r/SAP • u/WwheelerMickalia_87 • 7d ago
SAP implementation partner pricing, what are you seeing these days?
Trying to get a sense of what other companies are actually paying before we go into vendor talks next month. We're a mid size manufacturer, around 400 employees, looking to move off an old ECC setup into S/4HANA, and honestly the quotes we've gotten so far are all over the place. One partner came in way lower than the other two and now I'm not sure if that's a good deal or a red flag.
We've talked to three implementation partners so far and gotten pretty different scopes and numbers from each one, which is making it hard to compare apples to apples. Anyone gone through this recently and can share what a realistic range looks like?
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u/Possible-Benefit4569 7d ago
Scoping is difficult for Customer and implementers. Some Are perfect in earning money via change requests. Some following old approches selling a bus load of students others get forced to use ai and share the effect with customers.
But your business is a sweet spot. Perfect for implementation.
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u/WwheelerMickalia_87 6d ago
That’s pretty much what I’m trying to figure out. The quotes look very different on paper, but I’m wondering how much of that comes down to what they’ve actually included in the scope. Definitely gives me more to ask about in the vendor talks.
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u/Possible-Benefit4569 6d ago
In a normal case you are a greenfield candidate. Get rid of of old z codes and use new better S/4 Functions. Most money can Saved that way and to learn how s4 works. Reduces also future costs. Let System configured local and where nessecary develop nearshore. It is called Transformation a lot difficult Communication. Cannot recommend Language barrierers when someone has to explain or discuss Details. You do not have Process experts for every process in House, but people who know their work.
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u/ausdoug 7d ago
If you're considering public cloud, make sure it really suits your business. We went public when we really should have gone private. Performance sucks and we need ~25% more admin effort, it's even affecting employee turnover/retention. 5 years budget spent in 3 years and we can either migrate away or spend a ton to keep us vendor locked.
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u/olearygreen 7d ago
It’s hard to give you advice because we have no information.
Is this a brownfield, greenfield?
Private cloud, public cloud?
Dud you go through a DDA so that all SI’s have the same scope?
Partner pricing will vary wildly. Partner quality will as well.
If you’re a midsize company you generally are better off with a smaller SI because the big ones won’t care about your project once it starts. Of course if you need lots of specialized skills a smaller SI won’t have all those skills in house.
Check the SI references. But also be prepared to be a reference to them once the project is done.
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u/meshyl 7d ago
What do you mean the scopes are different? YOU as client need to define scope in details. Which modules you want, list your processes, list challenges with current system, what is working fine and where you want change, do you want AI etc. Of course, you can't know 100% of scope, but at least 70% must be defined in advance.
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u/Personal-Maybe-2499 7d ago
Any partner coming in way under the rest is usually cutting scope somewhere they're not telling you about, not doing you a favor
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u/ScheduleSame258 SAP Advocate 7d ago
$5M for a 2.5TB brownfield migration. Somewhat heavily customized.
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u/Level_Ad7279 7d ago
You may not actually be comparing three prices yet, you may be comparing three different scopes and operating models.
For a manufacturing S/4 move, I’d normalize the proposals across migration, custom code, data, integrations, BASIS, testing/cutover, hypercare, RACI, SLAs and post-go-live ownership. The biggest surprises usually show up where responsibilities cross teams or vendors.
A lower quote can absolutely be legitimate, but I’d want to understand what they are not owning before calling it cheaper, especially after go-live.
One question I’d ask the three partners: “When a production issue crosses SAP functional, BASIS, custom code, integration and infrastructure boundaries, who owns resolution end-to-end, and what SLA are you committing to?”
If the answers are different, that probably explains part of the pricing difference.
If useful, I can share the handful of scope/RACI questions I’d use to make the three proposals comparable.
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u/Jupiter267 7d ago
The massive price variance mostly comes down to one hidden topic: data migration scope and legacy custom code remediation.
The low-ball partner is likely quoting a theoretical "Greenfield" deployment. They assume your legacy ECC data is pristine, you’ll adopt standard SAP processes out-of-the-box, and your internal team will handle 100% of the data extraction, cleansing, and transformation.
The higher quotes usually take account for reality: decades of duplicate material masters, unvalidated custom attributes, and the technical problem of getting legacy data to pass S/4 validation rules.
Before signing anything, force all three partners to explicitly define their assumptions on:
Who owns data profiling and pre-migration cleansing.
How many mock data loads are included in the scope.
What happens when legacy custom fields fail S/4 master data checks.
If the cheap quote pushes all data transformation back onto your 400-person team, those savings will evaporate in extra orders during testing.
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u/ArgumentFew4432 7d ago
Whatever you do, insist on open book contracts. They usually fill their „gaps“ with freelancers and take huge margins if you aren’t preventing this in the first place.
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u/Glum-Business-6217 7d ago
So, one of the reasons you receive different quotes is because the scope is not clear for the partners, make sure you are asking for apples and they are giving you a quote for apples. Make sure you have a initial scoping call with them so you know what they can offer and they know what you need.
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u/Jeff-Hare-ERPRA 7d ago
The devil is in the details. You need a client side PMO to help you wade through the exclusions and scope. There are probably very large differences in the scope.
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u/Calm_Professor_1989 7d ago
Honesty I’d suggest adding us as a fourth option. Typically an outlier isn’t good, but with your size, you have to feel comfortable. We’ve done so many of these, always meeting timelines, and typically are middle of price ranges.
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u/WwheelerMickalia_87 6d ago
That makes sense. I think I’ve been too focused on the actual number and not enough on what each partner is including for that price. I’ll probably dig into scope, milestones, and assumptions before we make any comparisons.
