THE CASE FOR SAP®PREMIUM SUPPORT

SAP INSIGHT

Table of Contents

CEO Notes 1

Why Companies Need SAP Premium Support 2

How SAP Premium Support Meets Customers’ Needs 3

How Customers Realize Value from SAP Premium Support 4

Stacking up Against the Competition 7

How SAP Premium Support Works 8

Where Premium Support Fits In 9

THE CASE FORSAP® PREMIUM SUPPORT

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1

CEO NOTES

The systems landscapes of most global corporationshave become much more complex, as mergers havecombined heterogeneous systems, individualdivisions have developed nonintegrated legacysystems, and IT solutions span multiple platformsand technologies. The potential for difficulties inimplementing new solutions has grownexponentially.

Meanwhile, these companies are beginning to adoptinnovative IT solutions that will directly affect corebusiness processes. Consequently, they arerecognizing the dual need for greater expertise inimplementing these solutions, and for end-userinvolvement at the outset. They are also realizing theimperative of implementations that are not onlyflawless, but thoroughly focused on achievingbusiness goals and delivering on business-caseinvestment justifications.

To meet these demands, SAP has developed aspecialized service offering geared to mitigatingimplementation and operational risk, reducing totalcost of ownership, and maximizing value potential,SAP® Premium Support gives customers privilegedaccess to SAP’s product expertise and experience in

supporting more than 90,000 installations worldwide.No competitor offers a comparable support offeringin terms of price or performance.

SAP Premium Support provides the followingservices:

� Fast and predictable issues resolution through aguaranteed service-level agreement oncorrective action.

� Comprehensive annual assessment deliveringactionable recommendations - to mitigate risks,for example, or improve the solution, operationsprocesses, and structures.

� A designated support advisor that guides thecustomer through the implementation ofrecommendations and ensures a closerelationship with SAP.

In the following SAP Insight, we will explain thefollowing topics:

� Why companies need Premium Support.� How SAP Premium Support meets customers’

needs.� How customers realize value from Premium

Support.� Where Premium Support fits in.

“The Premium Support offering closes the gapbetween Standard Support and MaxAttention.Access to a designated support advisor and thesystem assessments will be particularly valuable tocustomers who have critical business processesrunning on SAP software.”

Matt Healey, IDC senior research analyst forSoftware and Hardware Support Services

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WHY COMPANIES NEED SAP PREMIUMSUPPORT

In the 1990s the difficulties with ERPimplementation almost always stemmed fromorganizational change. In the first decade of the 21stcentury, however, implementation problems aremore often related to four specific issues, as follows:

� Increased complexity of IT landscape. Assolutions span multiple platforms andtechnologies, this situation affects all aspects ofthe IT implementation, including testing,solution development, and IT production (seeFigure 1). Business processes that span multipleapplications cause another type of problem. Andthe use of service-oriented architecture increasesthe need for more reliable and lower-costsupport coverage.

� The growing expense of downtime fromsystems difficulties. As other partners in thevalue chain depend on a company’s systemsavailability, and the company in turn relies onmembers of the value chain, the expense fromdowntime can extend throughout the chain.According to SAP research, the cost of downtimeon the entire value chain typically exceeds thecost of preventative measures.

� The need for greater cost efficiency. As thepressure to increase shareholder value continuesto mount, companies must pay greaterattention to the importance of cost efficiency inevery respect. And no publicly-held companycan afford to ignore the dictates of compliancewith the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

� The recognition that IT can increaseproductivity. Corporate leaders have realizedthat productivity can increase significantly withthe extension of business applications.

IT, after all, is one area where cost overruns werealmost expected before 2000, and were evensomewhat accommodated. Now, however, CIOs havebeen under greater pressure to maintain costefficiency just as they are faced with a real need fortechnological innovation. If these CIOs can point toan area of real efficiency such as support in a new ITimplementation, they can better justify greater ITspend.

