Digital Access in the past and present
In the past, software was typically licensed based on direct human access. People were the primary users, and applications ran within a company’s on-premise systems.
Today, organizations use a mix of cloud and on-premise solutions from multiple providers, all of which must work together. Devices, applications, and automated technologies now generate far more system requests than individual users.
As access patterns changed, licensing models had to change with them.
We categorize accessing the digital core, meaning all deployments of SAP S/4HANA, including SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, into three categories:
- Direct Human Access
- Digital Access / Indirect Human Access
- SAP Application Access
Direct Human Access
Direct human access refers to a human with a unique user ID logging into any deployment of SAP S/4HANA directly and creating documents based on the user type. The individual user ID covers all activities in the Cloud ERP system.
Direct human access for SAP Cloud ERP is based on a model called per user, per month (PUPM). There are many different user types, which are based on the package(s) purchased by the customer. For example, Finance Premium users have access to enhanced finance and spend/customer experience capabilities, whereas a self-service user only has access to capabilities such as recording their time, accessing paystub information, setting goals, booking travel and submitting expenses. A Finance Premium user is more "expensive" than a self-service user to the customer. Details about the different user types is in the Service Use Description.
Direct human access for SAP Cloud ERP Private is based on a model called full use equivalent (FUE). A customer purchases a certain quantity of FUEs, and allocates them across their employees based on the what different employees should have access to in the ERP system. 1 FUE could be used for 30 self-service users, or 1 FUE could be assigned to 1 user with advanced capabilities in the system (e.g. finance capabilities). Details about the different user types and the number of FUEs required per user is in the Service Use Description.
Some humans access SAP S/4HANA indirectly through a non-SAP intermediary software. This could include a non-SAP front-end, a custom solution, or any other non-SAP application, and is considered indirect human access. In the case of process automation, access to SAP S/4HANA with attended third-party bots is considered direct human access when the bot is acting on behalf of a human.
Digital Access / Indirect Human Access
The Digital Access license model combines indirect human access with nonhuman devices, automation bots, automated systems, or other third party solutions accessing SAP S/4HANA and creating documents. This is an outcome-based license where humans or non-humans create a specific set of documents through intermediary non-SAP software. Pricing is based on the number of documents associated to nine specific document types. It's important to understand the document types themselves are not counted for digital access, it's the creation of document items for these nine document types. The pricing model is also tiered to make the software affordable for companies of all sizes. In the case of process automation, access to SAP S/4HANA with unattended third-party bots requires additional licensing through Digital Access.
SAP Application Access
SAP application access is when SAP S/4HANA is accessed through an SAP line of business (LoB) application, an industry application, or SAP solution extensions (Solex). You might think documents created through these applications would be considered Digital Access, but they aren't because each application is licensed separately, and therefore all documents created through them are covered within the license of each individual application. To explain it differently, the applications are not creating documents within SAP S/4HANA, they are creating documents within the original LoB, industry, or Solex application and transferring the created documents to SAP S/4HANA.
An alternate use case is if the application happens to already be included in the license purchased for the core ERP software. For SAP S/4HANA Cloud (public and private editions), SAP Build Process Automation is included in both the GROW and RISE with SAP packages. Because of this, process automation bots within SAP Build (attended or unattended) are considered SAP application access and do not require additional licensing.
Document Types relevant for Digital Access License
The creation of some document items are weighted differently than others. Please refer to the graphic to see how document items are weighted for the different document types. Additional information can be found in the SAP Help Portal here.
Note
- Only creation of document items for the 9 document types are counted for the Digital Access license. Viewing (read), updating (write), and deleting documents are not counted. Document items created for document types outside the list of nine types are not counted either.
- Only the total number of document items is counted for the license, regardless of type.
Measuring & Reporting on Digital Access
Existing SAP ECC (Enterprise Central Component) and SAP S/4HANA customers considering any deployment of SAP S/4HANA can take advantage of the Digital Access Evaluation Service provided by SAP's Global License Audit and Compliance (GLAC) team at NO COST. This service is designed to help customers determine the estimated initial number of digital access documents.
Measuring digital access documents uses the SAP Passport technology, which is already in place for end-to-end system tracing and monitoring in distributed system landscapes. Please refer to the technical prerequisites for measurability and the conversion options for existing licenses.
Customers who have implemented any deployment of SAP S/4HANA can keep track of their ongoing digital access document consumption with two reporting tools:
- Use the License Compliance Digital Access app in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.
- Use the report RSUVM_DAC in SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.
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