{"id":163452,"date":"2026-05-21T12:17:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T10:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/?p=163452"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:54:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:54:54","slug":"sap-deadline-2027-strategic-opportunity-or-expensive-leverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/sap-deadline-2027-strategische-chance-oder-teures-druckmittel\/","title":{"rendered":"SAP deadline: 2027 - strategic opportunity or expensive leverage?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The support deadline forces companies to take a step that often feels more like an imposed deadline than a strategic decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ECC deadline of 2027 is currently SAP's strongest sales argument - but it shouldn't really be. S\/4 Hana is not primarily about technology, but about the future viability of the entire company. However, anyone who only acts out of fear of the end of support is falling into a dangerous trap: the investment can then hardly be justified by a solid business case. We all know how this story ends: If the justification for a project is weak, the budget provided will also be correspondingly low.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, without a clear strategic focus, the necessary backing from management is lacking, which means that support for the project is increasingly dwindling. SAP has already postponed the end of maintenance for ECC four times - from 2017 to 2019 and 2025 to 2027 (or 2030 under certain conditions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each time the date was said to be final, and each time it was postponed because the market was not yet ready. It needs to be made clear: December 31, 2027 is not a technical event, but a commercial tool that the SAP sales organization uses masterfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of the extension<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After 2027, SAP will offer extended maintenance until 2030, but only under clearly defined and restrictive conditions. An additional 2% surcharge is levied on the existing maintenance fees, which SAP effectively presents as additional costs of around 9%. At the same time, qualification for this extended maintenance is linked to companies acquiring licenses for S\/4 by 2027 at the latest. Those who do not make this commitment automatically fall into what is known as \u201ecustomer-specific maintenance\u201c - an area without published price lists and therefore with financial risks that are difficult to calculate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trap of panic negotiation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Companies that only become active 90 days before the deadline lose all their negotiating power. They often accept the first rise offer that comes along just to avoid losing support. The result is gag contracts with far-reaching and often fatal consequences. Companies often accept FUE-based subscriptions without a reliable price comparison and without a well-founded analysis and optimization of the authorizations actually required. At the same time, there is a considerable destruction of value, as perpetual licenses in which millions have already been invested are given up. In addition, there are contractual risks, such as a lack of price caps for contract extensions or expiring BTP, BDC and AI capacity units or credits according to the \u201euse it or lose it\u201c principle. Furthermore, a noticeable reduction in FUE costs is not in sight in the medium term. The 2027 deadline does not directly cause additional expenditure, but it shortens the negotiation window so massively that financial losses are almost inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Between time pressure and dependency: those who use the 2027 deadline strategically will gain negotiating leeway - those who only react risk crashing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Expiring capacity credits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As part of the Cloud Platform Enterprise Agreement (CPEA), the customer undertakes to purchase Cloud Credits on an annual basis. These credits can be used in a variety of ways, be it for analytics, process automation, AI or customer-specific developments (outside the standard, yikes!). At the end of each annual period, the balance is reset to zero. Unused balances expire. You cannot transfer them. The counter starts again at zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucrative business model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most companies only consume 40 to 60 percent of their allocated credits and the next year's allocation starts at the same committed level, regardless of actual consumption. The challenge is that most companies cannot base their BTP or AI commitment on their own consumption data because these services do not yet exist. You commit to a credit pool before you develop and\/or use the applications. The pricing architecture penalizes over- and under-licensing. Consumption in the first year is low because the projects are still being developed. In the second year, consumption increases, but often remains below the promised level. By the third year, the pattern is established and the company is locked into a credit pool that will never be drawn down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opposite scenario is just as costly. If consumption exceeds the contracted pool, SAP will charge overdraft fees that are significantly higher than the price in the original agreement. Under-commitment triggers expensive repurchases at prices you did not negotiate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capex becomes Opex<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Migration is expensive - the costs vary between two million and over one billion US dollars, depending on the complexity. Gartner forecasts periods of three to seven years. In addition to the implementation, the license changeover puts a strain on the budget: the switch from ECC licenses to Rise converts fixed assets (capex) into operating costs (opex). Although SAP offers temporary migration credits, these often expire with the first contract renewal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The typical pattern: in the first year, the Rise costs still appear to be on a par with the old maintenance costs. By the fifth year, they far exceed the old total cost of ownership (TCO) due to escalation factors and additional modules - while the negotiating power and the old licenses are long gone. The migration credit is gone. The perpetual license is gone. The negotiating power is gone. When SAP introduced Rise in 2021, the company used Full User Equivalents as the primary licensing metric for cloud subscriptions. Instead of buying a fixed number of licenses for each user type, you subscribe to a pool of FUEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FUE: The metric for SAP Rise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The weighting is precisely defined. SAP positions FUE as flexibility. You are not tied to rigid counts for each user type. You can redistribute within the pool if your requirements change. If ten core users need advanced access, you move capacity without buying new licenses. The risk lies in abstraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full User Equivalents convert a specific number of employees into a weighted number that masks the actual cost per user. If your Rise contract covers 500 FUEs at \u20ac2000 per FUE, this equates to \u20ac1 million per year. But 500 FUEs could mean 500 advanced users, 2500 core users or 15,000 self-service users. The cost per person is between 2000 euros and 66.66 euros, depending on the composition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2027 deadline will come and go. But the contracts you sign under pressure today will be with you for at least five years. The key question for your business case is therefore: \u201eWhat future will become unattainable if we don't invest strategically today?\u201c <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Source: DLC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Strategy - Recommendation 2026: Regain sovereignty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This will secure you a strong position:
<\/strong>
Early start:<\/strong> Start the negotiations now. The time window for 2027 is already half closed. Any delay reduces your negotiating power.