Production Landscape

Test Landscape

Development Landscape

Production Landscape

Test Landscape

Development Landscape

SLA Named

contact

Risk

Mgmt

Soln

Opt.

How SAP Premium Support MeetsCustomers’ Needs

Increasing Complexity

Figure 1

Figure 2

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HOW SAP PREMIUM SUPPORT MEETSCUSTOMERS’ NEEDS

SAP Premium Support enables customers to tap intoexperience gained from its support of thousands of ERPimplementations around the world. The premise of SAPPremium Support: the service pays for itself and more bymitigating the risk of serious issues arising during theimplementation, while providing a heightened level ofservice to lessen project duration. SAP Premium Supporthelps the customer realize the benefits of improvedoperations and increased system availability withoutincurring the expense of inexperience. SAP PremiumSupport:

� Minimizes unplanned downtime.� Improves operations by trading on SAP’s experience

to maximize the potential of each solution. � Fully engages end users in the implementation to

ensure their understanding of its business value andto help them take full advantage of it.

As a result, SAP Premium Support helps delivers a morereliable, lower-cost system landscape as well as a quickerrealization of business value. Using SAP PremiumSupport, customers can rely on the entire SAP globalorganization to improve operations and systemavailability, and focus more of their effort on othervalue-adding activities. SAP Premium Supportproactively assists customers with operations and systemlandscape planning. SAP customers and their businesspartners benefit from improved operations and reducedunplanned system downtime.

SAP PREMIUM SUPPORT PROVIDESCONTINUOUS KNOWLEDGE FLOW

Working closely with SAP, customers develop a patternof proactive knowledge exchange as the relationshipbetween SAP executives and their customer counterpartsgrows. SAP executives share their experience with otherimplementations while customer executives, in turn,share the problems they are experiencing as they occur.As a result, SAP executives know about problems in realtime, and can immediately apply the strength of theirsolutions knowledge and experience to solving theproblems on the ground.

In addition, SAP Premium Support will help thecustomer avoid known issues and reduce the element ofsurprise. The participation of SAP experts over time alsohelps provide a continuous flow of insight andknowledge that creates more predictable results.

SAP PREMIUM SUPPORT REDUCESOPERATIONAL RISK AND TOTAL COSTOF OWNERSHIP

SAP Premium Support reduces a customer’s overall levelof operational risk and helps lower the total cost ofownership. Downtime is reduced because problems areresolved on the spot and with greater predictability -without hampering operations. Closer interaction withSAP helps improve efficiency, as operational processesare standardized based on experience with processimprovement as it specifically relates to the particularsolution. Moreover, SAP Premium Support fosterscontinuous improvement through streamlined ITlandscape and core processes, as reduces risk-relatedcosts within the IT landscape.

Problem Resolution SAP Solution Manager

Knowledge Transfer SAP Service

Marketplace

Quality Management

Continuous

Improvement

-

SAP Standard Supportkeeps your SAP Environment up-to-date and running efficiently

SAP Premium SupportSupports continued andeffective business operations

17%

SAP MaxAttention+5%

Partnership to measurably reduce

TCO and increase business benefit

customized deliverables

Permanent Onsite Team & Executive Sponsor

SAP Safeguarding

Balanced Scorecard

� Continuous Improvement

� TCO Reduction

� Knowledge Transfer

SLA on Response and

Corrective Action

Assessment and Plan

Designated Support Advisor

Custom

17%

SAP Safeguarding Custom

Delivers technical quality

management for an

implementation project

customized

Support OptionsProject based engagement

How SAP PremiumSupport DeliversEnhanced BusinessValue

Figure 3

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Customers benefit in several ways from SAPPremium Support. An SAP customer with a live SAPsolution, for example, will benefit from improved ITservice quality and reliability, a lower total cost ofownership, and improved business processes. Newcustomers or customers with new SAP solutions willgain from the project risk mitigation plan, as well asSAP guidance for higher-performing operations.These benefits result from three specific aspects ofSAP Premium Support:

� A service-level agreement (SLA) on response andcorrective action;

� An assessment and plan; and, � A designated support advisor.

