ERP vendors have traditionally licensed their software per user. But an AI agent, a software robot or a third-party application is not a user in the usual sense. This is known as indirect access, and it has already led to high-profile disputes between vendors and customers.
The SAP example
In 2018, SAP introduced a model called Digital Access for these uses. The principle: instead of counting users, it counts certain documents created in the system by third parties. Nine document types are covered, including sales orders, invoices, purchase orders, material movements and financial documents. In this model, reading data costs nothing extra; creating it does.
But everything depends on the contract you signed. An older, per-user contract does not read like a recent one, and cloud offerings have their own rules.
Three questions to ask before designing
- Which version, which deployment, which modules? An older release or S/4HANA, on premises or in the cloud: the rules are not the same.
- Will the system read or write? Reporting that reads data does not have the same effect as an agent that creates orders or invoices.
- What does your contract say about indirect access? Document-based, per-user, or mixed.
These questions come before the architecture. Depending on the answers, you might choose to read data from the ERP and produce reports outside it, rather than writing into the system.
The cost of an AI project on an ERP does not end with the project: it can reappear in the license bill.
Please note
We are neither lawyers nor licensing specialists. For the interpretation of your contract, consult your vendor or a specialist adviser. Our role is to raise these questions at the right time, before the project starts.
Preparing an AI project around your ERP? Let’s ask these questions together.
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