Executive Summary: SAP GTS 11.0 support ends on 31 December 2025, with no extended maintenance available. Companies that continue on GTS 11 risk missing regulatory updates, security patches, and technical enhancements. Transitioning to GTS Edition for HANA is a lengthy, costly project, but Support Revolution provides a third‑party SAP GTS support solution — giving you security, compliance, and savings without mandatory migration.
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Compliance with global regulations, tariffs, and free trade agreements is a formidable undertaking for multinational organisations. The complexity grows exponentially as businesses operate across multiple jurisdictions, each with an evolving regulatory landscape. SAP Global Trade Services (GTS) has long been the solution of choice for automating and managing these challenges, but it’s not without its hurdles.
The Complexity of SAP GTS
SAP GTS is a feature-rich platform designed to streamline compliance, automate Free Trade Agreements (FTA) eligibility checks, manage tariffs, and ensure accurate customs documentation.
However, its sophistication comes at a price, including:
- Resource-intensive maintenance: Keeping the system up-to-date and compliant demands significant time and investment.
- Customisation challenges: Most organizations rely on custom configurations and integrations, further complicating upgrades and support.
End of Support for SAP GTS 11.0
On 31 December 2025, SAP will discontinue mainstream maintenance and support for SAP GTS 11.0. After this date, companies will face serious risks if they continue running unsupported software:
- No extended maintenance: Unlike some SAP products, GTS 11.0 does not offer extended maintenance options; organizations automatically move to customer-specific maintenance, which is limited in scope.
- Regulatory non-compliance: Legal and regulatory updates will no longer be delivered, increasing the risk of violating new laws or customs requirements.
- No guarantee for tech upgrades: E.g., no new kernel versions for the support of new database and operating system versions.
- Security vulnerabilities: No further security patches will be issued, leaving systems exposed.
- Integration challenges: As modern SAP and third-party systems evolve, legacy GTS versions may struggle to interoperate, threatening business continuity.
Migrating to SAP GTS E4H: Not a Standard Upgrade
The path forward is not straightforward; it’s a complex project, not a simple upgrade. Migrating to SAP GTS edition for SAP HANA (E4H) typically takes up to nine months, depending on several factors.
- Migration complexity: You must choose between Greenfield (fresh implementation) and Brownfield (system conversion) approaches, each with trade-offs in terms of cost, timeline, and flexibility.
- Customisation rework: Existing custom code and integrations may require significant rework to function in the new environment.
- License conversion: SAP GTS E4H is considered a new product, necessitating a conversion of existing licences.
- Business disruption: Careful planning is required to minimize downtime and ensure a smooth transition.
The Support Revolution Alternative
Support Revolution offers a smart alternative for organizations facing the end of support for SAP GTS 11.0 or any version.
Rather than being forced into a costly and complex migration, businesses can leverage expert third-party support to maintain their current GTS environment securely, compliantly, and cost-effectively.
Key Benefits of Support Revolution
- Up to 90% cost savings: Dramatically reduce support costs compared to SAP’s maintenance costs.
- Comprehensive security: Receive ongoing security protection, including Revolutionary Enterprise Security.
- Evergreen compliance: Get tailored Tax, Legal, and Regulatory updates for any SAP GTS release, for as long as you want.
- Support for customisations: Get expert help for tailored configurations and integrations that SAP typically won’t cover.
- No forced upgrades or migrations: Continue running your existing SAP GTS version for as long as your business requires on your timeline.
- Rapid response: Benefit from ultra-fast SLAs, with response times of less than 10 minutes and resolution times of under two hours for critical issues.
- Personalized service: Assigned Primary Support Engineers, Account Managers, and Ask the Experts sessions ensure you receive committed, expert support.
- Comprehensive coverage: Support extends to all technical, functional, and regulatory aspects, including interoperability with other systems.
Next Steps
With the end of SAP GTS 11.0 mainstream support fast approaching, you face a pivotal decision: undertake a complex migration to SAP GTS E4H or risk operating unsupported software with all the risks. Support Revolution provides a proven, cost-effective alternative delivering expert support, security, and compliance updates for your existing SAP GTS software, freeing your business from SAP mandates.
