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Total Economic Impact
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By SAP MaxAttention
A FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY COMMISSIONED BY SAP, AUGUST 2025
Total Economic Impact
A FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY COMMISSIONED BY SAP, AUGUST 2025
Organizations embarking on their SAP cloud transformation journey face critical cost, risk, timing, innovation, and agility challenges, including aligning transformation to business objectives, overcoming skill gaps (especially with the launch of SAP Business Suite), minimizing project risks, and driving adoption of future-fit functionalities. SAP MaxAttention provides the expertise and strategic support needed to guide these transitions, drawing on years of client collaboration and deep system expertise. This study highlights how SAP MaxAttention enables enterprises to navigate the complexities of their RISE with SAP journey while laying a strong foundation to adopt future functionalities and operational excellence.
SAP MaxAttention is a premium-level and strategic long-term partnership that enables organizations to drive success in their landscape and business transformation efforts and long-term and companywide transformation initiatives. SAP MaxAttention offers a comprehensive and tailored service portfolio to provide support across industry and line-of-business SAP solutions. Large organizations — particularly those with complex processes and companies seeking continuous innovation and rapid growth — use the services, methods, tools, and expertise that SAP MaxAttention provides to succeed with their digital transformation efforts toward becoming intelligent enterprises.
Organizations engaging with SAP MaxAttention services are typically guided by a long-term strategic approach. SAP offers a structured methodology (A-R-T, i.e., AI, RISE, Transformation guidance) designed to facilitate business transformation and modernize the IT landscape, enabling organization to leverage the latest innovations.
SAP commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying SAP MaxAttention for RISE with SAP.1 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of SAP MaxAttention on their organizations.
To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed six decision-makers from four organizations with experience using SAP MaxAttention services. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the experiences of the interviewees and combined the results into a single composite organization, which is a $100-billion global enterprise operating in a hybrid cloud environment with 20 on-premises system landscapes that are to be moved to cloud with RISE with SAP.
Interviewees said that prior to using SAP MaxAttention for RISE with SAP, their organizations had already been using SAP MaxAttention to support various areas of their SAP landscape. SAP MaxAttention had accumulated knowledge and experience with their systems and, as they progressed their cloud journey with RISE with SAP, they enlisted SAP MaxAttention expertise to guide the cloud transition and build a strong foundation for future innovations.
After the investment in SAP MaxAttention for RISE with SAP, the interviewees enhanced system and business process performance, accelerated time to value of systems, reduced the data footprint, and minimized the project risk. The interviewees’ organizations also anticipated faster innovation discovery and adoption with SAP MaxAttention’s expertise and best practice provision.
Quantified benefits. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include:
Improved systems performance. SAP MaxAttention offers the composite organization specialized expert guidance, insights, and best practices, enabling it to roll out well-designed solutions and avoid issues in production.
Reduced data footprint. SAP MaxAttention’s data volume management service enables the composite to optimize its data management and storage strategies, reducing data footprint and the associated data storage cost.
Guided cloud transformation. SAP MaxAttention derisks the composite’s cloud migration by aligning solution design to requirements, ensuring efficient system design, recommending optimal migration strategies, providing integration validation, identifying performance improvements, and safeguarding go-live. These efforts result in a smoother go-live and a 50% reduced hypercare period.
Faster time to value. The hypercare period at the composite is shortened by one month for each go-live. Users reap value from systems sooner.
Unquantified benefits and flexibilities. Benefits and future flexibilities that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
Discover and accelerate innovation adoption. SAP MaxAttention’s functionality and domain experts support the composite through innovation discovery workshops and prototyping engagements as it identifies and prioritizes innovation opportunities aligned to their business needs.
Enable internal teams to focus on system roadmaps. SAP MaxAttention team covers key issue investigation resolution and support needs, affording internal stakeholders at the composite the peace of mind and time to focus on their system roadmaps.
Access to SAP’s product and technical expertise. SAP MaxAttention connects the composite to SAP experts with the relevant experience and knowledge when the need arises.
Prepare systems for future initiatives. The composite lays a solid foundation for future initiatives like embarking on a clean core journey and AI adoption and undergoing business process optimization once the move to the cloud is complete.
Drive business transformation and IT landscape modernization with strategic guidance. The composite leverages SAP’s A-R-T methodology (AI, RISE, Transformation guidance) to navigate the ever-evolving technological landscape and successfully drive IT modernization and innovation.
