How SAP User Groups (DSAG, UKISUG, ASUG) Strengthen Your Negotiating Position

SAP user groups — DSAG in Germany and German-speaking regions, UKISUG in the UK and Ireland, and ASUG in the Americas — exist in an uncomfortable middle ground. They are formally independent membership organisations, but their operating budgets depend on SAP cooperation, their annual conferences are co-funded by SAP, and their leadership maintains cordial relationships with SAP executives that would be threatened by genuinely adversarial stances. Understanding what user groups can and cannot do for your SAP negotiations — and what they deliberately avoid — is essential before deciding how much weight to give their guidance.

What Are SAP User Groups?

SAP user groups are member-funded associations that represent SAP customers in their interactions with SAP SE. Their stated missions include influencing SAP product roadmaps, protecting customer interests in commercial and legal matters, and facilitating knowledge sharing between SAP customers.

All three major groups — DSAG, UKISUG, and ASUG — publish annual surveys on SAP customer satisfaction, licence cost concerns, audit frequency, and cloud migration intentions. These surveys are widely cited by analysts and provide some of the only publicly available data points on how SAP customers actually experience the commercial relationship.

Membership fees: DSAG membership is typically €3,000–€20,000 annually depending on company size. UKISUG ranges £1,500–£10,000. ASUG uses a tiered model based on revenue. These fees are generally modest relative to SAP licence spend.

DSAG: The Most Influential SAP User Group

DSAG (Deutschsprachige SAP-Anwendergruppe) represents over 3,700 member companies across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is the most commercially influential of the three groups due to the concentration of SAP's largest customers in the DACH region and DSAG's history of confrontational stances with SAP on commercial terms.

DSAG's Most Significant Commercial Interventions

• 2019 Indirect Access / Digital Access Reform: DSAG's pressure, combined with UKISUG and ASUG activity, forced SAP to fundamentally restructure its indirect access commercial model, replacing usage-based "indirect access" charges with the Document-Based Digital Access model. This represented a material reduction in audit risk for thousands of customers.
• Annual Investment Report: DSAG publishes an annual investment survey revealing the percentage of members planning to increase vs. reduce SAP spending, and the proportion actively evaluating alternatives. When these numbers shift negative, SAP responds commercially.
• Maintenance Fee Position: DSAG has historically opposed SAP's maintenance fee escalation programme and advocated for customers' right to negotiate individually rather than accept across-the-board increases.

Key Limitation: DSAG operates in Germany and takes positions aligned with German law and German customer interests. Its commercial influence at individual company level is indirect — DSAG cannot negotiate on behalf of individual members.

UKISUG: UK and Irish SAP Customers

UKISUG (UK and Ireland SAP User Group) represents approximately 600 member organisations. It operates with a smaller budget than DSAG but maintains active working groups on specific commercial topics: ECC end of maintenance, RISE with SAP commercial terms, and SAP support cost reduction.

UKISUG's Commercial Workstreams Most Relevant to Negotiations

• RISE with SAP Guidance: UKISUG has published practical guidance on RISE contractual terms, BTP entitlements, and negotiation points that members can use in their own commercial discussions.
• ECC End-of-Maintenance Coalition: UKISUG has been active in lobbying SAP for extended maintenance options beyond 2027 and for transparent "cloud conversion credit" terms.
• Peer Benchmarking: UKISUG runs closed peer networks where members share actual commercial terms (anonymised) across industries.

ASUG: Americas SAP Users

ASUG (Americas' SAP Users' Group) represents over 3,000 member companies across North and South America. It is the largest by membership count but has historically been less confrontational with SAP than DSAG.

ASUG's Most Commercially Relevant Activities

• Annual Technology Survey: Widely distributed data on SAP spending intentions, cloud migration plans, and maintenance satisfaction.
• Benchmarking Communities: Peer benchmarking across industries on SAP implementation costs and licensing.
• Influence Program: Formal channel through which members can escalate commercial disputes with SAP and request executive engagement.

ASUG Limitation: ASUG's funding model and conference structure create a closer commercial relationship with SAP than DSAG. ASUG is less likely to take public positions that directly challenge SAP's commercial practices.