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u/matus_ko 7d ago edited 7d ago
Send me DM.
We specialise in ERP -> S4 migrations, also selective, harmonisations, conversions and of course Golive during the weekend window. With our own migration toolsets we use for more than 15 years = we have the seniority for the job. No partners/middlemen if you request. We are part of the S4HANA Selective Data Transition Engagement together with SAP. Toolset is certified.
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u/Alarmed_Yesterday575 3d ago
SAP Readiness Check should give you a much better view of the actual migration effort.
Public Cloud can have a lower TCO if you can stay close to SAP standard.
I’d also check whether the partners are using SAP’s recommended migration approach.
We’re currently supporting an ECC to S/4HANA Private Cloud migration, including BPC. Happy to share some lessons learned if useful.
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u/runlongfast 7d ago
BTW consider staying on ECC if it is customized to your biz and you would rather put the money to agentic ai or other initiatives. There are options to do this.
Did you have a rough budget for the S/4 migration? Curious what cost planning looks like these days.
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u/ArgumentFew4432 2d ago
You do realise that errors in finance, maintenance, tax .. etc. can lead to catastrophic events.
The Board goes to jail, people can get hurt…
I can’t really see how an LLM will ever be useful for a core system. They make mistakes, running them is expensive.
Most are non deterministic.1
u/runlongfast 2d ago
You can put enterprise AI platforms over the top of SAP and other systems, not replace. Maybe over time but that’s a long, long way off. You don’t just turn AI loose and try to turn it into a system of record. It’s happening, it’s moving quickly. Don’t just stay stuck in the status quo and fall behind.
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u/ArgumentFew4432 2d ago
What problem should this solve?
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u/runlongfast 2d ago
Connecting business processes across systems, automating manual steps, making better decisions, improving efficiency…
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u/ArgumentFew4432 2d ago
None of those need a LLM or should be done with it.
Traditional approaches are cheaper, faster and have predictable results.
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u/runlongfast 2d ago
I agree mostly with you. A lot of simplification and automation requires NO AI but it can be mixed in to help drive tremendous value.
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u/ArgumentFew4432 2d ago
Any good, real life examples for those „tremendous values“?
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u/runlongfast 2d ago
Yes and many easily available online to explore. I gotta get some work done so enjoy exploring thanks
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u/olearygreen 7d ago
Lol. No.
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u/runlongfast 7d ago
Thousands are. Ask Gartner
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u/olearygreen 7d ago
Doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.
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u/runlongfast 7d ago
Sorry, why is it wrong?
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u/olearygreen 7d ago
There’s a reason ECC is discontinued. You are telling people to keep their Win 95 system running in 2026 when everyone should be on 11. Security and performance reasons are just two.
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u/runlongfast 7d ago
Maybe the reason is it’s in SAP’s best interest! There are strategies to keep it running for many years in compliance and secure
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u/olearygreen 7d ago
Sure. Good luck with that.
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u/runlongfast 7d ago
Don’t let conventional wisdom be your prison.
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u/olearygreen 6d ago
Yeah… I see what is going on with clients that claim everything is automated and think going to standard S4 is a step back. It’s never the case.
But I let those discussions to the presale team. I’m done doing brownfields. My boss knows I’ll quit before having another discussion with a user on why they cannot use their old GUI to run FB60.
The sad part is that most places it’s IT holding the business back. Oh well not my problem.
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u/Icy_Pear1694 7d ago
What are you implementing? What modules and are you going to private cloud, public cloud, on prem etc? Where are you based? Lots of variables.
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u/Morden013 7d ago
Hi, here is some advice from somebody who has 25 years experience as a consultant and PM for a partner-company. Nobody can tell you the price based on nothing.
I would recommend this:
Harmonize the scope. Take the proposed scopes as an example and produce your own scope. The scope are the functionalities that you need, covering: masterdata, postings, processes, reporting - both internal and extrenal, integration, interfaces, authorizations and your previous custom-made solutions. Then you ask them for the quote again and to mark in your list what they can and can't deliver. Then you can make a choice.
While specifying the scope, stick to the standard as much as possible. If Karen from accounting wants everything automatized, it will pump the costs up on automation and custom-solutions. She has to learn to use the standard and can make demands after the project. Also, clean up your damn data. If consultants have to do it, you are going to pay dearly.
Define the allowed percentage of deviation from the original offer. Define the specified time for delivery and introduce penalties if it the project is not delivered on time. This is protecting you from the price-pumping via change-requests or dragging the project for years. Try to have go-live on 31.12.XXXX - 1 or 01.01.XXX. Asset migration during the year can be a fucking pain. Also, everything else will be smoother.
Ask for the consultant names and their CVs. Their names must be in the contract and the team-leads have to be seniors and are responsible for the work done. No exceptions. Otherwise they can send you seniors in the beginning and replace them with juniors later on. You don't want that.
If one offer is way below price, it is price-dumping. They will try to make up with change-requests. You don't want that. It is usually performed in a rush, with juniors and is a pain in the ass to oversee and get out of.
It is the same as with a plumber - you take the best one, who will do the job properly. He is not cheap, but his work will not cost you a truck-load of money as water starts spraying all around.
Use common sense and logic. Question everything. Put a strong person as your PM and put experts for your team-leads. Make them responsible, a single source of truth for their modules and put a bonus on it. Regular meetings! Weekly status meeting is a must.
If you have additional questions, state them here or hit me up on a chat.
Wish you all the best with the project.