Strategic Considerations for SAP Customers Approaching End of Support Deadlines

SAP to leverage the end of extended maintenance to drive cloud revenue.

Amidst the significant attention around SAP’s support strategy for ECC, further heightened by SAP’s recent announcement of their new ERP transition option providing customers more time to roll off ECC, we wanted to focus on the end of extended maintenance for S/4HANA on-premise releases 1709, 1809, and 1909. With extended support for these releases ending on December 31, 2025, it is important that SAP customers are aware of the impact these deadlines may have on their SAP go-forward strategy.

This topic is becoming increasingly important to our customers because they’re often not aware of the maintenance options available to them. SAP is generally not eager to disclose this information when their priority and focus remains on leveraging the end of support dates to drive customers to the cloud.

A fitting example of this behavior is SAP leading with their Safekeeper option to encourage customers to move to RISE. This is why it’s pertinent for customers to understand their options and the financial and technical implications tied to them so that proper decisions can be made regarding their go-forward cloud strategy.

In addition to the end of extended maintenance for specific S/4HANA on-premise releases, it’s important to note that customers on release 2020 of S/4HANA may find themselves in the same boat as those customers on legacy releases whose extended maintenance ends at the end of December. This is because SAP has not yet announced its plans to offer extended maintenance on release 2020 for which mainstream maintenance ends on December 31, 2025.

Lastly, there are key changes and upcoming dates for other ERP on-premise programs that should be considered as part of an overall strategy. Specific examples our clients have faced recently include end of mainstream maintenance for Global Trade Services (GTS), end of life of SAP Commerce (Hybris), and a maintenance extension and new release available for SAP BusinessObjects (BOBJ).

In this blog post, we will provide further details on these topics and expose customers to how SAP leverages their support strategy to capitalize on and satisfy their primary business objectives.

SAP’s S/4HANA Support Phases

While the end of extended maintenance for specific S/4HANA releases is looming, it does not imply end of support. SAP’s maintenance strategy consists of four phases:

1. Mainstream Maintenance – Specific to S/4HANA on-premise, mainstream maintenance is available for five years for all releases prior to release 2023, and for seven years starting with release 2023. During the one to two years of innovation support phase (depending on the release), customers receive Feature Package Stacks (FPS) that include new functionality, enhancements, patches and bug fixes. For the remainder of the mainstream maintenance period, customers receive Support Package Stacks (SPS) that provide bug fixes, legal updates and stability improvements.
2. Extended Maintenance – For certain releases, SAP offers the option for extended maintenance. However, it comes at a premium, typically an additional 2% to 4% on maintenance fees, depending on the product supported. This option extends the mainstream maintenance period, allowing customers to continue receiving the same scope of support. This option is not offered for all SAP products and releases, and the extension timeframe may vary. For example, in 2022, SAP made extended maintenance available on S/4HANA releases 1709, 1809, and 1909 to enable customers to directly upgrade to the 2023 release. This option was not available for prior releases.
3. Customer-Specific Maintenance (CSM) – For situations where extended maintenance is not offered or elected, customers are automatically rolled into SAP’s CSM without needing to execute a separate support contract. The scope of the CSM support is more limited, as there is no delivery of new support packages, no updates to cover legal changes, and minimal technology updates. There is no additional cost for CSM, but customers may have to pay for consulting services to solve new problems SAP may not have solutions for. CSM is generally not offered for SAP Predictive Analytics, SAP Business One and SAP BusinessObjects solutions. Currently, CSM doesn’t have an end date, so customers can stay on this support indefinitely.
4. Priority-One Support – This is offered for customers on select releases of SAP BusinessObjects portfolio and SAP Predictive Analytics. Priority-One support is optional and available after mainstream maintenance expires. The scope of Priority-One support for unknown errors may be limited. This offering doesn’t require additional payment or specific maintenance addendums.

Other ERP Products That May Impact Your Strategy

Since we are on the topic of on-premise maintenance, we wanted to provide additional details for other key ERP products whose maintenance milestones may be relevant to your organization. This information should be considered alongside S/4HANA releases 1709, 1809, and 1909. Specifically:

• Global Trade Services (GTS) Version 11.0 – Mainstream maintenance for this legacy version ends on December 31, 2025, and extended maintenance is not offered for this release. If customers do not upgrade to a newer version of GTS built on the SAP HANA platform (GTS E4H), they will be automatically rolled under Customer-Specific Maintenance. GTS E4H may be deployed on-premise or in the cloud.
• SAP Commerce (formerly known as Hybris) Version 2205 – This is the final release of SAP’s on-premise eCommerce platform that will reach the end of mainstream maintenance on July 31, 2026. SAP is sunsetting this product and is not planning to release any new on-premise versions. Customers on the last version of SAP Commerce will be rolled under customer-specific maintenance. Other options that may be considered are moving to third party support or to another platform entirely. SAP also offers its Commerce Cloud solution which they plan to continue supporting and innovating.
• SAP BusinessObjects (BOBJ) – The end of mainstream maintenance for BOBJ release 4.3 is now December 31, 2026, extended from December 2025 to provide additional time for customers to upgrade to the new release of SAP BusinessObjects BI 2025 that will be available in March 2025. Customers who want to stay on release 4.3 after December 2026 will be automatically rolled under Customer-Specific Maintenance.

