Optimizing Digital Access in SAP Systems
SAP’s Digital Access licensing model is a modern approach to SAP licensing that charges for indirect usage based on business documents created in the system rather than requiring a named user license for every external user or device.
To optimize Digital Access, enterprises must balance compliance and cost by understanding how SAP counts digital documents, negotiating the right license volume and discounts up front, and implementing strong governance to avoid surprise fees while enabling broad integrations with SAP.
SAP Digital Access
SAP Digital Access (also known as indirect or document access) is a licensing model that charges based on the creation of specific SAP business documents by external systems or users.
In traditional SAP licensing, anyone who indirectly accessed SAP needed their own named user license, which became impractical as companies integrated SAP with e-commerce websites, customer portals, and IoT devices.
Digital Access flips the model: instead of licensing every user, you license the outcomes – the system counts certain document transactions generated in SAP via non-SAP apps.
Whenever a third-party application or automated process creates a document in SAP, that event consumes a document license.
SAP has defined nine core document types that count under Digital Access, including:
- Sales Documents – e.g., sales orders, quotes (counted per line item)
- Invoice Documents – customer or supplier invoices, billing documents
- Purchase Documents – purchase orders or requisitions
- Service & Maintenance Documents – service orders, maintenance notifications
- Manufacturing Documents – production or process orders
- Quality Management Documents – quality inspection records
- Time Management Documents – time entries or confirmations
- Financial Documents – financial postings (general ledger entries)
- Material Documents – inventory movements (goods issues/receipts)
Note: For licensing count purposes, Financial and Material documents are weighted at 0.2 of a document each (reflecting their typically high volume), so five of these count as one full document.
Importantly, read-only access to SAP data (queries, reports, or API calls that do not create new records) does not require a Digital Access license.
Charges only apply when one of the defined documents is initially created in SAP by an external input.
For example, if an online storefront creates a sales order in SAP, that counts as one digital document. But if a third-party analytics tool simply retrieves inventory data from SAP without creating anything, there’s no Digital Access charge.
Read Measuring Digital Access in SAP.
Why SAP Introduced Digital Access
SAP introduced Digital Access in 2018 to address confusion and compliance issues around indirect access.
Under the old rules, if a non-SAP system (such as a web storefront, CRM, or sensor network) interacted with SAP data, the company was required to have a named user license for every external user or device – a nightmare to track and enforce.
Many customers were caught out in audits with claims of unlicensed “ghost” users.
A notable example was the Diageo case, where a global company was assessed a fee of roughly £54 million because its Salesforce system was indirectly utilizing SAP without separate user licenses.
This high-profile dispute highlighted that the traditional model could lead to huge, unexpected penalties in modern integration scenarios.
Digital Access was SAP’s response to clarify and make the rules fairer for the digital era. By charging per document, SAP shifted the focus from “Who accessed the system?” to “What transactions were processed in the system?”. Counting documents is more transparent and directly tied to business activity.
Customers feel it’s more aligned with the value they get (e.g., actual orders or invoices handled) rather than paying for every potential user.
At the same time, this model protects SAP’s revenue as architectures become API-driven – it closes the loophole where companies might have built external apps that use SAP in the background without proper licensing.
In short, Digital Access created a clear, auditable framework for indirect use, replacing the ambiguity and contention of the old user-counting approach.
Read SAP Digital Access for IoT and Automation.
How Digital Access Licensing Works
Under Digital Access, each time one of the nine document types is created in SAP by an external system, it consumes one unit from your licensed document quota (with the exception that material and financial documents count as 0.2 units each).
Critically, SAP only counts the first creation of a document in a process flow. If one external action triggers multiple SAP documents internally, only the originating document is counted.
For example, a third-party order entry system might create a Sales Order in SAP, which then automatically generates a delivery and an invoice inside SAP. You would be charged for one Sales Document (the initial order) but not for the subsequent delivery or invoice documents, since SAP itself created those as follow-ups.
Similarly, if an external system updates or reads an existing SAP record, that does not count toward Digital Access – only new creations trigger licensing. This approach avoids double-counting the same business process.
How licenses are sold:
SAP sells Digital Access licenses in blocks of documents per year. A common structure is a block of 1,000 documents per year as the basic unit. Your company estimates the number of qualifying documents generated by all your integrations in a year and pre-purchases enough blocks to cover that volume.
For instance, if you anticipate 50,000 externally generated documents annually, you would procure 50 blocks of 1,000 to have a buffer for the year.
