SAP licensing for maintenance technicians: named user, Digital Access or FUE

Maintenance technicians and planners who work in a mobile app integrated with SAP PM are licensed under the contract your company holds with SAP, and that license is paid to SAP, outside the app vendor's quote. Three models show up in those contracts: named users, the individual license SAP's terms require as the general rule for every person who uses SAP, including through a third-party application; SAP Digital Access, which licenses use of the ERP through a directly integrated non-SAP application by the number of documents created per year, without requiring a named user; and, under RISE with SAP, FUE for people and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Digital Access for integrated third-party applications. Digital Access also covers the path in which technicians work in an app connected to SAP, with the app's own user and license, and the documents the integration creates in SAP count toward Digital Access.

As of November 2026, SAP does not publish a list price for any of these metrics, so "how much does an SAP license cost" has no answer in a public price sheet. Before the negotiation, you can pin down which metric your contract uses and the volume it measures: people by user type, or maintenance documents the app will create in SAP each year. The definitions below follow the SAP Software Use Rights, version enGLOBAL v.10-2026, and the Private Edition service description guide, version v.12-2025.

Why technician SAP licenses are not in the app vendor's quote

The vendor of an app integrated with SAP PM sells its own software, implementation and subscription. Each person's right to use SAP sits in a separate contract between your company and SAP or an authorized SAP reseller, so anyone comparing field app quotes has to budget that line separately.

The reason is how SAP defines use. Under SAP's terms, use includes executing, accessing or displaying information resulting from the software's processing capabilities, and it can happen through a customer interface, a third-party interface or another intermediary system (section 1.8). The general rule in section 2.1.1 requires a named user license for any individual accessing a package, except where the document provides otherwise, and SAP Digital Access is the exception that matters when technicians move to an integrated app.

What a named user is in SAP and which types cover maintenance work

A named user, in SAP's terms of use, is any individual your company authorizes to use a software package, including employees of affiliates and business partners (section 1.4). A named user license cannot be assigned to more than one individual (section 2.1.1) and can be transferred only for vacation, sick leave, termination, a move to a job that no longer uses the software, or a condition agreed with SAP (section 5.1.1).

The table compares the named user types in version v.10-2026 that mention maintenance or that come up when companies evaluate field apps.

Type	Where it appears	What the terms say about maintenance
SAP Worker User	SAP named users (Exhibit 2, section 2.5)	People working in production facilities or as maintenance workers: display work instructions, confirm goods movements and completion confirmations into maintenance work orders, confirm maintenance notifications and enter service requests
SAP Professional User	SAP named users (Exhibit 2, section 1.3)	Operational and system administration roles, including the rights of the Worker User
SAP Platform User	SAP named users (Exhibit 2, section 4.1)	Use through a separate SAP, partner or customer application that connects through published SAP APIs
S/4HANA Enterprise Management for Productivity use	S/4HANA on-premise (Exhibit 3, section 2.6)	Maintenance Demand Processing and Maintenance Execution, plus display and approval rights
S/4HANA Enterprise Management for Functional use	S/4HANA on-premise (Exhibit 3, section 2.5)	Includes Productivity use and adds Maintenance Planning
S/4HANA Enterprise Management for Professional use	S/4HANA on-premise (Exhibit 3, section 2.4)	All of the individual's operational, administration and management roles

Contracts from June 2014 or earlier may carry legacy user types, such as SAP ERP User, and can only add more of those same types (sections 5.1.2 and 5.1.3). The type that applies to each technician or planner is in the order form signed with SAP, not in this table.

What SAP Digital Access is

SAP Digital Access is the license package that lets people use SAP ERP through non-SAP applications directly integrated with it, with Digital Access itself taking the place of an ERP named user license, and lets non-humans, such as bots, sensors and devices, use the ERP directly or through those applications (Exhibit 3, section 4.4). For S/4HANA on-premise, the equivalent package is SAP S/4HANA Digital Access (Exhibit 3, section 2.36).

Digital Access is licensed exclusively on the number of documents created annually through that access (section 4.4.2). Each document counts as 1, except Material Documents and Financial Documents, which count as 0.2 each. When automated processing in the ERP of a document of one type then creates one or more documents of different types, those follow-on documents are not counted.