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
SAP MaxAttention cost. The composite allocates 600 SAP MaxAttention service days to RISE with SAP engagements.
Ongoing management effort. A core project team at the composite regularly interacts with the SAP MaxAttention team and manages internal requests for service. Senior leadership discusses strategic alignment between business objectives and initiatives with SAP in a quarterly cadence.
The financial analysis that is based on the interviews found that a composite organization experiences benefits of $14.7 million over three years versus costs of $3.9 million, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $10.7 million and an ROI of 273%.
Return on investment (ROI)
Benefits PV
Net present value (NPV)
Payback
| Role | Industry | Revenue | RISE With SAP Implementation Year |
|---|---|---|---|
|
•Platform services group lead •Finance IT director |
Automotive | $187 billion | 2024 |
| Lead program manager | Automotive | $169 billion | 2023 |
| Head of SAP platform team | Technology | $63 billion | 2023 |
|
•CIO and transformation engagement director •Engagement manager |
IT services | $24 billion | 2022 |
Interviewees noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including ensuring the cost effectiveness of their RISE with SAP journey. With end of maintenance of SAP ECC fast approaching, interviewees noted their organizations needed to ensure they completed the migration to SAP S/4HANA by then. The lead program manager at an automotive firm said: “The move to SAP S/4HANA and to RISE with SAP is a move we need to make. We might as well do it as cost effectively and as fast as we can.”
The interviewees searched for an offering that could:
Deliver trusted expertise rooted in years of collaboration. The interviewees’ organizations previously used SAP MaxAttention services to enable new functionality adoption, upskilling the internal team, supporting critical go-lives, and troubleshooting in production. As the interviewees’ organizations began their cloud transformations, interviewees said that RISE with SAP was a natural shift in focus, as the platform services group lead described: “Even before RISE with SAP, SAP MaxAttention has always been around for critical go-lives and troubleshooting in production. They have the true expertise because they’ve worked with our company for so long.”
Guide the RISE with SAP journey. The lead program manager at an automotive firm said: “SAP MaxAttention is helping us ensure that we get to cloud on time and on budget. We are quite confident that we are well on track to complete the move before end of maintenance approaches.”
Based on the interviews, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the interviewees’ organizations, and it is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
Description of composite. The composite is a global enterprise that generates an annual revenue of $100 billion and employs 200,000 individuals. It has a multicloud hybrid landscape, having adopted some cloud applications with its core systems still on-premises. Across the organization, there are 20 SAP landscapes with a mix of SAP ECC and ancillary systems. The composite makes a $90-million investment into a five-year cloud migration project.
Deployment characteristics. The composite has been using SAP MaxAttention services before its RISE with SAP journey began. For RISE with SAP, the composite uses SAP MaxAttention to guide architecture planning and design, support migration and go-live, and optimize systems.
$100 billion in annual revenue
200,000 employees
20 SAP landscapes
$90 million project investment over five years
| Ref. | Benefit | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atr | Improved systems performance | $680,000 | $2,040,000 | $4,080,000 | $6,800,000 | $5,369,497 |
| Btr | Reduced data footprint | $250,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,500,000 | $3,750,000 | $2,932,006 |
| Ctr | Guided cloud transformation | $637,500 | $1,912,500 | $3,825,000 | $6,375,000 | $5,033,903 |
| Dtr | Faster time to value | $167,860 | $503,580 | $1,007,160 | $1,678,600 | $1,325,476 |
| Total benefits (risk-adjusted) | $1,735,360 | $5,456,080 | $11,412,160 | $18,603,600 | $14,660,882 |
Evidence and data. Interviewees noted that the specialized expertise and best practice that SAP MaxAttention provided during migration enabled their organizations to roll out well-designed solutions and avoid issues in production. Interviewees described how SAP MaxAttention contributed to improved system and process improvements:
Strategic investments in best practices. The CIO and transformation engagement director at an IT services firm outlined, “We also focused our spending on services that help us follow best practices on managing infrastructure or the best way to leverage our solutions.”
