotiate terms. Regular scrutiny ensures the maintenance fee remains a justified investment rather than an unchecked expense.

By following these actions, you can transform the 22% maintenance fee from a static expense into a strategic investment – ensuring that what you pay SAP is balanced by the value you actually receive.

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