S/4 Hana - the new licensing world with potential

SAP would probably prefer everything to be in the cloud and all processes to run only on Hana. The big question is: What will that cost again?

When using S/4 Hana, you should take a critical look at the hardware costs in particular, because these will certainly increase. But the costs incurred for new applications, new licenses, new package offers will also increase ... Who is still supposed to be familiar with this?

As a provider of SAP license optimization software, we naturally follow such developments extremely closely. The track in this case is SAP's price and condition list (PKL), which is permanently revised.

If the licensing landscape has not exactly been conspicuous for its clarity up to now, the licensing thicket is currently becoming even larger and further potential dangers are opening up.

What is easy to overlook regarding S/4 Hana, for example: SAP does not allow third-party software applications to run on Hana together with S/4 Hana. This is explicitly excluded in the new PKL.

However, the process world in every company is usually strongly penetrated by in-house developments, add-ons or third-party software that make efficient work possible in the first place. Considering this connection, one should be attentive to the latest regulations.

If you do want to consistently switch to Hana databases, there should be a clear overview at this point: What exists in the company at the moment? And what of it is really being used?

In order to have an exact overview, it is best to use software analyses that provide you with this information in real time. In this way, you have a reliable source and can enter negotiations with SAP on an equal footing with the available knowledge.

What can we expect in the area of licensing in the next few years?

First of all, new license types that are directly tailored to S/4 Hana and are priced in line with the familiar license types - that's good news.

Even with these licenses, the scope of use is, shall we say, described "concretely" as usual. With the appropriate optimization software, however, such license conditions can still be mapped quite well automatically.

If you then build appropriate templates for the individual new license types based on the SAP PKL, you should be well prepared for the future.

Another question should be clarified in advance: Is Hana really worth it for all processes?

Even SAP can't do everything in a day and so there are still many old processes that are not optimized on Hana and probably won't be in the next few years.

Here, too, it is advantageous when software helps sort between "wheat and chaff". In addition to the well-known dangers of falling into the cost trap, the introduction of or switch to S/4 Hana also offers the possibility of a more effective set-up in the future.

Conclusion: Start an inventory before implementing S/4 Hana. Compare very precisely which currently used third-party systems can possibly even be replaced by S/4 Hana processes.

Clarify at an early stage whether your existing license portfolio can continue to be used for the S/4 Hana systems or how it can be converted. Do not rush into a complete migration right away!

Rather, investigate which processes really experience an increase in efficiency when running on Hana databases. Use license optimization software as support! Man Power alone can only perform the above steps in a fragmented and insufficient manner.