The new licensing model and SAP License cost

Recently SAP launched a new licensing model. But, why and what does the SAP License cost? We will explain!

Why is there a new licensing model?

The way SAP software is used has changed a lot over the years. In addition to the fact that employees of SAP customers use the software, the software is now also used by customers of customers, business partners and / or third-party applications. This is also referred to as indirect use.

Until recently, the licensing model associated with this indirect use had not followed the rapid developments that took place around the software. Although the software was increasingly used without a named user license and a SAP user interface, the rules regarding indirect use were unclear and open to different interpretations. The new licensing model for indirect use of SAP has been created to remove these ambiguities from users. Making the licensing model more transparent underlies this new model.

To whom does the new licensing model apply?

The new model automatically applies to new SAP customers. This is optional for existing customers. Existing customers can choose to switch to the new licensing model with a completely new contract, add it as an addendum to the current contract or – if satisfied – to stick with the old model.

The main change of the new licensing model

The main change is that SAP calculates the licenses for indirect use based on the creation of certain documents, which fall under the following nine document types:

• Sales Document;
• Purchase Document;
• Invoice Document;
• Manufacturing Document;
• Material Document;
• Quality Management Document;
• Service & Maintenance Document;
• Financial Document;
• Time Management Document.

If documents of these document types are created by external use, then this must be paid for via an agreed number of documents per year.

Take a sales order, for example: if someone creates sales orders in a non-SAP application and uses SAP ERP in the background, a sales order is therefore created from an external system. This sales order now counts as a document that requires a license. For subsequent documents that are created in SAP ERP after the initial creation of this sales order, such as an invoice item, no SAP licenses for indirect use are required.

SAP licensing costs: when should you pay or not?
When one of the nine document types is created through indirect use, SAP licenses are required. SAP license costs are charged per license. Documents that fall outside these nine document types and subsequent documents that are automatically generated as a result of this creation are free of charge. Also, no additional SAP licensing fees are charged when these documents are read, changed or deleted through indirect use. When you have to pay depends on the situation. The costs can fluctuate based on the total number of documents created from the outside, the price per document and the specific discount you receive as an organization.

With this basic information, you will understand how SAP license Management could look like at your company