AI tools are becoming increasingly capable of answering highly technical enterprise questions, including SAP licensing which is known for its complexity, commercial nuance, and the financial impact of even small misunderstandings. The real question is whether AI can match the depth, context, and risk awareness of a specialist who works daily with S/4HANA, FUE models, contract conversions, and SAP’s evolving cloud programs.

To find out, we tested four leading AI tools across four SAP specific licensing questions that commonly create confusion for customers. These included:

• Whether Finance only deployments in S/4HANA Cloud public edition should be licensed through Business Suite or FUE
• What happens to licensing when moving from ECC on Oracle to S/4HANA, and the technical requirement to migrate to SAP HANA
• How migration credits work when converting ECC on-prem contracts into ERP Cloud Public or Private, including incentives such as RISE credits and the Cloud Extension Policy
• The real differences between legacy Business Suite licensing and the modern FUE model used in S/4HANA Cloud

We assessed the following AI tools:

• Claude Sonnet 4.5
• OpenAI GPT-5 (ChatGPT)
• Gemini Pro
• Copilot GPT-5

Each AI received the same SAP licensing questions. Their responses were scored on accuracy, completeness, and practical usefulness, especially in the context of real-world SAP negotiations where incorrect assumptions can lead to significant contractual or financial risk.

Below is how they performed.

SAP Results (Round 2)

Copilot GPT-5 scored the highest in this SAP-specific round, with strong accuracy across all four questions. OpenAI GPT-5 also performed well, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Gemini Pro produced partially correct answers but with less depth and practical SAP context.

Below is the full breakdown by question.

OpenAI GPT-5

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1) If I only want Finance in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, which license model is best—Business Suite or FUE?

S/4HANA Cloud (public) is sold on a subscription using Full Use Equivalents (FUEs) mapped to user roles (Self-Service, Core, Advanced). You don’t license “modules” the old Business Suite way; you size the mix of user types and allocate FUEs. Finance-only scopes are achieved by assigning mostly Core/Advanced Finance users plus some Self-Service (approvals, time, expenses, etc.). Business Suite is the legacy on-prem model and isn’t how public cloud is licensed.

Quick rule: Public Cloud ⇒ FUE pool (by user types), not Business Suite “module” licenses.

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2) I run ECC on Oracle DB. What’s the prerequisite to move to S/4HANA, and how does licensing change?

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Technical prerequisite: S/4HANA runs only on SAP HANA. A greenfield or conversion therefore includes a database move to HANA (via SUM/DMO for conversions).

Licensing shift:

·       Today (ECC on-prem): typically, Business Suite named users + “engines” under a perpetual license & maintenance.

·       S/4HANA target options:

o   On-prem S/4HANA: still perpetual, but S/4 has a new commercial model (your ECC license isn’t auto-entitled to S/4; customers use product/contract conversion).

o   Private/Public Cloud (RISE/GROW): subscription using FUE (user-type based) under a single cloud contract (RISE).

3) How much credit do I get if I swap my ECC on-prem contract for ERP Cloud (Public or Private)?

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There are several programs and numbers vary by deal, timing and route. Current public guidance indicates:

·       RISE migration incentives (on-prem → RISE): widely reported ~60% credit of first-year fees for on-prem S/4HANA customers moving to RISE (intended to offset ~half of migration costs). Treat this as a programmatic incentive—confirm with SAP at negotiation.

·       Cloud Extension Policy: lets you convert part of on-prem maintenance into cloud spend so you don’t double-pay during transition (a credit/offset, scope and valuation are negotiable).

·       Contract/Product conversions (on-prem to S/4HANA on-prem): market commentary shows declining credit caps over time (e.g., 80%→70%→~60% for contract conversions), reinforcing that timing matters; exact credits are not universal and must be negotiated.

Bottom line: there isn’t a single fixed %, but 60% first-year credit for RISE has been publicly cited, and Cloud Extension can offset maintenance → cloud. Always get SAP to spell out credit basis, expiration, and eligible use in the order form.

