07SAP S/4HANA CLOUD PRIVATE EDITION
We build a clear RISE with SAP route that takes your SAP ERP investment to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition (new name: SAP Cloud ERP Private): clean core, a controlled transition and continuous improvement.
OUTCOMES FIRST
A modernisation plan that orders the technical backlog by business outcome, risk and priority.
We keep the differentiation you need and reduce the technical debt that makes upgrades harder.
Measurement, improvement and regular adoption of new SAP capabilities after go-live.
OVERVIEW
Moving to RISE with SAP changes the hosting model, and with it business processes, custom code, data, integrations and the operating model; these topics are handled together in one roadmap.
We run the transition through the SAP Activate phases: we measure today's process with SAP Signavio, set up the project and production monitoring in SAP Cloud ALM, and close every phase with a quality gate.
The roadmap does not end at go-live: upgrades, new SAP capabilities and process measurement are tied to a regular improvement rhythm.
FOCUS
We clarify the current state, target operations and transformation waves in one roadmap.
Usage and business value analysis separates the developments to remove, redesign or keep.
We bring business, application, data, integration, infrastructure and security teams together under shared governance.
WHAT WE OFFER
Process, system, data, code, integration and organisational readiness.
Designing the target architecture, operating model and transition principles.
Return to standard, extension strategy and custom code governance.
Clean-up, archiving, migration, reconciliation and data ownership.
Hybrid architecture and a roadmap for moving to Integration Suite.
Waves, success criteria, an improvement backlog and a management view.
In a RISE project we set up measurement and the target process in Signavio, and the project record and production monitoring in Cloud ALM. The same team runs the move to Cloud ALM for organisations that use Solution Manager.
We run the baseline measurement with the discovery edition and the detailed analysis with Process Intelligence, model the target process in BPMN and synchronise it to Cloud ALM.
We open the project with the Activate roadmap for the transition route and set up process scope, the requirement and feature flow, and the test and deployment plan.
We list the Solution Manager scenarios that are really in use, map their Cloud ALM counterparts and run the move in stages.
We set up monitoring use cases and alert rules in the customer's own Cloud ALM tenant; alerts reach the Negzel AMS team and are resolved by SLA priority.
INSIDE THE CONTRACT
RISE with SAP is not a product on its own but a subscription offering: ERP software, hosting, technical operation of the infrastructure and a set of cloud services come under one contract. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition (SAP Cloud ERP Private) sits at the centre. It is single-tenant, so classic ABAP developments and industry-specific processes can be kept.
Package and scope vary by contract. The package renewed in April 2025 lists items such as SAP LeanIX and SAP Signavio capabilities, SAP Build, SAP HANA Cloud, SAP Master Data Governance and SAP Business Network Supplier Portal alongside the ERP; we read what is included from the contract's product list. SAP Cloud ALM is not a separate item; it comes with Enterprise Support, cloud editions. New releases do not arrive on their own in the private edition: the customer can request one upgrade a year and SAP performs the technical upgrade, while planning, preparation and testing stay with the customer or a partner.
For large and complex systems that must stay on ECC beyond 2030, SAP has a separate offering: SAP ERP, private edition, transition option. It is not a maintenance extension but a time-bound subscription for 2031-2033, combining business continuity services such as legal changes, security patches and bug fixes with services for the move to RISE with SAP. The prerequisites are demanding: the system must be moved to SAP ERP, private edition on SAP HANA before 31 December 2030, be at least 2 TB in size and come with the max success plan.
Package contents vary by contract; what is included is read from the product list.
SAP ACTIVATE
SAP Activate is SAP's six-phase implementation framework: Discover, Prepare, Explore, Realize, Deploy and Run. In RISE with SAP the framework is used inside the RISE with SAP Methodology that SAP announced in January 2024, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition has a separate roadmap for each transition route: Greenfield (New Implementation), Brownfield (System Conversion) and Selective (Selective Data Transition).
