GROW with SAP is built for small and midsize businesses adopting cloud ERP for the first time, using SAP's public cloud ERP offering(now called SAP Cloud ERP) with minimal customisation. RISE with SAP targets organisations with more complex landscapes, often existing SAP customers, and is positioned around SAP's private cloud offering, now called SAP Cloud ERP Private, with far greater flexibility.
Key Takeaways
SAP offers two cloud ERP programmes, and both include SAP's cloud ERP software. Both include access to SAP Business Technology Platform and are sold as subscriptions. That shared foundation is exactly why the GROW with SAP vs RISE with SAP choice confuses so many buyers.
RISE with SAP arrived in 2021 as a guided route to the cloud, largely for organisations already running SAP. GROW with SAP followed in 2023, aimed at midsize and growing businesses that wanted a ready-to-run cloud ERP without a long, complex set-up. The two programmes now sit side by side, and on the surface they can look almost interchangeable.
They are not. The difference comes down to how closely a business can work to SAP's standard processes, and that single question shapes the offering, the implementation approach, the contract and the long-term cost of ownership.
A note on terminology. SAP revised its cloud ERP naming in 2025. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is now presented as SAP Cloud ERP, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition as SAP Cloud ERP Private, both under the SAP Business Suite umbrella. GROW with SAP and RISE with SAP remain widely used terms for the two adoption paths, and SAP continues to use them, but packaging and product names have changed since the programmes launched. Anyone evaluating either option should confirm the current offerings, package names and inclusions directly with SAP or an SAP partner before making commercial decisions.
| GROW with SAP | RISE with SAP | |
| Built for | Small and midsize businesses new to SAP cloud ERP | Organisations with complex, established landscapes, often existing SAP customers |
| Cloud ERP offering | Public cloud only, now named SAP Cloud ERP | Primarily the private cloud offering, now named SAP Cloud ERP Private |
| Customisation level | Minimal, with standardised best-practice processes | High, with flexibility for complex requirements |
| Scope | ERP-focused implementation | Full business transformation, covering ERP plus process optimisation, analytics and collaboration tools |
The biggest difference isn't technical. It is about business complexity and customisation philosophy. GROW suits organisations that can adopt SAP's best-practice processes with minimal customisation. RISE suits organisations whose requirements need genuine flexibility.
Built for. GROW is typically a first cloud ERP for businesses moving away from spreadsheets, entry-level accounting software or older ERP platforms. It is also used by subsidiaries of larger groups that need their own ERP environment while staying connected to the parent organisation. RISE is the common route for organisations running SAP ECC or other established ERP systems, though it is not limited to existing SAP customers.
Cloud ERP offering. The public cloud offering is a multi-tenant SaaS system. SAP manages the infrastructure, security and updates, and every customer runs on the latest release. The private cloud offering, which SAP positions with RISE, is a single-tenant environment where the customer keeps more control, including over custom code and the timing of upgrades.
Customisation level. On the public cloud offering, businesses configure within SAP's boundaries and extend through SAP BTP and key user tools, but they cannot modify the core application code. The private cloud offering provides significantly more room for customisation, integration complexity and industry-specific processes, although SAP's Clean Core principles still apply to how those extensions should be built.
Scope. GROW centres on getting a standardised cloud ERP running quickly. RISE is positioned as a broader transformation, which generally means a longer project because of the added work in landscape design, data migration, integration and custom development.
One further practical difference follows from these rows:
Implementation approach: GROW is generally positioned around a new, standardised implementation rather than carrying legacy configuration across. RISE supports both new implementations and conversions of existing systems, so an established system can be converted or rebuilt. Confirm the available approaches for your situation with SAP or your implementation partner.
Innovation cadence: GROW customers receive new capabilities, including SAP's embedded AI features, automatically through the public cloud release cycle. Private cloud customers manage upgrades on their own schedule, which gives them more control but also means adopting new features is a deliberate decision.
If your organisation can run its core processes close to SAP's standard, best-practice model with minimal customisation, GROW is very likely the right fit. If your business has genuinely complex, non-standard requirements that need real flexibility, RISE is the more realistic path.
Company size and SAP history are useful signals, but neither settles the question. A long-standing SAP customer can still be a good fit for GROW if much of its custom code no longer serves a real purpose. A relatively small business can still need RISE if it operates in a highly regulated industry or depends on processes that genuinely set it apart from competitors.
A few questions help make the decision concrete:
Which processes genuinely differentiate the business? Only those processes justify departing from SAP's standard. Everything else is usually better adopted as delivered.
How much existing custom code is still in active use? Legacy customisations are often assumed to be essential, but many turn out to be technical debt that a standardised process would replace.
How much control over upgrades does the business need? Some organisations are comfortable taking SAP's release cycle as it comes. Others need to schedule change around their own operational calendar.
What do regulatory and data requirements demand? Strict compliance or data-control requirements can point to a private cloud environment.
Where will the business be in five years? A company expecting rapid growth in scale or complexity should weigh whether standard processes will still fit, or whether a later migration is likely.
Getting the GROW with SAP vs RISE with SAP decision right matters more than it might seem, because the programme shapes cost, flexibility and effort for years afterwards. A fit-gap analysis during the early stages of evaluation gives the decision a factual basis rather than leaving it to assumptions about how standard or unusual the business really is.
For a more detailed side-by-side comparison, including SuccessFactors and other SAP solutions, see the Solutions Hub.
For the full comparison across SAP's solution portfolio, see the Solutions Hub. For what to consider before committing to a long-term RISE contract, see our RISE with SAP Exit Strategy guide. To understand how we identify process gaps before choosing a programme, see our Fit-Gap Analysis glossary entry.
The right choice depends on how your business actually runs, not on which package sounds bigger. Talk to DynaTech Ops about assessing your processes against SAP's standard model before you commit.