Choosing the right RISE With SAP or GROW with SAP package for you or your customer’s business is the most important decision in the implementation process. Whether you have S/4HANA in use already, looking to implement S/4HANA, or a completely new (greenfield) ERP system, there are many options, add-ons and extra services.
Every business is different, so SAP has a wide variety of options and extra services available for each potential customer. Before even approaching an SAP Services Consultancy it is necessary to know the full range of options provided by SAP. Bear in mind that these options may change as new products become available, and as the relationship between SAP and its partners and customers evolves.
The whole purpose of an ERP system is to facilitate business processes so that the business becomes more transparent, efficient, and can scale with agility when the business needs to expand, with the eventually goal of maximizing the potential revenue of the company.
Sometimes the fundamentals get lost, particularly in the sales process which tends to emphasis the benefits of all products and services. Having a clearly defined set of requirements from the final SAP system is important for avoiding scope creep, which can result in vastly inflated and unnecessary IT budgets for the company.
So the choice of the right SAP system should always start from the business point of view.
It may be that the business only requires or prefers S/4HANA in some form and has no need for the packaged services included with RISE, or GROW with SAP.
IT Budget: Having a clearly defined budget for the initial outlay and for ongoing services and maintenance prior to the implementation will help to minimize IT spend over the long term. The total cost of ownership of an SAP system is difficult to assess until the exact solution package is decided upon, but executives from the finance department should be involved at the planning stage so they can understand how the overall spend will result in a return on investment.
Cloud, On Premise or Hybrid: This is an important decision to make right at the start because this determines where the business’s data resides. SAP is encouraging the majority of its customers to adopt cloud services but some industry commentators have concluded that many businesses will need hybrid deployments, if not on premise systems. A key issue is the level of control the business has over its data, and also ensuring data practices are compliant with regional data protection legislation.
Greenfield or Brownfield: The business might need an entirely new SAP system, in which case it would be a greenfield implementation, or it may be an existing SAP customer running other non-SAP systems as well: requiring a Brownfield approach to integrate the existing systems.
Software-as-a-Service: Does the business require the S/4HANA database, or does it also need related products and services to get the most value out of that data?
Is there a high level of complexity? Larger businesses will have their own requirements which may influence decisions like whether the system is on premise or cloud-based. They may require extensions, or other software services and support: in which case they may prefer an SAP Services Provider to implement RISE with SAP Advanced or a similar solution.
Alternatively, they may have their own extremely competent SAP IT team in-house who can deal with the implementation, as well as the daily administration of the system.
It is crucial to ensure that the resulting system is fit for purpose, future-proof, and scalable so that the system can meet the future needs of the business.
All editions of RISE with SAP include S/4HANA cloud, but some companies may only need S/4HANA in some form. Before we get into discussing the various editions of RISE with SAP, here are the types of S/4HANA deployment.
S/4HANA On Premise
S/4HANA on premise can be installed and operated on the customer’s own premises. It is a comprehensive ERP system that can include finance, supply chain management, customer relationship management, human capital management, manufacturing and project management and analytics.
Some SAP customers prefer on premise because it is highly scalable and secure. It gives SAP customers the greatest control over their ERP system with extensions. However, the implementation cost can be comparatively high, and each deployment will need extremely experienced IT professionals to administer to it. This form of deployment will inevitably need further updating over time.
S/4HANA Cloud
S/4HANA Cloud replicates most of the functionality of S/4HANA on premise, but with additional features and benefits which are made possible with cloud-based software and infrastructure.
Compared with on premise the added value of S/4HANA cloud includes: a lower initial cost and predictable subscription fees, no IT spend on hardware, software, and dedicated in-house IT professionals, a system that is managed by SAP with regular updates and security patches, and a high degree of scalability to meet expanding requirements.
With cloud deployment comes less control over the system and less ability to customize the system, but SAP addresses this with pre-built components and services that are guaranteed to be compatible.
S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition
S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition services are delivered over a network that is open for public usage in a shared environment by the provider, which creates better efficiency, and affordability for SAP customers.
Key features of the edition are real-time data transparency, intelligent automation, integrated analytics and access from any device.
S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and Extended Edition
In SAP S/4HANA Cloud private edition, services are maintained on a private network protected by a firewall.
Customers can choose to run the solution in a private cloud environment within a data center run by SAP, or use one of SAP’s partner Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers: AWS, Azure, GCP, or Alibaba Cloud.
Private clouds offer more security and control in a cloud deployment, but still not as much as on premise. It is a good compromise for some businesses who want to take advantage of cloud technology and the associated benefits, but who still need to maintain as much control over their data as possible in a dedicated single-tenant environment.
For those organizations that need the optimum level of customization in a cloud environment SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Extended Edition provides additional capabilities for customers that require specific functionality, broader extensions, and deeper configuration capabilities.
Until recently, most SAP customers were aware of the need to migrate their processes to the cloud and expressed an intention of doing so, but had yet to begin the process despite approaching support deadlines for legacy SAP products.
SAP released RISE with SAP in order to accelerate cloud adoption. RISE with SAP is a combination of products and services which together can be viewed as business transformation-as-a-service.
An instance of RISE with SAP typically includes a core of cloud ERP, centered on S/4HANA Cloud with embedded services and tools, a business process intelligence starter pack, access to the Business Technology Platform and credits, and an SAP Business Network starter pack.
