WALLDORF, Germany, April 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by
unprecedented collaboration with user groups, customers, partners
and industry analysts, SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced a new
sales, audit and pricing model for its Digital Access licensing
policies commonly known as "Indirect Access." The new approach
makes it easier and more transparent for customers to use and pay
for SAP® software licenses. It also differentiates
between Direct/Human and Indirect/Digital Access1, while
clarifying the rules of engagement for licensing, usage and
compliance.
New Pricing Model
The new model – a first of its kind
for the enterprise software industry – addresses challenges faced
by some customers when it comes to pricing for Indirect/Digital
Access.
- Historically, for most use cases, customers primarily had the
option to pay for the SAP ERP application based on the number of
users. As more systems began to access SAP software systems, this
created a challenge for customers, who asked for an alternative
pricing approach.
- Moving forward, SAP will differentiate between:
-
- Direct/Human access (existing) - which will be charged for by
number of human users.
- Indirect/Digital Access - Access via third party, Internet of
Things (IoT), bots and/or other digital access that can be licensed
based on transactions/documents processed by the system itself
(new).
- SAP's new model pertains to the digital core – SAP
S/4HANA® and SAP S/4HANA Cloud – as well as the SAP ERP
application.
- Existing customers can choose to remain on the current model or
move to the new document-based pricing model – whichever best fits
their SAP solutions and digital transformation initiatives.
- Conversion offerings are available to help customers who choose
to move from current pricing to the new model.
Clear Separation of License Sales from Audit and
Compliance
SAP also introduced new organizational changes
that separate license sales departments and procedures from
auditing departments and procedures.
- Customers and SAP have sometimes struggled to reconcile older
commercial agreements with the requirements and outputs of modern
digital activity levels. Combined with ongoing discussions
regarding the procurement of new software, this can sometimes cause
frustration.
- Moving forward, the organizational change will allow the two
conversations to develop independently of one another, empowering
customers and SAP customer-facing professionals to collaborate more
freely.
- SAP plans to introduce features that will enable customers to
measure their own usage and license consumption in a self-service
manner.
Timeline and Additional Information
SAP began rollout
of the new licensing, sales and audit policies in April 2018. SAP will continue to provide
educational resources and tools for customers in the coming months
to help them fully understand the new licensing approach and decide
on the right model for them.
For more information click http://www.sap.com/indirectaccess.
Perspective: SAP
Adaire
Fox-Martin, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Global
Customer Operations
"SAP has been built on a legacy of
trust, empathy and transparency with our customers. As the industry
and customer requirements change, our legacy does not. Therefore,
after thoroughly reviewing our processes and practices around
Indirect Access – and based on extensive feedback from all
stakeholders – we are rolling out a new and modern engagement model
with our sales personnel that delivers industry-leading clarity. We
are set on building lifelong relationships with our customers and
we will continue to relentlessly innovate to ensure best business
outcomes for each one of them."
Christian Klein, COO and
Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Global Business
Operations
"We believe that especially in the age of digital
transformation, an adjustment was necessary after listening to our
customers. By offering a new pricing and licensing model, we
provide enhanced transparency, predictability and consistency to
our customers. I trust that these three aspects will encourage our
customers to continue to invest in digital business models."
Perspective: User Groups
Geoff Scott, CEO, Americas' SAP Users' Group
(ASUG)
"I commend SAP for entering into an open and
thoughtful dialog with its customers regarding licensing. We have
made tremendous progress on many important topics that we are
announcing today and providing additional details and insight in
the coming days. I am looking forward to hearing the feedback from
the community as we continue this important journey with SAP."
Andreas Oczko; Board Member
Operations, Service & Support; Deputy Chairman of the
Management Board; German-speaking SAP User Group (DSAG)
"The
reorganization of pricing model, sales, license audits and
compliance announced by SAP is the remarkable consequence of
intensive workshops and discussions with DSAG. With the help of the
SAP Executive Board, we developed a vision for indirect use in the
future and formulated the key data for a new licensing model. This
is an important first step toward removing stumbling blocks and
obstacles from the path of digital transformation. More will
follow. SAP and DSAG continue to work together on an unprecedented
pricing model for the Internet of Things."
Gianmaria Perancin, Chairman of SAP User Group Executive
Network (SUGEN) and the French-speaking SAP User Group
(USF)
"We applaud SAP for bringing to market this new model
that should bring transparency and simplicity to customers for
future SAP software use cases. There is further work to do to
demonstrate to customers that the new model will be cost-neutral
for their existing use cases. Customers need reassurance that if
they believed they were correctly licensed, due to factors such as
discussions or communication with SAP or ambiguous contract
clauses, they will not face new license costs."
Perspective: Industry Analysts
R "Ray" Wang, CEO,
Constellation Research
"Digital transformation has driven
every organization to rethink how they create business value for
their customers. As enterprises transform their business models
from selling products to services, services to experiences, and
experiences to outcomes, they evolve their pricing models.
Enterprise software vendors not only seek to modernize their
pricing to meet the shifts to outcomes-based pricing, but also must
find models to allow customers to stay the course, receive value
for their existing investments and convert to new business models
in a fair and equitable manner to their customers."
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applications and services enable more than 378,000 business and
public-sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously,
and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
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1 Direct/Human Access occurs when people log
on to use the SAP Digital Core by way of an interface delivered
with or as a part of the SAP software. Indirect/Digital
Access occurs when devices, bots, automated systems, etc.
directly access the Digital Core. It also occurs when
humans, or any device or systems indirectly use the Digital
Core via a non-SAP intermediary software, such as a non-SAP
front-end, a custom-solution, or a third-party application.
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