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The SAP License Optimization Framework.

A forty-six page operational framework for continuous SAP license optimization. The eight disciplines that, in combination, reduce run-rate licence cost by eighteen to twenty-seven per cent across the contract life — without renegotiating a single contract.

Research Paper 46 pages Published April 2026 Format: PDF Access: Gated
What You'll Learn

Six learning outcomes, drawn from continuous-optimization engagements.

  1. The eight disciplines of continuous license optimization. The operational practices that, run quarterly, produce the eighteen-to-twenty-seven per cent run-rate reduction across the typical SAP estate.
  2. How to measure your starting position accurately. The baseline reconstruction methodology that establishes the optimization opportunity and supports board-level investment in the discipline.
  3. The user-classification optimization protocol. The continuous re-classification logic, the role-based defaults, and the governance model that keeps the user mix optimized as the estate evolves.
  4. The engine-licence rightsizing methodology. When engine licences are over-provisioned, when they are under-provisioned, and how to align the licensed metric to the actual contractual scope on a quarterly cadence.
  5. The contract-portfolio consolidation playbook. When multi-entity SAP customers consolidate into a single agreement, the optimization opportunity is typically twelve to eighteen per cent of total spend — plus a materially stronger negotiating position.
  6. The optimization-to-renewal sequence. How to use the continuous optimization discipline to enter the renewal conversation from the strongest possible position — and to extract the optimization value into the renewal contract.
Table of Contents

Seven chapters. Forty-six pages.

Chapter IThe optimization opportunity in the typical SAP estatepg. 5
Chapter IIBaseline measurement and the optimization modelpg. 11
Chapter IIIUser-classification optimization, continuouslypg. 17
Chapter IVEngine-licence rightsizing across the portfoliopg. 24
Chapter VIndirect-access and document-flow optimizationpg. 30
Chapter VIContract-portfolio consolidation: the multi-entity playpg. 36
Chapter VIIOptimization-to-renewal: extracting the valuepg. 42
Who It's For

Four audiences. One operational framework.

CIOs & IT Finance

The CIO accountable for run-rate IT cost, and the IT finance leader who owns the SAP cost line in the technology budget. The framework is the operational discipline.

SAM Leaders

The SAM leader operating the continuous optimization function. The chapter-by-chapter protocol is the operational manual for the function.

Procurement Category

The procurement category lead responsible for SAP commercial outcomes. The optimization-to-renewal chapter is the negotiation preparation framework.

Internal Audit

Internal audit reviewing SAP cost discipline as part of broader IT cost-governance work. The baseline measurement methodology supports the audit conclusion.

We ran the optimization framework for four quarters before the renewal conversation began. By the time SAP arrived at the table, our run-rate had already moved nineteen per cent. The renewal pricing was negotiated against the new run-rate, not the old one.

VP of Enterprise Software ProcurementNorth American Industrial Group · Q1 2026
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