Editions of RISE with SAP vary according to what type of S/4HANA edition is included and what extra services are added.
SAP’s Activate methodology can be used to guide the initial stages of the implementation to accelerate the adoption process and more clearly define the project, helping the customer to select the specific edition.
RISE With SAP Public Cloud
The Public Cloud Edition is the most standardized RISE with SAP offering so customization is very limited. This edition of RISE would be best for smaller businesses with business processes of lower complexity, or for primarily on premise customers needing a public cloud instance of SAP ERP for a portion of their business operations.
SAP best practice processes are used in this model, which is typically used in a greenfield approach and includes the core of SAP S/4HANA public cloud and the use of business process intelligence and SAP BTP, as well as other services like the SAP Business Network.
There are four upgrades a year as standard, with test automation tools included. This means that a release change will cause the bare minimum of disruption. Each release contains new innovations, covers new geographical regions, or new lines of business, so the functionality and value to the customer is constantly evolving.
While this edition is limited compared with other version of RISE it has the lowest total cost of ownership.
RISE with SAP Private Cloud
RISE with SAP Private Cloud offers customers the choice of a term of up to 60 months, during which an upgrade to a newer S/4HANA version is mandatory (once in 5 years). Both a brownfield and a greenfield approach are suitable as a conversion strategy.
This private cloud version of RISE and S/4HANA can be operated like an on-premise or any-premise system, which means an easier upgrade for customers with lots of customizations in their existing system. The enhancements are compatible with S/4HANA but can continue to be operated so a high process variance and high flexibility in extensibility are possible.
RISE with SAP Essential
RISE with SAP Essential includes SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Cloud-based analytics, and Transformation services.
This option is ideal for businesses that want to migrate their business processes to the cloud quickly and easily with minimal disruption. The subscription-based model makes it easy to manage costs, and the cloud-based analytics provide businesses with insights into their data that can help them make better strategic decisions. The transformation services can help businesses get the most out of SAP S/4HANA Cloud and implement new business processes.
RISE with SAP Essential Plus
RISE with SAP Essential Plus is a more comprehensive offering including all of the features and services of RISE with SAP Essential, and also SAP SuccessFactors Human Capital Management, and SAP Ariba Spend Management.
This option is ideal for businesses that want to transform their operations and achieve a competitive advantage with end-to-end integration across all common areas of business operations. SAP SuccessFactors HCM provides businesses with a suite of tools to manage their employees, and SAP Ariba Spend Management helps businesses manage their spend.
RISE with SAP Advanced
RISE with SAP Advanced is the most comprehensive offering that includes the following: All of the features and services of RISE with SAP Essential Plus, and also SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, and SAP Customer Data Cloud.
This option would suit larger or more complex businesses that need a fully integrated solution to manage their entire operations. With SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation this edition gives businesses a suite of tools to plan and forecast their financial performance, and SAP Customer Data Cloud helps businesses manage their customer data.
In addition to these three subscription-based offerings, SAP also offers other options for businesses to adopt SAP RISE with SAP. These options include:
On-premises RISE with SAP
On-premises RISE with SAP is a self-managed option that allows businesses to deploy SAP S/4HANA Cloud on their own infrastructure. This option is ideal for businesses that want to retain control over their data and IT environment.
Managed RISE with SAP
Managed RISE with SAP is a fully managed option that allows businesses to outsource the deployment and management of SAP S/4HANA Cloud to SAP themselves This option is ideal for businesses that do not have the resources or expertise to manage SAP S/4HANA Cloud and want to ensure disruption-free operations.
GROW with SAP is a transformation-as-a-service for small to medium businesses with less ERP requirements than RISE with SAP Essential Edition.
It is a full ERP solution with added services to facilitate and accelerate the implementation process, based around SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. Like the Managed RISE with SAP option, it is hosted and managed by SAP so there is no requirement for the business to employ IT staff who specialize in SAP administration.
During adoption SAP allocates a team to help plan and manage the implementation project and a team of experts to configure the solution and provide training and support during the implementation.
GROW with SAP provides faster time to value so that smaller businesses can benefit from cloud ERP as soon as possible.
GROW with SAP has the lowest total cost of ownership and can help businesses reduce their IT costs by moving to a subscription-based model, and by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain on-premises hardware and software, as well as for staff to deal with the IT workload.
It is an excellent option for start-ups who need to be agile and scale their processes according to expanding demand on their services. It is the most cost effective way to take advantage of cloud ERP and associated benefits.
GROW with SAP is also hosted on a secure cloud platform, which means businesses protect their data and comply with data regulations.
Since the introduction of RISE with SAP, the number of editions has expanded to the point where all potential business scenarios are covered, so if you are looking to adopt RISE or GROW with SAP you can be sure that one of the options above with be perfect for your needs.
It is important to understand all the options available as a first step to selecting the correct edition.
If you are expecting to upgrade to RISE in the next few months then take some time to research each option in depth.
When you have a clear view of your current ERP system and where you want to get to, the solution selection process will be much easier, and at that point you can begin working in consultation with an SAP services provider to bring the vision of your perfect SAP system to reality.
If you are considering adoption of any of the editions of RISE with SAP or GROW with SAP, our team of dedicated recruitment consultants can source highly experienced SAP professionals from our exclusive network. Get in touch and we will meet your SAP talent requirements.