SLA ON RESPONSE AND CORRECTIVEACTION

The SLA guarantees the speed with which SAP willrespond to the customer. For example, the SLA setsthe time in which SAP will respond to the customerand take corrective action. The SLA will acceleratemessage processing from the customer. For existingcustomers, the SLA ensures fast issue resolution tominimize unforeseen downtime. For new customers,or those implementing new SAP solutions, suchpredictable issue resolution helps generate a moresecure sense that the goals of the project plan will beachieved.

By focusing on more predictable issues resolution,the SLA ensures that customers receive a qualifiedresponse from a process owner. The process owneralso delivers regular status updates, in less than onehour for Priority 1 issues and in less than four hoursfor Priority 2 issues.

For Priority 1 issues, SAP will immediately begin acorrection, a work-around, or action plan within aguaranteed timeframe of four hours. That actionplan will include:

� Status of the resolution process;� SAP plan for next steps to resolve the problem;� Estimate of required cooperation from the

customer;� Date and time for the next status update; and,� Due dates for actions taken by SAP (to the

extent it is possible to set dates).

SAP will also provide regular status updates on itssuccess in processing Priority 1 messages. Suchupdates will include the results from actions alreadytaken, the planned next steps, and the date and timefor the next status update.

In addition, SAP will ensure that Priority 2 issues areresolved under an accelerated timeframe.

HOW CUSTOMERS REALIZE VALUE FROMSAP PREMIUM SUPPORT

Figure 4 Annual Assessment Includes: Service Report Deliverable:

Onsite technical risk assessment Documenting potential risks

SAP Service Report Issues

Executive Summary with Risk Rating Optimization potentials

Action Plan Actionable recommendations

Service Plan

Premium SupportDeliverables

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ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS AND PLAN

Under Premium Support, SAP will deliver an initialassessment and plan after the contract is signed, withannual assessments and plans over the life of thecontract. For existing SAP customers, PremiumSupport helps customers assess their potential forimprovement in core business processes andtechnical solutions. For new SAP customers orcustomers implementing new SAP solutions,Premium Support service provides project riskanalysis and plans as well as advice on best practicesfor setting up high-performance operations.

For all customers, SAP Premium Support includes aninitial enablement service as well as annualassessments. These assessments deliver actionablerecommendations and detailed plans focusedprecisely on business priorities for theimplementation. These assessments include:

� Technical risk analysis; � Support infrastructure readiness for the solution� Opportunities for optimization identification -

technical/landscape;� Assessment of the SAP products operated by the

customer, including the intersection betweenthese products and the core business processesthe products are designed to help;

� Changes in SAP support innovations; and, � Knowledge transfer.

Customers also benefit because the assessmentsevolve over time as illustrated in figure 5. First, thelevel of detail increases as each new assessment isbased on the material provided in the previousassessment. Second, the focus naturally shifts frominformation gathering and high-level riskmanagement to continuous improvement. With anever-deepening understanding of the customer’ssituation, the SAP designated support advisor willcontinuously adapt the assessments and plans toindividual needs.

DESIGNATED SUPPORT ADVISOR

Another key benefit of Premium Support is adesignated support advisor. The support advisorbecomes the customer’s advocate within the SAPorganization, helping to see that the customer’sconcerns are met and problems resolved quickly andeffectively. And the designated support advisor willguide the customer through the annual assessmentand plan cycles.

For existing SAP customers, the designated supportadvisor will guide the customer to properly exploitthe benefits available from improvementopportunities. For new SAP customers or customersimplementing new SAP solutions, the designatedsupport advisor will help guide the customer to setup or improve high-performance operations.

