RISE with SAP changes more than just the technical operation of an SAP system. Infrastructure moves out of the company’s own data center, investments become more predictable, and many tasks that companies previously handled themselves are increasingly delivered as a service.
At first glance, this sounds like a significant simplification of the SAP landscape. However, during a RISE transformation, some topics do not automatically disappear. One of them is archiving.
Existing documents must remain available, statutory retention periods continue to apply, and companies still need to determine how information will be stored in an audit-proof manner over the long term. At the same time, data volume takes on greater economic significance in a cloud and service-based model.
That is why archiving should not be treated as a downstream project step when moving to RISE with SAP. It is part of the architecture, compliance, and cost strategy.
RISE Changes Operations – Not the Requirements for Your Documents
When moving to RISE, the operating model of the SAP system changes first and foremost. What does not change, however, are the legal and organizational requirements for business-relevant information.
Invoices, contracts, delivery notes, and other documents subject to retention requirements must remain available and traceable for the required periods and must be protected against unauthorized modification. Requirements arising from regulations such as GoBD and GDPR also continue to apply regardless of whether SAP is operated in the company’s own data center or as part of a cloud model.
A common misconception is therefore to assume that moving the SAP system also means that the archiving topic has automatically been addressed. The archiving strategy, required interfaces, and long-term storage of documents still need to be planned deliberately.
Why Data Volume Becomes a Cost Factor with RISE
Traditional on-premises landscapes have accumulated large volumes of data over many years. The associated costs are spread across infrastructure, storage, administration, maintenance, and other operating expenses. As a result, these costs are not always directly attributable to an individual gigabyte of data.
In a cloud and service-based model, this perspective changes. Data volume and resource consumption increasingly become measurable, recurring cost factors. This makes one question more important than ever:
Which information really needs to remain permanently in the productive SAP system, and which information can be stored more economically outside the operational core?
A well-designed data and document archiving strategy can help limit the growth of productive systems and keep historical information outside the operational system without sacrificing availability. This not only affects storage requirements but can also have an impact on performance, administration, and the long-term cost development of the SAP landscape.
Archiving is therefore evolving from a pure compliance requirement into an increasingly important economic decision.
Archiving Is an Architecture Decision
A second aspect often becomes apparent relatively late in RISE projects: an archive is more than just storage.
It must integrate with SAP processes, assign documents clearly to the appropriate business context, respect authorization concepts, and ensure long-term availability. Companies also need to determine which interfaces they require today and which ones they will need in the future.
Existing SAP landscapes often rely on ArchiveLink. At the same time, CMIS is becoming increasingly important for modern SAP cloud scenarios. Companies that plan their archiving strategy early can therefore address not only their current requirements but also the future evolution of their SAP landscape.
This is particularly relevant for organizations planning further architectural changes in the years ahead. An archiving solution should not have to be fundamentally reconsidered every time the SAP operating model changes.
Why Archiving Should Not Be Addressed Just Before Go-Live
If archiving is only considered shortly before go-live, many fundamental decisions have already been made. Architecture, interfaces, data volumes, responsibilities, and operating models are often largely defined by that point.
The archive then has to be fitted into an already established landscape.
A better approach is to include archiving early in the project. Companies should determine which documents and data need to remain available over the long term, which retention and deletion rules apply, which existing archive repositories need to be incorporated, and how integration into the future SAP landscape should be designed.
This turns a late-stage technical task into a manageable and predictable part of the transformation.
What a Modern Archiving Strategy for RISE Should Deliver
A modern archiving solution must first meet the fundamental requirements for audit-proof and traceable document storage. In RISE scenarios, however, additional requirements come into play.
The solution should integrate into existing SAP processes without requiring an additional user interface, support different SAP scenarios, and be able to evolve alongside the company’s broader cloud strategy. A transparent cost model is equally important. If companies increasingly evaluate their SAP landscape based on consumption and recurring costs, archiving should follow the same principle.
Cloud-native architecture can make a significant difference here. An archive designed specifically for the cloud does not require a traditional server landscape that has simply been moved to another data center. Instead, it can use cloud resources flexibly and according to actual demand.
How arcana solutions Supports RISE Scenarios
The arcana Document Server was developed as a cloud-native archiving solution and can be integrated directly into SAP landscapes. Users continue to work within their familiar SAP processes; no additional archive user interface is required.
By supporting both ArchiveLink and CMIS, the archive can accommodate existing SAP scenarios as well as modern cloud architectures. This allows companies to continue operating their current landscape while simultaneously creating a foundation for future changes.
The arcana solutions pricing model also follows the cloud principle: archiving is not billed through user licenses but is based on the volume actually used. Particularly as part of a RISE strategy, this provides transparency and makes it possible to clearly connect archiving costs with the development of data volumes.
Conclusion: RISE Is the Right Time to Reevaluate Your Archiving Strategy
RISE with SAP gives companies an opportunity to fundamentally modernize their SAP landscape. That opportunity should not stop at the boundaries of the productive SAP system.
If you are already thinking about architecture, Clean Core, operations, and future costs, you should also consider how data and documents will be managed in the years ahead. Which information really needs to remain in the operational core? Which information can be moved to an audit-proof archive? Which interfaces will be required in the future? And what recurring costs will result from the chosen architecture?
Companies that answer these questions early not only avoid unpleasant surprises shortly before go-live. A well-designed archiving strategy can reduce the load on productive SAP systems, support compliance, provide greater cost transparency, and create more flexibility for the future development of the SAP landscape.
arcana solutions helps companies plan archiving as an integral part of their SAP and RISE strategy from the very beginning – cloud-native, SAP-integrated, and designed for long-term flexibility.