Each phase closes with a quality gate; some work is prepared in the preceding phase, for example cutover is planned in Realize and executed in Deploy. The RISE with SAP Methodology adds clean core checks to these gates: the first gate is completed in Prepare with SAP's onboarding advisor, the project manager submits the later ones from SAP Cloud ALM, and SAP Enterprise Support returns a clean core report. Clean core is tracked in five dimensions: business processes, extensibility, data, integration and operations.
SAP's tasks come from the RISE with SAP roles and responsibilities document; the customer and Negzel rows depend on the contract.
| Party | Discover | Prepare | Explore | Realize | Deploy | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAP Signavio | Free measurement with the discovery edition | Process Manager and Collaboration Hub tenants arrive | Target process modelled in BPMN and synchronised to Cloud ALM | Process changes as a new revision | · | The live process is measured again |
| SAP Cloud ALM | Readiness Check analysis can be transferred | Project opened with the Activate roadmap | Requirements, solution processes, gate questionnaire | Features, transports, tests and defects | Deployment plan and release | Operations monitoring, Upgrade roadmap |
| SAP ECS | Sets up Readiness Check and discovery edition prerequisites | Provisions systems; in Brownfield an empty target system and a migration server | · | Technical tasks on service request; two dry runs | Takes over the converted system, checks it and hands it back | Infrastructure and technical operations; the technical side of upgrades |
| Customer | Transition route and scope decision | IT contact provisions Cloud ALM | Process experts join the workshops | Mandatory user acceptance testing; conversion planning | Go/no-go decision | One upgrade request a year |
| Negzel | Signavio measurement and Readiness Check review | Cloud ALM project setup | Fit-to-Standard workshops, target process model | Configuration, development, integration, testing | Cutover management and hypercare | AMS and Cloud ALM monitoring; upgrade testing |
| Quality gate | None | Quality Gate 1 | Explore to Realize and clean core | Realize to Deploy and clean core | Clean core | Clean core |
A sample for a midsize, single-country transition; a firm timeline is discussed once the SAP Readiness Check and the custom code inventory are available.
Sample timeline; overlapping bars are preparation work for the next phase. Duration depends on scope and the chosen transition route.
PROJECT AND OPERATIONS
SAP Cloud ALM is SAP's cloud-based application lifecycle management tool. It is included in cloud subscriptions that contain Enterprise Support, cloud editions and in SAP Enterprise Support; one tenant per customer number is available at no extra charge. A RISE project opens by selecting the product-specific SAP Activate roadmap, and tasks are derived from that roadmap.
Requirements gathered in Fit-to-Standard workshops are linked to the process; every change travels with its transports as a feature, and tests and defects sit in the same record. Requirements or user stories can be created directly from SAP Readiness Check findings. The RISE with SAP Methodology dashboards show the system's clean core compliance through software stack, extensibility, data and integration indicators.
Design happens in Signavio; requirements, tests and operations are attached to the process in Cloud ALM.
Processsince December 2024
Requirementssince March 2026
After go-live Process Intelligence measures the same process again.
From a Readiness Check finding to an alert in production, every step stays linked to the one before.
Negzel AMS · SLA priority
Implementation keeps the record of the RISE project; operations watches the system after go-live.
ABAP systems connect through the ST-PI add-on (/SDF/ALM_SETUP); data collection is switched on separately for each monitoring use case. Synthetic user monitoring is not among the use cases supported for the private edition.
TRANSITION
Mainstream maintenance for SAP Solution Manager 7.2 ends on 31 December 2027, and SAP recommends completing the move to SAP Cloud ALM before then. Customers with extended maintenance for Business Suite 7 get extended maintenance until the end of 2030, but it covers only seven functions; application operations and business process monitoring are not among them.
