SAP`s standard licensing model consists of two components: software licenses and associated maintenance and support services. As mentioned earlier, most SAP software licenses are perpetual, which means you have the right to use them permanently. To gain the right to use the SAP license, customers need both package licenses and named user licenses to ensure compliance. Here are the definitions for each license metric: Organizations often begin to look for a viable classification method by considering the classification of their users based on their “static” permissions. In fact, this means that if a user is allowed to perform certain activities, they will be classified accordingly, even if they have never actually performed those activities. Organizations tend to abandon this method rather quickly because it is based on the assumption that users use 100% of their permissions, when in fact, less than 10% of “static” permissions are actually used in most organizations. After realizing that this method does not provide accurate results, they look for ways to classify users based on the actual use of permissions, i.e. “dynamic” or “de facto” permissions. Below are summaries of three of the most popular usage-based classification methods developed by customers. In addition to usage data, the tool must also be able to process information and, in some cases, individual provisions of license agreements.
This includes permissions and usage rights. It must be possible to save contract data in Customizing in order to form a framework for the efficient management of named user licenses. Although this classification process seems simple, in practice there are several grey areas. For example, if you classify users based on their activity, a user can use the corporate phone book in the SAP system 1,000 times, but that doesn`t mean they need a Professional license. Or suppose an employee accesses multiple systems, but only to generate reports. According to the second classification, this user would be entitled to a limited professional license, while an employee license would most likely suffice, since the user is only viewing and downloading data. Companies often access data from an SAP system indirectly, i.e. via third-party applications or online shops. If SAP data is accessed, created, or modified externally without an SAP user license, this is usually indirect access. Even if the imported SAP data is then used exclusively in the third-party application, it must be checked in each individual case how this use is agreed with SAP. In the past, there was no clear rule; Instead, individual settlements were often agreed, which were recorded in individual SAP contracts.
Often, however, indirect access is not negotiated at all and simply realized. Such activities can result in significant additional payments during an SAP audit. SAP contract in case of overlicensing, this leads to unnecessary expenses for annual maintenance. Relevant savings potentials are recognized when a customer unnecessarily assigns the most expensive license types to its users. Making the most of SAP licensing is a tough challenge. Due to the licensing structure and the SAP licensing process, most (large) companies acquire their licenses for the next few years. You plan ahead. To optimize SAP licensing, there must be a sufficient tool in place to determine which SAP users they have and what aspects of SAP they use. This facilitates the overall management of SAP licenses and also ensures that there are no additional expenses for SAP licenses. It is important to remember that even if SAP buys a number of organizations that create their own applications, the original application license format may remain the same and not be moved to the SAP named user license structure.
SAP licenses are based on named users. Customers purchase different types of “named users” from SAP, such as: Professional Named Users, Limited Professional Named Users, Employee Named Users, etc. Each “named user” can be assigned a real username at any time. This means that during the specified period, if, for example, you have purchased 50 Professional usernames from SAP, you must not exceed the maximum of 50 usernames defined as Professional in your system. Note that you can change the user name(s) associated with a “named user” if, for example, the user has left the company or changed their license type. The SAP definitions of user/license types, which are quite vague, are confusing, as you can see in the following short versions of the definitions of the three most popular SAP license types: This licensing guide is an updated version of the manual we published in 2010. Although SAP licensing has not changed much, there are still aspects that have been updated that SAP users should be aware of. Most companies often lack processes or means to determine exactly how many licenses they have and how many are needed. In complex SAP environments, there is almost always a gap between license inventory and licensing requirements. The following two manifestations occur: 1) Too many named user licenses and/or too expensive. User classification based on this method is short-lived because it is based on the fact that the organization believes that its users are using 100% of all their permissions, although they are likely to use 10% or less.
This method is clearly not the best way to identify and classify users, which means that it is not the best way to manage SAP licenses. The use of the previously mentioned methods is much more effective. To learn more about SAP software license management, read our complete guide to 5 Easy Ways to Reduce Your SAP Licensing Expenses. With more than 3,000 products, 24 types of user licenses, and 100 engine metrics, SAP software licenses are highly complex. As a result, many companies struggle to align their license inventory with their actual licensing needs. This often leads to over-licensing and overspending on SAP applications. SAP system measurement tools are not useful here because they only display license consumption and are not used to optimize license selection or reduce costs. One-time measure: The customer agrees with SAP to use a certain set of products and can install the required quantity. The price of licenses is based on a single metric, such as revenue or number of users. As revenue or the number of users increases, SAP costs also increase proportionately.