As the clock ticks toward SAP’s 2027 deadline for ending mainstream support for SAP ERP 6.0, CIOs and IT leaders worldwide are faced with a critical question: How should they transition to SAP S/4HANA?
SAP now offers two options for that journey. One is the traditional model: deploy SAP S/4HANA on a hyperscaler, such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, and manage the entire stack internally or through a service provider. The other is RISE with SAP, which provides a bundled, SAP-managed offering on a private cloud.
Choosing between these models is not just a technical decision but a strategic one. Each path presents different trade-offs around speed, control, cost, and complexity. This paper explores those trade-offs to guide CIOs and IT leaders on the path forward. But first, let us explore the common challenges enterprises face during the SAP S/4HANA transition.
Challenges with SAP S/4HANA Deployment on Private Cloud
The flexibility of deploying SAP on the private cloud has made it the preferred path for many enterprises seeking control and customization. However, flexibility comes at a cost.
When organizations manage SAP S/4HANA directly on a hyperscaler, they are responsible for coordinating infrastructure provisioning, ensuring security compliance, monitoring performance, and overseeing updates. This model gives them more choices but also brings more complexity.
As noted in Avasant’s Hybrid Enterprise Cloud Services 2024–2025 Market Insights, 86% of enterprises cited operational complexity as the top challenge in managing multicloud and hybrid workloads. This reflects the overhead of fragmented tooling, inconsistent governance, and the need to coordinate across multiple vendors and environments.
Figure 1: Top implementation challenges faced by enterprises in hybrid and multicloud management
This complexity can slow transformation projects, increase IT burden, and create gaps in ERP platform reliability.
RISE with SAP was designed as a response to these challenges. By shifting the operational burden to SAP and its partners, it gives CIOs a simpler way to modernize ERP systems.
The managed infrastructure eliminates the need to coordinate with a separate cloud vendor. SAP handles updates, patches, monitoring, and compliance, giving customers more time to focus on business process transformation. With embedded tools such as Signavio and SAP BTP, enterprises can analyze workflows and build extensions without modifying the ERP core.
What is RISE with SAP?
RISE with SAP is SAP’s flagship business transformation-as-a-service offering. It wraps software, infrastructure, and services into one subscription contract, simplifying the move to S/4HANA Cloud. Customers can choose from major hyperscalers for hosting, but SAP manages the provisioning, monitoring, patching, and technical upgrades.
At its core, RISE with SAP includes the following:
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- SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition: This is the main ERP engine, designed to enable standardization while allowing for flexibility for extensions.
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- SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP): This is a central platform for analytics, automation, and custom development that avoids modifying core ERP code.
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- SAP Business Network Starter Pack: It offers basic access to SAP’s supplier, logistics, and asset collaboration networks.
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- Process intelligence and migration tools: Through SAP Signavio, customers gain visibility into current processes and areas for improvement.
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- Technical and life cycle services: SAP handles infrastructure operations, security, and service-level management.
All of this is governed through a single contract, which makes SAP the primary accountability partner for both infrastructure and software.
Case in Action: Embecta’s Rapid ERP Separation with RISE with SAP
Following its spin-off from BD in 2022, embecta, a global provider of insulin-delivery devices, needed to rapidly establish a standalone IT landscape without disrupting product availability. The company selected RISE with SAP to accelerate the separation, citing the need for stability, speed, and minimal operational risk.
RISE with SAP enabled embecta to deploy SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition as its core ERP, supported by SAP Business Technology Platform for integration and analytics. This bundled model allowed embecta to transition to a global, cloud-based architecture while offloading infrastructure and system operations to SAP. As a result, the internal IT team could prioritize business enablement rather than technical maintenance.
The company adopted a clean core approach, minimizing customization and accelerating rollout across regions. Within two years, about 93% of embecta’s business operations were running on the new platform. Integrated analytics provided real-time visibility into order and fulfilment cycles, enhancing operational agility.
RISE with SAP played a critical role in ensuring embecta’s smooth separation while laying the groundwork for scalable growth and future innovation.
Considering the Trade-offs
Like any managed service model, RISE with SAP offers simplicity but involves trade-offs that should be carefully considered. The table below compares two models across critical aspects that are important to consider for making a choice.
| Aspect | RISE with SAP | Self-managed workload on private cloud |
| Vendor control | SAP manages infrastructure and services | The customer manages contracts and system operations |
| Customization | Limited customization; encourages a clean core approach | Full flexibility to modify and integrate systems |
| Upgrade management | Offers SAP-driven schedules | The customer defines the upgrade timing and scope |
| Cost visibility | Offers bundled pricing, with less transparency | Detailed cost tracking by service component |
| Security and compliance | SAP handles governance | The customer assumes compliance responsibility |
| IT skill requirements | Lower skill requirement—SAP handles technical operations | Higher skill requirement—it needs cloud, SAP Basis, and integration expertise |
| Innovation access | BTP and Signavio tools are included | Optional access—tools must be deployed and integrated separately |
Table 1: Comparison of RISE with SAP and traditional private cloud deployment model
While RISE with SAP offers significant operational benefits, it is important for enterprises to assess certain structural limitations that may impact long-term flexibility and control:
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- Vendor lock-in remains a key concern. As SAP oversees both the application layer and underlying cloud infrastructure, enterprises have limited control over their cloud environment, reducing their ability to switch providers or leverage native hyperscaler tools.
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- Customization flexibility may be restricted. Although SAP BTP supports extensions, organizations with complex, highly regulated, or differentiated processes may find SAP’s standardized release cycles and architectural guardrails limiting.
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- Cost transparency can be limited. The bundled pricing model makes it difficult to break down costs across infrastructure, software, and services, which can challenge efforts to optimize spending for large enterprises with mature FinOps practices.
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- Upgrade timing is controlled by SAP. While this ensures consistency, it may not align with the internal change windows of organizations that manage complex integration landscapes or require rigorous testing cycles.
Making the Right Choice: A Contextual Decision
The choice between RISE with SAP or a self-managed deployment should be driven by specific organizational priorities, such as the level of IT maturity, urgency of transformation, regulatory environment, and need for customization.
RISE with SAP is well-suited for enterprises that:
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- Have limited SAP or cloud management expertise
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- Require a faster, lower-risk migration path with reduced operational burden
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- Seek end-to-end accountability under a single contract
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- Prioritize standardization and stability over deep customization
Self-managed deployment on a private cloud is a better fit for organizations that:
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- Possess mature IT operations and SAP Basis expertise
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- Require more control over infrastructure, integration, and upgrades
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- Have existing cloud investments and cost optimization strategies in place
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- Operate in environments that demand high customization or regulatory flexibility
The right choice depends on whether the organization seeks to outsource complexity or retain control and how that aligns with their broader digital transformation strategy.
*The mainstream maintenance for SAP ERP 6.0 will conclude at the end of 2027; however, customers have the option to continue receiving support through extended maintenance until the end of 2030, subject to a 2% premium on existing support fees.
By Gaurav Dewan, Research Director, Chandrika Dutt, Research Director, Premal Shah, Principal Analyst, Avasant, and Manisha Das, Research Intern