SAP ECC support is ending in 2027. This means you have three years to plan your next move, start your transition, manage any changes or delays, and complete the migration of your whole SAP estate. All of which you will need to do on time and within budget.
Sounds easy, right?
We don’t think so, either.
Deciding whether to adopt SAP S/4HANA is a huge decision; it’s not one to be taken lightly. And many organisations still have yet to make it.
Many customers are also unhappy about SAP’s decision to only make innovation releases available in the Cloud via RISE and GROW with SAP. A recent survey by the UK & Ireland SAP User Group (UKISUG) showed that of those planning to move to S/4HANA, 70% are planning to move to an on-prem or hosted version. As a result, most will be missing out on these releases despite the colossal upgrade costs.
It’s also a decision that you should make and not the vendor. Yet SAP has imposed these support deadlines to force you to make a quick decision, whether it benefits you, or not.
When does support end for SAP ECC?
Support for SAP ECC 6 Enhancement Packs (EHP):
- 1 – 5 ends in 2025
- 6 – 8 ends in 2027
Despite the big headlines that support for ECC doesn’t end for another three years, many organisations on older EHPs have until the end of next year to plan and migrate their systems (or not!).
IMPORTANT NOTE: You have even less time if you’re on EHPs 1 – 5 and plan to migrate to another vendor. As SAP requires a 3-month notice period, you only have until the end of September 2025 to plan your move and hand in your notice to SAP (not December 2025!).
You must decide now if you don’t want to face delays or lose support for your business-critical SAP systems.
What are your SAP deadline options?
To avoid losing support, spending more than you need on an expensive upgrade, or removing the need to make an urgent decision, there are five options to consider before your next SAP move:
Option 1 – Move to S/4HANA
Move your SAP ECC systems to S/4HANA to remain current on the latest features and updates, including real-time analytics, enhanced user experience, and improved operational efficiencies.
However, this will come at a significant cost, time, and drain on your teams’ resources, requiring you to revisit or rewrite many of your business processes, plus any additional training on using the new system.
It will also require a complete reimplementation, which carries a significant risk of overrunning and costing much more than planned.
There’s also a significant risk of it going wrong and compromising the stability of your business-critical software.
Option 2 – Move to an SAP competitor
Moving to another ERP provider means no longer being troubled by SAP’s deadline demands and benefiting from creating a new ERP system from scratch, built for your organisation’s specific needs.
But this will be costly, time-consuming, and drain your teams’ resources. It will also require a complete rewrite of existing processes and additional training on how to use the new system.
There is a significant risk of it overrunning and costing much more. Any potential savings made by moving away may be swallowed up by transition costs anyway.
The move risks destabilising processes that you’ve been so used to with your old software.
Experience similar issues you had with SAP, just with a different brand name (deadlines, upgrade cycles, aggressive sales, etc.).
Option 3 – Do nothing
Do nothing and hope for additional deadline extensions. If deadlines are extended, your system will remain supported, and you can delay your decision on whether or not to upgrade to S/4HANA that little bit longer.
But this is unlikely to happen.
SAP will probably stick to its current 2027 deadline. This will see your SAP systems go unsupported or fall into a more basic and expensive support model.
If you eventually decide to switch, it won’t be a quick upgrade. The process can take 12-18 months (or more!), meaning you’ll be stuck with a more basic and expensive support option for a long while.
Option 4 – Do it yourself
Build your own in-house SAP software support team. This will give you total control over your SAP systems and keep the in-depth knowledge and support for any customisations in-house.
This also means you can immediately work on any patches or fixes you require rather than relying on SAP’s limited support.
However, the cost of building your own SAP support teams could total more than support from the vendor itself.
Not only that, but recruiting for these roles is a huge challenge, time-consuming, and extremely expensive.
Receiving the most up-to-date information on legislative updates will require registering with different organisations across multiple regions, further complicating the process.
Option 5 – Move to third-party support
Keep existing SAP ECC systems that you’re familiar with and happy with and move to third-party support for SAP.
Receive a premium support service for your systems, no matter the software version you’re using.
You can retain this premium support for as long as you want (no deadlines!). This gives you longer to decide if S/4HANA is the right move for you, effectively extending SAP’s 2025 and 2027 deadlines indefinitely.
Receive support for old and new customisations on your ECC systems.
Reduce your SAP support costs by up to 90%, giving you spare budget to put back into other Digital Transformations and AI projects.
Recent estimates suggest that, as of 4Q23, only one-third of ECC customers had bought or subscribed to licenses to start their transition.
There must be a reason for this slow uptake.
Organisations are clearly not keen on relinquishing their perpetual licenses for a Cloud subscription model where you don’t really own your licenses.
Your next steps
By moving to Support Revolution’s third-party support for SAP you can regain control of your SAP strategy and stop being held hostage by the vendor’s self-imposed deadlines.
Give yourself breathing room from SAP’s support deadlines and save up to 90% on your support bills.
Speak to one of our dedicated SAP team today to find out how this works for your organisation.
Support Revolution provides independent Oracle and SAP support, replacing the service from the manufacturers, regardless of the software versions you’re running.
We believe you’re paying too much for an underwhelming support service. That’s why, with us, you’ll cut your Oracle and SAP support costs by up to 90%, receive a more personal one-to-one service, and free yourself from the mandatory upgrade cycle.
You’ll then be able to redeploy these funds from support to innovation, empowering you to invest in your own future Digital Transformations and AI projects and stay ahead of the curve.
