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SAP’s Push to Cloud with 'Rise' Sparks IT Concerns, Says Gartner

SAP

Business Honor
09 May, 2025

Customization limits, hidden costs, and data issues worry firms adopting SAP’s cloud service.

German software multinational SAP is forcing its customers to move to its cloud-based service "Rise with SAP." However, the strategy has come with a warning from the analyst company Gartner, which states that the practice is presenting challenges to IT organizations.

Rather than collaborating with IT and ERP professionals, SAP is now directly marketing Rise to business leaders. This assists SAP in growing its cloud revenue, which just reached $5 billion, a 26% increase, but leaves IT teams to cope with technical issues after the deals are sealed.

A big problem is that SAP is reducing customization in its ERP systems to make them easier to upgrade. But this makes it more difficult for companies to modify the system to suit their requirements. Also, Rise with SAP's data moving platform, the Business Transformation Platform, is only available in a limited set of cloud regions. This generates concerns about data speed and local data regulations.

Data transfer fees are another hidden problem. Data movement in and out of SAP's cloud can be costly, and the uptime guarantee of the service (99.7%) is less than most managed service providers provide (99.9%).

Gartner recommends firms employing Rise have a system integrator (SI) to partner with. They can assist in filling the gap between SAP's standardized configuration and a firm's requirements. Still, do not depend entirely on third-party providers, says Gartner. Maintaining an internal SAP employee or two diminishes long-term risks.

SAP is providing a 50% discount to incentivize upgrades to Rise. Although this is welcomed by some user groups, Gartner discovered that a large number of top managers are entering into contracts without fully realizing the long-term effects.