Digital Marketing

A UK-based financial services organization faced a significant challenge with rapidly rising SAP costs, primarily due to the over-assignment of expensive "Professional" user licenses to a large number of employees—12,500 in total. Many of these users only required basic functionalities, such as viewing records or submitting forms, yet were granted access that triggered costly license tiers. The absence of a structured process to align job functions with the appropriate SAP license type led to unnecessary expenses, as the default practice was to provide broad access "just in case." The organization aimed to reduce named-user license costs without compromising business operations or compliance.

To address this issue, the company engaged we to implement a comprehensive, role-based license optimization initiative. This involved several key actions: analyzing actual SAP usage by reviewing each user’s transaction history to identify real system usage patterns; pinpointing over-provisioned users, such as service staff who had been assigned roles with financial permissions beyond their needs; and redesigning SAP roles to create job-specific profiles—like finance clerks and HR assistants—ensuring access was limited to what was necessary for each role. Additionally, user licenses were reallocated, with hundreds of users downgraded from "Professional" to "Limited Professional" or "Employee" licenses, and unused or duplicate accounts were eliminated. License simulation tools were employed to validate cost impacts while ensuring no disruption in access, and security teams were trained to assign appropriate roles moving forward to prevent future license creep.

The results of this initiative were substantial, achieving a 28% reduction in SAP named user license costs, which translated into millions of pounds in annual savings without affecting business operations. The organization also experienced improved audit readiness and compliance, as tighter role alignment reduced the number of users with broad access, thereby lowering audit risks and enhancing internal controls. With new governance processes established, the company gained sustainable management over SAP licensing and costs, ensuring long-term control and preventing future waste. This case exemplifies how effective license optimization can be achieved in complex, highly regulated environments like financial services, demonstrating that linking SAP access to actual job roles and eliminating over-provisioning can lead to significant cost savings without sacrificing necessary access.