Actionable insights to drive improvements. The lead program manager at an automotive organization shared how SAP MaxAttention revealed areas of improvement in their systems, stating: “From SAP MaxAttention, we get a lot of insights into our system landscapes. The performance experts analyze the landscapes for a few weeks and give us advice on what we can do better.” The head of SAP platform team at a technology firm told Forrester, “We are using SAP MaxAttention and leveraging Signavio to get a baseline of our entire business processes within our applications, so we can focus on the areas where we are far from industry norms.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
For each system landscape that has gone live on the cloud within the year, the composite avoids one major issue during production as a result of SAP MaxAttention’s involvement during migration. The composite has one system landscape going live in Year 1, three in Year 2, and six in Year 3 (see benefit C for further details).
For each major incident, the composite would have to spend an average of $800,000 to resolve. This assumes a team of specialized consultants working over four weeks to investigate and remediate the issue.
Risks. The value of this benefit may vary depending on the following factors:
Number of issues avoided and their nature
Processes and users affected
Skills and resources required for remediation
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $5.4 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Major issues avoided during production | Composite | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| A2 | Cost of remediation | Interview | $800,000 | $800,000 | $800,000 | |
| At | Improved systems performance | A1*A2 | $800,000 | $2,400,000 | $4,800,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓15% | |||||
| Atr | Improved systems performance (risk-adjusted) | $680,000 | $2,040,000 | $4,080,000 | ||
| Three-year total: $6,800,000 | Three-year present value: $5,369,497 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees leveraged SAP MaxAttention’s data volume management service to optimize their data management and storage strategies. Interviewees described how the service reduced their data footprint and the associated data storage cost. The lead program manager at an automotive organization said: “The biggest measurable benefit [of SAP MaxAttention] is a direct 25% reduction of our infrastructure costs using the data volume management service. ... That’s a big impact, which is why this is the one service that we’re using religiously for each and every system landscape.” This interviewee’s organization used the service to reduce in-memory storage and the associated high storage cost.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Initially, the composite expects to spend $1.25 million on data storage for the systems that go live in Year 1. The expected expenditure grows to $5 million in Year 2 and $12.5 million in Year 3 as the composite moves more system landscapes to the cloud. The data storage expenditure is proportionate to the number of systems live on cloud (see benefit C).
SAP MaxAttention provides recommendations on data volume management and data archiving strategies, which leads to a 25% savings in data storage cost.
Risks. The value of this benefit may vary depending on the following factors:
Volumes and formats of data involved and instances of redundancy
Data management policies, including data security and data lifecycle management
Storage tiering required
Scalability of storage solutions
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.9 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Expected data storage cost | Interviews | $1,250,000 | $5,000,000 | $12,500,000 | |
| B2 | Savings identified with SAP MaxAttention | Interviews | 25% | 25% | 25% | |
| Bt | Reduced data footprint | B1*B2 | $312,500 | $1,250,000 | $3,125,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓20% | |||||
| Btr | Reduced data footprint (risk-adjusted) | $250,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,500,000 | ||
| Three-year total: $3,750,000 | Three-year present value: $2,932,006 | |||||
Evidence and data. SAP MaxAttention enabled interviewees’ organizations to reduce risks in their projects, which culminated in smooth, uneventful go-lives and shorter hypercare periods. As the head of SAP platform team put it, the length of the hypercare period was a measurement of the success of a major deployment: “If time in hypercare extends past 30 days, that’s a cost to the business because I’m not able to work on my next initiative for the company.” Interviewees broke down how SAP MaxAttention’s contributed to a smoother transition to cloud:
Aligning solution to requirements. The CIO and transformation engagement director at an IT services firm said: “SAP MaxAttention supported us in the design and setting the vision for the solution to address a business process. We had questions about which solution components would best fit our requirements in the areas of data and business intelligence. The possibilities were still open regarding architecture, solutioning approach, and implementation. We engaged in a lot of different activities to find the right solution fit.”
Ensuring efficient system design. The platform services group lead at an automotive firm shared: “In some workstreams, we brought them in to analyze our current custom solutions. They helped us identify opportunities for fit-to-standard. Their Intelligent Custom Code Management (ICCM) analysis gave us a baseline on how custom our systems were, making it faster to understand what we have to tackle as we evaluate how we transition to RISE with SAP.”
Determining architecture strategy. The head of SAP platform team at a technology firm noted, “We’re leveraging the North Star service to consolidating our remaining ancillary systems into existing S/4HANA instances and awaiting feedback from SAP on how to move those efficiently.” They explained that the recommendation from SAP would influence whether their organization migrates the systems in one go or with a phased approach.
