RISE vs GROW with SAP: Complete Comparison
SAP offers two distinct cloud paths: RISE for enterprises and GROW for mid-market. Here's how to determine which is right for your organization.
Choose RISE If:
- You're an existing SAP ECC customer migrating to S/4HANA
- You have significant custom code to preserve
- Complex integrations require flexibility
- You need full historical data migration
- Revenue exceeds $500M annually
Choose GROW If:
- You're new to SAP or replacing a legacy ERP
- You can adopt SAP best practices with minimal changes
- Speed to value is a priority (go-live in months)
- Budget is constrained and predictability matters
- Revenue is under $500M annually
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Category | RRISE with SAP | GGROW with SAP |
|---|---|---|
| Target Market | Large enterprises with existing SAP | Small & mid-market, new to SAP |
| S/4HANA Edition | Private Edition (single-tenant) or Public | Public Edition only (multi-tenant) |
| Customization | Extensive - custom code, modifications allowed | Limited - extensions via BTP only |
| Implementation Time | 12-36 months typical | 4-8 months typical |
| Implementation Cost | $2M-$100M+ depending on scope | $200K-$2M typical |
| Annual Subscription | Higher - based on users & revenue | Lower - predictable per-user pricing |
| Data Migration | Full historical data migration possible | Limited - typically open items only |
| Upgrade Control | Customer controls upgrade timing | SAP-managed quarterly updates |
| Infrastructure | Choice of hyperscaler (AWS, Azure, GCP) | SAP-managed infrastructure |
| Best Practices | Flexible - can deviate from standard | Pre-configured SAP best practices |
| Integration Complexity | Supports complex integration scenarios | Standard APIs, simpler integrations |
| Industry Solutions | Full industry cloud capabilities | Selected industry packages |
What's Included in Each Package
RISE with SAP Includes:
- S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition license
- SAP HANA database
- Infrastructure hosting (hyperscaler of choice)
- SAP Business Technology Platform credits
- SAP Signavio process intelligence
- SAP Business Network starter pack
- Business transformation services
- Technical managed services
- SAP Learning Hub access
GROW with SAP Includes:
- S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition license
- SAP-managed infrastructure
- Pre-configured best practices
- SAP Business Technology Platform credits
- SAP Signavio journey modeler
- SAP Business Network integration
- Guided implementation methodology
- Community support & learning
- Quarterly automatic updates
Cost Comparison
RISE Pricing Model
GROW Pricing Model
Common Misconceptions
"GROW is just RISE for smaller companies"
Reality: They're fundamentally different products. GROW uses S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (multi-tenant) while RISE typically uses Private Edition (single-tenant). The architecture, customization options, and upgrade paths are completely different.
"You can easily switch from GROW to RISE later"
Reality: While possible, moving from GROW to RISE is essentially a new implementation. The multi-tenant to single-tenant migration requires significant effort. Choose your path carefully.
"GROW means no customization at all"
Reality: You can extend GROW using SAP BTP and the extensibility framework. However, core modifications and custom ABAP are not supported. Extensions must follow clean core principles.