Limited Professional User

SAP wrote to its customers in recent weeks asking them to define the functional scope of existing Limited Professional Users (LPUs).

The background is the deletion of the user type from the price list. Subsequent purchases are then only possible if this definition has been made. In the form of used licenses, the purchase without definition is also possible in the future.

The used software dealer Susensoftware continues to offer all user types without function restriction from old and current SAP contracts. For example, there are over 1,000 SAP Limited Professional Users to choose from.

The Limited Professional User category was popular among SAP customers. This is simply because occasional users or users with access to a few transactions do not have to purchase the Professional User (3,200 euros per license), which is nearly twice as expensive.

SAP's requirement to define Limited Professional Users by a deadline in August 2015 caused uncertainty among users. It is unclear whether SAP customers will actually have to comply with this request.

SAP effectively offers two options to choose from. For companies that have Limited Professional Users in use without a description of the scope of functions, a definition of the scope is required. Only if this is done can appropriately described users be purchased in the future.

SAP users who have already described the functional scope of the user type will only be able to purchase these Limited Professional Users from September 2015. The exception: If LPUs with other function descriptions are purchased before, a subsequent purchase is still possible.

Legal experts see SAP's request for a subsequent definition of users as highly problematic. First of all, the license agreements do not contain any concrete delimitations between limited users and user types with full functionality. Furthermore, subsequent additional requirements to existing contracts are legally difficult.

Customers who have LPUs in use are now faced with the problem of an appropriate response to SAP's demand. Should a hasty definition of the existing users actually take place or a hectic re-purchase? In conclusion, this question cannot be answered in a general way.