What does the end of SAP ECC maintenance mean in concrete terms?
The dates, without dramatisation: mainstream maintenance for SAP ECC runs until the end of 2027. After that there is optional extended maintenance until the end of 2030, at a surcharge. The system does not stop working on either of those dates. But the conditions change, and with them the costs and the ability to plan. Whoever pushes the decision to just before the deadline decides under pressure, and under pressure people decide expensively.
The three options, viewed soberly
Option one: stay and use extended maintenance
Buys time until the end of 2030, at a surcharge and with one clear side effect: the investment goes into preserving a system whose replacement is not off the table, only postponed. Sensible if other initiatives must come first and the time gained is actively used, for example for data clean-up.
Option two: the path to S/4HANA
The path SAP has mapped out, with strengths in very deep process and industry logic in a corporate group environment. For many mid-sized structures, however, it means large projects, long timelines and an IT organisation that has to keep growing with it.
Option three: the move to Business Central
For internationally active mid-sized companies, often the better-fitting scale: leaner implementation, geringerer Betriebsaufwand, Copilot and agents native in the standard, zwei Release-Wellen pro Jahr automatisch. Die ehrliche Grenze: sehr tiefe Branchenprozesse aus der SAP-Welt brauchen im BC-Umfeld gezielte Erweiterungen, und genau das gehört vor der Entscheidung geprüft, nicht danach.
The system question is the smallest of the three questions. What matters is whether your processes and your data foundation can support the move, in whichever direction.
Why the decision starts with processes and data
An move from SAP to any target rarely fails because of the target system. It fails because processes that have grown over years and ambiguous master data are supposed to be taken along one to one. That is why an orderly path starts with taking stock: which processes support your competitive advantage? Which data has a single, owned truth? What of it belongs in the target system, what was a workaround? This work is due under each of the three options. Whoever does it early keeps every path open and negotiates from strength.
How an orderly move to Business Central works
First the processes, then the data foundation, then the system: in this order, the SAP deadline becomes a plannable initiative instead of a driven migration. We have run such moves many times, including across borders and multiple legal entities, senior-led and with Business Central as home. The first step is a conversation about your starting position, not a proposal.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to be done by the end of 2027?
No. But you should have decided by then, otherwise the deadline decides for you. Extended maintenance until the end of 2030 is an option, not a free pass.
Is Business Central a fit for a company coming from SAP?
For mid-sized structures with medium to high complexity, usually yes. With very deep industry logic, the fit needs to be checked before the decision. We do that check honestly, even if the answer is not Business Central.
What is the first concrete step?
Taking stock of processes, data foundation and customisations. It takes days, not months, and makes all three options comparable.
The angle almost nobody covers: from SAP to Business Central
The public debate knows almost only two paths: buy extended maintenance or implement S/4HANA. For mid-market structures there is a third one that is rarely spoken out loud, because hardly any SAP house offers it: the move from SAP ECC to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It does not fit everyone. With very deep industry logic in a corporate group, S/4 remains the obvious path. For structures with 200 to 5,000 employees, several legal entities and the wish for a system the mid-market can steer itself, BC is often the more sustainable home, as the comparison of Business Central versus SAP in the mid-market shows in detail.
The decisive point is the same truth as with each of the three paths: the time window belongs to the data work, not to the system debate. Whoever has clarified their processes and cleansed their master data by the end of 2027 can take any of the three paths. Whoever postpones both will find every path expensive, including staying.