4) What’s the difference between Business Suite licensing and FUE in SAP ERP Cloud context?

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Business Suite licensing uses named users and engines under a perpetual license with annual maintenance. Scope is controlled by licensing specific modules or engines and assigning user types. Changing scope can easily create shelfware or require re-buying licenses. Governance is tied to the classic SAP price list and traditional on-prem metrics.

FUE licensing, used in S/4HANA Cloud Public and Private, works very differently. It is a subscription model based on Full Use Equivalents (FUEs) which are allocated to user types such as Self-Service, Core, and Advanced. Capabilities are controlled by the user type, and higher tier users automatically include the rights of lower tiers. This model offers more flexibility because FUEs can be reallocated as roles change, allowing you to right-size your environment over time. Governance is defined through Service Use Descriptions which outline user-type rights and the required ratios.

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Claude Sonnet 4.5

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1) If I only want to use the Finance module of SAP ERP Public Cloud, what license model is best for me, Business Suite or FUE?

SAP has introduced a modernized pricing model for S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, designed to align with industry standards and deliver greater clarity, flexibility, and value. This new model replaces the former Full Use Equivalent (FUE) approach with a per-user, per-month licensing structure, reflecting how customers use ERP software across business functions.

For Finance specifically:

• Finance Users get access to a full suite of enterprise accounting tools, and also financial functions such as cash management, contract accounting and invoicing, advanced payment management, document reporting compliance, multi-bank connectivity, and market rate management
• A basic Finance User can be upgraded to a Premium Finance User to get access to additional tools and platforms useful for finance

Important Note: Business Suite licensing is the traditional on-premise named user model, while FUE is used for cloud deployments. Since you're asking about ERP Public Cloud, FUE (or the newer per-user, per-month model) is what applies to you.

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2) If I use ECC on Oracle Database, what is the prerequisite of migrating to S/4HANA and how will the licensing model change for me?

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Prerequisites:

S/4HANA only runs on the SAP HANA database. You must license HANA separately if you deploy on-premise (or in a private cloud you manage) .

The SAP HANA database licence has to be purchased. Most customers choose the Runtime edition and the price is calculated based on the current HANA software application value (HSAV) of the SAP licenses. Costs for AnyDB (e.g. MS-SQL, DB/2, Oracle) are not included.

The cost for the HANA database is calculated at 15% of the value of the original application, excluding the value of the database.

Licensing Model Changes:

From ECC (Named Users) to S/4HANA:

• Historically, SAP on-premise licensing has revolved around Named Users, including Professional, Limited Professional, and Employee Self-Service users. Each has different price points, plus licensing for modules based on various metric.

For S/4HANA Cloud (FUE Model):

• RISE with SAP introduced a new unified user metric: the Full User Equivalent (FUE). This metric aggregates all user types into a single consumable unit to simplify licensing.
• Advanced User: 1 user = 1.0 FUE (full business user with broad access). Core User: 1 user = 0.2 FUE (more limited operational user; 5 such users per FUE). Self-Service User: 1 user = ~0.03 FUE (light user for self-service tasks; ~30 users per FUE). Developer User: 1 user = 0.5 FUE.

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3)  How much credit do I get from SAP for swapping my ECC on-premise contract for ERP Public Cloud or Private Cloud?

