10.3 RISE with SAP Methodology: Standardized Framework, Transformation Preparation Service, Toolchain, Expert Guidance, and Dashboard

RISE with SAP Methodology: Standardized Framework, Transformation Preparation Service, Toolchain, Expert Guidance, and Dashboard

The course Introducing RISE with SAP Methodology for SAP Partners and Customers (SL_RISE419) is the shortest course in the C_TS462 learning journey (145 minutes), but it frames the project context in which a sales consultant works on SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. Section 10.4 covers its clean core content; this section covers the methodology itself.

RISE with SAP and SAP Business Suite

Companies today ask not whether to transform but how to do it effectively: with swift execution, minimal complexity, and reduced risk. The course names typical IT challenges: the need for a proven implementation framework, best practices, expert support to manage complexity, and the right tools for a streamlined transformation.

Many SAP customers want to move from highly customized on-premise systems to best-practice cloud ERP. SAP addresses this with the RISE with SAP transformation journey:

• Traditionally, RISE with SAP was a specific sales package including SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition (SAP Cloud ERP Private).
• In the context of SAP Business Suite, RISE with SAP focuses broadly on the customer's transformation journey and has become the standard path for existing on-premise SAP ERP customers to adopt the suite, which covers SAP's entire cloud portfolio (public and private cloud ERP and line-of-business solutions).
• SAP Cloud ERP Private remains crucial for many customers, so the SAP Cloud ERP Private Package is one of the suite's offerings.
• Customers can start fresh with SAP Cloud ERP or choose a hybrid approach, for example SAP Cloud ERP Private at headquarters and SAP Cloud ERP (public edition) at satellite offices or new divisions, integrated through SAP BTP, SAP Business Data Cloud, and SAP Business AI (two-tier ERP, section 1.1).

The transformation journey rests on people, processes, and tools.

The RISE with SAP Methodology

The RISE with SAP Methodology guides customers to SAP Business Suite with structured guidance across defined phases, supported by SAP experts and partners. It is built on a clean core strategy. Its three core components:

1. A standardized framework for faster adoption tailored to business needs.
2. An integrated toolchain for collaboration and project execution.
3. Expert guidance through end-to-end engagement.

Recent enhancements named in the course: an improved discovery phase with a Digital Discovery Assessment toolkit, broader adoption roadmaps, tailored transformation services for SAP Cloud ERP Private customers, improved onboarding with a clean core success plan, and an enhanced toolchain. The methodology promises transparency, help with critical aspects of the transition, easy access to information, and the possibility to contact SAP at any time.

The SAP Cloud ERP Private Package includes these transformation tools and services:

Component 1: The Standardized Framework

The methodology uses proven practices such as SAP Activate and the RISE with SAP adoption framework, and it augments the SAP Activate roadmap with activities that gather key information before implementation, onboard the project team, and introduce clean core activities:

• Discover phase: the Digital Discovery Assessment captures key information about the customer's planned journey, with the onboarding team and customer success managers. Presales and sales teams may hand over business value and architecture artifacts, such as a business strategy map, architecture principles catalog, business capability map, solution component diagram, bill of materials with sizing, technical assessment, architecture and value roadmaps, RISE adoption plan, and executive proposal.
• Prepare phase: the SAP Onboarding Advisor hosts four personalized calls, and initial system provisioning is triggered via SAP for Me; the RISE with SAP Onboarding Resource Center offers webinars.

• Explore, Realize, Deploy, and Run: the project manager verifies task completion through Clean Core Quality Gates, questionnaires managed in SAP Cloud ALM. After submission, SAP Enterprise Support provides a feedback report with recommendations and a system data analysis, reviewed with the RISE with SAP Enterprise Architect. The success plan in SAP Cloud ALM manages more than 150 recommended clean core tasks through a runbook.

The Transformation Preparation Service (TPS)

The transformation preparation service for SAP Business Suite bridges the gap between the presales vision and post-sales execution, in line with SAP's Suite First and AI First priorities. It is an immersive service during the Prepare phase, led by SAP experts. Its components:

• Discovery-based insights: business case analysis, value mapping, and architecture blueprints for roadmap planning.
• Guided setup services: access to cloud service entitlements and toolchain integration with SAP specialists.
• Accelerated value delivery: knowledge transfer and use case examples.

TPS delivers a tailored transformation roadmap, strengthens governance through Solution Standardization Board sessions, explores AI use cases with tools such as Joule, guides application development and integration with SAP Build, and supports process analysis with SAP Signavio, SAP LeanIX, and SAP Cloud ALM. Its implementation consists of an alignment session, a three-day workshop (day 1: architecture and a clean core baseline with Business Transformation Management; day 2: best practices and AI use cases; day 3: governance and the transition approach), and a wrap-up session with governance playbooks.

Component 2: The Integrated Toolchain

The course reports that adopting a clean core approach brings customers up to 75% incremental business value and a lower likelihood of incomplete or cancelled projects, largely thanks to an integrated toolchain:

Component 3: Expert Guidance

Customers receive guided enablement through individual sessions with the SAP Onboarding Advisor, expert meetings between an SAP expert and the partner's project manager to review Clean Core Quality Gate reports, the partner ecosystem (qualified partners can be found with the SAP Partner Finder), and enhanced support offerings such as SAP Preferred Success and SAP MaxAttention.

The RISE with SAP Competency is mandatory for partners to qualify as RISE with SAP partners, with three levels: Essential, Advanced, and Expert. Essential is the baseline for a qualified implementation partner. Partners at the Expert level who deliver significant transformations can become RISE with SAP Validated Partners; among other criteria, at least 80% of their projects must complete Clean Core Quality Gates with status Accepted or Conditionally Accepted.

The RISE with SAP Methodology Dashboard

The RISE with SAP Methodology Dashboard, also called the Clean Core Dashboard, is accessed through SAP Cloud ALM:

• The System View shows clean core adherence: version insights (is the installed product version up to date?), tool readiness (are tools such as SAP EarlyWatch Alerts active?), and upgrade preparation (which extensions create upgrade risks?). Insights exist for development, test, and production systems, which helps keep non-compliant code out of production.
• The Operations View, available for RISE with SAP customers, shows the System Health score and its KPIs for all productive SAP S/4HANA systems, evaluated daily against thresholds from SAP Cloud ALM metrics, with up to 30 days of history and jump-ins to the SAP Cloud ALM applications.