Providing integration validation. The lead program manager at an automotive firm said: “We came to realize that moving our SAP systems to the cloud is a big integration challenge. We need to redo a lot of interfaces [and] switch from older to newer cloud-ready technologies that are secure and encrypted. So we rely on SAP’s integration expertise a lot.”
Identifying performance improvements. The platform services group lead at an automotive company stated: “One of the biggest benefits that I see from them is a lot of the performance analysis and tuning, from simple things like a database upgrade to deploying some new functionality. I think we get the biggest bang for our buck from a risk perspective.”
Guiding go-live. The platform services group lead recalled: “They were critical for removing some of the performance bottlenecks we had going into production. SAP MaxAttention provided the expertise over our ECS [Enterprise Cloud Services] team to resolve those with the expert knowledge and the technologies that goes beyond some of the resources that RISE with SAP specifically offers.” At another automotive company, the lead program manager said: “Go-live support is a very useful service. It allows us to specify the expertise we want to have, and then we can have experts on call to support us. We usually have ABAP [Advanced Business Application Programming] experts for code-related issues and SAP S/4HANA experts for database-related performance problems.”
Reducing time in hypercare. The lead program manager at an automotive firm estimated: “[SAP MaxAttention] is cutting the hypercare phase by half. We migrated systems before without very structured hypercare support and problems took two or three months to fix. Now, we’re done in two to four weeks and that’s because we have the right expertise to tackle underlying problems, fast.” At a technology firm, the head of SAP platforms team expected time in hypercare to be much longer without SAP MaxAttention, saying, “I would guarantee you that at a company without SAP S/4HANA, the hypercare window could extend to six months.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
The composite moves 10 of its 20 landscapes in three years, with one go-live each per system landscape.
SAP MaxAttention’s contribution cumulates in a smoother go-live, reducing the composite’s expected two-month hypercare period by 50%.
The project cost per month is $1.5 million. Forrester assumes 50% of the productivity is salvageable even in case of delay given the composite has multiple workstreams in the cloud migration project.
Risks. The value of this benefit may vary depending on the following factors:
The scale and complexity of systems.
The migration approach taken and the complexity of transformations.
Resources and expertise available within the organization.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $5.0 million.
Shorter hypercare period
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Number of go-lives | Interviews | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| C2 | Estimated hypercare months without SAP MaxAttention | Interviews | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| C3 | Average hypercare months with SAP MaxAttention | Interviews | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| C4 | Reduced effort with smoother go-live (months) | C1*(C2-C3) | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| C5 | Project cost per month | Interviews | $1,500,000 | $1,500,000 | $1,500,000 | |
| C6 | Salvageable productivity in case of delay | Interviews | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| Ct | Guided cloud transformation | C4*C5*(1-C6) | $750,000 | $2,250,000 | $4,500,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓15% | |||||
| Ctr | Guided cloud transformation (risk-adjusted) | $637,500 | $1,912,500 | $3,825,000 | ||
| Three-year total: $6,375,000 | Three-year present value: $5,033,903 | |||||
Evidence and data. Interviewees noted their organizations benefited from faster time to value as they shortened the cloud migration project timeline and stabilized systems faster after go-live, enabling users to operate critical processes with minimal disruption in a brownfield scenario or reap business benefits sooner in the greenfield or bluefield approaches.
The head of SAP platform team at a technology company said: “We just had a huge SAP S/4HANA deployment and a month after we went live with the second one and we literally had no hypercare period. Experts from SAP MaxAttention were available [in that 30-day window], but it was a non-event.”
The lead program manager at an automative firm stated: “You just need knowledgeable people who help you deal with the inevitable problems that pop up. That has helped us stabilize our systems fast and exit the hypercare phase without any problems, usually after two weeks or so.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
With SAP MaxAttention’s support, the composite completes each roll out one month sooner.
The composite’s net benefit of each cloud system landscape deployed is just under $210,000 per month. To model this value, Forrester assumes the subscription cost for each cloud system landscape to be $2.31 million over three years and references a previous TEI study on SAP S/4HANA that indicates a first-year ROI of 109%.2
Risks. This cost may vary depending on the following factors:
The scale and complexity of the migration.