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The credit amount has been decreasing over time:

For RISE/Cloud Migration:

• Early adopters (circa 2021) could apply up to 90% of their annual maintenance fees toward the RISE subscription cost. However, by 2024, the standard maintenance credit might be around 70% or less, and SAP indicated it would drop roughly 10% each year
• Specifically, a customer paying $1 million in annual maintenance in 2021 might have initially received a $900,000 credit per year. However, by 2024, this credit could decrease to $700k, and by 2025–2026, it could be reduced to fifty or sixty percent

For Cloud Migration (2024 Program):

• Through the end of 2024, SAP offered special credits to encourage signing cloud deals. For instance, organizations moving an existing S/4HANA on-premises system to S/4 Cloud could receive credits worth roughly 60% of the annual subscription value, and those moving from ECC (a much older technology) could receive around 45% of the contract value credited

For Contract Conversion to S/4HANA On-Premise:

• Previously, the credit for the conversion was capped at 90% of the new S/4HANA maintenance base. However, as of July 2023, SAP has made changes to the credit policy for customers transitioning to SAP S/4HANA on-premise using the Contract Conversion. The credit limit has been reduced to 80%, and further adjustments are planned to reduce this further

Key Takeaway: The sooner you transition, the better the credit. Credits are diminishing as we approach the 2027 ECC end-of-support deadline.

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4) What is the difference between Business Suite licensing model and Full Use Equivalent licensing model in the context of SAP ERP Cloud?

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Business Suite Licensing (Traditional On-Premise):

• Under SAP ECC (SAP's earlier ERP), every individual user needed a specific license type. There were several categories of named users – common examples include Professional Users, Limited Professional Users, Employee Self-Service (ESS) users, Developer users, and many more specialized types. Each category came with different levels of access and a different price point
• Fixed named user licenses
• Buy each license type separately
• Perpetual licensing with annual maintenance fees
• Complex with many different user types

Full Use Equivalent (FUE) Licensing (Cloud):

• With the advent of S/4HANA Cloud (including the RISE with SAP offering), SAP introduced the Full User Equivalent (FUE) model. This represents a fundamentally different approach to measuring user licensing. Instead of buying a fixed number of each license type, a company subscribes to a pool of FUEs – essentially a budget of user capacity

Key Differences:

1. Metric Structure:
   • Business Suite: Individual named users by type
   • FUE: Pooled capacity that can be allocated flexibly
2. Flexibility:
   • SAP defines weightings for each user category in the cloud subscription model: Advanced User – counts as 1.0 FUE (the baseline, equivalent to a full "power user"). Core User – counts as 0.2 FUE. Approximately 30 self-service employees collectively count as just 1 FUE
3. Allocation:
   • Business Suite: Fixed allocation per user type
   • FUE: Can reallocate between user types as needs change within your FUE pool
4. Payment Model:
   • Business Suite: Perpetual + maintenance
   • FUE: Subscription-based (annual/monthly recurring)
5. Applicability:
   • Business Suite: On-premise deployments
   • FUE: Cloud deployments (Public and Private Cloud)

The FUE model simplifies licensing by consolidating multiple user types into a single metric, but requires careful management to optimize costs based on actual user access patterns.

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Gemini Pro

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1)Finance in Public Cloud: Business Suite or FUE?

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If you only want to use the Finance module of SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, the correct licensing model is Full Use Equivalent (FUE).

To be clear, "Business Suite" (like ECC) is the name of the older on-premise product, which is licensed using a perpetual Named User License (NUL) model.

The FUE model is the standard for SAP's cloud subscriptions (both Public and Private Cloud).¹

Here is how it would work:

• You would subscribe to the S/4HANA Public Cloud, public edition (which includes the finance line-of-business).
• You would also purchase a "pool" of FUEs for all your users. There is typically a minimum purchase (e.g., 30 FUEs).²
• FUEs are flexible.³ You don't buy "Finance User" licenses. Instead, 1 FUE can be allocated in different ratios, such as:
  • 1 Advanced User (a power user, like a finance controller)⁴
  • 5 Core Users (a user performing standard, role-specific tasks)⁵
  • 30 Self-Service Users (a user who only views reports or approves a workflow)⁶

The short answer: FUE is the correct and only model for S/4HANA Public Cloud.

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‍2)Migrating from ECC on Oracle to S/4HANA

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This migration has two sets of prerequisites: technical and licensing.

