Khimji Ramdas cuts SAP support costs with Rimini Street

Rimini Street has won a contract to provide SAP support for Khimji Ramdas Group, covering the Omani conglomerate's SAP ECC 6 environment.

The group said the switch has cut SAP support costs by 80% while preserving more than 700 customisations built into its systems over many years. It uses SAP across finance, supply chain, sales and other core operations spanning consumer products, retail, infrastructure and logistics.

The move reflects a broader decision to remain on SAP ECC rather than migrate to S/4HANA. Khimji Ramdas Group sought an alternative support model that would let management set the pace of technology change based on business priorities rather than vendor deadlines.

Prashant Kumar, Chief Technology Officer at Khimji Ramdas Group, said the company reviewed its options with an industry analyst before deciding to seek third-party support.

"Staying on SAP ECC is a strategic decision for us," Kumar said.

"We went to an industry analyst to ask what options we had to keep our ECC systems running without vendor support dependencies, and they suggested that we contact Rimini Street for third-party support. Since moving, we see that we should've made this move years ago."

Cost and control

Kumar said the lower support bill has created room in the existing IT budget for other projects, including artificial intelligence, a new Salesforce CRM programme, broader eCommerce efforts and development of an in-house large language model linked to the company's data analytics platform.

"Rimini Street significantly reduced our total SAP support costs by 80%, freeing up funds that we're now investing in AI-driven innovation without undergoing migrations or replatforming," he said.

"We have the same budget that we had when we were working with SAP, but now I can do more with it."

According to Rimini Street, the support arrangement also gives the group a long-term runway for its SAP environment, with round-the-clock access to support staff and a dedicated Primary Support Engineer. Khimji Ramdas Group said that level of support was important because other providers were unwilling to support an estate with that degree of customisation.

The group also pointed to system stability since changing support providers. Kumar said the SAP estate has remained available throughout the period.

"In the last four years with Rimini Street, we haven't had one instance of SAP going down," he said.

"When I talk to my people, they say the level of support and professionalism from the Rimini Street engineering team is unmatched, and that it puts them at ease."

Compliance issue

Beyond routine software support, the companies also worked on a human resources and payroll issue linked to Omani labour regulations. Khimji Ramdas Group said the problem involved moving employees across business units while keeping payroll treatment aligned with local rules.

With Rimini Street's assistance, the group designed a solution intended to reduce the risk of penalties for non-compliance. In Oman, labour breaches can lead to significant fines depending on the nature of the offence.

"There are stringent labor regulations, and the penalties for non-compliance can be very high, depending on the nature and extent of the violation. With Rimini Street's expertise in regulatory compliance, we were able to design a solution that strengthened our compliance framework and helped ensure we remain fully compliant with applicable regulations," Kumar said.

The case highlights how some large users of older enterprise software are seeking to extend the life of established systems rather than undertake expensive migrations. For companies with substantial custom development, replacing or rebuilding those modifications can add cost and complexity to a software transition.

Khimji Ramdas Group, which traces its history back more than 150 years, is one of Oman's largest privately held conglomerates. Its decision to continue with ECC under third-party support suggests that, for some businesses, preserving existing processes and custom code remains a higher priority than moving quickly to a newer platform.

Nancy Lyskawa, Executive Vice President and Chief Client Officer at Rimini Street, said the company is seeing demand from IT leaders trying to balance cost discipline with new investment.

"In today's highly competitive market, IT leaders can no longer afford to choose between growth and profitability. They must achieve both," Lyskawa said.

"We are proud to help clients like Khimji Ramdas Group realise immediate savings to support initiatives that fuel their ability to achieve faster time to market, on their own schedule and on their own terms."

Kumar said the group does not expect to leave ECC soon while the current support model continues to meet its needs.

"We plan to stay on ECC until further notice because we have such outstanding support and the freedom to prioritise our business needs over vendor demands. We don't need to choose between stability and innovation," he said.

"Rimini Street is our go-to for expert support, guidance and whatever comes next."