UKISUG helps drive the creation of the SAP Licensing Transparency Center to address members’ indirect licensing concerns

The UK & Ireland SAP User Group has today announced anonymised access to the Licensing Transparency Center for its members. For members concerned about how they are licensed for indirect use, the Licensing Transparency Center will enable them to submit anonymised use cases or scenarios via the User Group, and get feedback from SAP. This initiative has been driven through SUGEN (SAP User Group Executive Network).

Earlier this year at Sapphire Now, SAP announced it would be making changes relating to the indirect use of SAP systems. More recently, the company launched a whitepaper on Indirect Access; providing greater detail on how it is modernising pricing around three scenarios – Order to Cash, Procure to Pay and Static Read. However, many members still have questions regarding specific use cases or how indirect use of SAP is being interpreted. Members wanted to get answers without the fear SAP would automatically penalise them for being incorrectly licensed.

“The problem for most organisations is they have no idea whether they are correctly or incorrectly licensed. SAP’s Indirect Access whitepaper is a start and it is good to see some clarity around three of the most popular processes SAP supports, but it is by no means comprehensive. Despite SAP’s assurances it won’t ask for back maintenance payments from organisations that are under licensed, members have understandably been reluctant to speak with their account managers,” said Paul Cooper, chairman of the UK & Ireland SAP User Group. “We welcome the creation of the SAP Licensing Transparency Center and hope that it will allow our members to more openly seek clarification from SAP regarding their indirect licensing position. Licensing remains an incredibly complex topic, so it is imperative that SAP provides as much information and education to customers as possible, with working examples that they can clearly understand.”

The level of feedback from SAP will depend on the level of information provided by members. As this is anonymous, the responses from SAP will be generic.

“Although members will only get generic responses to their anonymised questions, from the first couple of enquiries we have submitted, the input has certainly been useful,” concluded Cooper.

For member organisations looking to submit anonymised use cases or scenarios, please contact the User Group at support@sapusers.org