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CBR Online: Is SAP’s 2025 Deadline Real?

Our CEO, Mark Smith, has recently been published in CBR Online. In his article, he discusses SAP’s 2025 deadline and what it means for organisations.


If you use SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, and you’re not using SAP S/4HANA, you’re on a deadline. A deadline that was recently extended to 2025, but still, the clock is ticking.

SAP will continue to offer support for its ERP software until this clock runs out. But then support stops, and those businesses that want support from SAP will need to migrate to SAP’s flagship ERP software, S/4HANA.

But is this deadline for real – or is it another marketing tactic?

“2025 is a real deadline but only for SAP, not its customers. Any business that’s unsure of its next steps shouldn’t panic, but it should consider what it needs to do to remain supported after the deadline.”

Mark Smith, CEO of Support Revolution

So, must businesses really act now?

The other alternative is… to do nothing.

It’s not quite that simple. Businesses feel that they are being pressured into giving up their existing ERP system and moving on to another, just because the vendor can use this to grow its business. They’re absolutely right – S/4HANA may offer advantages to its users, but it should be the customer’s choice whether to move, after balancing those advantages against the disruption.

SAP has said that until 31 December 2025, it will continue to offer support to its customers on legacy software. After that, it will no longer support them. But what does this really mean?

At the end of support, customers will no longer receive any updates, security or otherwise. Customers will no longer be able to access official support to resolve technical queries. Everything else will remain the same. So all a business has to do is replace support and it can carry on just as before.

Third-party support providers can help. They can provide both specialist support and virtual patching to protect SAP software from attacks. Businesses should also think about what their plans are between now and SAP’s 2025 deadline. SAP is so focused on S/4HANA, it’s unlikely to get much from its investment in legacy software.

Full article originally published in CBR Online on 15 May 2018.

The deadline for S/4HANA changed to 2027 since this article was published. Read more here.

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