SAP Licensing Case Studies

The Numbers SAP Would Rather You Didn't See

Real SAP licensing engagements. Real outcomes. Every case study below represents an enterprise that came to us after SAP's commercial team outmaneuvered their internal team — and left with a significantly better position.

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$200M+
SAP audit exposure resolved
$50M+
Saved in contract negotiations
200+
SAP engagements completed
94%
Clients with positive outcomes
Featured Case Study
🏭 Manufacturing · Global
$12M
Annual SAP cost reduction
62%
Audit claim reduced
8mo
Engagement duration
◆ SAP Audit Defence + License Optimisation

Fortune 500 Manufacturer Reduces SAP Audit Claim from $19M to $7.2M

A global manufacturing group with operations in 18 countries received a formal SAP audit notification citing a compliance gap of $19.4M. SAP's measurement team had run USMM across a complex multi-system landscape, incorrectly classifying 2,400 indirect users and miscounting three production system engines.

Our team conducted a full independent landscape review before submitting a single document to SAP. We identified that SAP's ELP calculation had failed to account for user reclassification eligibility under the then-current contract terms, and that three systems were incorrectly included in the measurement scope.

"The team understood SAP's measurement methodology at a level we simply didn't have internally. They turned what looked like a $19M liability into a manageable settlement at $7.2M — and restructured our licence position to prevent it happening again."
— Group CIO, Fortune 500 Manufacturing Company

🏭 Manufacturing 📍 18 countries 🗓 2025 ⏱ 8 months
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SAP Licensing Results Across Industries

🏦
$8.4M
Contract savings · 3-year term
Financial Services

Major Bank Negotiates 31% Cost Reduction on SAP Enterprise Agreement Renewal

A Top 20 global bank faced an SAP contract renewal with a proposed 18% price increase and mandatory migration to RISE with SAP. Our team benchmarked the proposal against comparable deals, identified $8.4M in negotiable value, and structured a three-year agreement with price certainty and no cloud mandate.

Contract Negotiation RISE Advisory Price Benchmarking
🏦 Financial Services 2025
⚡
$5.1M
Audit claim reduced · 12 months
Energy & Utilities

Utility Group Challenges SAP Indirect Access Claim for Third-Party IoT Integration

An energy utility operating 40+ power assets had connected IoT sensor data to SAP PM via a third-party integration layer. SAP's audit team claimed Digital Access charges on 12M+ documents annually. We challenged the classification of the integration architecture, reducing the exposure by 82%.

Indirect Access Digital Access Audit Defence
⚡ Energy & Utilities 2025
🏥
40%
RISE contract reduction
Healthcare

NHS Trust Reduces RISE with SAP Proposal Cost by 40% Through Independent Review

A large NHS trust received a RISE with SAP proposal that included BTP credits, SAC licences, and Signavio access they didn't need. Our independent review stripped out unused bundle components, renegotiated the base infrastructure price, and secured flexible exit provisions for a 40% cost reduction.

RISE Advisory Contract Review Bundle Optimisation
🏥 Healthcare 2025
🛒
1,840
Users reclassified · $3.2M saved
Retail

International Retailer Reclassifies 1,840 SAP Users — Saving $3.2M in Annual Licence Fees

A pan-European retailer had 4,200 SAP Named User Professional licences, of which a significant portion were warehouse and store operations staff running a narrow set of transactions. We reviewed role mappings, usage patterns, and contract entitlements, reclassifying 1,840 users to Limited Professional.

License Optimisation User Classification Role Analysis
🛒 Retail 2024
🏗️
$6.8M
S/4HANA migration cost reduction
Manufacturing

Engineering Group Avoids Unnecessary S/4HANA Licence Uplift During ECC Migration

SAP's migration proposal for this precision engineering company included a full licence uplift to S/4HANA Private Edition — a $9.4M increase. We demonstrated that existing ECC licence entitlements covered 73% of the required S/4HANA capability and negotiated a migration credit that reduced the uplift to $2.6M.

S/4HANA Migration License Entitlements Migration Credits
🏗️ Manufacturing 2024
🌐
$2.1M
Annual support cost reduction
Technology

Software Company Downgrades SAP Enterprise Support, Saves $2.1M Without Capability Loss

A mid-size technology firm was paying 22% Enterprise Support on a $9.5M licence base — despite using less than 20% of the premium support features. We negotiated a transition to Standard Support with a structured Premium Engagement Services agreement, delivering full capability at $2.1M lower annual cost.

Support Reduction Maintenance Strategy Cost Optimisation
🌐 Technology 2024
Our Process

How Every Engagement Works

We don't begin an engagement until we understand your position. Every case starts with a forensic review of your SAP landscape, contract terms, and exposure — before any communication with SAP.

STEP 01
🔍

Forensic Assessment

We review your complete SAP landscape: systems, users, transactions, engines, and contract entitlements. Nothing goes to SAP before we've mapped every risk and opportunity.

STEP 02
📊

Position Analysis

We build your independent Effective License Position (ELP) using our proprietary methodology — separate from SAP's USMM output, which we systematically challenge wherever it overcounts.

STEP 03
⚔️

Strategy & Negotiation

With a clear picture of your position, we develop the negotiation strategy and manage all communications with SAP. Our team has sat on SAP's side of the table — we know their tactics and counter every one.

STEP 04
✅

Settlement & Optimisation

We close the engagement with a documented settlement or contract, then work with your team to optimise the ongoing licence position — so the problem doesn't resurface in the next measurement cycle.

Client Perspectives

What Enterprise Buyers Say

We walked into the SAP audit assuming we owed what they were claiming. The team's forensic review proved we didn't — and the final settlement was less than a third of SAP's initial figure. That's expertise you simply can't replicate with a Big Four firm that also consults for SAP.

👤
VP of IT Finance
Global Pharmaceutical Company
Audit claim: $14M → $4.1M

SAP presented our RISE migration as a no-brainer. After the independent review, we realised the proposal included three cloud services we'd never use and an infrastructure stack 40% oversized for our workload. The final contract was structurally different — and far better for us.

👤
Chief Procurement Officer
FTSE 100 Retail Group
RISE contract reduction: 38%

Our internal ITAM team is excellent, but SAP licensing operates at a complexity level that requires dedicated expertise. The team identified 1,200 users we were incorrectly licensing as Professional — reclassification saved us $2.8M a year, every year going forward.

👤
SAP Platform Director
European Manufacturing Conglomerate
Annual saving: $2.8M/year

The indirect access claim came out of nowhere — $7M exposure on IoT integrations we'd built years ago. Within six weeks, the team had challenged the document classification methodology and reduced the claim to $1.3M. They also built us a framework to prevent future exposure.

👤
Head of Enterprise Architecture
Global Logistics Provider
Indirect access claim: $7M → $1.3M
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Your SAP Position Is Probably Not as Bad as SAP Claims.

The average SAP audit claim is 3-5x what the customer actually owes. But only if you have independent expertise to challenge it. Let us review your position — at no cost, with no obligation.

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