SAP existing customers suffer from PKL and GTCs

The SAP licensing market is on the move. The partly growing economy, new technologies and hybrid cloud models have changed the purchasing behavior and maintenance of software licenses.

The digital transformation process requires the widespread use of IT. For this, many companies need new SW licenses. In addition to the topic of "indirect use" with SAP products such as Hybris, Fieldglass, Ariba and Concur, there is also growing demand for classic licenses such as the Limited Professional User (list price 1,600 euros), which has no longer been offered by SAP since the beginning of this year.

As a dealer for used software Susensoftware sells products from Microsoft as well as from SAP. However, the market for used Microsoft software is fundamentally different from the market for used SAP software.

Differences exist primarily in terms of availability, dependence on software maintenance and on an external database. Unlike Microsoft products, there is only a limited supply of used SAP software on the market.

In October 2013, the used software company Susensoftware won a case before the Hamburg Regional Court to have two passages deleted from SAP's general terms and conditions with which the Walldorf-based software group tried to prevent the resale of used licenses.

SAP appealed against the judgment, but withdrew its appeal in July 2014, so that the Hamburg judgment has since become final. Until the ruling, the resale of SAP licenses was only permitted with the written consent of the Group.

In 2010, the management of Getränke Pfeifer made the decision to introduce SAP. An extensive project started shortly after the decision, with the participation of IBM as SAP partner.

Both the software landscape and the hardware environment were converted at great expense in terms of work and money. According to Andreas Krause, IT manager at Pfeifer Holding, three quarters of the seven-figure budget planned for this had already been used up in 2012:

"However, as the SAP system increasingly proved unsuitable for our individual needs, the efforts were unfortunately unsuccessful."

When SAP then stepped in with an offer to take over the project, the expected costs exceeded the tolerable range, which is why, after in-depth consultation, an immediate stop was put to the processes.

The financial outlay associated with the failed SAP implementation increased due to regular payments of maintenance fees. To limit the financial damage, efforts are now being made to sell all used SAP licenses, which were once purchased at a value of around 250,000 euros.

With regard to maintenance, there are some peculiarities with used SAP licenses. Whereas in Germany, user companies forego contractually regulated, fee-based software maintenance for most Microsoft products, SAP users usually commit themselves directly in the software purchase contract to purchase the corresponding software maintenance from the manufacturer.

He must keep the purchased SAP software completely under maintenance. He cannot decide to maintain only some of the SAP installations and not others accordingly. The maintenance conditions are a not inconsiderable cost factor.

The contractually regulated maintenance conditions can quickly turn out to be a boomerang and cause high follow-up costs. This applies to both new and used software.

With the help of Susensoftware it is possible to reject and avoid back maintenance fees. In addition, the customer also has the possibility to purchase used SAP licenses, which can be operated completely without maintenance and thus without additional costs.

Purchased SAP software may be used and operated without software maintenance. If required, a maintenance contract with a specialized service provider such as Rimini Street is recommended in individual cases.

A later switch to manufacturer maintenance also need not be ruled out. Rimini Street has also been very active in Europe for several years and already has well-known customers.

Rimini Street's UK customer TT Electronics received an award in the IT Transformation category for its implementation of the consolidation plan and simultaneous cost optimization.

In addition to global networked site optimization, the company's collaboration with Rimini Street reduced SAP system maintenance costs by 50 percent.

As a result, the independent maintenance and support service has matured into a valuable option that provides cost-optimized protection for existing SAP systems while opening up new opportunities to make better use of existing budgets and resources.

It pays to reach for a used license: However, bargains are only available to a limited extent on the SAP second-hand market, and not all SAP products are available in a used version.

"Standard users, which really every SAP user needs, can be found in our offer. Sometimes at super-cheap prices, too. We are currently offering an SAP contract with 750 Professional and Limited Professional users worth €2.2 million from a leasing company at a bargain price of €420,000."

says Axel Susen, Managing Director of Susensoftware.

When purchasing used SAP software, attention must be paid above all to the form of the contract. Likewise, the database used by the SAP software plays a role in deciding whether the offer fits.