RISE with SAP vs. S/4HANA on AWS: a CIO's decision framework
The infrastructure is a tie. The decision is about ownership, agents, and your options in year five.
The short answer
Both roads lead to S/4HANA; they end in different places. RISE with SAP is a managed subscription on SAP's terms — SAP operates your ERP and it lives in SAP's cloud. S/4HANA on AWS keeps you in control: you run the same S/4HANA in your own AWS account, choose your hyperscaler, and keep ownership of your data and your exit options. The real decision isn't infrastructure — every cloud hosts S/4 — it's what you own when the migration is done. Agent-led tooling can now cut migration effort on either path, so the tie-breaker is ownership, not hosting.
The decision that actually matters
By 2027, mainstream maintenance for SAP ECC ends, so the move is not optional. Every self-hosted ECC customer is now choosing where S/4HANA will run. The temptation is to frame it as an infrastructure comparison — but AWS, RISE, and other hyperscalers all host S/4HANA competently. That comparison is a tie.
The difference is ownership. Under RISE, SAP operates your ERP as a bundled subscription, and your data and operating model come along for the ride. On AWS, you run the same S/4HANA in your own account, alongside your data and analytics, with your team in control.
Six questions to answer before you sign either contract
These are the questions we'd want answered if it were our estate:
- Who operates my ERP in year three — SAP, or my team?
- Where does my business data physically live, and who else can see it?
- Can I change hyperscaler without changing ERP, or are those now the same decision?
- Do I get the configuration artifacts, or just the outcome?
- What does renewal look like in year five, and what is my alternative if the price goes up?
- Who is accountable when a change breaks a financial close?
Where agents change the math
At Sapphire 2026, SAP announced agent-led transformation tooling that automates system analysis, code remediation, configuration and testing, reducing ERP migration effort by more than 35% — delivered inside RISE with SAP. That is a strong offer, and it is a real reason some CIOs will choose RISE.
But the same agent-led approach can run on your own estate on AWS: fit-to-standard analysis, governed configuration, and validation — with the config drafted as a customizing transport your own change process approves, never touching production on its own. Same effort reduction, without handing over the ERP. When both sides have agents, the only question left is what you own when they're done.
A fair note
RISE with SAP is a strong product, and SAP is an AWS partner — RISE itself runs on AWS. This framework is not an argument that one is better; it is a set of questions about ownership that a CIO should answer deliberately rather than by default. Some organizations will rationally choose to hand operations to SAP. The point is to make it a choice.
Frequently asked
Does RISE with SAP run on AWS?
Yes. RISE with SAP is available on AWS among other hyperscalers. That is why the hosting comparison is effectively a tie — the meaningful differences are about who operates the ERP, where data lives, and your commercial and exit options.
Can I get SAP's migration agents without RISE?
SAP's agent-led transformation tooling is delivered inside RISE with SAP. An agentic fit-to-standard, configuration, and validation capability can also run on your own S/4HANA estate on AWS, which is how customers get comparable effort reduction while keeping ownership.
What is the biggest risk of choosing RISE?
The main trade-off is ownership and optionality: SAP operates the ERP, your data lives in SAP's cloud, and your alternatives at renewal are narrower. For some organizations that trade is worth it; the framework above helps decide deliberately.
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