The Easiest Way to Track SAP License Consumption, Analyze Usage, and Simulate S/4HANA Projections

[Siarhei]

Welcome to the Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption

You may have already heard about the SAM4U tool released by SAP through our previous blogs.
Or, you might currently be transitioning to S/4HANA and trying to understand how legacy SAP ECC On-Premise Named Users (NUL) relate to the new SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management Users or Full Use Equivalent requirements.
Or, you might already be an SAP RISE customer (RISE is now – SAP Cloud ERP Private) seeking additional clarity on how your SAP license consumption is measured — and wondering whether there’s a way to map measured consumption to your actual system usage, ensuring you only pay for what you truly use.
Or, you might be engaged in an SAP roles and profiles optimization project.

All these use cases — and many others — are addressed by the Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption, developed by us as an SAP Build Partner.

Why Does SAM4U Adoption Need Acceleration?

SAM4U is a powerful tool from SAP, but like any SAP tool, it requires installation, configuration, and ongoing maintenance. Setting it up locally can take months and introduce unpredictable costs, especially when optimizing your SAP system configuration to fully support SAM4U.

So why go through the hassle? With Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption, you can enable immediate access to a fully optimized, enterprise-ready SAM4U environment — powered by the cloud and available directly from the SAP Store.

Of course, simply offering cloud hosting in today's world wouldn’t be enough — we understand that. That’s why Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption comes packed with additional, game-changing benefits!

Here's what you get:

• An optimized SAM4U system that belongs to you — fully configured and ready for action.
• Extended reporting capabilities for SAM4U — providing deeper insights into your SAP license usage.
• Simulation tools for SAM4U — allowing you to model adjustments to SAP roles and profiles, and see how changes impact Full Use Equivalent (FUE) consumption for your consolidated measurement plan.

Imagine being able to simulate the effect of your SAP roles optimization on your RISE contract (RISE is now – SAP Cloud ERP Private) or S/4HANA migration licensing projections — instantly and accurately. It sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it? 😉

Show Me How the Simulation Works — and What It Can Do for Me!

Of course — no worries! The simulation feature is simple to use, yet incredibly powerful. 😊

Here’s a quick example you can explore anytime from our public demo tenant of the Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption.

When you log in, you’ll find two main tiles:

• One for the SAM4U Solution — your foundation for license measurement and tracking.

One for the SAM4U Extended Reporting and Simulation — where you can dive deeper into simulations and projections.

Pic. 1 Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption Launchpad

When you click the first tile, you can launch the SAM4U Tool.
Here, you will be able to:

• Upload your CLE (Consolidated License Entitlement) file,
• Import data from your SAP backend systems,
• And create a system consolidation.

(If you need more detailed guidance on these steps, check out our previous blogs where we cover them in depth.)

 Pic. 2 SAM4U Solution from SAP

Once your data is uploaded to SAM4U, you can run the SAM4U Extended Reporting, which is included as part of the Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption.

 Pic. 3 SAM4U Extended Reporting Dashboard

There are many powerful features available in SAM4U Extended Reporting, which we will explore in future posts.
For now, let’s focus on the simulation functionality.

The first step is to navigate to the Authorization Analysis section, where you can review your consolidated FUEs count.

 Pic. 4 SAM4U Extended Reporting – Authorization based FUEs

Now, let’s walk through a sample business case:

Suppose your current SAP contract covers 500 Full User Equivalents (FUEs).
However, when reviewing the measured FUEs, you see 631 FUEs — indicating a potential license compliance gap.

If 631 FUEs truly reflect your actual system usage — great! In that case, you’re simply paying for what you genuinely consume.
But what if there’s room for FUE optimization?

Scroll down in the Authorization Analysis view, and you’ll find the Top 10 Roles with the Highest Optimization Potential.

 Pic. 5 SAM4U Extended Reporting - Top 10 Roles with the Highest Optimization Potential

By taking a closer look at the roles highlighted in yellow, you can quickly identify opportunities for significant FUE optimization.
If your analysis confirms that these roles historically include more authorization than necessary to perform the required business processes, you have a clear path to optimization.

Simply click on any role to drill down into the associated authorization objects and explore the details.

 Pic. 6 SAM4U Extended Reporting – Detailed Role’s Analysis

After reviewing the role and consulting with the Materials Management (MM) team, a decision is made to simplify the role.
Since not all employees need to post a Goods Movement, the solution is to highlight the Professional authorization object within the role and then delete (or deactivate) it. This way, we can always roll it back if necessary.

 Pic. 7 SAM4U Extended Reporting – Adjusting the Role

Now it’s time to adjust the second role, which is another candidate for optimization.
In this case, we see that ACTVT = ‘*’ is set, which typically grants all activities. We will likely want to restrict this to the Display activity (03) to better align with the actual business needs.

 Pic. 8 SAM4U Extended Reporting – Changing Role’s Authorization

You may see a message indicating that the consolidation is being recalculated. Once the process is complete, you can return to Authorization Analysis to review the impact of your optimization.

 Pic. 9 SAM4U Extended Reporting – Analysis of Roles’ Optimization

Excellent! You’ve successfully optimized your roles, and now your FUE consumption is down to 404 FUEs — well below your assumed contract limit of 500 FUEs.

Easy, right? 😊
This is just a small example of the benefits that the Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption offers!

You can always access a demo tenant directly from the SAP Store to explore it further.

Conclusion
The main takeaway from this blog is clear: if you’re an RISE customer (RISE is now SAP Cloud ERP Private) or in the process of transitioning to S/4HANA, you should get the SAM4U tool immediately.

By using the Accelerator for SAM4U Adoption, you gain not just reporting tools, but the complete toolset to take action — ensuring that your SAP contract remains in healthy condition, you only pay for what you actually use, and you have full visibility into your consumption.