Technical Prerequisites

• Database: This is the most significant prerequisite. S/4HANA runs only on the SAP HANA database. You cannot run it on Oracle. Your migration project must include a database migration from Oracle to HANA.⁸
• Application Version: Your ECC system must be at least SAP ECC 6.0.⁹
• Unicode: Your ECC system must be Unicode-compliant.¹⁰ If it is not, a Unicode conversion must be performed first.
• Custom Code: All of your custom ABAP code (Z-programs) must be analyzed using SAP's tools and remediated to be compatible with the new S/4HANA data model (e.g., the Universal Journal).¹¹
• Customer/Vendor Integration (CVI): You must convert your separate customer and vendor master data into the unified Business Partner model, which is mandatory in S/4HANA.

Licensing Model Change

Your existing ECC on-premise licenses (for the Oracle database and your NULs) are not directly valid for S/4HANA. You must perform a Contract Conversion.

• You will terminate your old ECC contract (and the annual maintenance payments for it).¹²
• You will sign a new S/4HANA contract with SAP.¹³
• This new contract can be for:
  1. S/4HANA (Perpetual): You buy new S/4HANA NULs (on-premise).
  2. S/4HANA Cloud (Subscription): You subscribe to a service like RISE with SAP, and your licensing metric changes from NULs to FUEs.¹⁴
• SAP provides a "credit" for your old licenses in this process (see next question).¹⁵

3)Credit for Swapping ECC On-Premise to Cloud

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This program is called Contract Conversion, and it is the commercial foundation of the RISE with SAP offering.¹⁶

You do not get a cash refund or a simple "credit" in the way you might think. Instead, SAP "credits" the value of your on-premise investment against your new, larger cloud subscription.¹⁷

Here’s the simplified process:

1. SAP calculates the value of your current on-premise contract.¹⁸ This is typically based on the annual maintenance fee you pay for your ECC licenses.
2. This maintenance value is "swapped" and applied as a credit toward your new, all-in-one RISE with SAP subscription (which bundles software, infrastructure, and services).¹⁹
3. SAP has run specific, limited-time incentive programs that may offer additional credits (e.g., to cover migration services or parallel maintenance), but the core "swap" is based on your maintenance value.

The exact amount of credit and the final subscription price are subject to commercial negotiation with SAP.²⁰

4. Difference: Business Suite Model vs. FUE Model

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The Business Suite model applies to SAP ECC on-premise. It is licensed through Named User Licenses, where you purchase perpetual licenses tied to rigid user types such as Professional or Limited. The cost model is capital expenditure with a significant upfront license purchase, and maintenance is paid separately as an annual fee, typically a percentage of the original license cost. This model covers only the software license itself.

The Full Use Equivalent model applies to SAP S/4HANA Cloud in both Public and Private editions. Instead of buying named users, you purchase a subscription based on a flexible pool of FUEs. For example, one FUE can represent several Core users. The cost model is operating expenditure with a recurring monthly or annual subscription. The subscription includes the software, the underlying cloud infrastructure, technical managed services, and support. Maintenance is already included within this single subscription price.

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Conclusion

This SAP round highlights both the strengths and the limits of current AI tools in one of the most complex licensing environments in enterprise IT. Copilot delivered the strongest and most accurate answers overall, while the remaining models provided helpful but less complete responses. This difference reinforces an important point: AI can support SAP research, but it cannot replace the judgement, context, and commercial insight of a licensing specialist.

SAP licensing decisions rely on many variables such as historical contracts, user mix planning, migration incentives, indirect access risks, and the evolving commercial structures of RISE and S/4HANA Cloud. While AI can provide clear explanations, it cannot fully interpret customer entitlements, negotiation levers, or the long-term financial implications of each licensing route. Small gaps in understanding can lead to oversizing, missed credits, or contractual limitations that are difficult to reverse.

As this series continues, we will evaluate how these AI tools perform across other vendors and more advanced scenarios, helping organisations understand where AI can add value.