SAP Basis in transition: how SAP RISE and cloud strategies are reshaping operations

The complete interview is available in the April 2025 issue of E3, a specialized SAP publication. Key takeaways and relevant insights are summarized below.

SAP automation has played a major role over the past two decades in supporting SAP users, Basis teams, and infrastructure departments. But with SAP’s shift to the cloud—and the introduction of SAP RISE—the role of the SAP Basis team is evolving.

Marcus Bogenstätter, CTO at Empirius, explains:

“With SAP’s cloud strategy and SAP RISE, we’re clearly seeing a shift. That said, from what we’ve seen so far, the full implications haven’t been completely worked out. In other words, there are still some unanswered questions.”

When asked in the interview why this transformation is happening now, Marcus says:

"Because SAP Business Suite support ends in 2027, many customers are currently moving to its successor, SAP S/4HANA — often alongside a transition to the SAP Cloud via SAP RISE. The key change is that SAP now takes over a significant portion of day-to-day SAP Basis operations through its RISE offering. But not all of them. Customers still need to manage things like system downtimes, in addition to the responsibilities that remain with their Basis teams anyway. It's critical that they keep full visibility and control over all tasks related to SAP Basis. One practical example: how do you schedule and minimize cloud downtimes — say, for a kernel update that requires stopping and restarting the system, including the database — in a way that’s precise and aligned with business needs?"

On how this shift affects vendors of SAP Basis automation tools, he notes:

“We’ll have to see how things develop. If automation vendors can’t access key SAP Basis parameters — whether due to licensing rules or technical restrictions — it does create challenges. Still, there are plenty of tasks that aren’t covered by SAP RISE. These include certificate management, security notes, parameter monitoring, and compliance checks.”

Right now, some SAP customers have signed RISE contracts but haven’t fully transitioned yet. Others are running SAP S/4HANA but continuing to use their on-premises environments. The landscape is still very much in motion. From our point of view, there’s no reason to sound the alarm — if anything, our EPOS license sales are on the rise."

“We’re actively working to engage SAP in constructive, solution-focused discussions. Our goal is to establish a legally compliant interface that enables customers to use our EPOS platform, thus allowing SAP Basis teams to automate a wide range of operational tasks. At the end of the day, there are three key players involved: SAP, the customer, and us.”

When asked for practical advice for Basis teams, he emphasizes:

“When it comes to RISE, the cloud, and overall SAP system operations, companies need to make sure their own SAP Basis teams are involved. And if they’re not being brought in automatically, then the Basis team should push to be included in contract negotiations — especially when it comes to defining service levels and operational responsibilities.”

Finally, CTO Marcus Bogenstätter shares how Empirius is continuing to shape its product strategy, regardless of what happens with SAP RISE:

“We’re confident that SAP RISE and SAP Cloud can be managed effectively. Our focus remains on our platform EPOS as a central point of management, currently offering 14 apps that automate a wide range of SAP Basis tasks. One of the biggest new features in version 24.9 is the Admin Engine — built for smaller, ad-hoc SAP Basis tasks. We’ll be expanding it significantly, bringing even more flexibility and efficiency to SAP Basis automation.”