This becomes your pre-paid document pool for indirect usage. If your integrations result in creating more documents than you have licensed, you’ll need to purchase additional blocks (or risk falling out of compliance during an audit).
On the other hand, if you overestimate and buy too many, you generally cannot reduce the count until your next contract renewal – meaning accurate forecasting is very important.
Just like traditional SAP licenses, annual maintenance fees (~20–22%) apply on Digital Access license purchases if they are perpetual licenses, adding ongoing costs for support.
In SAP subscription models (such as RISE with SAP or S/4HANA Cloud contracts), Digital Access may be bundled into the overall subscription metric (often measured in full user equivalents or FUEs).
Cloud customers should still clarify how indirect use is covered. Typically, RISE bundles a generous baseline of digital access rights, but extremely high volumes of transactions may require an upgraded subscription.
The key concept of counting documents remains, even if, in the cloud scenario, you’re not explicitly buying “blocks” – it’s just included or monitored as part of your cloud usage.
Digital Access Pricing and Discounts
SAP’s pricing for Digital Access is volume-based and negotiable. There isn’t a public flat price per document; instead, SAP uses tiered pricing that gets cheaper per unit as you commit to higher volumes.
In practice, the more documents you license, the lower the cost per 1,000 documents.
The table below illustrates a hypothetical pricing example and how discounts dramatically affect costs:
| Annual Document Volume | Approx. List Price (per year) | Cost After 90% Discount (example) |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000 documents/year | ~$200,000 | ~$20,000 (with 90% discount) |
| 1,000,000 documents/year | ~$1,500,000 | ~$150,000 (with 90% discount) |
| 10,000,000 documents/year | ~$7,000,000 | ~$700,000 (with 90% discount) |
Table: Illustrative pricing showing how large discounts (e.g. 90% off) can slash the cost. Actual price tiers and discounts vary and are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
One of the biggest factors in digital access costs is the discount you negotiate.
When SAP introduced Digital Access, it launched the Digital Access Adoption Program (DAAP) to encourage customers to adopt it. Under DAAP, SAP offered extremely steep one-time deals, such as:
- Option A: License 115% of your current estimated document volume (giving ~15% headroom for growth), but pay only for that 15% extra. In effect, SAP provided you with 100% of your current usage at no additional cost and only charged for any incremental future use.
- Option B: License 100% of your current usage and get a 90% discount on the cost, effectively paying just 10% of the list price for those documents.
Early adopters who took advantage of DAAP received digital access at a fraction of the list price. For example, a company that might have owed $5 million at the list price could end up paying only about $ 500,000 with these programs. SAP initially set an end date for the DAAP incentives (it was officially offered through 2021 and then extended).
Still, as of now, there is no fixed end date – SAP has kept these incentives available in practice to encourage ongoing adoption.
Even though the formal program banner has ended, customers can often negotiate DAAP-like terms informally, especially when transitioning to S/4HANA or facing an audit. SAP sales representatives have significant flexibility to approve discounts of 50–90% on Digital Access if it helps close a deal or resolve compliance issues.
Contract tip:
Always get special discount terms in writing. If SAP promises a growth allowance (e.g., extra documents at no charge) or lets you trade unused old licenses for credit, ensure those terms are in your contract.
Also, define how overages are handled: will you automatically pay a set price for any extra documents over your license, or must you true-up with a new purchase?
Nail down the unit cost for additional documents in the contract so a spike in business activity doesn’t result in an unwelcome surprise bill at the full list price later.
Challenges and Risks of Digital Access
Digital Access brings clarity to licensing, but it also introduces new challenges and risks that enterprises need to manage:
- Unpredictable usage volumes: Document counts can swing with business activity. If sales orders surge or new integrations come online, your document usage (and associated licensing costs) can increase unexpectedly. It’s hard to precisely predict how many documents will be created year over year, which means you risk either over-buying licenses (paying maintenance on unused capacity) or under-buying (running out and facing compliance penalties).
- Upfront forecasting pressure: SAP requires you to commit to an annual document volume up front. Guessing too high wastes the budget on unused licenses (and those costs can’t be trimmed until renewal), while guessing too low means you’ll need to scramble to purchase more blocks mid-term, possibly at less favorable terms. This shifts the financial risk to the customer to forecast their digital usage accurately.
