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S/4HANA Conversion Economics.

A forty-eight page analyst paper on the licence economics of the S/4HANA conversion. The FUE conversion math, the contract conversion cap, the shelfware reclamation moment, and the five financial decisions that determine total cost of ownership over the conversion window and the five years that follow.

Research Paper 48 pages Published May 2026 Format: PDF Access: Gated
What You'll Learn

Six financial outcomes from the conversion exercise.

  1. The FUE conversion mathematics, plainly explained. How Professional, Functional, Productivity, and Developer counts translate into FUE under the SAP conversion ratios, and how the customer-side classification work re-bases the math.
  2. The contract-conversion cap and why it matters more than the unit price. The mechanic that limits maintenance-revenue erosion on conversion, and the customer-side leverage points within it.
  3. The shelfware reclamation moment. Conversion is the single best opportunity in the contract lifecycle to surrender unused entitlements without commercial penalty.
  4. The five financial decisions that determine conversion TCO. Conversion scope, FUE classification, engine-licence treatment, RISE-versus-on-premise framing, and the audit-defence posture during the conversion window.
  5. The five-year post-conversion TCO model. Why the year-of-conversion price is the smaller half of the financial story.
  6. The seven protective clauses every conversion document should carry. Re-measurement caps, conversion-scope locks, engine-licence parity language, indirect-use protections, and three more clauses negotiable only at the conversion moment.
Table of Contents

Seven chapters. Forty-eight pages.

Chapter IThe FUE conversion mathematicspg. 5
Chapter IIThe contract-conversion cappg. 12
Chapter IIIThe shelfware reclamation momentpg. 18
Chapter IVThe five financial decisionspg. 24
Chapter VThe five-year TCO modelpg. 32
Chapter VIThe seven protective clausespg. 39
Chapter VIIA casebook: three conversions, economicallypg. 44
Who It's For

Four audiences. One economic frame.

Chief Financial Officers

CFOs sponsoring the conversion business case. The TCO chapter is the financial reference for the multi-year decision.

Chief Information Officers

CIOs accountable for the conversion programme. The decision chapter aligns architectural choices with financial outcomes.

SVPs of Procurement

Procurement leadership negotiating the conversion document. The clauses chapter is the contract-language reference.

Heads of SAM

SAM leads producing the entitlement map. The reclamation chapter standardises the shelfware identification work.

The first conversion proposal was framed as cost-neutral. The economic decomposition showed it would compound to a thirty-four per cent uplift by year five. We re-opened the conversation on year-five terms.

CFOGlobal Industrial Manufacturer · Converted Q4 2025
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