SAP TCO Archives - Innovate. Integrate. Transform. Run.

SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 1
SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 1

SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 1

By Bill Wood|November 26th, 2012|

Many SAP customer license contracts contain either a direct or an indirect reference to SAP’s third party usage licensing requirements. That requirement is referred to as “indirect usage” and carries a hefty potential financial penalty. The basic idea is that if you use any non-SAP system to access SAP data, the user of that external system must acquire an SAP Named User License. I understand SAP's argument that if you use portions of the SAP software (BAPIs, RFCs, Function Modules, etc.), you [...]

Untangle SAP Software Licensing
Untangle SAP Software Licensing

Untangle SAP Software Licensing

By Bill Wood|July 9th, 2012|

A while back, I read a self-serving post on LinkedIn from a company that promoted how “wonderful” Oracle is for having a public price list, and how terrible it is that SAP and others do not. The main complaint was that SAP lacks transparency. However, while SAP does not publicly publish a price list, the company does have a pricing structure that is regularly updated and quite thorough. Additionally, the post failed to mention Oracle sales tactics. The company virtually gives their software awa [...]

SAP Landscape Consolidation
SAP Landscape Consolidation

SAP Landscape Consolidation

By Bill Wood|February 13th, 2012|

For any number of reasons, many companies that run SAP end up with fragmented and piecemeal landscapes. This problem happens for many reasons: roll-outs, independent Business Units, mergers and acquisitions, immature software procurement processes, lack of a Software Asset Management program, etc. The results can leave your SAP application and business solution looking like someone set off an explosion with scattered pieces everywhere. More and more, I am seeing companies work to consolidate on [...]

Key Design Considerations for SAP Reimplementation
Key Design Considerations for SAP Reimplementation

Key Design Considerations for SAP Reimplementation

By Bill Wood|February 6th, 2012|

Whether you are doing a single instance reimplementation, a system consolidation, or an upgrade rollout, you will to blueprint the differences between your current state and what needs to change for your future state. Depending on your SAP reimplementation approach, you should make several key considerations in the SAP reimplementation blueprint. All three approaches require a few key steps: Rationalize your landscape, Consolidate your functionality scope, Eva [...]

Where Does SAP Offshore Development Make Sense?
Where Does SAP Offshore Development Make Sense?

Where Does SAP Offshore Development Make Sense?

By Bill Wood|October 10th, 2011|

If you are capable of providing detailed design specs without any deviation or thought required, offshore development is a great option. The instant your SAP design requires a measure of experience and insight to make judgment calls, or to look for data or processing that is not explicitly spelled out in detail, you are headed for huge hidden costs. The level of detailed spec design work by SAP functional consultants merely shifts the development time and costs to the higher-priced resources th [...]

Hidden SAP Offshore Development Costs
Hidden SAP Offshore Development Costs

Hidden SAP Offshore Development Costs

By Bill Wood|October 3rd, 2011|

My experience with SAP offshore developers is that no matter how detailed your spec, their lack of experience with standard SAP transactions and functionality prevents them from properly testing their own creations. Their results are more than just full of bugs; oftentimes, the system crashes when attempting to do even basic testing. Repeat testing by expensive functional resources happens so frequently and consumes so much hidden time from parallel project activities that entire project timeli [...]