The RISE Contract Checklist — White Paper

What You'll Learn

Six learning outcomes, drawn from active engagements.

The forty-one RISE contract clauses ranked by economic impact. The clauses that move price, the clauses that move risk, and the eleven clauses that determine the realised five-year cost of the agreement.
How the FUE conversion ratio is actually negotiable. The published table is the starting position, not the contractual ceiling — five customer-side adjustments that produced 18–34% improved baselines in our case file.
Why the hyperscaler-choice clause is more important than buyers think. Single-hyperscaler lock-in, the data-egress economics, and the migration-flexibility argument that produced a 12% TCO reduction in three recent matters.
How the audit-rights clause carries over from on-premise. The standard RISE audit-rights language, the customer-side rewrites achievable in negotiation, and the re-measurement protection that prevents mid-term disruption.
How the exit-rights clause shapes leverage at renewal. Why a defensible exit position is the foundation of every successful renewal — and the contract drafting that makes it achievable.
How to sequence the negotiation across the forty-one clauses. The opening framework, the four negotiation tiers, and the closing-sequence discipline applied across 47 completed RISE engagements.

Table of Contents

Seven chapters. 44 pages.

Chapter IRISE PCE and Standard Edition: the structural differencespg. 5

Chapter IIThe eleven cost-driving clausespg. 10

Chapter IIIFUE conversion ratios and the baselinepg. 16

Chapter IVHyperscaler choice and the migration questionpg. 22

Chapter VAudit rights, re-measurement, and protectionpg. 27

Chapter VIExit rights and renewal leveragepg. 33

Chapter VIISequencing the negotiation across the forty-one clausespg. 39

Who It's For

Four audiences. One reference document.

In-house Counsel

Counsel reviewing the RISE master agreement, the order form, and the data-processing addenda. The clause-by-clause analysis is the legal-review reference.

SVP Procurement

Procurement leaders negotiating the RISE commercial position. The sequencing framework is the negotiation operating model.

Chief Information Officers

CIOs sponsoring the S/4HANA migration into RISE. The clauses determine the operating environment for the migration and the steady-state.

Head of SAM

Software asset managers preparing for the post-signature operating discipline. The audit-rights and re-measurement clauses define the SAM environment.

The deal we almost signed had eleven clauses we should have negotiated and did not. Three of them would have cost us multiple million dollars across the five-year term. The checklist found them in four days. We went back to the negotiation and SAP conceded nine of the eleven.

General CounselFortune 500 Manufacturer · RISE PCE signed Q2 2025

The RISE Contract Checklist.