Looking for support:<\/strong> The whole subject of SAP is too complex to be dealt with in passing. A SAM solution for SAP helps to gain transparency.
Compare scenarios: Independently model options such as Rise, S\/4 on hyperscalers, a maintenance extension until 2030 or even third-party support. Each model has its own TCO and risk profile.
Optimize authorizations:<\/strong> Pay only for used authorizations, consistently according to the principle of minimum authorization. The SAP tool Star classifies users based on role authorizations and not on actual usage. A user with extensive authorizations, but who rarely uses them, is still classified as \u201eAdvanced\u201c.
Negotiate transfer provisions:<\/strong> According to SAP's standard CPEA terms and conditions, unused credits expire at the end of each year. For contracts with large companies, a transfer of 10 to 20 percent is negotiable, for example in connection with multi-year commitments or Rise extensions. If you cannot negotiate a carryover, negotiate the right to purchase additional credits at the agreed price instead of the overdraft price.
Lights off:<\/strong> Switch off unused resources. Development environments that run at night and on weekends consume credits continuously. Forgotten sandbox sub-accounts and prototype applications continue to consume credits in small amounts that add up over the months.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why invest millions again in a system that works?
\nThe question of the business case for S\/4 Hana plagues many IT decision-makers.
\nSAP ECC is working, the business is running and there is no acute technical flashpoint.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5831,"featured_media":163454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37922,44462,44463],"tags":[39,601,73,624,517,236],"coauthors":[44464],"class_list":["post-163452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coverstorys","category-coverstory-26-06","category-mag-26-06","tag-cloud","tag-digitalisierung","tag-erp","tag-ki-joule","tag-s4","tag-sap","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-400x180.jpg",400,180,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-768x346.jpg",768,346,true],"large":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"image-100":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-100x45.jpg",100,45,true],"image-480":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-480x216.jpg",480,216,true],"image-640":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-640x288.jpg",640,288,true],"image-720":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-720x324.jpg",720,324,true],"image-960":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-960x432.jpg",960,432,true],"image-1168":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"image-1440":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"image-1920":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-18x8.jpg",18,8,true],"bricks_large_16x9":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"bricks_large":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"bricks_large_square":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc.jpg",1000,450,false],"bricks_medium":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-600x270.jpg",600,270,true],"bricks_medium_square":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-600x450.jpg",600,450,true],"profile_24":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-24x24.jpg",24,24,true],"profile_48":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-48x48.jpg",48,48,true],"profile_96":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-96x96.jpg",96,96,true],"profile_150":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"profile_300":["https:\/\/e3mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2606_cs_dlc-300x300.jpg",300,300,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"

Warum erneut Millionen in ein System investieren, das doch funktioniert?
\nDie Frage nach dem Business Case f\u00fcr S\/4 Hana qu\u00e4lt viele IT-Entscheider.
\nSAP ECC funktioniert, das Gesch\u00e4ft l\u00e4uft und es gibt keinen akuten technischen Brandherd.<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Coverstorys<\/a>, Coverstory 26-06<\/a>, MAG 26-06<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Myrja Schumacher, Dynamic License Control","url":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/author\/schumacher-myrja\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163452"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163598,"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163452\/revisions\/163598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163452"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e3mag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=163452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}