Kurumsal Finans ve Strateji Rehberi | Finance & Strategy Insights

Introduction: Reinventing Enterprise Agility

In an era defined by volatility, uncertainty, and accelerated digitalization, enterprises are rethinking the foundations of their operations. Traditional ERP systems—rigid, costly, and slow to evolve—can no longer sustain the pace of innovation.

Enter RISE with SAP, a unified business transformation offering launched in 2021 to help organizations shift from legacy systems to an intelligent, cloud-driven enterprise model. With its “One Offer, One Contract” framework, RISE with SAP redefines ERP modernization—simplifying complexity while empowering continuous innovation.

1. What Is RISE with SAP?

RISE with SAP is not merely an ERP migration program. It is a comprehensive business transformation-as-a-service (BTaaS) model that bundles cloud infrastructure, technical services, and intelligent tools under one subscription.

It enables companies running on SAP ECC or on-premise ERP systems to transition seamlessly to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, supported by automation, analytics, and process intelligence.

At its core, RISE with SAP embodies three principles: simplicity, flexibility, and acceleration.

2. Core Components of RISE with SAP

a. SAP S/4HANA Cloud – The Digital Core

At the heart of RISE with SAP lies SAP S/4HANA Cloud, offered in two main editions:

• Public Cloud Edition – A standardized, multi-tenant deployment with rapid implementation, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), and automatic upgrades. Ideal for mid-sized or fast-scaling organizations.
• Private Cloud Edition – A single-tenant model designed for large enterprises requiring customization, advanced integrations, and greater control.

By 2025, SAP restructured its cloud ERP packaging to make it modular and industry-specific—offering a “Private Edition, Cloud ERP” model that aligns with clean-core architecture principles.

b. SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP)

BTP is the innovation backbone of RISE with SAP. It delivers:

• Data and integration services – Unifying siloed systems into a single source of truth
• Low-code/no-code development – Empowering business users to build extensions efficiently
• AI and machine learning capabilities – Transforming data into predictive insights
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – Eliminating repetitive manual tasks

RISE with SAP includes BTP consumption credits, allowing organizations to innovate without immediate additional cost.

c. SAP Signavio Business Process Transformation Suite

With SAP Signavio, organizations can visualize, analyze, and optimize business processes using process mining and modeling.

The suite identifies bottlenecks, uncovers inefficiencies, and helps realign operations with best practices.
This data-driven visibility enables CFOs and COOs to make transformation decisions with measurable ROI.

d. Joule – The AI Copilot for Enterprise Users

Launched in 2025, Joule integrates directly into the SAP ecosystem, acting as a generative AI assistant.
It contextualizes business data, automates workflows, and surfaces insights from SAP S/4HANA, SuccessFactors, Ariba, and external systems.

The new Action Bar feature brings natural-language interactions into daily workflows—turning intelligence into immediate execution.

e. SAP Business Network and Supply Chain Intelligence

RISE with SAP extends collaboration across the supply chain through the SAP Business Network, integrating solutions like Ariba (procurement), Taulia (working capital optimization), and SAP Logistics Business Network.

This networked approach enhances transparency, cash flow management, and supplier resilience.

3. Clean Core Philosophy: The Foundation of Sustainable Transformation

The Clean Core approach ensures ERP systems remain lean, upgradeable, and innovation-ready.

Its dimensions include:

1. Software Stack Discipline: Minimize custom code, use standard SAP extensions.
2. Process Integrity: Adopt SAP’s industry best practices to reduce process variance.
3. Extensibility via BTP: Build side-by-side innovations without contaminating the core.
4. Integration: Leverage standard APIs (OData, SOAP, event-driven).
5. Data Governance: Maintain a single source of truth through SAP Master Data Governance.
6. Operations Excellence: Embed governance and automation across IT operations.

Result: Faster upgrades, reduced TCO, and higher system performance.

For instance, Versuni (formerly Philips Domestic Appliances) migrated 3,500 processes across 55 countries in just 18 months with RISE with SAP, achieving measurable process efficiency gains.

