Understanding the Value of RISE with SAP

What Is RISE With SAP?

In January 2021, SAP announced a new offering called RISE with SAP. It is not a new SAP product but a new licensing and services model. RISE with SAP is an offer that bundles existing SAP applications in a private or public cloud model to provide customers with “Business Transformation as a Service”. SAP is focused on having organizations engage with them using a service-based model and is trying to drive greater adoption of their flagship S/4HANA ERP platform. The SAP RISE program, as detailed below, provides them with clear, simple paths to achieving these goals.

Since SAP announced RISE to the public, many articles have been released throughout the SAP community outlining its core services and the reasoning behind the new offering. More questions were popping up for every answer provided, making it difficult to get a handle on the program’s true business value. So, let’s dive in and get a better understanding of RISE with SAP.

What is the SAP RISE Offer?

Rise with SAP is defined as “One offer, one price, and one contract for all bundled products to manage SLAs, operations, and support” to accelerate a customer’s business transformation journey to an “Intelligent Enterprise”.

The offer centers on providing customers with a performant ERP platform, S/4HANA, whose capabilities encourage process innovation, digital transformation, and business agility. It includes a subscription-based licensing model that combines ERP products, third-party hosting services, and other services.

SAP RISE helps companies get started with SAP S/4HANA and accelerate their cloud adoption. It also centralizes licensing and points of contact across all involved vendors, removing a lot of complexity and piecemeal licensing challenges. This ‘simplification’ also makes technical support, project planning, and cost forecasting much more manageable to enterprises trying to quantify the cost of moving to SAP S/4HANA.

What are the SAP RISE Components?

1. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Suite

The principal component of RISE with SAP is the S/4HANA Cloud Edition (Public Cloud or Private Cloud Editions), which lets clients run SAP’s ERP platform in either an SAP data center or with a third-party “hyperscaler” of choice (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, etc.). The solution’s underlying HANA database platform provides real-time business statistics and analytics.

Private Cloud Edition: This edition is similar to SAP S/4HANA on-premises running in a 3rd party data center (aka private cloud). It is a single-tenant environment in a non-customer data center that offers optimal physical and network security, monitoring, operational SLAs, and more. Like the classic on-premise version of SAP S/4HANA, the Private Cloud Edition includes full customization capabilities.

While the infrastructure is managed by SAP (even when a hyperscaler is used), customers have control over upgrade schedules to ensure minimal disruption and downtime. SAP ECC customers moving to the SAP RISE Private Cloud Edition will have the same options as a typical S/4HANA conversion. They may adopt a Brownfield, Greenfield, or hybrid migration strategy. Re-engineering existing business processes is typically minimal, with a Brownfield conversion to this edition.

Public Cloud Edition: This edition is SAP’s multi-tenant, cloud ERP offering – meaning a shared environment. This ERP platform is separate from the S/4HANA on-premise version. It runs exclusively in SAP’s data center and SAP manages all aspects of the infrastructure. The platform is scalable, efficient, and affordable but offers minimal customization options. Customers moving from SAP ECC to the Public Cloud Edition will have to re-design all their business processes to conform to SAP’s standard best practices supported in the platform.

2. SAP Business Network Starter Pack

SAP’s Business Network Starter Pack extends its core ERP offering. It provides credits to access SAP Business Network, including ARIBA, Fieldglass, and Concur. It also helps customers build a more unified, collaborative, and intelligent aggregation of core business processes that deliver:

1. A network of partners to meet business needs.
2. Network-wide process orchestration that redefines collaboration. It also allows for better connections, better collaboration with suppliers and carriers, and better collaboration with customers for support.
3. Single platform to connect with SAP and third-party networks.

3. SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)

• BTP represents a portfolio of SAP products, services, and various solutions brought under one roof. Rather than offering a disparate collection of predefined tools, RISE with SAP license provides cloud credits to utilize one or more services under the BTP aegis. SAP offers four core pillars in BTP:

• Database and data management: This pillar offers everything to store, access, process, integrate, and interpret all the data in an ERP landscape. For example, SAP HANA and SAP HANA Cloud provide powerful data management through in-memory databases both on-premise and in the cloud. Other products include SAP Data Intelligence, SAP Data Services, SAP Master Data Management, SAP Information Steward, and more.
• Analytics: Products under the analytics pillar can plan, forecast, and make fast, intelligent and informed decisions, enabling organizations to become more insight-driven. For example, the Analytics Cloud allows customers to bring data from data lakes and combine it with external market data using machine learning technologies. Customers can then make better forecasts and create intelligent planning tools based on the aggregated data. Other products include SAP Business intelligence, Data Warehouse, and more. These tools offer the ability to turn raw data and metrics into valuable business opportunities.
• Application development and integration: This pillar provides customization accelerators supporting agile business process innovation. Customers can extend their current application by building customizations faster and integrating with different systems. Products include SAP Fiori, SAP Workflow Management, DevOps Services, and more.
• Intelligent technologies: This pillar includes AI, machine learning, robotic process automation, and IoT support. For example, SAP Intelligent RPA helps automate repetitive business tasks, allowing people to focus on more critical areas and innovative services. Products include AI, SAP IoT, and more.

4. Business Process Intelligence Starter Pack

SAP Signavio Business process transformation starter pack is bundled as part of RISE.

