With RISE with SAP, SAP aims to make it easier for its existing customers to transition to SAP Business Suite. RISE with SAP accompanies and supports companies in their individual cloud transformation.
What advantages does the RISE with SAP methodology offer, what elements does it comprise, how does it fit into the SAP portfolio, and who is RISE with SAP intended for? Answers to these and other questions can be found in this wiki article on RISE with SAP.
When SAP first introduced RISE with SAP in 2021, the term still stood for a solution offering consisting of software and support products, platform and technical operation.
The subscription package, based on a service level agreement (SLA), bundled these various components into a single package at a uniform price. SAP therefore also referred to it as "business transformation as a service".
When purchasing RISE with SAP, SAP customers always opted for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private as their target platform.
In spring 2025, the definition of RISE with SAP changed fundamentally. This is related to the introduction of the new Business Suite.
Since the beginning of 2025, RISE with SAP is no longer a solution offering, but describes a methodology for migrating SAP customers from an SAP on-premises system to the SAP Business Suite.
RISE no longer defines the package or the customer's target platform, but describes the path to get there.
For SAP customers, RISE with SAP is now the starting point for the journey to the new SAP Business Suite. The methodology determines, without prejudice to the outcome, whether the customer will migrate to SAP Cloud ERP Private or SAP Cloud ERP (Public Cloud).
The RISE with SAP methodology comprises
These three main components are designed to make the path to the new SAP Business Suite (and thus also to the SAP Cloud) more structured and less risky for existing customers. They are also intended to make the decision between SAP Cloud ERP Private and SAP Cloud ERP easier.
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The biggest advantage of RISE with SAP is that companies do not have to tackle their cloud transformation project on their own, but are guided and supported. This reduces the risks of an IT project of this magnitude and ensures that the transition can be implemented as smoothly as possible.
The methodology is based on best practices from numerous successful cloud implementations. It covers all steps from the initial process assessment to go-live and beyond. These proven measures make the path to the cloud both safer and more transparent.
With RISE with SAP, existing SAP customers receive a transformation framework with clear tasks and associated KPIs tailored to their specific company. This structure helps SAP customers identify important milestones in their day-to-day project work and keep their eyes on the goal.
RISE with SAP comprises three core components.
The first core component is the standardised transformation framework.
The transformation framework is based on SAP Activate and is divided into six phases: Discover, Prepare, Explore, Realise, Deploy, and Run.
The transformation framework is designed for continuous innovation and helps project teams to be open to the latest technological developments. This includes, for example, the use of SAP AI functions.
The second core component of RISE with SAP is the integrated SAP tools.
These tools are designed to make the transition to the Business Suite more efficient and collaborative. They cover four areas of everyday project work: users, processes, applications, and data.
The integrated toolchain includes SAP solutions such as
The third core component is support from SAP experts.
In addition to support from the SAP partner chosen by the SAP customer for the transformation, the RISE with SAP methodology also includes support from SAP specialists, for example with onboarding and feedback on important project milestones.
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RISE with SAP is inextricably linked to SAP's strategic shift to becoming a cloud company – and thus also to SAP S/4HANA Cloud. However, RISE with SAP is not purely a cloud solution.
The offering is designed in particular to help companies make the transition to the cloud with a whole range of innovations and solutions.
However, RISE with SAP is not mandatory in order to use SAP's cloud solutions. Solutions such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition are also available to companies "without RISE".
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With RISE with SAP, SAP supports existing customers in their transformation to intelligent enterprises and on their journey to the cloud.
RISE with SAP is therefore inconceivable without the cloud, but it includes frameworks and tools whose benefits extend beyond the actual cloud transformation, such as solutions for process optimisation or AI use cases and tools for increasing transparency.
In short, the SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP system is a core element of the RISE with SAP objective. Those who use RISE with SAP also choose the SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
The path to SAP S/4HANA Cloud is still possible without RISE with SAP. This applies to both SAP/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition.
Which path is best suited for a company and whether RISE with SAP is always worthwhile must be examined on a case-by-case basis.
However, since RISE with SAP simplifies the transition to the cloud, reduces project-related risks and creates structure, this path is likely to be the first choice for many customers today.
HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC) (also known as SAP S/4HANA On-Premise managed by SAP) was launched in 2013. It is no longer relevant today.
HEC was an infrastructure-as-a-service solution or private cloud solution.
RISE with SAP cannot be compared to HEC because the offering goes far beyond the provision of a pure cloud infrastructure.
For some companies, HANA Enterprise Cloud was their entry point into the world of the cloud. RISE with SAP is now the logical alignment of all business models and business processes with the cloud.
With RISE with SAP, companies can also decide which hyperscaler they want to use to operate their infrastructure. The choices are Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, IBM and SAP (Alibaba Cloud only in Asia).
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RISE with SAP has been developed for existing SAP customers – regardless of the size of the company, the industry or the starting point of their own transformation.
The offer is available:
Any company that is planning to implement SAP S/4HANA should not only consider technical issues and technology, but also think about its strategy, costs and risks.
The technical conversion of an existing system to SAP S/4HANA requires – if the system is not already running on SAP HANA – migration to the SAP HANA in-memory database, the installation of new and simplified codes, and further adjustments.
The switch from an SAP ECC system (SAP ERP 6.0) to RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud consists of three steps. The redesign is based on SAP Best Practices – and thus on decades of experience from a large number of companies that have contributed to the development of SAP solutions.
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Since early 2025, RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP have been methodologies developed by SAP.
Both methodologies are designed to facilitate the introduction of SAP cloud solutions and simplify the digital transformation of companies.
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