- High-volume cost exposure: For businesses with millions of transactions, Digital Access fees can become a significant line item. Even discounted, large document volumes can translate to millions of dollars annually. Industry analysis has shown cases where Digital Access costs ranged from negligible for some companies to amounts that were 5%–10% (or even more) of their total SAP spend for others. In extreme scenarios, an integration-heavy company could face eight-figure licensing costs for Digital Access if not optimized. This variability makes budgeting a challenge and can alarm CFOs if not transparently managed.
- Measurement complexity: To manage compliance effectively, you need insight into the number of documents being created indirectly. SAP provides tools like the Digital Access Estimation tool and the SAP Passport functionality to help count documents. However, these tools have a learning curve and sometimes quirks – for example, distinguishing between indirect and direct creation, or avoiding double-counting follow-on documents. Companies often need to invest time (and possibly expertise) to validate the results. Inaccurate measurements can lead to buying far too much (wasting money) or undercounting (creating a compliance gap).
- Industry-specific impacts: Certain industries are much more affected by Digital Access. For example, a retail or e-commerce company with a high-volume online store, a manufacturing firm with thousands of IoT sensors updating SAP, or a logistics provider with automated warehouse transactions could generate enormous document counts daily. These organizations must be especially vigilant with Digital Access licensing to avoid runaway costs. On the other hand, a company that uses SAP mostly for internal processes with few external interfaces might generate very few digital access documents – for them, adopting Digital Access could increase costs unnecessarily if their indirect usage is minimal. It’s not one-size-fits-all, so each enterprise should analyze how this model impacts them based on integration patterns.
- Contract lock-in and future pricing: Once you switch to the Digital Access model, you are generally locked into it for your SAP environment moving forward. SAP’s strategic direction is to have customers standardize document-based licensing for indirect use. If you adopt it and later feel it’s not cost-effective, it may be difficult (or contractually impossible) to revert to the old named-user approach. There’s also a concern that after initial discount periods, SAP could raise prices or maintenance fees on document licenses in the future. Long-term users worry about pricing “creep” once everyone is on the new model. This makes it vital to negotiate price protections or caps and keep an eye on SAP’s licensing announcements over time.
Traditional vs. Digital Access Licensing (Comparison)
To put the two approaches in perspective, the table below compares traditional indirect access (licensing by named users) versus Digital Access (licensing by document count):
| Aspect | Traditional Indirect Access (Named User Licensing) | Digital Access (Document Licensing) |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing Unit | Named users: every individual or system account that indirectly accesses SAP needs a user license (e.g. “external user” licenses for each partner, customer, or device). | Document transactions: licenses are based on count of SAP documents created via external systems. One block covers a certain number of documents, regardless of how many users or devices generate them. |
| Usage Measurement | Difficult to track – requires identifying every external user or technical interface account. Often unclear and prone to audit disputes (e.g. how do you count thousands of website customers?). | Transparent counts – SAP can log each qualifying document event created by an interface. You get clear, auditable metrics from system reports (e.g. number of sales orders created via API). |
| Cost Predictability | Fixed cost per user (stable if user count is stable). However, “hidden” usage risk: if you underestimate external users, an audit might reveal a large compliance gap. Also, one user license covers unlimited transactions, so low-volume scenarios don’t reduce cost. | Variable cost based on volume. Easier to predict if you can forecast document counts, but costs will rise with business growth or spikes in transactions. Without negotiated buffers, a surge in orders = higher fees. Requires good forecasting and vigilance to manage budget. |
| Pros | Simple concept (you license people). If indirect usage is very small or limited to known partners, it can be cost-effective and straightforward. No need to monitor transaction counts. | Aligns cost to actual business activity – you pay for what actually happens (orders, invoices, etc.). Scales to large numbers of external users/devices without needing each to have a license. Reduces ambiguity in audits, since usage is captured in system logs. |
| Cons | Impractical for modern ecosystems with hundreds or thousands of external users or IoT devices – you can’t realistically license every customer or sensor. High audit risk if any external access is unlicensed (hard to catch everything). | Requires active monitoring of document counts and usage patterns. High volumes can become expensive if not optimized. Budgeting is more complex – need to estimate and adjust license volumes over time. Potential for paying twice (both user and document licenses) if not carefully architected. |
| Best Fit | Older or static environments with minimal integration, or scenarios where a small number of external users can be identified and licensed. Companies that prefer fixed costs and can tolerate some compliance risk for edge cases. | Highly integrated, digital businesses – e.g. e-commerce heavy, supply chain networks, IoT-driven processes – where external transactions are numerous and you need clear compliance. Also recommended when moving to S/4HANA or RISE, as SAP is steering customers toward this model in new contracts. |
Most enterprises will use a hybrid approach: you will continue to use traditional named-user licenses for your internal employees and core users, while adopting Digital Access to cover the growing number of external systems, partners, or devices that interface with SAP.
