Key Takeaways
- The RISE with SAP hyperscaler choice in 2026 is more commercially significant than ever — it affects BTP credit allocation, data residency terms, and exit costs.
- SAP has tightened its default Azure preference; enterprises with existing AWS or GCP commitments must push back explicitly to preserve their position.
- Hyperscaler EDP and CUD arrangements can be structured to partially offset RISE infrastructure costs — but only if negotiated before contract signature.
- Multi-cloud flexibility clauses are increasingly available but rarely offered proactively by SAP's commercial team.
- Independent analysis of the hyperscaler choice decision can identify savings of 15–25% on the infrastructure component of RISE contracts.
How the Hyperscaler Landscape Has Changed for RISE in 2026
The RISE with SAP hyperscaler choice was never a trivial decision, but heading into 2026 the commercial stakes are considerably higher than most enterprises appreciate. SAP's bundled cloud offering now includes a more tightly specified infrastructure layer, and the choice of hyperscaler — AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform — has direct downstream implications for pricing, BTP credit utilisation, data residency compliance, and your ability to exit or renegotiate the contract mid-term.
What has changed since 2024 specifically? Three things. First, SAP has consolidated its internal deal-support infrastructure, meaning the standard RISE proposal your account team presents will default to Azure in most geographies unless you actively challenge it. Second, hyperscaler EDPs (Enterprise Discount Programmes) and CUDs (Committed Use Discounts) have matured to the point where sophisticated buyers can negotiate partial credit offsets against RISE infrastructure costs — but this requires knowing exactly how to structure the conversation with both SAP and the hyperscaler simultaneously. Third, the BTP credit allocation model now varies meaningfully by hyperscaler region, which means the hyperscaler decision is also a BTP utilisation decision that could affect millions in committed cloud credits.
Our RISE with SAP advisory service has reviewed more than 50 RISE proposals over the past 18 months. The pattern is consistent: enterprises that approach the hyperscaler choice as a technical infrastructure decision — rather than a commercial negotiation — routinely overpay by 15–25% on the infrastructure component of their RISE contract.
Why SAP Defaults to Azure — And What That Costs You
SAP's commercial relationship with Microsoft is well documented. The two companies have a deep co-sell and co-development agreement that creates significant internal incentives for SAP account teams to steer RISE proposals toward Azure. This is not a conspiracy; it is a structural commercial reality that enterprise buyers need to understand and actively counteract.
The practical consequence is that the standard RISE proposal you receive will assume Azure infrastructure unless you have specifically requested otherwise. Many enterprises sign this without realising they had a choice, or without understanding that choosing Azure locks them into Azure-specific BTP regions, Azure-specific data residency commitments, and Azure-specific exit mechanics.
The financial implication depends heavily on your existing enterprise agreements. Organisations with large Azure EAs may find that the default Azure alignment is genuinely advantageous, particularly if they can negotiate consumption credits that offset a portion of the RISE infrastructure fee. However, organisations with significant AWS Reserved Instance commitments or GCP CUDs will find that the Azure default creates direct financial friction — they are paying for committed capacity on one hyperscaler while also paying the infrastructure premium within RISE on another.
⚠ 2026 Alert: Default Azure Clauses
Several 2025-2026 RISE Order Forms contain infrastructure clauses that default to Azure for BTP services even when the compute layer runs on AWS or GCP. This means your BTP workloads may run on Azure regardless of your stated hyperscaler preference. Review all Order Form schedules carefully — or engage independent advisory before signature.
Using Your Existing Hyperscaler Commitments as Leverage
The most underused negotiating asset in any RISE negotiation is an existing hyperscaler commitment. If your organisation has significant AWS Reserved Instances, Azure EA credits, or GCP CUDs, these create genuine commercial leverage against SAP's infrastructure pricing — but only if you know how to deploy them.
The mechanism is straightforward in principle. The hyperscaler hosting RISE receives a substantial infrastructure revenue stream from SAP on your behalf. If you can demonstrate to that hyperscaler that your existing EDP or committed use arrangement should be extended to cover the RISE workload, you can negotiate a credit structure that effectively reduces your net RISE cost. In practice, this requires coordinated negotiation with both SAP and the hyperscaler at the same time — something SAP's commercial team will not help you arrange, for obvious reasons.
