Announcing Global Acceleration Program for RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure

January 21, 2025 · By Ali Powell, Vice President, Customer Success, Azure Infrastructure, Digital Application

effort of SAP and Microsoft experts who have deep technology, engineering, and SAP-specific experience. These teams have aligned with customers at various stages of their cloud journey, driving both technical excellence and accelerated business outcomes. 

A joint SAP and Microsoft global initiative

The RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure Global Acceleration Program is now being rolled out globally, offering select RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure enterprise customers a framework to accelerate migration. Through this program, SAP customers can experience this journey with a heightened level of reliability, infused with Microsoft best practices for security and industry-leading AI services. Customers approved for the program obtain access to resources and expertise that enable time to value with accelerated velocity. 

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations must stay ahead by leveraging innovative solutions that drive efficiency, scalability, and growth. This program reflects the long-standing partnership between SAP and Microsoft, which spans over 30 years, and our partnership on the RISE with SAP solution has helped organizations modernize business processes using solutions like SAP S/4HANA Cloud and enabling faster innovation in the cloud. Thousands of customers such as Hilti, Accenture, and Wolverine have chosen Azure for their RISE with SAP journey. 

A collaborative approach to success

This global program is a joint effort where Microsoft and SAP work together to give RISE with SAP customers extraordinary support and expertise throughout their experience. As customers embark on their RISE with SAP journey, Microsoft is ready to help and invest in successful outcomes with SAP through a structured approach that includes several key components: 

• Designated resources: A comprehensive global team of SAP-skilled Microsoft product engineers, cloud solution architects and support engineers. 


• Proactive services: Recommendations and capabilities based on proven best practices, delivered via Microsoft customer success Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). 


• Enhanced support: Based on your scores, the assessment categorizes your readiness into one of five stages: exploring, planning, implementing, scaling, or realizing. Each stage represents a different level of AI maturity and preparedness, guiding you on where to focus your efforts:

This collaborative approach ensures that customers receive top-tier resources and support throughout their journey. By working together, Microsoft and SAP deliver a seamless and efficient experience, focusing on practical solutions and successful outcomes for all customers. 

“SAP is committed to providing customers with the tools and guidance needed to accelerate their digital journeys,” said Eric van Rossum, chief marketing officer for SAP cloud ERP. “By providing a structured framework and industry-leading expertise to help businesses unlock the full potential of their SAP investments on Azure, we are enabling organizations to embrace innovation, achieve scalability, and prepare for an AI-driven future.”

As result of our close partnership, this program is a key step in the journey to the cloud and becoming an AI-powered enterprise as well as an enabler for SAP customers wanting to move to Azure to obtain quicker time to value and continue to innovate with SAP and Microsoft.

Key benefits of the RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure Global Acceleration Program

It is designed to help customers reduce project delivery risks, accelerate their roadmap milestones and achieve quicker time to value. Key customer benefits include:

• Reliable migration framework: Engage directly with Microsoft architects and access best practice guidance to ensure smooth and efficient deployment. Leverage a Well-Architected framework to help ensure your RISE with SAP deployment on Microsoft Azure is optimized for performance, security and cost-efficiency. Additionally, benefit from enhanced go-live readiness coordination between SAP and Microsoft, helping provide a seamless transition to production.


• Security and resiliency: Increase the security and continuity of your environment through prescriptive technical engagements, repeatable patterns for scale and industry-leading best practice recommendations. This encompasses guidance on networking setup to ensure robust and secure connections, identity management and implementation of Microsoft Sentinel for RISE with SAP to enable end-to-end detection, analysis, investigation, and response to threats.


• AI readiness: Prepare for AI adoption by implementing a highly resilient, compliant, and well-architected environment while simultaneously equipping teams with the necessary skills and knowledge for an AI-driven future. Extend the value of RISE with SAP on Azure by utilizing low code capabilities and AI to drive innovation and efficiency in processes supported by SAP cloud ERP.


• Program sponsorship and alignment: Benefit from heightened alignment, transparency, and collaboration due to program sponsorship from Microsoft and SAP senior leadership, ensuring the highest levels of delivery excellence at the local level. 

These benefits highlight the comprehensive support that this program provides, spanning the entire project lifecycle to help SAP customers reduce migration risk, time to value and cost. 

Customer success stories

In a short time, our joint program has already delivered measurable results for organizations across various industries: 

• Manufacturing: Large manufacturing firms have leveraged the program to migrate their SAP environments to Microsoft Azure, achieving significant performance improvements and operational stability. These companies often have complex supply chains and production processes that benefit from the enhanced integration and automation capabilities provided by RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure. 


• Public sector: Government agencies and public sector entities have benefited from enhanced security and integration capabilities. These organizations often require robust security measures and compliance with regulatory standards, which the program helps to proactively address. 


• Retail: Major retail chains have moved their SAP solutions to Azure, reducing technical downtime and improving overall efficiency. Retailers benefit from the scalability and flexibility of Azure, which allows them to manage peak shopping periods and manage large volumes of transactional data. 

Different industries may have varying priorities and intended outcomes, but our program is designed to address any customer vertical and support the fastest return on their RISE with SAP investment.

Accelerating your digital transformation

The RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure Global Acceleration Program is a game-changer for organizations looking to accelerate their digital transformation on RISE with SAP. By combining SAP’s ERP expertise with Microsoft Azure’s advanced cloud capabilities, the program provides a robust framework for achieving cloud success, enhancing security and preparing for an AI-driven future. If you are ready to unlock the full potential of your SAP investments, the program is here to help.

Contact your Microsoft or SAP representative to learn more about how the RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure Global Acceleration Program can help you achieve your business goals.