SAP S/4HANA deadline is coming, and its customers need to make a crucial decision. Will you migrate onto the newest product, S/4HANA, or keep your current systems and remain on minimal support?
It’s a difficult decision. SAP’s customers may be wondering why they’re facing that decision in the first place. Why has SAP announced a deadline and where has it come from?
In this series of blog posts, we’re exploring three key areas around SAP’s S/4HANA product and its deadline:
- What is S/4HANA?
- When is the SAP S/4HANA deadline?
- What options do I have?
Want the full story? We’ve written a full guide on SAP S/4HANA, the deadline, and your options as an SAP customer.
History of the SAP S/4HANA deadline
2010: SAP HANA is released as a database that can host SAP applications. Fittingly, SAP then introduced a 2017 cut-off point, ending support for Oracle products within the SAP environment.
2017: The Oracle-within-SAP deadline is extended to 2025.
2019: SAP also had in place a 2019 end-of-support deadline that applied to many of SAP’s products (not all of them).
There followed a period of slow sales, during which SAP realised that some customers using different SAP applications would potentially have to go through an upgrade process twice. Once in 2019, and then again in 2025.
SAP declared one universal 2025 deadline. Customers would only have to go through the process once, and SAP gained another six years to strengthen its position and prove it could deliver.
SAP moved its deadline again
2020: Information released on SAP’s website revealed that it had decided to move the deadline once more. Its update provided the insight we all so eagerly awaited.
SAP advised that it would:
- Extend the deadline to 2027 for several products including SAP ERP 6.0 and SAP Business Suite
- Offer extended maintenance to any organisations still in mid-transition after 2027 (their extended support model would come at a higher premium, available until the end of 2030)
- Transfer the remaining non-migrated customers onto a customer-specific maintenance model
SAP’s decision may have come as a result of feedback from organisations that were keen to move across, but for them, 2025 was still too soon. SAP’s reschedule for 2027 will hopefully allow organisations more time to make the transition.
Interestingly, SAP also announced at the same time that it would be “supporting S/4HANA until at least 2040.” This is an odd statement about a new product, immediately giving S/4HANA a cut-off date. Perhaps this is SAP being self-aware, knowing that it plans to make ‘S/4HANA 2.0’ (for example) and has declared 2040 as a pre-emptive strike.
Still, that is 20 years ahead. For now, customers should be concentrating on getting onto S/4HANA in the first place.
Learn more about the SAP deadline
Recently, we published a guide detailing the SAP S/4HANA story, with additional information intended to help organisations make informed decisions about the future of their SAP systems.
If you find yourself:
- Worried about falling out of support if you don’t stay on the latest version
- Feeling under pressure from SAP to move to S/4HANA
- Unsure of what options are available to you
- Wishing you could stick with your current stable ERP system
…then we can help.