Assessments EvolveOver Time to AddValue

Figure 5

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As the customer’s trusted advisor and advocatewithin SAP, the designated support advisor isavailable to the customer via telephone duringregular operating hours and on-site for periodiccheck points. The designated support advisor:

� Helps develop the SAP assessment and plan withSAP experts and delivers it to the customer’sexecutives;

� Coordinates with customer executives toimplement the plan;

� Coaches the customer’s CIO and IT departmentabout how best to implement SAPrecommendations;

� Proactively develops a customized service plan incollaboration with the customer’s ITdepartment and coordinates support deliverybased upon a more intimate knowledge of thecustomer’s landscape;

� Initiates the delivery of planned services;� Helps escalate the process when SAP is called on

to handle exceptions in the support process;� Ensures the effectiveness of the customer’s

support team by delivering set-up tools and bestpractices from the start; and,

� Informs the customer proactively about SAPproducts, strategy, and news regarding supportand operation issues.

As the customer’s designated trusted advisor andadvocate within SAP, the support advisor is availableto customer executives via telephone during regularoperating hours and on-site for periodic checkpoints.

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SAP Premium Support is unique among theindustry’s support and maintenance offerings interms of price and performance (see figure 6). AsGartner’s Erik Keller noted, “In the service area,especially in the technical service and support areas,SAP is two to three years ahead of its competition.No competitor will be able to catch up with SAP inthe short run.”

Customers are equally impressed. One CIO of aglobal electronics firm, observed, “When we have anissue and I pick up the phone, I’ve got the entireorganization of SAP behind me. That’s my personalexperience and that’s my belief in the system.” Andanother European CIO, commented, “We would nothesitate to choose SAP Active Global Support again.We truly received value for our money.”

SAP MaintenancePrograms Comparedto Those of KeyCompetitors

STACKING UP AGAINST THECOMPETITION

Figure 6

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Like SAP Standard Support, SAP Premium Support isa standard offering, available to customers with avalid SAP Standard Support agreement. SAPPremium Support comprises an SLA on response andaction, annual assessments and plan, and adesignated support advisor. SAP MaxAttention, onthe other hand, is customized to meet a customer’sspecific need. SAP MaxAttention includes on-siteteams, a technical quality manager, and a contingentof on-site services not included with the PremiumSupport program.

As is the case with SAP Standard Support, SAPPremium Support applies to installations on releasesin mainstream and extended maintenance. The SAPPremium Support agreement can remain valid forinstallations in customer-specific maintenance;however, as for SAP Standard Support, the scope ofSAP Premium Support is reduced. SLAs on responseand corrective action cannot be provided for suchinstallations.

Customers should remember that extendedmaintenance is not included in SAP PremiumSupport. A customer must order extendedmaintenance to receive the full scope of SAPPremium Support for releases that are in extendedmaintenance. It can then be included.

SAP Safeguarding services ensure that projects arecompleted on budget and on time. SAP Safeguardingdelivers a complete technical and performance riskassessment and active mitigation, as well as ensuringthat solution matches design. SAP Safeguardingservices are focused on key projects.

SAP Premium Support assures continued andeffective business operations. The annual assessmentand plan is focused on operations, improving ITservice quality and reliability, or reducing total costof ownership for customer solutions - as a fewexamples.

HOW SAP PREMIUM SUPPORT WORKS

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A customer must fulfill a few preconditions beforereceiving Premium Support.

� SAP must perform an initial Assessment.� Solution Manager is fully implemented and

business processes and landscape is sufficientlydocumented

� All messages are logged in Solution Manager

The designated Support Advisor is available for theContact Person of the customer via telephone andemail during regular business hours. In case ofcustomer critical situations the designated SupportAdvisor will be backed up by a contact person withinSAP’s Support Organization beyond regular businesshours.

MaxAttention makes use of Premium Supportelements but they are still customized to the specificneeds of the customer. Everything delivered underPremium Support is a standardized service.

WHERE PREMIUM SUPPORT FITS IN

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January 2006