Optimizing SAP licensing involves finding the right mix – utilizing each model where it best fits – to achieve compliance and cost efficiency.
Recommendations
- Measure Indirect Usage Now: Begin by assessing the amount of indirect use you have. Use SAP’s free Digital Access evaluation tools or run custom scripts to get a baseline count of the documents generated by external systems. Knowing your current document volumes is the foundation for any decision or negotiation with SAP.
- Benchmark and Budget: Before signing anything, conduct thorough research on pricing. Research what discounts similar companies have received (industry benchmarks) and establish a target price per document based on your expected volume. Set a budget or cost range that you deem acceptable for Digital Access, and use that as a goal in negotiations.
- Leverage Renewals and Migrations: Time your Digital Access discussions with moments when you have negotiating power – for example, contract renewals, big expansion purchases, or migration to S/4HANA (especially via RISE). SAP is often eager to close those deals and more willing to include Digital Access at a steep discount (even up to 90% off) as a sweetener. Don’t be afraid to bundle the ask for Digital Access concessions into a larger deal.
- Negotiate Future Flexibility: Push for contract terms that provide you with flexibility. For instance, consider including a growth allowance (e.g., you can exceed your document limit by 10–15% without incurring immediate penalties) or setting a fixed price for additional document blocks in case you need more later. This protects you from normal business growth or unexpected spikes in demand. Also, consider a clause to true-up annually at the same discount rate, so additional volume isn’t charged at full price.
- Optimize Your Integrations: Work with your IT teams to reduce unnecessary document creation in SAP. Small design choices can have significant license impacts – for example, avoid triggering multiple SAP updates when a single batched update would suffice, and filter out trivial events. Each unnecessary SAP document you eliminate is direct savings. If you have many integrations, you may also consider consolidating or throttling some processes to maintain efficient volumes. Design with licensing in mind to minimize costs.
- Continuous Monitoring: Treat your document count like a utility meter. Implement monthly or quarterly tracking of Digital Access consumption against your licensed amount. Set up internal alerts when you hit, say, 75% or 90% of your yearly allotment. This early warning allows you to either adjust processes or approach SAP for more capacity on your terms – not during a last-minute audit scramble.
- Document Your Compliance Efforts: Keep a clear record of how you calculated your license needs and any measurements you’ve done. If you ran SAP’s tools and adjusted the counts (for example, excluding certain internal documents or duplicates), document those assumptions. Having an audit trail of your analysis can be a lifesaver in case of a compliance dispute later – you can show you took a diligent approach. It also helps new team members understand past decisions on licensing.
- Stay Educated on SAP Policy: SAP’s licensing rules and programs are constantly evolving. Assign someone on your team to stay informed about SAP user groups, webinars, and licensing news. SAP may introduce new document types, adjust the counting process, or offer new discount programs. By staying informed, you can adapt quickly or seize opportunities (like a limited-time discount offer) to optimize your licensing.
- Use Expert Help for Audits or Big Decisions: If you’re facing an SAP audit or you have a particularly complex system landscape, consider bringing in an independent SAP licensing expert or third-party advisor. They can often identify loopholes or optimization strategies that in-house teams might miss. Experts can also play the “bad cop” in negotiations, pushing for better terms by leveraging their experience with other clients. The cost of advice can be tiny compared to the potential savings on a multimillion-dollar SAP contract or audit settlement.
- Don’t Rush into Changes: Finally, don’t let SAP pressure you into switching to Digital Access overnight if you’re not ready. Moving to this model should be a strategic decision. Take the time to do a thorough internal analysis and get buy-in from IT, procurement, and finance on the plan. If you decide to wait, ensure that you tighten up compliance under your existing model (e.g., assign those partner licenses where needed, monitor interfaces) to avoid any surprises. If you decide to adopt Digital Access, ensure the contract you sign includes all the protections, discounts, and clarity you need. In short, make the move on your terms, not just because of a sales push.
By following these recommendations, organizations can confidently navigate SAP Digital Access and transform what could be a daunting licensing challenge into a manageable and predictable aspect of their IT spending.