Value of the cloud systems.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.3 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | System landscapes deployed | C1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| D2 | Average faster time to value per landscape (months) | C2-C3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| D3 | Average net benefits realized per new cloud landscape per month in the first year of deployment | Composite | $209,825 | $209,825 | $209,825 | |
| Dt | Faster time to value | D1*D2*D3 | $209,825 | $629,475 | $1,258,950 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓20% | |||||
| Dtr | Faster time to value (risk-adjusted) | $167,860 | $503,580 | $1,007,160 | ||
| Three-year total: $1,678,600 | Three-year present value: $1,325,476 | |||||
Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
Discover and accelerate innovation adoption. Interviewees noted that SAP MaxAttention’s functionality and domain experts supported their organizations as they identified and prioritized innovation opportunities aligned to their business needs. The lead program manager at an automotive business shared, “We used SAP MaxAttention innovation journey to kickstart the usage of new SAP S/4HANA functionality and new AI functionality became available in the SAP S/4HANA and RISE context.”
Enable internal team to focus on system roadmap. Working with SAP MaxAttention afforded internal stakeholders at the interviewees’ organizations the time to focus on next steps. The head of SAP platform team at a technology firm commented: “Quite frankly you want the deployment to be a non-event, and you want to be able to focus your efforts on the roadmap. … You should be working on the roadmap [and] on what’s happening next after you deploy something, not in a huge hypercare situation focusing on what didn’t go right.”
Access to SAP’s product and technical expertise. Interviewees unanimously acknowledged that SAP MaxAttention connected them to right SAP experts when the need arose. The CIO and transformation engagement director at an IT services firm said, “SAP MaxAttention complements some missing skills and expertise [we have internally] when it’s a very specific domain that is still particular that we don’t have the capacity at all.” The platform services group lead at an automotive business acknowledged, “They help us dot the i’s and cross the t’s. They’re looking at the fine detail because they have the expertise to do that.”
The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are a number of scenarios in which a customer might implement SAP MaxAttention and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:
Preparation of systems for future initiatives. Interviewees noted their organizations planned to embark on clean core initiatives and undergo business process optimization once the move to the cloud was complete. The head of SAP platform team at a technology firm explained: “We have to get everyone on to SAP S/4HANA. Once we get everyone on to SAP S/4HANA, then we can look at the business process to how we make the steps to clear those 99,000 custom objects.” Interviewees said that SAP MaxAttention enabled their organizations to lay a solid foundation for these future projects. The lead program manager at an automotive company said, “SAP MaxAttention offered some custom code analysis which helped us prepare for future, for clean core, and for upgrade-ready solutions.”
Strategic guidance to facilitate business transformation and IT landscape modernization. Interviewees said engaging with SAP’s MaxAttention services were typically guided by a long-term strategic approach. They could leverage SAP’s A-R-T methodology (AI, RISE, Transformation guidance) to successfully drive IT modernization and innovation while navigating the ever-evolving technological landscape.
Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Total Economic Impact Approach).
| Ref. | Cost | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etr | SAP MaxAttention cost | $0 | $1,260,000 | $1,260,000 | $1,260,000 | $3,780,000 | $3,133,434 |
| Ftr | Ongoing management effort | $0 | $322,080 | $322,080 | $322,080 | $966,240 | $800,965 |
| Total costs (risk-adjusted) | $0 | $1,582,080 | $1,582,080 | $1,582,080 | $4,746,240 | $3,934,399 |
Evidence and data. Interviewees noted the cost of SAP MaxAttention depended on the number of service days required and the daily rate applicable in each market.
Modeling and assumptions. Forrester assumes the composite allocates 600 SAP MaxAttention service days to RISE with SAP-related activities at a cost of $2,000 per day.
Risks. This cost figure may vary depending on the support an organization needs from SAP MaxAttention and any variation in service costs.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $3.1 million.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | SAP MaxAttention service days allocated to RISE | Interviews | 600 | 600 | 600 | |
| E2 | Cost per service day | Interviews | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | |
| Et | SAP MaxAttention cost | E1*E2 | $0 | $1,200,000 | $1,200,000 | $1,200,000 |
| Risk adjustment | ↑5% | |||||
| Etr | SAP MaxAttention cost (risk-adjusted) | $0 | $1,260,000 | $1,260,000 | $1,260,000 | |
| Three-year total: $3,780,000 | Three-year present value: $3,133,434 | |||||
Evidence and data. According to interviewees, a core project team within their organizations maintained close and regular contact with the SAP MaxAttention team, particularly with the technical quality manager (TQM). They engaged in regular (e.g., weekly or biweekly) meetings to discuss progress of active workstreams. The same team also managed the planning and governance of service days and aligning internal resources for services.