4. RISE Methodology: The Six-Step Path to Cloud Success

SAP guides clients through a structured journey:

1. Discover: Assess systems and business goals.
2. Prepare: Engage onboarding consultants and define a clean core roadmap.
3. Explore: Analyze processes using Signavio and design optimized workflows.
4. Realize: Configure, test, and validate solutions.
5. Deploy: Execute data migration and go-live.
6. Run: Continuously optimize using built-in analytics and AI.

Each stage includes Quality Gates—ensuring compliance with clean core and transformation KPIs.

5. Infrastructure and Hyperscaler Choice

RISE with SAP offers flexibility across hyperscalers:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) – Global reach and elasticity
• Microsoft Azure – Seamless Microsoft integration
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP) – Strong analytics and AI tooling
• IBM Power Virtual Server – Designed for IBM Power-based customers, enabling rapid migration within 90 days

This multi-cloud strategy mitigates vendor lock-in and allows cost-performance optimization.

6. Strategic Advantages for Business Leaders

a. Predictable Economics

Subscription-based pricing replaces unpredictable on-premise CAPEX with transparent OPEX.

Companies like Delta Light achieved nearly 100% data accuracy and a 20% lower total cost of ownership after adopting RISE with SAP.

b. Accelerated Innovation

Continuous updates ensure businesses always run on the latest SAP S/4HANA release—without downtime.

c. Enhanced Security and Compliance

SAP’s managed cloud delivers real-time security patches, encryption, and compliance management—vital in an environment where global data breaches cost an average of $4.9 million per incident in 2024.

d. Productivity and Agility

Mahindra & Mahindra reported a 35% boost in developer productivity and 20% faster order processing post-migration.

e. ESG and Sustainability Integration

RISE supports ESG reporting and carbon tracking, as seen with Salzgitter AG, which leveraged SAP RISE to streamline operations across 150 subsidiaries while advancing decarbonization goals.

7. Key Considerations Before Adopting RISE with SAP

1. Implementation Ownership: Customers remain responsible for migration execution.
2. Optionality: RISE is a pathway, not an obligation; S/4HANA can still be deployed on-premise or via direct cloud hosting.
3. Package Evaluation: Understand each component’s relevance to avoid over-licensing.
4. AI and Advanced Analytics: Some premium AI features may require additional licensing.

8. Best Practices for a Successful RISE Transformation

1. Conduct a Holistic Readiness Assessment
   Identify critical customizations and evaluate their necessity.
2. Adopt Clean Core Principles Early
   Keep extensions modular and manageable via SAP BTP.
3. Partner with Certified Experts
   Engage RISE with SAP Validated Partners to ensure implementation consistency and compliance.
4. Prioritize Change Management
   Transformation succeeds only when people and culture align with new systems.
5. Take a Phased Approach
   Pilot → Learn → Scale. Gradual adoption ensures stability and user confidence.
6. Foster a Continuous Improvement Mindset
   Treat RISE as an ongoing evolution, not a one-time project.

9. The Road Ahead: RISE in 2025 and Beyond

SAP is investing heavily in AI and modularity.

Upcoming enhancements include:

• Unified Business Suite Integration: Linking data, AI, and applications seamlessly across business domains.
• Private Edition Transition Option (2025-Q2): Supporting complex ECC-to-cloud migrations through extended timelines (up to 2033 for large enterprises).
• AI-driven Support Services: Predictive issue detection and automated optimization via SAP MaxAttention AI.

Conclusion: RISE with SAP as a Strategic Imperative

RISE with SAP is more than a cloud transition—it is a strategic framework for enterprise resilience, agility, and innovation.

By consolidating ERP, infrastructure, and transformation tools into a unified subscription, it empowers organizations to focus on outcomes rather than operations.

For finance and business leaders, RISE with SAP offers a tangible path to reduce risk, optimize cost, and embed sustainability into core business strategy.

As the 2030 ECC support sunset approaches, RISE with SAP stands as the most structured, secure, and value-driven path forward—a true reinvention of how enterprises transform in the digital age.