Government clients will face similar percentage price increases.

The various subscriptions all exclude access to the $30 Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on that draws on generative artificial intelligence models. Some companies have started widely rolling out Copilot, while others have held off on expanding their deployments.

In many cases, organisations receive discounts off of list prices, but Microsoft has cut back on direct volume deals for some types of customers.

Almost 43% of Microsoft’s $77.7 billion in fiscal first-quarter revenue came from its Productivity and Businesses Processes segment, which includes Office. In October, the company said revenue from Microsoft 365 commercial cloud services jumped 17%, while seats increased 6%, mainly from products targeting small and medium-sized businesses and front-line workers.

Although existing RISE with SAP customers can renew their contracts, the Gartner analysts wrote in their research note, “SAP account teams may be incentivised to position migrations to Cloud ERP Private package, given investments in the components (for example, SAP’s acquisition of LeanIX) and a need to show positive momentum to investors.”

Thus, Tucciarone said, “The critical issue for CIOs is awareness: Many IT leaders are moving forward with planning, budgeting, and negotiations without realising that RISE with SAP will be discontinued after June 2025. This lack of visibility could have significant implications for any technology roadmap and commercial agreements with SAP.”

Gartner advises CIOs to carefully analyse the components of the SAP Cloud ERP Private offering, and require SAP to detail all of the changes that will affect their current solution. It also recommended that companies not accept any proposed discounts at face value, but to instead validate them with external sources.

“CIOs need to quickly get up to speed on the full scope of changes — everything from the bundled SKU changes to new pricing structures and commercial terms like the new transformation incentive model and flexible cloud addendum,” Tucciarone said. “Only then can CIOs accurately assess the impact on their technology stack and budget, and ensure their organisation isn’t caught off guard.”

In short, it’s a balancing act, and one that SAP doesn’t seem intent on making simpler.

Or, as Bickley put it, “SAP licensing feels like a world where the rug is constantly being pulled from under one’s feet.”