SAP Application Management Services
Keep SAP Steady, Secure and Improving – Long After Go-Live
Replace noisy, hero-dependent SAP support with a structured AMS model that stabilises operations, controls run costs and keeps change moving at a pace the business can live with.
Depending On Fragile, Person-Dependent Support?
Go-live isn’t the finish line. It’s the moment SAP quietly becomes critical infrastructure. Once the project team disappears, incident volumes creep up, unplanned work soaks up your best people and “temporary” workarounds become permanent.
If your SAP support model is built on a handful of key individuals, expired project contracts and best-efforts from the internal team, you’re already carrying more operational and reputational risk than anyone is comfortable admitting.
Day to day, it shows up as:
- Recurring incidents that never seem to stay fixed
- A backlog that only ever grows, never clears
- Enhancements requested via email and side conversations, with no clear prioritisation
- Support depending on a few “hero” staff who know how things really work
- Shadow IT filling gaps with spreadsheets and side systems
- A patchwork of vendor contracts and timesheets nobody quite has a handle on
What’s at Stake If You Stay Here
Left as a best-efforts model, SAP support doesn’t just stay messy – it gets riskier and more expensive over time.
Operationally:
Incident volumes trend up, not down
Outages or degraded performance start to impact frontline operations
Minor issues compound into bigger failures because root causes aren’t addressed
Financially:
Unplanned vendor calls, urgent fixes and small “side projects” drive hidden spend
It becomes harder to budget SAP run costs – and harder to defend them
Enhancements that would actually reduce manual work are delayed or never delivered
Politically:
Leadership questions the value of the original SAP investment
Reliance on “hero” staff becomes a board-level risk
Nobody feels comfortable signing off on further SAP spend when current support is shaky
Doing nothing is still a decision – it’s a decision to carry growing risk and technical debt on a platform that the business assumes is under control.
Now picture a different state.
A Calm, Predictable SAP Run-and-Improve Model
Operationally:
Incidents are logged, triaged and resolved under clear SLAs
Recurring issues are driven down through structured problem management
Users know where to go for help – and what level of response to expect
Change and enhancements:
All requests flow into a single backlog, with agreed prioritisation and release cycles
Minor projects and enhancements are planned, not squeezed in around firefighting
There is a visible roadmap showing what’s being worked on now and what’s coming next
Financially and politically:
Support and enhancement spend is predictable, transparent and defensible
SAP is seen as stable infrastructure that quietly does its job
Leadership can see where AMS is reducing risk and enabling improvement, not just consuming budget
That’s the “after” state a structured AMS model is designed to create.
Discovery’s SAP Application Management Services
Discovery’s SAP Application Management Services (AMS) are the bridge between noisy, person-dependent support and a calm, controlled run-and-improve model.
L2/L3 functional and technical support
Handling incidents, service requests and problem management across your SAP landscape.
Enhancements and minor projects
Capacity and structure for small changes and minor projects so they don’t compete directly with break/fix work.
Monitoring and performance focus
Active monitoring of key components and trend analysis on incidents and performance issues.
Advisory and continuous improvement
Regular reviews to highlight patterns, risks and opportunities for optimisation aligned to your roadmap.
Everything sits under a defined service catalogue with agreed SLAs, so there is no ambiguity about what is in scope, how it is handled and how performance is measured.
Flexible Engagement Models That Plug Into Your Team
Your internal capability and risk profile are starting points, not an afterthought. Discovery’s AMS is designed to work alongside your team, not on top of it:
- Dedicated or shared teams – Options from more dedicated capacity through to shared service models, depending on the scale and criticality of your SAP footprint.
- Onshore / offshore blend – Combinations of onshore and offshore resources to balance responsiveness, cost and risk in a way that fits your organisation.
- Coverage windows aligned to your operations – Business hours with escalation, extended coverage or higher-availability options for 24/7 operations.
- Clear roles, RACI and governance – Integration points, responsibilities and decision rights are defined up-front, so everyone knows who does what, when and how issues are escalated.
The goal is simple: give you the capacity, coverage and expertise you need, without losing control of priorities or visibility.
How Transition and Onboarding Work
Moving to a structured AMS model should reduce noise, not create more. A typical transition includes:
- Review of your current support model – Understanding how incidents, requests and small changes are handled today, and where the biggest pain sits.
- Knowledge transfer and documentation uplift – Capturing critical knowledge from internal staff and existing vendors, and lifting documentation to a usable standard.
- Stabilisation focus – Addressing obvious recurring issues and quick wins so early AMS months are felt as tangible improvements, not just a change in supplier.
- Establishing the operating rhythm – Standing up governance forums, reporting, backlog review cadence and service reporting so AMS becomes “how we run SAP”, not “another contract”.
This structured transition is part of the service – not something you are left to figure out on your own.
Key Outcomes
From Firefighting to Focus
From Constant Noise to Stable Operations
- Incident volumes trend down over time, as root causes are identified and addressed
- Response and resolution times become consistent and reportable
- SAP quietly does its job, so your team can focus on higher-value work
From Unplanned Spend to Controlled, Transparent Costs
- Clear separation of “run” vs “change” vs “minor projects”
- Agreed commercial structures aligned to scope and coverage
- Finance and IT have a shared view of what’s being spent and why
From Ad-Hoc Fixes to a Structured Backlog
- All change requests flow into a managed backlog
- Prioritisation happens in the open, with the right stakeholders involved
- Release cycles are agreed, communicated and delivered against
From Hero-Dependent to Resilient Support
- Critical knowledge is documented and shared across the AMS team
- Responsibilities are defined by role and process, not person
- The support model can absorb turnover, holidays and growth without falling over
From Cost Line to Platform That Improves
- Reductions in incidents and repeat issues
- Delivered enhancements and their impact
- Risk reductions and improvements to performance and stability
That’s the story leadership wants to see: SAP as a platform that keeps improving, not just a bill that keeps arriving.
Review Your SAP Support Model
If your SAP support today is based on best efforts, heroes and a patchwork of contracts, you’re already paying the price – in incidents, unplanned spend and stalled change.
The simplest way to start is with a focused review of how you currently support SAP, where the real risk and cost are hiding, and what a calm, controlled AMS model could look like for your organisation.
A short, structured conversation. Clear view of your current position. Practical options to move from reactive support to a stable AMS model – on terms that work for you.