A document, for Digital Access, is a unique record, a unique digital line item or object, of one of the nine types defined in Exhibit 2, section 17.5. The metric counts documents created, and a lookup does not create a document.

A non-SAP application is any technology your company owns or has licensed from a company other than SAP, except when it is used solely as a connectivity app between an SAP application and the ERP or as a user interface for the ERP; SAP Business Technology Platform falls under the same definition, with the same exceptions. An application connected to the ERP through integration technology is still deemed directly integrated (section 4.4.3), so choosing a web service, RFC, SAP PI or SAP CPI does not, by itself, change the metric.

The nine document types and what counts in maintenance

The table compares the nine document types in section 17.5, the weight of each one and where maintenance work can create that type when the posting comes from an integrated app.

Document type	Definition in the terms of use	Weight	Where maintenance can show up
Sales Document	Line item for material or service sold or quoted	1	Outside field work
Purchase Document	Line item for material or service ordered or requested	1	Purchase requisition for a part or service, if the app creates it
Invoice Document	Line item for material or service billed	1	Outside field work
Manufacturing Document	Production details for a material, or a confirmation of the status of manufacturing orders	1	Only if the app posts to production orders
Material Document	Line item for material received, issued or transferred within a storage location or plant	0.2 per line	Goods issue to the work order and return to stock
Quality Management Document	Details of a nonconformance, or inspection results	1	Inspection results, if the process uses quality management
Service & Maintenance Document	Work to be performed, with what is needed to plan, execute and bill it; a problem being reported; the status of processing of service orders and maintenance orders; a warranty claim	1	Work order, maintenance notification and order processing status
Financial Document	Line item of accounting information in a financial journal	0.2 per line	Postings SAP generates from another document fall under the follow-on rule
Time Management Document	An employee's time worked and assigned to business objects, or deviations from the work schedule or pay rate	1	Employee time recorded against the work order, depending on SAP's classification

A work order confirmation has two readings in the official text

A maintenance work order confirmation records time worked and can change the order status, and the official text supports two readings: Service & Maintenance Document, under item c of section 17.5.7 (status of processing of maintenance orders), or Time Management Document, under item a of section 17.5.9 (employee time worked and assigned to business objects). It does not say which one applies to an SAP PM confirmation. Both weigh 1, so the question that changes the count is whether one confirmation creates one counted document or two. Confirm the classification with SAP in writing before you lock the volume.

Rules that change the count

• A follow-on document of a different type, created by automated ERP processing, is not counted: on a reading of section 4.4.2, the accounting posting SAP generates on its own from a goods issue entered in the app is excluded.
• The follow-on rule refers to different types. A work order created from a notification is the same type, Service & Maintenance; if the app creates both, a literal reading counts both, and the treatment is confirmed with SAP.
• Material Documents count per line. A goods issue with three material items adds up to 0.6 document.

The User Interface clause: when an app counts as part of the ERP

Section 4.4.1 c defines a user interface as technology your company owns or has licensed and that is used to develop or manage user interaction features and characteristics for the ERP. Those interfaces are deemed part of the ERP, people using the ERP through them need a named user license, and the definition of a non-SAP application expressly excludes them.

Two similar apps can fall under different models depending on whether SAP treats them as a non-SAP application or as a user interface for the ERP, and the terms provide no product list or other technical test. How a specific app is classified comes from your contract and the review with SAP; no app vendor can make that call in place of your SAP account team.

App license for an app connected to SAP: technicians work in the app, and SAP use stays licensed

Another path is for technicians to work in an app connected to SAP, with the app's own user and license. They create the notification, execute the work order, confirm hours and enter measurement readings in the app, and those documents reach SAP through the integration. Technicians do not need to log in to SAP GUI or Fiori, and what reaches SAP are the documents the integration creates.

Under SAP's terms, this is the scenario in section 4.4: people using the ERP through a directly integrated non-SAP application, without needing a named user, licensed under SAP Digital Access by the documents created per year. For S/4HANA on-premise, the same rule sits in SAP S/4HANA Digital Access (section 2.36) and, under RISE with SAP, in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Digital Access. The app license covers the app, and SAP use is still licensed under your contract's metric. Which metric applies to your company, and how the User Interface clause is read, comes from your contract and the review with your SAP account team.