The article on using hyperscaler leverage in SAP RISE negotiation covers the mechanics of this in more detail, including the specific contract language needed to make cross-credits enforceable. The key point for 2026 is that the window for this kind of negotiation is narrowing. As RISE contracts mature and SAP tightens its standard terms, the ability to insert hyperscaler credit structures is becoming harder post-signature. This is a negotiation to have before you sign, not after.
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Book a Free Consultation →BTP Credit Allocation and Hyperscaler Region: The Hidden Connection
One of the most significant changes in the 2025–2026 RISE commercial framework is the tighter coupling between BTP credit allocation and hyperscaler region. Under earlier RISE structures, BTP credits could be consumed across any available region with relative flexibility. Under current standard terms, BTP credit consumption is tied to specific hyperscaler regions — and those regions are determined by the hyperscaler choice embedded in your Order Form.
Why does this matter? Because BTP regional availability is not uniform across hyperscalers. AWS and GCP have different BTP service coverage than Azure, which means that choosing a non-Azure hyperscaler could restrict your ability to consume certain BTP services in your preferred data residency region. For European enterprises subject to GDPR and data sovereignty requirements, this is not an abstract concern — it is a compliance risk embedded in what appears to be a commercial infrastructure decision.
The complete guide to RISE with SAP BTP credits provides a detailed map of hyperscaler-region-service availability. For enterprises in regulated industries, we strongly recommend validating BTP regional coverage for your specific service requirements before finalising the hyperscaler choice in your RISE Order Form.
Multi-Cloud Flexibility in RISE: What Is and Is Not Negotiable in 2026
The question of multi-cloud flexibility in RISE contracts has evolved significantly. SAP's standard RISE terms lock the infrastructure layer to a single hyperscaler for the contract term, but the degree of flexibility available at negotiation — particularly for enterprise customers with significant deal value — has expanded over the past 18 months.
Specifically, the following provisions are now achievable for large RISE contracts, but require explicit negotiation and will not be included in the standard Order Form presented by SAP's commercial team:
- Hyperscaler migration rights: The right to move the RISE workload to a different hyperscaler at a defined point in the contract term (typically at the annual review) without triggering early termination fees.
- Multi-cloud BTP access: The ability to consume BTP credits across regions on more than one hyperscaler, subject to service availability.
- Hyperscaler credit portability: Provisions allowing hyperscaler credits earned through your enterprise discount programme to be applied against the RISE infrastructure fee regardless of which hyperscaler hosts the primary workload.
- Infrastructure benchmarking rights: The right to benchmark the infrastructure component of the RISE fee against current hyperscaler market rates at defined intervals, with a mechanism to adjust pricing if significant divergence is identified.
None of these provisions are standard. All of them are negotiable if you know to ask — and can demonstrate sufficient deal value to justify SAP's commercial team seeking internal approval. This is precisely the kind of negotiation where independent advisory adds disproportionate value: knowing which provisions are achievable, how to frame the request, and at what point in the negotiation process to introduce them.
Hyperscaler Choice and Exit Costs: Planning Now for 2027 and Beyond
The hyperscaler choice you embed in your RISE contract today will directly affect your exit costs in 2027, 2028, and beyond. This is not a speculative concern — it is a contractual certainty for any organisation that has not explicitly negotiated exit mechanics as part of the hyperscaler discussion.
The exit cost risk is threefold. First, data egress costs: migrating your SAP data off a hyperscaler at the end of a RISE term or upon contract termination generates egress charges that scale with data volume. For large SAP environments, these costs can reach into the millions — and they are payable to the hyperscaler, not SAP, which means they sit outside the scope of any SAP commercial negotiation. Second, infrastructure reconfiguration: the RISE architecture is optimised for the chosen hyperscaler, meaning that migrating to a different hyperscaler or to an on-premises environment requires architectural work that is separate from and additional to any SAP migration costs. Third, BTP credit expiry: unused BTP credits tied to a specific hyperscaler region do not automatically transfer to a new environment at contract end.