On a strategic level, interviewees said their senior leaders participated in quarterly business reviews in which they discussed their organizations’ business focus with the SAP MaxAttention team and collaboration opportunities.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
The composite dedicates 1.5 FTEs to governing engagement requests for SAP MaxAttention and in regular operational catchups.
Members of the composite’s senior leadership team participate in quarterly business reviews to discuss strategic initiatives and collaboration with SAP MaxAttention, with the assumption that collectively they spend 10 person-hours in sessions every quarter.
Risks. This cost figure may vary depending on the scope of SAP MaxAttention services and the organization structure that determines the vendor management and strategic interactions with SAP.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $801,000.
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | FTEs involved in ongoing management | Interviews | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | |
| F2 | Fully burdened annual salary for an FTE involved in ongoing management | TEI methodology | $192,000 | $192,000 | $192,000 | |
| F3 | Senior leader hours spent in quarterly business reviews annually | Interviews | 40 | 40 | 40 | |
| F4 | Fully burdened hourly rate for a senior leader | TEI methodology | $120 | $120 | $120 | |
| Ft | Ongoing management effort | F1*F2+F3*F4 | $0 | $292,800 | $292,800 | $292,800 |
| Risk adjustment | ↑10% | |||||
| Ftr | Ongoing management effort (risk-adjusted) | $0 | $322,080 | $322,080 | $322,080 | |
| Three-year total: $966,240 | Three-year present value: $800,965 | |||||
| Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs | $0 | ($1,582,080) | ($1,582,080) | ($1,582,080) | ($4,746,240) | ($3,934,399) |
| Total benefits | $0 | $1,735,360 | $5,456,080 | $11,412,160 | $18,603,600 | $14,660,882 |
| Net benefits | $0 | $153,280 | $3,874,000 | $9,830,080 | $13,857,360 | $10,726,483 |
| ROI | 273% | |||||
| Payback period (months) | NO INITIAL COSTS |
The financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the ROI, NPV, and payback period for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis.
These risk-adjusted ROI, NPV, and payback period values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section.
The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur.
From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those organizations considering an investment in SAP MaxAttention.
The objective of the framework is to identify the cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the impact that SAP MaxAttention can have on an organization.
Interviewed SAP stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to SAP MaxAttention.
Interviewed six decision-makers at four organizations using SAP MaxAttention to obtain data about costs, benefits, and risks.
Designed a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ organizations.
Constructed a financial model representative of the interviews using the TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees.
Employed four fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the investment impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.
Benefits represent the value the solution delivers to the business. The TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of benefits and costs, allowing for a full examination of the solution’s effect on the entire organization.
Costs comprise all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the solution. The methodology captures implementation and ongoing costs associated with the solution.
Flexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. The ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated.
Risks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.”
The present or current value of (discounted) cost and benefit estimates given at an interest rate (the discount rate). The PV of costs and benefits feed into the total NPV of cash flows.
The present or current value of (discounted) future net cash flows given an interest rate (the discount rate). A positive project NPV normally indicates that the investment should be made unless other projects have higher NPVs.
A project’s expected return in percentage terms. ROI is calculated by dividing net benefits (benefits less costs) by costs.
The interest rate used in cash flow analysis to take into account the time value of money. Organizations typically use discount rates between 8% and 16%.
The breakeven point for an investment. This is the point in time at which net benefits (benefits minus costs) equal initial investment or cost.
Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists solution providers in communicating their value proposition to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of business and technology initiatives to both senior management and other key stakeholders.
Related Forrester Research
Mind The Cloud Skills Gap, Forrester Research, Inc., April 28, 2025.
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The Forrester Guide To Technical Debt, Forrester Research, Inc., October 23, 2024.
1 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists solution providers in communicating their value proposition to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of business and technology initiatives to both senior management and other key stakeholders.
2 Source: “The Total Economic Impact™ of SAP MaxAttention For Cloud Adoption,” a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of SAP, February 2023 and “The Total Economic Impact™ of SAP S/4HANA,” a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of SAP, September 2018.
Readers should be aware of the following:
This study is commissioned by SAP and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis.
Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in SAP MaxAttention.
SAP reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study.
SAP provided the customer names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews.
Sanny Mok
August 2025
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