Deadline Extension for ECC 6.0 Until 2033

Expensive S/4 conversion with no guarantee of success

If SAP had insisted on the end of maintenance in 2025, thousands of SAP customers would have been overwhelmed by the continuously rising daily rates of external consultants. The German-speaking SAP user group (DSAG) campaigned vehemently for a postponement, calling for more robust, long-term roadmaps.

SAP met these demands and announced the first maintenance extension for SAP Business Suite 7 (ERP/ECC 6.0)—initially mainstream maintenance until the end of 2027 and optional, chargeable extended maintenance until the end of 2030, with a two-percentage-point surcharge on the existing maintenance base. DSAG welcomed this extension as an important step that shifted the focus away from time constraints and back to the transformation itself.

SAP future without AnyDB: Is Hana enough?

However, despite the breathing space until 2027/2030, key issues remained unresolved, perpetuating uncertainty within the community. One central point of criticism was SAP's silence regarding AnyDB databases (from IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle) after the deadline, even though SAP had already terminated the database contracts. SAP board member Thomas Saueressig argued that an extension beyond 2030 was impossible due to expiring Oracle Java and AnyDB licenses.

SAP ERP, Private Edition, Transition Option 2033

The latest development calls this narrative into question. With the "SAP ERP, Private Edition, Transition Option," SAP promises to extend maintenance for Business Suite 7 until 2033. However, this is only available to customers who commit to SAP long term and switch to the RISE with SAP model.

This new option primarily functions as a strategic instrument to push hesitant existing customers, particularly large companies with complex system landscapes, into the cloud. The extension only applies if customers are using Hana as a database (Suite on Hana, SoH) or migrating to it.

S/4 conversion saved, innovation backlog unresolved

The SAP community is therefore faced with a trade-off. The pressure to migrate to S/4 is reduced, which gives customers more time for extensive planning, analysis, and change management, since the transformation is considered a new implementation.

However, the "innovation backlog" on legacy systems is perpetuated because SAP provides innovations almost exclusively for S/4 and primarily for cloud versions. Companies that use the extension until 2030 or 2033 risk falling behind technologically.

Critical voices in the community interpret the extension, particularly in connection with RISE, as a financial gag contract that forces customers into a vendor lock-in situation in the cloud. While SAP aims to generate predictable, recurring revenue by transitioning from capital expenditures (CapEx) to operating expenditures (OpEx), customers lose license autonomy and lack a clear exit strategy for cloud contracts.

Lack of SAP development horizon

The DSAG user association emphasizes that the time gained until 2030 or 2033 is by no means a carte blanche to wait and see, but must be the starting signal to finally actively tackle the digital transformation. However, the SAP community continues to expect verified roadmaps with a development horizon of three to five years in order to ensure long-term planning.

This is because the extension only postpones the fundamental problem of the shortage of qualified S/4 consultants, which could lead to a massive increase in daily rates after 2027 when thousands of SAP customers want to migrate at the same time.

SAP's maintenance extension to 2033 is a strategic maneuver to accelerate migration to S/4 by combining the technical transition with switching to the Rise cloud subscription model. For the SAP community, the extension means temporary relief mixed with increased strategic pressure to act. The postponement of the deadline does not eliminate the need for far-reaching, cross-business process transformation but rather links it to new licensing and business challenges.

The recent extension of SAP maintenance deadlines, particularly the option to extend to 2033, plays an ambiguous and critical role in the SAP community. On the one hand, it provides much-needed time relief; on the other hand, it inevitably links this relief to a strategic realignment in favor of the SAP cloud strategy and Hana, causing continued uncertainty among many existing customers.

Without a clear strategic vision from SAP for the time after S/4 or for the future of Hana beyond 2040, the community will remain in a state of "disharmony" and uncertainty despite the postponement.