For enterprises currently in RISE negotiations, the time to address these exit mechanics is now — before the hyperscaler choice is locked in the Order Form. Our RISE with SAP exit strategy guide provides a framework for building exit provisions into the initial contract. If you are already contracted and approaching a renewal, our SAP contract negotiation service can help you restructure these terms at the renewal point.
✓ Case Study Reference
A European financial services firm approached us after signing a RISE contract that defaulted to Azure infrastructure without an exit mobility clause. At the two-year contract review, we negotiated hyperscaler migration rights and inserted a data egress cost cap, reducing the projected exit cost by approximately €2.1M over the remaining contract term. Independent analysis before signature would have achieved this at no additional cost.
2026 Action Plan: Protecting Your Hyperscaler Position
Whether you are entering a new RISE negotiation or approaching a renewal on an existing contract, the following actions are the most commercially impactful steps you can take on the hyperscaler choice dimension specifically.
For enterprises in active RISE negotiations, the priority is a complete audit of your existing hyperscaler commitments — Reserved Instances, EDPs, CUDs — before the commercial proposal is finalised. This audit should be completed with the hyperscaler directly, not through SAP, and the output should feed directly into your RISE pricing discussion. Do not allow SAP to present a final infrastructure price before you have quantified your existing hyperscaler position and explored credit portability.
For enterprises on existing RISE contracts approaching renewal, the priority is a hyperscaler infrastructure benchmarking exercise. The market rate for hyperscaler infrastructure has moved significantly since 2022–2023 when many early RISE contracts were signed. If your RISE contract predates 2024, the infrastructure fee embedded in your RISE pricing almost certainly reflects 2022-era hyperscaler pricing — and the gap between that and current market rates is negotiable at renewal.
In both scenarios, the RISE with SAP hyperscaler choice deserves the same rigorous independent analysis as the software licence and support components of the deal. For guidance on the broader RISE negotiation framework, see our article on RISE with SAP hyperscaler choice negotiation strategies. For a complete view of the cost optimisation opportunities specific to the infrastructure layer, see our guide to RISE with SAP hyperscaler choice cost optimisation tactics.
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Book a Free Consultation →Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change my hyperscaler after signing a RISE contract?
By default, the hyperscaler is locked for the RISE contract term. However, hyperscaler migration rights can be negotiated as a contractual provision, either before signature or at a contract renewal. Without an explicit migration right clause, changing hyperscaler mid-term triggers renegotiation of the entire RISE agreement and can incur significant data egress and infrastructure reconfiguration costs. Engage independent advisory before your contract term ends to understand your options.
Does SAP recommend a specific hyperscaler for RISE?
SAP does not formally mandate a hyperscaler, but its commercial structure and co-sell arrangements create a strong default preference for Azure in most regions. The standard RISE proposal will present Azure infrastructure unless you specifically request otherwise. This is a commercial default, not a technical requirement — all three major hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP) are fully supported for RISE workloads.
How does hyperscaler choice affect RISE with SAP BTP credits?
BTP credit allocation in RISE is tied to specific hyperscaler regions. The services available and the regions in which BTP can be consumed vary by hyperscaler. For enterprises with data residency requirements or specific BTP service needs, the hyperscaler choice directly determines what you can and cannot consume from your included BTP credits. This connection is not explained in standard SAP RISE proposals and requires independent review to understand fully.
Can my existing hyperscaler EDP credits offset RISE infrastructure costs?
Yes — but this requires explicit negotiation with both the hyperscaler and SAP, ideally before the RISE Order Form is signed. The mechanism involves structuring your hyperscaler EDP to include the RISE infrastructure workload, which generates credits that can be applied against the infrastructure component of your RISE fee. This is not a standard arrangement and will not be proposed by SAP's commercial team. Independent advisory is typically required to structure and negotiate this correctly.
What should enterprises prioritise in 2026 RISE hyperscaler negotiations?
The three highest-priority items are: (1) audit your existing hyperscaler commitments before finalising the RISE infrastructure choice; (2) negotiate hyperscaler migration rights and infrastructure benchmarking provisions into the initial contract; (3) validate BTP credit regional coverage for your specific service requirements. All three require independent commercial analysis — SAP's account team does not have the incentive to raise these issues proactively.
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