Despite SAP’s push for customers to migrate to S/4HANA and cloud ERP by 2027, many organizations are hesitant to move from their stable and paid-for ECC environments, prompting speculation that nearly half may still be using ECC by 2027, making decisions about support contracts and considering third-party support crucial for future flexibility and cost savings.
If you’re an SAP customer, the message is hard to miss: move to S/4HANA, adopt cloud ERP and get aligned with SAP’s roadmap before mainstream maintenance ends in 2027.
But that message overlooks an important reality: many organizations aren’t rushing to move, and many have decided they aren’t moving at all. At the end of 2024, only 39% of the roughly 35,000 SAP ECC customers (about 14,000 organizations) had migrated to S/4HANA, according to analyst data reported by CIO.[1] At the current rate of migration, it is projected that roughly 17,000 ECC customers — nearly half of the installed base — will still be on ECC by 2027, and more than a third will remain by 2030.[1] IDC projects that 40%–45% of ECC users will stay with the legacy ERP through 2027.[1]
Why? Their ECC environments are already paid for, stable and deeply embedded. The bigger issue is whether a costly, multiyear migration would even prove valuable, especially when S/4HANA migrations can take three to seven years, with total costs ranging from $2 million to $1 billion for large, complex installations.[1]
When the perceived cost, complexity and disruption of migration outweigh the perceived benefit, companies often hold their environments in place while continuing to evaluate future options. But keeping ECC does not mean standing still. To preserve the freedom to run your current release, protect perpetual license value and control the pace of any future ERP move, there is one decision you can’t defer: your support contract.
The time to act isn’t 2027. It’s September 30, 2026.
SAP support contracts auto-renew every January. To give notice of a change in product strategy or to exit at year-end, customers must provide three months’ written notice — a requirement that SAP has publicly confirmed.[2] That makes September 30 the practical decision point every year. Miss it, and the contract renews for another twelve months, with the associated cost structure, fee uplift and constraints.[2]
Whether you’re weighing options or already planning a migration, September 30 may be the most important date on your ERP calendar. It is your annual opportunity to reassess whether SAP’s support model still aligns with your business priorities, financial objectives and need for roadmap control.
A practical alternative to the SAP timeline
There’s a better path for organizations that are:
- Planning to continue running their existing platforms without migrating
- Wanting to preserve the control and flexibility of their perpetual licenses
- Needing a fallback, in case, as happens with massive, complex projects, the migration doesn’t go as planned
Independent third-party support provides a practical option: keep the SAP systems that are working, reduce support costs and redirect budget toward higher-priority modernization efforts.
With an experienced third-party support partner, IT and business leaders have more room to fund targeted modernization, process improvement, AI initiatives or selective application replacement without being forced down a single vendor-defined path. Jefferson Andriotti, Head of IT and Procurement at Brazilian oil re-refiner, Lwart Environmental Solutions, details the impact of third-party support with Rimini Street on the organization’s roadmap, “With my SAP ECC 6 stabilized, secured and performing optimally with Rimini Support™, I no longer have to worry about constantly upgrading or migrating to a new version of SAP ERP as some of my peers do. Rimini Street makes it possible for me to focus my team’s attention on the needs of our customers, partners and the future of Lwart instead of unnecessary disruptions.”
Rimini Street announced in June 2025 that it will support all SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA releases through 2040. For any clients who join after 2025, the 15-year support guarantee applies from the contract date.
Clients who have made the switch to Rimini Street enjoy annual maintenance savings of up to 90% compared with SAP’s annual support stream. That flexibility matters, especially for the roughly 20,000 SAP ECC customers that haven’t even licensed S/4HANA yet.[3]
What is SAP offering? Mainstream maintenance for Business Suite 7, including ECC, which ends December 31, 2027.
Extended maintenance is available through 2030 at a 2-percentage-point premium on the maintenance base, after which customers move to more limited “customer-specific maintenance” that provides limited fixes and slower SLAs.
For most organizations, that leaves three choices:
1) Renew and continue paying into SAP’s timeline,
2) Make a costly, disruptive move to a new platform before the business is ready or
3) Choose third-party support for SAP for stability, value and roadmap freedom.
Like many IT leaders, Jae-Hoon Jung, Information Strategy Team Leader at Korean tire manufacturer, Nexen, chose freedom. “Our vision is to stabilize our current SAP platform while we establish strategies and a roadmap for utilizing core technologies in AI, big data and cloud…we want to make smart IT decisions on our own timeline, supported by the right partner,” Jung explained. Radhika Chennakeshavula, CIO and vice president of Silicon Labs, also opted for innovation over disruption: “Our current SAP ECC investment continues to provide value across our operations. As part of our innovation strategy, we are accelerating new capabilities built on and around our SAP core, modernizing where needed without the cost, risk and disruption of an unwanted move to RISE with SAP. I prefer to make impactful investments of our people, time and money to harness the full power of the latest AI technology rather than a low-ROI platform upgrade.”
For these IT leaders, electing the third-party support path is less about walking away from SAP and more about deciding when, how and whether SAP’s roadmap fits business needs.
Start preparing for September 30 today
It’s critical to begin weighing your options early enough to allow each stage — evaluation, alignment, approval and execution — to unfold at a reasonable pace. Savings matter, but so do operational continuity, security, compliance and the organization’s long-term technology strategy.
A proactive approach replaces urgency with planning. Instead of scrambling to meet a contractual deadline, teams have time to build consensus, complete reviews and prepare for execution. By the time September arrives, there is no uncertainty about what needs to be done: the notice is ready, approvals are in place and the chosen path is clear.
Between now and September, organizations should:
- Analyze your IT roadmap and what investments in talent, time and technologies have the potential to deliver the most value in driving growth and profitability
- Compare current SAP maintenance costs against projected increases and what an alternative support model could deliver over three to five years
- Evaluate third-party support coverage, SLAs, security support, tax and regulatory updates and customization support
- Align IT, finance, procurement and legal around the business case, including risk, cost, contract and control considerations
- Review contract terms and prepare the non-renewal notice in accordance with SAP’s contractual requirements and internal processes
September 30 may seem far off, but in enterprise timelines, that time passes quickly. Budget cycles, stakeholder availability, contract review and internal approvals all introduce complexity that cannot be compressed indefinitely. And the implications of waiting another year are now well documented: another autorenewal, another CPI-linked fee increase and another 12 months of budget locked into maintenance contracts instead of funding modernization projects.
Key takeaways
Starting now provides the time needed to move through each stage properly. Because the real objective is not simply to meet a date, it’s to ensure that when that date arrives, the organization is ready to act with clarity, confidence and control.
Need help comparing your options before September 30? Use our platform-specific calculator to estimate how much you could save by moving to third-party support:
[1] Grant Gross, “Nearly half of SAP ECC customers may stick with legacy ERP beyond 2027,” CIO, June 4, 2025. https://www.cio.com/article/4000543/nearly-half-of-sap-ecc-customers-may-stick-with-legacy-erp-beyond-2027.html
[2] Lindsay Clark, “SAP support auto-renewal gotcha: Do nothing now, pay for another year,” The Register, September 26, 2024. https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/26/sap_support_renewal_deadline/
[3] Rimini Street, “Rimini Street Announces the Extension of Support for All SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA Releases Through 2040,” press release, June 5, 2025. https://www.riministreet.com/press-releases/rimini-street-announces-extension-of-support-for-all-sap-ecc-6-and-s4hana-releases-through-2040/
