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SAP ECC mainstream maintenance ends in 2027. What to do with everything you customised

SAP ends mainstream maintenance for ECC at the end of 2027. For many companies the challenge isn't the new ERP, but the customisations and integrations built up over years of use.

Central block connected to smaller modules in dark line art on a light background, next to the glass shape with a blue core

Many companies have run SAP ECC for more than a decade. Over that time the system has gathered custom reports, rules and integrations. Now there is a deadline.

What SAP says

According to SAP's support page, mainstream maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7 core applications, including SAP ERP 6.0, runs until the end of 2027. After that, SAP offers optional extended maintenance until the end of 2030, at an additional cost and under its own conditions.

SAP's proposed path is a move to S/4HANA. That is when the true size of everything that was customised comes to light.

Comparison between an ERP with company rules mixed into its core, which makes every upgrade long, and a standard ERP with dedicated modules alongside, which makes version changes simpler

The weight of customisation

Every rule written inside the ERP has to be reviewed, rewritten or dropped during the migration. The more business logic is mixed into the system's core, the longer and riskier the project becomes.

That is why SAP itself now advocates a clean core: the ERP stays as close to standard as possible, and whatever is specific to the company runs alongside it, connected through integrations.

Three questions to ask now

  1. What is standard and what is yours alone? List the customisations and separate what the new ERP already handles from what sets your operation apart.
  2. Where are the integrations? Store, marketplaces, logistics and banks often rely on old routines. Each one needs an owner and documentation.
  3. What can move out of the ERP? Approvals, portals, in-house calculations and dashboards can become separate systems, connected to the ERP through APIs, and survive any version change.

It applies even if you don't use SAP

The lesson holds for any ERP. Everything locked inside it becomes a cost at every upgrade. Keeping what makes your company different outside the core makes the next change simpler, whether it's a new version or a new vendor.

Your process, outside the core

In the custom software development work we do, we move the rules only your company has into dedicated modules, connected to the ERP through audited integrations. What already exists keeps running until the new part is approved, and the code is owned by your company.