How will SAP Take Advantage of Extended Maintenance Ending in December 2025?

SAP’s evolution of maintenance and product offerings is an example of the increasing complexity and challenges SAP’s customers face when developing and executing on their Transformation Journey. All the while, as the decision complexity increases, SAP’s leverage over their customers is growing, making an integrated strategy and organizational alignment paramount for success

SAP will use the end of the extended maintenance and product end of life support as a lever to increase cloud revenue, ultimately influencing the pace of the RISE adoption across their existing customer base. We see this playing out with our clients as SAP positions this inflection point as a key opportunity for customers to make the jump to the cloud to avoid future version issues and start experiencing their embedded cloud innovation (such as Gen AI, sustainability offerings and access to their Supplier Network with RISE).

SAP will also continue to enact maintenance fee increases for customers who elect to stay with on-premise licensing and will position the fact that they will become increasingly less flexible in future negotiations.

Options for S/4HANA Customers Once Mainstream or Extended Maintenance Expire

If you are one of the S/4HANA on-premise customers whose mainstream or extended maintenance is coming to an end, you should consider the following options. Each comes with its own unique set of risks, benefits, and cost implications:

1. Upgrade to an on-premise S/4 HANA release that is on mainstream maintenance.

For S/4HANA, there are currently four on-premise versions that are on mainstream maintenance (versions 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023). However, most customers will upgrade to version 2023 because mainstream maintenance for other versions will be expiring between December 2025 and 2027.

With release 2023, mainstream maintenance is offered for seven years (through December of 2030). Although the 2025 release has not yet been announced, it will likely be available to customers in the fall of 2025. Companies can opt to skip release 2023 and upgrade to 2025.

2. Automatically roll over to customer-specific maintenance (CSM).

This option does not have additional recurring fees, but customers should explore the risks associated with the limited support offering, as systems can become more vulnerable if legal and security updates are not available. Considerations must be made regarding out-of-pocket expenses that may be incurred if your organization runs into new issues or bugs that SAP doesn’t already have a solution for.

3. Lift and shift to RISE.

While SAP’s sales reps will make this option sound the most compelling, it comes with a unique set of business, operational and technical challenges that must be thoroughly planned out and evaluated in a comprehensive manner. This business transformation-as-a-service option includes various components in addition to the core S/4HANA cloud, such as business process redesign, technical migration services, and SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP).

We find that it takes most customers between six to twelve months to evaluate and negotiate a RISE deal, so if you are looking to make the shift from legacy S/4HANA on-premise to RISE before your extended maintenance expires, it’s best to start early and plan accordingly.

To further incentivize customers to move to RISE, SAP is offering SAP S/4HANA Cloud Safekeeper. This service is designed for customers who commit to RISE but need more time to complete their full migration.

Safekeeper service will assist eligible customers on older releases of SAP S/4HANA that will enter CSM with upgrading its production system(s) to a product version in mainstream maintenance. The service includes upgrade services and infrastructure optimization while providing business continuity for the customers’ current system with updates and patches for two more years.

4. Partially implement RISE.

For customers who are not ready to make a full RISE commitment, a partial RISE implementation may be an option. We have seen cases where customers elected to limit RISE implementation to a specific geographical region or sector of the company. This option allows for a pilot-like experience without full technical and financial commitment. Given the right amount of leverage, customers can negotiate Safekeeper services for a portion of their S/4HANA legacy footprint.

5. Move support to a third-party support provider.

Rimini Street and Spinnaker are two third-party support providers that are most popular among large enterprises. This option has the potential to reduce maintenance costs by at least 50%, and often more, particularly for customers with significant shelfware or those conducting a competitive RFP among third-party support providers. However, this approach is unlikely to be a viable long-term solution for most S/4HANA customers who require ongoing software updates, new functionalities, and enhancements, or those planning a transition to the cloud soon.

The ideal candidate for this option would be an enterprise with a stable system that primarily requires ongoing support to ensure compliance with the latest tax, regulatory, and legal requirements. Additionally, it may be suitable for organizations planning to transition away from the SAP platform in the foreseeable future.

At UpperEdge we collaborate with clients on their SAP journey by providing comprehensive assessments of complex evaluations, helping clients make decisions that align best to their unique business needs. Explore our SAP Advisory Services for more information on our offerings or join our upcoming live webinar to learn how to master your RISE negotiations.