.png?width=600&height=150&name=Advantage-Logo-Tagline-Color%20(1).png){kind=logo}
Managing the lifecycle of hundreds of software applications can feel like a high-stakes juggling act. IT and Finance leaders are tasked with tracking this vast portfolio, knowing that if even one critical system's end-of-life date slips through the cracks, the consequences can be severe.
Right now, no deadline looms larger than the one for System Applications and Products in Data Processing (SAP). However, this isn't a simple, one-size-fits-all date on the calendar. Depending on your current system and the progress of your migration, the actual deadline may be much sooner than you think.
This guide provides a comprehensive roadmap for enterprise leaders to understand the urgency, plan the execution, and manage a successful SAP cloud migration with minimal disruption.
SAP Upgrade vs Migration: Know the Difference
In the context of SAP, the terms "upgrade" and "migration" are often used interchangeably. However, they represent two distinct levels of effort and strategic importance.
An upgrade is typically an incremental change within the same system. This could involve applying an enhancement pack to your existing ERP Central Component (ECC) environment or patching your current S/4HANA system to the latest version. It's a technical, IT-led project focused on maintaining operational stability.
A migration, on the other hand, is a transformative project. It involves moving from one platform to another, specifically from the legacy, on-premise ECC system to the cloud-native S/4HANA. More than a lift-and-shift, this migration involves redesigning processes, moving massive workloads to the cloud, and fundamentally changing how your enterprise operates.
What’s My Timeline? Decoding the SAP Deadlines
For thousands of global enterprises, critical deadlines are fast approaching.
The 2027 Mainstream Maintenance Deadline
As confirmed by SAP, mainstream support for the core SAP Business Suite 7 and ECC 6.0 will end in 2027. For organizations running their core business on these platforms, this date is a hard stop. Staying on an unsupported system after this date means no new security patches, no performance updates, and an increasingly fragile and expensive system to maintain.
But the clock is ticking faster for others.
The 2025 Compatibility Pack Deadline
Some enterprises have already begun their S/4HANA journey, but continue to use compatibility packs to run certain legacy ECC functions. The license rights for these packs expire at the end of 2025, which significantly accelerates the completion of business transformations for affected enterprises.
According to a 2025 SAPinsider report, approximately 31% of SAP customers have migrated to S/4HANA, with another 26% actively implementing it. While businesses aren’t exactly rushing to migrate now, that’s undoubtedly going to change as the 2027 deadline looms. An earlier start and a qualified implementation partner may be the competitive edge your enterprise needs.
Understanding SAP Cloud Upgrade Options
A core component of your migration strategy is deciding how and where your new S/4HANA environment will run.
Choosing Your Path: System Conversion, Re-implementation or Hybrid
For enterprises still on ECC, the primary paths are a system conversion (the Brownfield approach), a complete re-implementation (the Greenfield approach), or a combined mix of the two.
Brownfield Approach
- This path involves converting your existing ECC system to S/4HANA, preserving your historical data and processes.
- It's generally faster and less disruptive, but may carry forward outdated customizations.
Greenfield Approach
- This is a fresh start. You implement a brand-new S/4HANA system and migrate only essential master data.
- This approach is ideal for businesses looking to completely redesign and simplify their processes, but it is a more intensive effort.
Hybrid Approach
- This strategy combines elements of Brownfield and Greenfield to suit your enterprise's needs.
- It consolidates multiple legacy SAP systems into a single, new S/4HANA environment while migrating historical data.
Choosing Your Cloud: Private, Public, or RISE
Deciding where your new S/4HANA system will live is the next determination. While on-premise hosting is still an option, most enterprises choose the cloud for its scalability and flexibility.
Public Cloud
Running S/4HANA on a hyperscaler like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud offers immense scalability, a pay-as-you-go model, and access to a vast ecosystem of innovative services. However, it operates on a shared responsibility model, meaning your team is responsible for managing the application, security, and network connectivity to the cloud.
Private Cloud
Private cloud solutions offer dedicated infrastructure, providing greater control and potentially enhanced security. It's a good fit for organizations with strict data residency or compliance requirements, but it typically involves higher costs and more management overhead.
RISE with SAP
This is SAP's bundled "business transformation as a service" offering. It packages the S/4HANA software, infrastructure (hosted on a hyperscaler of your choice), and technical managed services into a single contract. This simplifies procurement and offloads some technical management, but can reduce direct control and visibility over the underlying infrastructure and network.
How to Plan Your SAP Cloud Migration
A successful migration requires a structured plan that clearly delineates what your internal team and SAP will handle versus what requires an experienced external partner.
Step #1: Discovery and Strategic Design
SAP provides the Readiness Check tool to perform a technical analysis of your current ECC system. However, a successful migration requires more than a technical assessment.
An experienced managed service provider can help translate that technical data into a compelling business case, align stakeholders, and make the strategic decision between a brownfield or greenfield approach.
Step #2: Architecture and Network Planning
Once you've chosen your cloud destination, the next step is to design a secure, high-performance global network architecture. Your hyperscaler provides the basic infrastructure, but the customer is responsible for building the "on-ramp."
This is a complex task for a global enterprise and is typically outsourced to a partner who can design a resilient SD-WAN fabric, establish secure cloud interconnects, and ensure your network can support the demands of a real-time ERP system.
Step #3: Execution and Data Migration
SAP provides technical tools, such as the Software Update Manager (SUM), to execute the system conversion. Your enterprise IT team or a systems integrator will use these tools to perform the core technical tasks.
According to the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG), nearly half of all organizations find that their SAP project costs exceed their original budgets. Besides cost overruns, other migration challenges include integration problems and security vulnerabilities.
The major challenge that often requires third-party expertise is data migration — the cleansing, transforming, and moving decades of business data from the old system to the new one without errors or corruption.
Step #4: Governance and Continuous Optimization
Getting to go-live is only half the battle. Your cloud provider manages the infrastructure, but you are responsible for ongoing management, performance monitoring, and security.
The rewards of a successful migration are transformative. By migrating to S/4HANA, enterprises inherently become more agile, scalable, and data-driven. The sooner planning begins, the sooner businesses can start reaping the benefits.
Conclusion: Don’t Sleep on Your SAP Cloud Update
The 2027 deadline for SAP ECC support is a firm date on the horizon, making a transition to S/4HANA a necessary business modernization.
A successful upgrade will not only mitigate the risks associated with staying on a legacy platform but will also create a more agile, secure, and data-driven enterprise, poised for future growth.
Need a partner who’s intimately familiar with SAP cloud migrations and the global network, security, and vendor management challenges involved?
Advantage provides the expert guidance and proven methodologies to help your enterprise manage this critical transition with confidence, ensuring your SAP modernization project delivers lasting value.
Build your roadmap to S/4HANA before it’s too late. Contact Advantage to get started.