Eursap's SAP Tips: A two-minute introduction to Rise with SAP
Eursap's SAP Tips: A two-minute introduction to Rise with SAP.
Rise with SAP is on the lips of every SAP consultant and vendor in every SAP conference this year. But what exactly is it?
Here is your two-minute summary of what Rise is, in Q&A format.
Is it a separate software offering?
Yes and no. The software you use will still be SAP, but Rise with SAP is offered via the SAP Cloud and this can come in two flavours: Private Cloud and Public Cloud.
The public cloud offering is a true software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, where you get a pre-configured SAP S/4HANA system which is 100% up to date. This means that updates are automatically pushed out to you. Because of this, implementation can be a matter of weeks rather than months or years.
The private cloud offering is a platform as a service, where you still retain control over the application and can develop and configure as much as you like. In this offering, hosting, disaster recovery, most basis tasks, and upgrades are all administered by SAP. You do not have to take regular updates, but it is incumbent upon you as a customer to keep your system within vendor support, meaning upgrading at least every seven years (used to be five years, but this will change from the 2023 version of SAP S/4HANA).
What is the Rise licensing model?
Rise with SAP is a subscription model. All your costs for running your entire SAP enterprise landscape are rolled into one subscription cost each year. This includes hosting (so dependent upon your database size), disaster recovery, maintenance fees, managed services (basis work). This is different from the on-premise model where you pay up front per user for a license and then pay a percentage of that cost each year for maintenance.
The user licensing is also different, with FUE (full use equivalent) licenses available. These FUE licenses are calculated based upon the activities that the users are likely to carry out.
Who will host my application when I use Rise?
Rise offers hosting on a hyperscaler of your choice, so your system can be hosted on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or even SAP’s own cloud. The only mandatory policy here is that it must be cloud hosted – you cannot use Rise with SAP with an on-premise hosted application.
Can you modify and make developments using Rise?
That depends upon your application of choice. With the private cloud edition, yes you can. You can treat this as similar to an on-premise solution. Nevertheless, it is important to realise that you must have a robust upgrade plan in place to be able to remain within the terms of your Rise contract. Remember – you must stay within the vendor support window.
With the public cloud edition, modifications are more difficult. As it is a SaaS solution, you will find that customisations are prohibited within the core application itself. Yes, you can do basic configuration and personalisation amendments but development is restricted.
It is worth mentioning here that the recommended best practice is to keep the core clean anyway and carry out customisations in the SAP Business Technology Platform – this recommendation holds true for both public and private cloud.
Is Rise cheaper or more expensive than traditional perpetual licensed on-premise model?
That is a difficult question to answer. To line up a side-by-side comparison, you would need to understand your perpetual license costs, your hosting and infrastructure costs as well as your administration and basis costs. Furthermore, if you are looking at the public cloud, you would also need to be aware that there are no upgrade costs either.
At first glance, the subscription costs you see for Rise with SAP may look expensive, but add up what you are paying for everything above and you will soon see that the ease of the contract in addition to the compliance and safety means it is an attractive offering.
What is the advantage of Rise with SAP?
This is a very common question. The public cloud advantages are clear: always up-to-date, pre-configured solutions, fast and cost-effective deployments. The private cloud cannot boast these advantages, but both offerings allow you to focus more upon your business and less upon the administration of running and maintaining an ERP system.
Is the public cloud suitable for large organisations?
Another common question and another not so straightforward answer. Large organisations who have a relatively simple business model would do well to operate using the public cloud. However, complex or very heavily regulated or GxP organisations should be wary of the public cloud and may be better off looking at a private cloud solution.
Further information on public and private cloud editions of SAP S/4HANA can be found here.
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