This Business Process Intelligence starter pack gives access to three SAP Signavio solutions to help get started.

• Signavio Process Insights offers insights into critical business process metrics, process performance metrics, and industry benchmarks to support process-led transformations.
• With a comprehensive Cloud-based modeling platform, SAP Signavio Process Manager drives and de-risks projects.
• A step up in communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing is provided by SAP Signavio Process Collaboration Hub, which generates better ideas, optimizes processes, and reduces resistance to digital change – paving the way for continuous improvement.

5. Tools and Services for Technical Migration

SAP offers technical tools and services for a smooth migration to S/4HANA, including custom code analysis utilities that identify components that need to be migrated and possibly remediated to support changes within the S/4HANA platform. Examples include references to deprecated Tcodes, SQL syntax that is incompatible with HANA, and much more. These embedded tools are more valuable for those opting to move to RISE Private Cloud.

What are the stages of SAP RISE?

The RISE with SAP offering is designed to be a comprehensive digital transformation package that helps businesses redesign processes for better outcomes. The specific steps involved may vary depending on the company’s unique requirements, but generally, the following stages can be considered:

Discovery and Planning

1. Initial Assessment: Understand the current landscape of your SAP systems and processes.
2. Scope Definition: Define what areas you want to focus on (finance, HR, manufacturing, etc.)
3. Project Planning: Set timelines, resources, and budget.

Implementation

1. SAP Environment Setup: Provision the necessary cloud infrastructure.
2. Data Migration: Move your existing data to the new system.
3. Configuration: Customize SAP settings to meet your specific business needs.
4. Integration: Connect other systems and services, as necessary.

Testing

1. User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Ensure the system meets user and business requirements.
2. Performance Testing: Verify if the system can handle the expected load.
3. Security Testing: Ensure all data and processes are secure.

Deployment

1. Training: Train end-users on how to use the new SAP system.
2. Go-Live: Launch the system for production use.
3. Monitoring: Continuously monitor system performance and user adoption.

Optimization and Scale

1. Feedback Loop: Gather feedback from users for ongoing improvement.
2. Updates and Patches: Regularly update the system for new features and security patches.
3. Scale: Expand the SAP solution to other parts of the business, as needed.

Ongoing Support

1. Maintenance: Regular checks and maintenance activities.
2. Consultation: Ongoing consultation with SAP experts for best practices and optimizations.

Does SAP RISE Run The S/4HANA Conversion?

No. Customers are responsible for migrating their data and functionality into the target SAP S/4HANA environment, whether it is part of a RISE offering or not. Customers can opt to perform this initiative internally or engage with  Systems Integrators to assist. They may opt to move to S/HANA using Brownfield, Greenfield, or hybrid methodologies. All Tier I and many Tier II SIs have service offerings that add value to RISE.

Who Should Consider RISE?

Customers interested in transitioning to a more flexible, subscription-based licensing model should consider the RISE with SAP offering as a comprehensive solution. This all-inclusive package is tailored for businesses that are keen on leveraging the agility and efficiency of cloud-hosted operations. It presents a pathway for those who wish to migrate to SAP S/4HANA, the next-generation intelligent enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite that promises enhanced functionalities and user experience.

The offering provides robust integration features that facilitate seamless data exchange across hybrid cloud environments. This is particularly beneficial for businesses that operate in a multi-cloud ecosystem or those that rely on edge computing for real-time data processing. Such capabilities ensure that your data and applications are always in sync, thereby reducing data silos and enabling more cohesive business operations.

Customers who wish to move to a subscription-based licensing model and optimize their cloud-hosted business processes should consider the RISE with SAP offering. RISE is intended to accelerate the efforts of those who want to convert to S/4HANA, add more innovation to their business, automate and optimize processes, and add more intelligence to their operations. It can also be used to integrate better and exchange data between hybrid cloud environments and edge applications.

Must Customers Use RISE When Adopting S/4HANA?

Using RISE is not mandatory for companies moving to the SAP S/4HANA platform.

What Solutions Does Panaya Provide?

Panaya helps companies accelerate and de-risk these complex initiatives with its broad change analyses that provide valuable, proactive intelligence regarding technical and functional risk factors. Customers will know – ahead of time – exactly what custom (and standard) components will not work in their target S/4HANA environment and which critical business functions will require reengineering.

These analyses include risk factors not supported by any other toolset, and the strategic intelligence allows customers to plan their conversion more effectively. Panaya safely down scopes project risk based on component usage and the likelihood of failure, reducing remediation efforts by 50%+.

Those choosing the Brownfield approach can also take advantage of a pre-built project plan with correction and unit test tasks, as well as auto-code corrections, to further accelerate their project. Lastly, Panaya’s best-of-breed test and defect management platform, fully integrated within its Change Intelligence offering, reduces testing efforts by at least 50%+ and further ensures an error-free go-live.

Conclusion

RISE with SAP includes a broad range of software and related modules, infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Cloud Managed Services (CMS). It offers a compelling subscription-based licensing model and includes hyperscaler SLAs that would typically cost additional money.

Companies should evaluate RISE as a potential option for running SAP S/4HANA but should also understand the implications of backing out of the offering in case business and\or IT priorities change down the line.