RISE with SAP Negotiation Tactics: 2026 Enterprise Guidance

SAP needs your RISE decision in 2026 more than at any prior point

SAP ECC mainstream maintenance ends December 2027. That deadline is SAP's most powerful commercial motivator and — for buyers who understand it — their most useful piece of leverage. SAP's board has set aggressive RISE migration targets. Account teams are under pressure to convert ECC customers. That pressure is highest in 2026 because the mathematical reality is clear: enterprises that have not signed RISE by end of 2026 risk either a chaotic migration in 2027 or a costly extended maintenance arrangement.

For enterprise buyers, this translates into negotiating leverage that was less available in 2023 or 2024. SAP's deal-closing urgency in 2026 means discretionary budgets for migration credits, support adjustments, and infrastructure subsidies are under higher executive scrutiny — and more likely to be deployed to close deals that might otherwise slip. The enterprise that presents a credible "we could delay this decision" scenario in 2026 has leverage that the same enterprise would not have had two years ago.

The caveat: do not overplay this leverage. Enterprises that genuinely cannot delay their migration — due to ECC stability issues, integration dependencies, or board commitments — should not negotiate as if they can. SAP's account teams research customer positions thoroughly, and a walk-away threat that is obviously hollow undermines rather than creates leverage. The most effective position combines genuine 12–18 month timeline flexibility (achieved through third-party support options) with clear preference for RISE — signalling that the right deal closes now, the wrong deal closes later.

Use GROW to create pricing pressure on RISE, even if you are clearly in the RISE segment

SAP launched GROW with SAP for mid-market customers in 2023. By 2026, GROW has become a credible product in its own right — and its existence creates commercial pressure on RISE pricing that did not exist when RISE was SAP's only cloud ERP offer. GROW operates on S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (S/4HANA CE) with a significantly lower total cost structure. For enterprise buyers, the strategic question is not "should we choose GROW" — most large enterprises are clearly in the RISE segment — but "can we use GROW's cost structure as a reference point in our RISE negotiation?"

The answer is yes. When a €2B enterprise demands to understand why their per-user cost in RISE is 4× the per-user cost in a comparable GROW deal, SAP's account team cannot ignore the question. GROW acts as a pricing anchor for the lower bound of acceptable SAP cloud costs. It signals that SAP has the capability to price cloud ERP at significantly lower rates than RISE's default pricing — and that the enterprise is aware of this. RISE advisory engagements increasingly include GROW cost comparison modelling as a standard element of the benchmark analysis.

SAP is using AI to justify larger BTP credit proposals — challenge the sizing rigorously

SAP's AI capabilities — Joule (the conversational AI assistant), AI Foundation on BTP, and AI-powered workflow automation — are real, but immature in enterprise deployment at scale. In 2026, SAP's sales teams are using the promise of AI to justify significantly larger BTP credit proposals than would be warranted by integration and extension use cases alone. The pitch: "you will need these credits for AI as you adopt Joule and AI-powered processes."

Enterprise buyers should challenge AI-justified BTP credit sizing with the same rigour applied to any other BTP component. Demand specific AI use cases with estimated credit consumption per use case. Require SAP to demonstrate that the AI workloads they are sizing for are on your approved technology roadmap, not hypothetical future adoption. And negotiate expansion rights at pre-agreed unit pricing specifically for AI credits, rather than accepting an AI credit bundle today at current pricing that you cannot yet justify consuming.

The right-sizing methodology for AI-justified BTP credits is covered in our RISE cost optimisation tactics guide. In 2026, apply extra scrutiny to any BTP line that references Joule, AI Foundation, or SAP Build AI.

Azure, AWS, and GCP are competing aggressively for RISE workloads in 2026

Hyperscaler incentive programmes for RISE deployments have become materially more generous in 2026. All three major hyperscalers have increased their co-investment in RISE enterprise deals — partly because SAP RISE represents significant committed infrastructure spend, and partly because the 2027 deadline is driving a wave of migration decisions that hyperscalers are competing to capture.

In practice, this means the hyperscaler RFP process we advocate in the RISE negotiation strategies guide is now even more valuable than it was in 2023–2024. Azure has introduced RISE-specific landing zones and migration funding programmes. AWS has expanded its SAP Competency partner network and is actively funding proof-of-value engagements. GCP has announced deep integration between its Vertex AI platform and SAP AI Foundation — creating a differentiated pitch for AI-intensive SAP environments.

The 2026 advice: conduct a genuine three-way hyperscaler RFP for every RISE deal above €5M TCV. The infrastructure savings and incentive value are real, the process takes 4–6 weeks, and the competitive tension it creates with SAP's commercial team is a standalone lever that affects RISE pricing beyond the infrastructure component alone.

Third-party support remains a viable lever in H1 2026 — use it while you can

Third-party SAP support (Rimini Street, Spinnaker) has been a credible BATNA in RISE negotiations since 2021. In 2026, its credibility is declining but not yet exhausted. Enterprises that can credibly commit to third-party support for 2–3 years while evaluating migration paths retain meaningful leverage. Enterprises that are already past their planned ECC go-live extension window have limited ability to position third-party support as a genuine alternative.

The 2026 advice: if you have not yet engaged a third-party support vendor, do it in H1 2026. Getting a formal proposal from Rimini Street or Spinnaker costs nothing and creates documented evidence of a credible alternative that you can present to SAP's commercial team. The financial savings from third-party support (typically 50% of SAP's Enterprise Support rate) are real and bankable for 2–3 years — and the option value of having a signed agreement in hand is disproportionate to the cost of obtaining it.

For the broader context on how to structure third-party support as part of your RISE BATNA, see our SAP support cost reduction service.