PM RUN is one example of this design. Users and profiles are managed in PM RUN itself, with single sign-on through Active Directory, and the integration with SAP PM, on ECC 6.0 or S/4HANA, uses a web service exposed in SOAMANAGER, SAP PI, SAP CPI, RFC or your company's integration platform. Except with SAP PI, the integration can use one or more interface users in SAP, according to your security and licensing policy, and each document created in SAP records who posted it through the employee ID linked to the app login. As with any app, how PM RUN is classified under each company's contract is confirmed with the SAP account team. The technician's work in the app is covered in PM RUN Mobility.

How to estimate document volume for the budget

The estimate starts from your SAP history, because the app will create the same documents that are created in SAP today.

1. Use at least 12 months, because the metric is annual and planned shutdowns concentrate work orders in a few weeks.
2. Count maintenance notifications created per month, by plant and notification type.
3. Count work orders created per month, separating those raised from a notification from those planners create directly.
4. Count confirmations against work orders and material movement lines tied to work orders, such as goods issues and returns, per month.
5. Flag what will move to the app; whatever planners keep entering in SAP under their named user stays out of the count.
6. Apply the weights, add up the 12 months and include the change you expect from the app, such as notifications raised in the field that never reach SAP today.

documents per year = notifications + work orders + confirmations (1 or 2 per confirmation, as SAP classifies them) + status records created by the app + 0.2 × material lines + other types the app creates

The result is volume, not cost: with it, your company asks SAP for a quote on the right metric and compares it with licensing each technician as a named user.

What to ask your SAP account team in writing

These questions close the SAP licensing line of the budget, and a written answer is useful at contract renewal and in a license audit.

• Does our contract already include SAP Digital Access or SAP S/4HANA Digital Access, with how many documents per year and under which version of the terms of use?
• Is the app we plan to integrate treated as a directly integrated non-SAP application or as a user interface for the ERP under our contract?
• Does a work order confirmation posted from the app count as a Service & Maintenance Document, a Time Management Document or both?
• Does a status change made in the app create a counted document, and does a work order created from a notification in the app count once or twice?
• Do technicians who already hold named user licenses and start posting through the app stay covered by them, or do their documents count toward Digital Access?
• Does a measurement document posted from the app fall under any of the nine document types?
• Which estimation notes and reports apply to our ECC or S/4HANA release?
• Under RISE with SAP, which technicians are covered by FUE and which documents count toward SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Digital Access?

SAP licensing under RISE with SAP: FUE and S/4HANA Cloud, Digital Access

FUE (Full Use Equivalent) is the user metric of SAP Cloud ERP Private, the Private Edition contracted under RISE with SAP. In the v.12-2025 service description guide, 1 FUE equals 1 advanced use, 5 core use, 30 self-service use or 0.5 developer access. Core use includes Maintenance Planning, Maintenance Execution and Technical Assets, Structure and History; self-service use includes Maintenance Execution and Maintenance Demand Processing, plus display and approval.

Third-party applications integrated with the ERP and non-human agents have their own metric, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Digital Access, measured in documents created per year. As of October 2026, SAP did not publish a price per FUE; the amount appears in the commercial proposal. FUE allocation and contract questions are covered in RISE with SAP: what the contract includes.

An integration user does not set how many licenses you owe

The technical design of the integration, with one or more interface users in SAP, follows your company's security policy and does not, by itself, set how many licenses are owed. Under section 1.8, use through an intermediary system is still use: with named users, the license belongs to each individual; with Digital Access, the count is documents created.

The design does affect measurement. If each document records the person who posted it, you can split the app's volume by crew and by type, and an interface user dedicated to the app keeps its volume apart from other integrations. Monitoring that integration is covered in the SAP PM integration log, and running a field project in the SAP PM mobile project guide.

What stays in the PM RUN proposal and what stays in the SAP contract

The SAP licenses needed for configuration are on the list of what your company provides for the PM RUN project, and technician licensing in SAP follows your contract with SAP. What the PM RUN proposal covers is in maintenance software pricing for SAP, and the other budget blocks are in maintenance software cost with SAP PM.