How a Large Footwear Retailer Reduced Their SAP Support Costs

This manufacturer of footwear and footwear accessories operates in 300+ stores in the UK and Ireland, with hundreds of franchises worldwide through a strong global distribution network.

The Problem

The organization had a significant SAP footprint and were planning to transition to SAP S/4HANA.

Their existing SAP environment consisted of two central systems—one in the UK and another in the US—with global support extended to their stores worldwide.

However, the organization faced a challenge: with SAP’s planned cessation of support for ECC 6.0 after 2027, they needed a reliable partner to provide continued support and enable their future transition to SAP S/4HANA.

Additionally, as they expanded into new markets, they needed a solution to scale with their growth and consolidate their SAP estate.

The Solution

In response to its challenges and objectives, Support Revolution developed a flexible support agreement that would last the next five years.

This agreement allowed the organization to continue using their existing ECC 6.0 systems while preparing for a gradual transition to SAP S/4HANA.

The support model was tailored to their unique needs, ensuring they had expert guidance as they reduced their reliance on the old ECC 6.0 systems and moved to a new SaaS solution.

This approach gave them the time and flexibility required to make a smooth transition while safeguarding their SAP infrastructure.

Support Revolution also considered the organization’s strategic growth, particularly the organization’s expansion into new territories in Asia, and ensured that the support agreement could scale alongside their increasing SAP estate.

Support Revolution’s solution was designed to provide support beyond SAP’s official end-of-life for ECC 6.0, ensuring it would not face disruptions in their business operations.

The Benefits

The organization now have a much more personal and engaged support provider. They have direct contact with the support teams dealing with any support tickets or system enhancements — a previously lacking service from the vendor.

Greater S/4HANA Flexibility

The organization now receives a more flexible SAP support service than they previously received from the vendor. They now have more options when moving to S4/HANA and have saved their new investors’ money on its existing SAP support costs.

This move also aligned with their goal of grouping its SAP estate as they expanded into new territories.

Efficient and tailored patching

The organization would now also receive enterprise-grade security patching.

Support Revolution provide security patches for their customers differently from SAP. We work directly with our customers and provide only the patches they need that fit perfectly with their setup. Our virtual patching method acts as a shield, protecting the entirety of the customer’s software estate before the threat can access their systems.

These patches are applied weekly, compared to SAP’s monthly patch updates.

Cost saving

By moving to Support Revolution, the organization reduced their SAP support bill by over 50%. These savings could then be reinvested into their S/4HANA transition project.

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