FAQ
Q1: What exactly is SAP Digital Access, and who needs it?
A1: SAP Digital Access is a license model for indirect use of SAP – it means you pay based on the number of certain documents created in SAP by external systems or users. Suppose you have any non-SAP applications (websites, mobile apps, partner systems, IoT devices, etc.) that create transactions in your SAP ERP or S/4HANA system. In that case, you likely need to consider Digital Access licenses. It ensures you’re compliant with SAP’s rules when people or software use SAP’s data without directly logging in. Companies that use SAP only internally (with no external interfaces) might not need it, but most enterprises have some integrations that make Digital Access relevant these days.
Q2: Which SAP document types count toward Digital Access licensing?
A2: SAP counts nine document types under Digital Access: Sales documents (e.g., sales orders, quotes), Invoice documents (billing documents for customers or vendors), Purchase documents (purchase orders and requisitions), Service & Maintenance documents (service orders, maintenance calls), Manufacturing documents (production orders), Quality Management documents (quality inspection records), Time Management documents (time entries, confirmations), Financial documents (financial journal entries), and Material documents (inventory movements like goods issues/receipts). Each time one of these is first created in SAP by an external source, it consumes one license “count.” (As noted, financial and material documents count at a lesser weight – five of those equal one count – due to their high frequency.) For example, a purchase order created through a supplier portal or a sales order generated from an e-commerce site would each be counted as one document for licensing purposes.
Q3: How do we measure or audit how many digital access documents we’re using?
A3: SAP provides measurement tools to help. The most common is the Digital Access Estimation tool (sometimes referred to as the Digital Access Evaluation Service), which can be run within your SAP system. It scans your system tables for the nine document types and attempts to identify how many were created by external means within a given period (e.g., the past year). For newer systems, SAP also has the Passport mechanism, which tags transactions to distinguish indirect creations. During an official audit, SAP’s License Compliance team may request these document counts or assist you in running the tool. It’s a good idea not to wait for an audit – run these tools yourself periodically to understand your usage. Ensure your SAP system is up-to-date with support packs, as SAP continually refines the accuracy of these tools over time (for example, to filter out internally generated documents or duplicates). Always sanity-check the results: if the number appears too high or too low, investigate further or consult an expert before making purchases based on it.
Q4: If we move to S/4HANA or RISE, is Digital Access mandatory or automatic?
A4: SAP strongly encourages the Digital Access model for S/4HANA, especially in RISE with SAP (the cloud subscription version), but it’s not strictly “mandatory” in all cases. If you’re signing a brand-new S/4HANA contract or a RISE subscription, the terms will almost always include coverage for indirect use via the document model by default. In other words, new contracts have essentially baked-in Digital Access (in RISE, it’s bundled under your subscription usage metrics). However, if you’re an existing ECC customer on older contracts, you technically could stick with the old named-user indirect model for now – SAP can’t force you to switch until you renew or change contracts. That said, even if you don’t formally adopt Digital Access, SAP audits will still scrutinize indirect usage. So you can postpone switching if you have a good reason. Still, you need to manage compliance under the old model carefully (and be aware that SAP’s long-term plan is to transition everyone to document-based licensing). In summary, new SAP cloud deployments default to a document model; existing setups may have the option to delay, but this is not a permanent solution.
Q5: What was the Digital Access Adoption Program (DAAP), and can we still get those discounts?
A5: DAAP was a special program SAP ran from around 2019 to 2021 to encourage customers to adopt Digital Access. It offered huge discounts and deals, such as giving customers credit for their current usage, so they only paid for growth, or offering 90% off the license cost for the necessary documents. Officially, that program timeline has passed, but in reality, SAP has extended those kinds of incentives indefinitely to customers who request them. You absolutely should ask your SAP account manager about current Digital Access promotions or the possibility of DAAP-like terms. Even after 2021, many enterprises have negotiated discounts of 70–90% on Digital Access licenses by referencing their desire for a smooth transition. SAP’s goal is to get customers on this model, so they are often willing to be very flexible on price – but you must negotiate and make it clear you expect those incentives.
Q6: Our document counts are extremely high – how can we reduce the cost of Digital Access?
