N 40.7128° W 74.0060° / SAP RISE Negotiation / IDX 2026.05 New York · London · Stockholm
Independent RISE Advisory
SAP RISE Negotiations
VER. 2026.05
DOC.ID / WP.01
STATUS / GATED
Home / White Papers / Seven Year TCO Modelling Framework for RISE
WP.01 / TCO Modelling

The seven year TCO modelling framework used in 500+ RISE with SAP engagements.

The RISE with SAP business case rarely survives an honest seven year cost model. SAP account teams present a three year subscription comparison against a static on premise baseline, and the math closes the deal. The buyer is left to discover the real cost curve after signature, by which point the leverage is gone.

This paper documents the seven year total cost of ownership framework the firm runs on every RISE engagement. It covers compute, storage, FUE entitlement structure, application support, hyperscaler reserved capacity, migration cost, change management, and exit cost. Each line is sourced independently and pressure tested against open market benchmarks. The framework has been applied across 500 plus deals and consistently moves the headline RISE figure between thirty and sixty eight percent below the first SAP proposal.

The paper is written for CIOs, CFOs, and SAP programme leads who are preparing for a RISE conversion, a RISE renewal, or a brownfield versus RISE decision. The intent is operational, not theoretical. Every step is one a buyer can run against a real proposal.

Format
Gartner Style
Length
3,500 words
Audience
CIO, CFO, PMO

What is inside the paper

  • The six cost categories that decompose every RISE proposal, with the SAP framing alongside the buyer side framing.
  • How to source each line independently, including the data sources and benchmarks the firm uses.
  • The FUE structure model, including recategorisation risk and the seven year drift pattern that erodes the headline pricing.
  • The hyperscaler pass through benchmark for AWS, Azure, and GCP, including the typical RISE mark up range.
  • Migration, change management, and exit cost lines that SAP rarely surfaces inside the proposal.
  • A worked example showing a real deal moving from $32M headline to $11.4M defensible value across the seven year horizon.
  • The board paper template the firm provides at the end of each engagement, ready to adapt to your own approval flow.

Where this work meets your contract.

If you are weeks away from a RISE signature, the SAP RISE negotiation services bench can engage inside seventy two hours. We work on retainer or fixed scope and we never sell software.

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