For the inventory, SAP Readiness Check for SAP Cloud ALM shows which Solution Manager scenarios are really in use and suggests their Cloud ALM counterparts. We run the move in stages with SAP's “Transition to SAP Cloud ALM” Activate roadmap, without leaving monitoring idle for a single day.
| Topic | TodaySAP Solution Manager 7.2 | TargetSAP Cloud ALM |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Mainstream maintenance ends 31.12.2027; with Business Suite 7 extended maintenance, extended maintenance limited to seven functions until the end of 2030 | The ALM tool SAP recommends moving to |
| Usage rights | Under the support contract; after 2027 and 2030 under customer-specific maintenance | Included in subscriptions with Enterprise Support, cloud editions and in SAP Enterprise Support; one tenant per customer number |
| Change management | Change Request Management (ChaRM) | Feature, release and deployment orchestration; workflows and change documents are not migrated |
| Data that moves | · | Only solution documentation and Test Suite (Selective Data Transfer) |
| IT service management | One of the seven functions under extended maintenance | Not among the functions that move to Cloud ALM; needs a separate ITSM decision |
| Monitoring | Application operations and business process monitoring are not in extended maintenance | Business process, integration, job and health monitoring on the operations side |
| Inventory | · | SAP Readiness Check for SAP Cloud ALM lists current usage and suggests counterparts |
| AMS provider | SAP's recommendation for AMS providers is SAP Focused Run; it stays in mainstream maintenance after 2027 | Only for the customer's own ALM processes; monitoring is set up in the customer's tenant |
Usage rights depend on the contract type.
SAP Readiness Check for SAP Cloud ALM shows which Solution Manager scenarios are really in use and which systems are connected.
Each scenario gets its Cloud ALM counterpart; ChaRM moves to features and deployment, IT service management to a separate tool. For complex ChaRM setups SAP's advice to wait for the required functionality is weighed.
The Cloud ALM tenant, users and roles are set up; ABAP systems connect through ST-PI and data collection is switched on per monitoring use case.
Solution documentation and Test Suite are transferred; monitoring and project scenarios are handed over in stages.
After validation, Solution Manager scenarios are switched off step by step.
The steps follow SAP's “Transition to SAP Cloud ALM” Activate roadmap.
COMMON QUESTIONS
On the contract side, yes: RISE with SAP brings ERP software, hosting and technical operation of the infrastructure together in one subscription. The contract does not do the move itself, though; taking processes, custom code, data, integrations and the operating model to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition (SAP Cloud ERP Private) is a separate project.
No. Differentiation that creates business value moves to a suitable extension layer; unused code and code that repeats the standard are reduced, and the remaining developments are brought under governance.
It starts by assessing the inventory of current systems, processes, data, code and integrations together with business goals. Transformation waves based on value and risk are then built.
The system is set up in the data centre the customer chooses in the contract; whichever it is, technical operations stay with SAP. The options are an SAP data centre, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and IBM Power Virtual Server, with Alibaba Cloud in China. There are also SAP Sovereign Cloud options and a customer data centre option that runs in the customer's own data centre on Dell, HPE or Lenovo infrastructure. We assess the choice with you independently, looking at data residency, existing cloud contracts and regional options.
For ECC on premise there is no extended maintenance after 2030; the system moves to customer-specific maintenance. SAP ERP, private edition, transition option, which SAP offers for large and complex systems, is not a maintenance extension but a time-bound subscription for 2031-2033. Its conditions: the system is moved to SAP ERP, private edition on SAP HANA before 31 December 2030, it is at least 2 TB in size, and it comes with the max success plan; eligible products are listed in SAP Note 3591251. The 2033 date for compatibility packs in SAP Note 2269324 is a separate matter.
SAP Cloud ALM is included in cloud subscriptions that contain Enterprise Support, cloud editions and in SAP Enterprise Support; one tenant per customer number is available at no extra charge. The support item in the contract decides the right; we read the contract's product list when planning the tool.
A one-time data load with SAP Signavio Process Insights, discovery edition is free; setting up the technical prerequisites is a standard SAP service in RISE. The analysis runs in SAP's region in the Netherlands, so with KVKK in mind the data transfer and pseudonymisation decisions are taken before the analysis.
Mainstream maintenance for SAP Solution Manager 7.2 ends on 31 December 2027, and SAP recommends completing the move before then. We recommend running the RISE project in Cloud ALM from the start, so the project, test and change record stays in the same place after go-live.
THE COMPLETE JOURNEY
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