A6: There are several strategies to consider if you’re facing a substantial Digital Access bill due to high usage volumes. First, negotiate on price and volume – ensure you’re getting the maximum volume discounts, and push for a better discount tier if your usage is substantial (SAP will likely accommodate, especially if they see millions of documents). Second, optimize your integrations to reduce unnecessary document generation. For example, batch interface updates rather than single transactions, or filter out low-value transactions from reaching SAP. Every reduction in document count directly results in savings. Third, consider a phased approach – you don’t have to license everything at once if certain interfaces produce an enormous number of documents with marginal value. Some companies initially license the high-value transaction types and find alternative ways or cleanup processes for the others to keep the licensed volume manageable. And finally, continuously monitor usage: if you spot one interface suddenly spewing far more documents than expected, investigate and correct it. Treat document capacity as a precious resource and manage it actively, just like you would manage cloud computing costs or any other usage-based expense.
Q7: What happens if we exceed the number of documents we licensed?
A7: If you go beyond your purchased document count, you’re technically out of compliance. Nothing will stop in your SAP system at that moment (SAP doesn’t cut you off in real-time), but it will likely be caught at your next audit or annual license check. At that point, SAP will expect you to purchase additional document licenses to cover the excess usage, often retroactively effective from the point at which you exceeded the limit. This can become very expensive if you don’t plan for it, especially if SAP charges the overage at the list price. To avoid this scenario, it’s best to have a contract clause that predetermines the cost of extra documents, or at least to stay proactive: if you see your usage trending above your entitlement, approach SAP early to expand your license (ideally securing the same discount as your initial purchase). Some companies also negotiate a sort of “grace” band for small overages, but don’t assume you have that unless it’s written down. The bottom line: monitor your usage and don’t let an unplanned overage catch you off guard – it’s much cheaper to handle it in advance than after an auditor finds it.
Q8: Do read-only interfaces or analytical tools count toward Digital Access?
A8: Generally, no – purely read-only interactions do not incur Digital Access charges. Suppose an external system is just querying or viewing data from SAP (for example, a third-party BI tool pulling SAP data for a dashboard) and not creating any new records. In that case, SAP’s policy is that this is not a licensable event under Digital Access. The model focuses on creating new documents. However, be cautious that the integration is truly read-only; sometimes an innocuous-looking query can trigger an update or log entry in SAP. In normal cases, however, running reports, searches, or data extracts from SAP via external tools does not constitute digital documents. It’s still good practice to document these interfaces and verify that they don’t perform any writes, so you can confidently explain them if SAP ever raises a question.
Q9: If we don’t switch to Digital Access yet, how can we protect our company under the old licensing model?
A9: The key is to be proactive and diligent with monitoring indirect use. Create a comprehensive inventory of all third-party systems and applications that interface with SAP. For each, ensure you have some form of license coverage: this could mean assigning existing spare named-user licenses to those external accounts or purchasing a few low-level user licenses specifically for external connections (SAP in the past offered a “platform user” or similar for technical integrations). Some customers negotiated special indirect user licenses for this purpose. Additionally, establish governance around new integrations – when IT adds a new interface to SAP, implement a process to immediately evaluate the licensing impact (rather than waiting for an audit to identify it). It may be helpful to periodically simulate an audit by running scripts to identify documents created by generic or technical users, verifying if those users have the necessary licenses, and so on. In partner contracts or internal policies, clarify that external systems should not write to SAP unless explicitly cleared by IT for licensing purposes. While maintaining the old model, you’re essentially patching the holes one by one. This can fend off compliance problems for a while but remember SAP’s stance: over time, they expect customers to transition to Digital Access. Use this approach as a temporary safeguard and continue to evaluate when a switch might make sense for you.
Q10: Does Digital Access apply to integrations between SAP systems or only third-party (non-SAP) systems?
A10: Digital Access mainly targets third-party usage. Suppose you have multiple SAP systems (say, SAP CRM feeding data into SAP S/4HANA, or SuccessFactors syncing to SAP ERP). In that case, those interactions are typically covered by the respective SAP application licenses and are not considered “digital access” documents. SAP refers to this scenario as SAP Application Access. Essentially, SAP-to-SAP communication is handled by the licenses you have for each of those SAP products. So you won’t be double-charged for one SAP module talking to another. The focus of Digital Access is really on external third-party software and users. One caveat: if you have a system that is technically SAP-owned but not covered in your license agreement (for example, a niche product or a legacy system SAP acquired), you should clarify its status. But as a rule, standard SAP modules and cloud services integration do not consume Digital Access documents. Always double-check the licensing terms when in doubt. You can generally integrate SAP modules without worrying about indirect use fees, reserving your Digital Access licenses for non-SAP interfaces.
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