Published November 4, 2026
What the contract is
RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition is a cloud subscription. SAP hosts and operates the S/4HANA systems, and the customer pays a subscription fee for a set term.
The contract has several layers. The order form sets products, volumes, fees and term. SAP's General Terms and Conditions for Cloud Services set the general rules. The supplement sets bundled services, maintenance, upgrade duties and data return. The Service Description Guide sets usage metrics and system sizes. The Roles and Responsibilities document lists what SAP does and what the customer does, task by task.
SAP's current supplement covers SAP Cloud ERP Private, with base, limited and sovereign cloud options, and the RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition packages: base, premium and premium plus, plus an upgrade option from premium to premium plus. In April 2025 SAP announced the SAP Cloud ERP Private package, built on S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. SAP said it includes SAP Business Network Supplier Portal, SAP Enterprise Service Management, SAP Taulia, SAP LeanIX, SAP Signavio, SAP Build and SAP Master Data Governance.
The decision: what you commit to
The negotiation settles three things: the package, the user commitment for the whole term, and which operations work moves to SAP.
Under SAP's cloud terms, a customer may not reduce usage metrics during the subscription term, and order forms cannot be canceled. The Service Description Guide says the usage metric entitlement in the order form is retained throughout the term. A commitment sized for growth that does not happen is paid for until the term ends.
Wait to sign until you know your user counts by use type, your system sizing and your exit terms.
What is in the bundle and what costs extra
The v10-2026 supplement lists bundled cloud services for RISE base, premium and premium plus subscriptions. Many quantities are set per Full Usage Equivalent (FUE) or by FUE band.
| Item | What the SAP document says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SAP Build Work Zone, standard edition | In base, premium and premium plus. 1 active user per FUE. | Supplement |
| SAP Build Apps and SAP Build Process Automation | Premium and premium plus only. Set by FUE band. Up to 550 FUEs: 1 Build Apps base package, and 20 standard and 5 advanced Process Automation users. | Supplement |
| SAP Business Network Supplier Portal | Premium and premium plus. 100,000 documents. | Supplement |
| SAP Datasphere | Premium and premium plus. From 1,700 to 6,800 capacity units per month by FUE band. | Supplement |
| CPEA voucher | Premium and premium plus, only if specified in the order form. | Supplement |
| Joule and SAP AI Units | Not in the v10-2026 table. AI features fall under the SAP AI Terms. | Supplement |
| Starter system | A sandbox for 90 days from the product start date, or 30 days after SAP provisions development, whichever is later. Then deleted. | Supplement |
| Embedded launch activities | For a first-time subscription of SAP Cloud ERP Private, or RISE base, premium or premium plus. | Supplement |
At renewal, the customer keeps the bundled services and limits in the supplement in effect when the first order form was signed. Keep a copy of it.
The order of the work
- Count users by type. One FUE covers 1 advanced use user, 5 core use users or 30 self-service use users. A developer access user takes 2 FUEs. Decide each named user's use type before the order form is signed.
- Size the systems. List production and non-production tiers, memory and storage. Extra infrastructure needs a contractual change request and costs extra.
- Build the bill of materials. List every product, add-on and bundled service, with quantities.
- Read the Roles and Responsibilities document. Price the Optional and Packaged tasks you will use.
- Settle the success plan and whether it is in the price or added to it.
- Negotiate term, ramp and renewal. Agree the subscription term, any user ramp, the renewal price basis and the notice period.
- Agree exit terms: export format, timing and cost.
- Legal review. Check that the order form names the supplement, Service Description Guide and Roles and Responsibilities versions that apply.
Who does which work
SAP's Roles and Responsibilities document sorts every task into five categories. Standard services are covered by the service fee. Optional services must be contracted and cost extra. Additional services are one-off tasks with extra fees. Packaged services are tasks the customer can do or pay SAP to do. Excluded tasks are the customer's alone.
Some examples from the July 2026 version, for the tailored option:
- Standard file system and database backups are a standard service. An on-demand backup is an additional service, kept until the contract end date or for 12 months, whichever is earlier. Long-term backup is an optional service.
- Disaster recovery is an optional service. It is provided only if it is in the contract or added by change request.
- SAP executes the technical tasks of a version upgrade as a standard service. Pre- and post-upgrade Basis tasks and SPDD/SPAU adjustments are packaged services.
- Testing and acceptance of object changes, the application security concept, single sign-on design and optimizing customer code are excluded tasks.
- Creating service requests is an excluded task. The customer raises them.
Customer duties the supplement sets
- SAP runs scheduled maintenance once a month in a 4-hour window: weekdays for non-production systems, weekends for production. SAP gives at least 7 business days' notice. The customer can object within 5 business days.
- The customer must request security patches through a service request ticket.
- The customer is responsible for having upgrades installed and for applying SAP's security hardening. SAP installs upgrades on request. The release must be covered by mainstream or extended maintenance, or as the order form states. If SAP cannot upgrade for lack of cooperation, the availability service levels do not apply.
- The customer installs, manages, supports and tests its modifications and ABAP add-ons. The SLA and support schedule do not apply to customer ABAP add-ons.
- SAP may add hardware to protect the systems without an order form amendment. If the customer does not return to its contracted allocation within 30 days, an Infrastructure Continuity Charge at SAP's list price applies from the provisioning date.
- SAP may audit use at least once a year.
The SLA sets system availability at 99.7% for production and 95.0% for non-production, unless the order form names a higher level.
Success plans and the transition option
In March 2026 SAP announced three success plans. The foundational plan is included with every SAP cloud solution at no additional cost and is centered on SAP Enterprise Support. The advanced plan adds specialized expertise, activation sessions and enhanced-support SLAs. The max plan adds dedicated success plan managers.
The SAP ERP, private edition, transition option is a time-bound subscription aimed at SAP's largest and most complex ECC customers. It is available only with the max success plan in 2031 to 2033, and the plan fee is added to the transition option price. Customers who sign up for SAP ERP, private edition in 2026 receive a standard 20 percent price uplift when they move to the transition option in 2031.
An SAP update dated October 13, 2026 says transition option subscriptions may run until December 31, 2035, with further prerequisites. SAP points to SAP Note 3591251 for current terms.
Renewal and exit
Before the term ends, the customer can request a final export of its data. SAP provides it in a backup media format SAP uses. The customer has two weeks to verify it. If it does not, the export is deemed usable.
The Roles and Responsibilities document includes one data handover at contract termination as a standard service. Planning, coordination, transfer to storage and the associated costs are the customer's.
At the end of the agreement, SAP deletes the customer data remaining on its servers unless law requires retention.
Run a test export before notice is given, and confirm the target environment can read it.
Questions
- Can we reduce users during a RISE with SAP subscription?
- Not under SAP's standard cloud terms. A customer may not reduce usage metrics during the subscription term, and order forms cannot be canceled. The customer can change how its FUEs are split between use types during the term. Check the order form for any exception.
- Is disaster recovery included in RISE with SAP?
- No. SAP's Roles and Responsibilities document lists disaster recovery as an optional service, provided only if it is in the contract or added by change request.
- Does SAP apply security patches automatically?
- No. The supplement makes the customer responsible for requesting security patches through a service request ticket. SAP applies them during scheduled or agreed downtime.
- What availability does SAP commit to?
- The SLA sets 99.7% system availability for production and 95.0% for non-production, unless the order form names a higher level. The Service Description Guide offers a 99.9% SLA as a separate subscription that requires additional infrastructure and services.