Explore the Secrets of SAP Digital Access Licensing

• SAP’s licensing rules surrounding use and indirect access are vague, making it extremely difficult to purchase with confidence and remain compliant.
• SAP has released nine document-type licenses that can be used in digital access licensing scenarios, but this model has its own challenges.
• Whether you decide to remain “as is” or proactively change licensing over to the document model, either option can be costly and confusing.
• Indirect static read can be a cause of noncompliance when data is exported but the processing capability of SAP ERP is used in real time.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

• Examine all indirect access possibilities. Understanding how in-house or third-party applications may be accessing and utilizing the SAP digital core is critical to be able to correctly address issues.
• Know what’s in your contract. Each customer agreement is different, and older agreements may provide both benefits and challenges when evaluating your SAP license position.
• Understand the intricacies of document licensing. While it may seem digital access licensing will solve compliance concerns, there are still questions to address and challenges SAP must resolve.

Impact and Result

• Conduct an internal analysis to examine where digital access licensing may be needed to mitigate risk, as SAP will be speaking with all customers in due course. Indirect access can be a costly audit settlement.
• Conduct an analysis to remove inactive and duplicate users, as multiple logins may exist and could end up costing the organization license fees when audited.
• Adopt a cyclical approach to reviewing your SAP licensing and create a reference document to track your software needs, planned licensing, and purchase negotiation points.
• Learn the SAP way of conducting business, which includes a best-in-class sales structure and unique contracts and license use policies, combined with a hyper-aggressive compliance function. Conducting business with SAP is not a typical vendor experience, and you will need different tools to emerge successfully from a commercial transaction.