What User Groups Can Do for Negotiations

User group membership provides these tangible negotiation advantages:

1. Peer Benchmarks: Access to anonymised deal data from comparable organisations — the only practical way to verify your pricing outside of hiring an independent advisor.
2. Collective Intelligence on SAP's Commercial Playbook: User groups aggregate knowledge about SAP sales tactics, contract clauses to challenge, and escalation paths that have worked for other customers.
3. Early Warning on Policy Changes: SAP typically previews commercial policy changes (new pricing metrics, maintenance fee increases, product end-of-life dates) to user groups before public announcement.
4. Escalation Credibility: SAP's account teams are acutely aware of what user group working groups discuss. Mentioning that you're raising a commercial issue through DSAG or UKISUG channels creates internal pressure within SAP that individual customer complaints don't.
5. Coalition Building: For systemic issues (e.g., ECC end of maintenance terms, RISE migration credits), user groups create a coalition of customers that SAP is more likely to address commercially than any single customer.

What User Groups Cannot Do

Despite their value, user groups have structural limitations that enterprise buyers should understand:

1. Cannot Negotiate on Your Behalf: User groups represent collective interests, not individual commercial positions. Your deal is yours to negotiate.
2. Cannot Access Your Confidential Commercial Terms: User group benchmarking is based on voluntary disclosure by members. Your specific contract details remain confidential.
3. Will Not Take Positions That Threaten Their SAP Relationship: User groups that were genuinely adversarial would lose access to SAP executives, product roadmap briefings, and conference co-sponsorship. This creates a structural disincentive to truly confrontational positions.
4. May Not Reflect Your Specific Industry or Region: DSAG is Germany-centric; ASUG is US-centric. Industry-specific benchmarks (e.g., energy, pharmaceuticals) may have limited peer data within general user group surveys.
5. Guidance Lags Market Reality: User group publications reflect consensus views that emerge slowly. SAP's commercial model is changing rapidly (RISE, BTP consumption pricing, AI add-ons), and user group guidance frequently lags the current contracting reality.

Benchmarking Data from User Groups

The most commercially useful user group outputs for negotiation:

• DSAG Annual Investment Report: Published each spring, this survey reveals what percentage of members find SAP maintenance fees excessive, what percentage are actively evaluating alternatives, and the overall satisfaction trajectory. A declining satisfaction score in the DSAG report creates genuine commercial pressure that SAP acts on.
• UKISUG RISE with SAP Guidance: Published guidance on what contractual protections UKISUG recommends customers seek in RISE negotiations. Not prescriptive about pricing, but useful as a checklist.
• ASUG Benchmark Survey: Annual data on SAP spend as a percentage of total IT budget across industries. Useful for CFO-level conversations about whether SAP spend is proportionate.

How to Use User Group Membership Strategically

Practical steps:

1. Join DSAG or UKISUG (as relevant) 90 days before your next major SAP negotiation — the peer benchmarking networks take time to engage.
2. Specifically request access to the commercial/licensing working group within your user group — this is where the most commercially sensitive benchmarks are discussed.
3. Document your commercial issues as potential "working group topics" — the signal to SAP that your negotiation is visible to the broader membership is valuable.
4. Use user group survey data in your commercial arguments: "Your own user group survey shows 68% of customers find RISE pricing excessive — our analysis is consistent with this."
5. Reference DSAG investment report trends in budget conversations with SAP: a declining DSAG investment score gives you data to push back on price increases.

Beyond User Groups: Stronger Sources of Negotiation Intelligence

User groups are useful but not sufficient. Stronger sources of commercial intelligence include:

• Independent SAP Licensing Advisors: Former SAP insiders who have benchmarked hundreds of actual deals and can provide precise market-rate data for your specific situation.
• Gartner and Forrester Commercial Benchmarking Services: Paid research that provides quantitative discount benchmarks by industry and deal size.
• Legal Counsel Specialising in Software Contracts: For challenging specific contract clauses, particularly around indirect access, audit rights, and exit provisions.
• Peer Reference Calls: Direct conversations with other SAP customers at comparable organisations, facilitated through user group networks or independent referrals.