ECC 2027

SAP ECC support after 2027: extended maintenance, 2030 and 2033, priced

After 31 December 2027 an ECC system can stay maintained in four ways, three of them sold by SAP. What each one costs according to published terms, and what the bill looks like when the years are added up.

By The editors · Updated · 6 min read

A procurement manager reads a thick software maintenance contract in a ring binder at a desk by a window, pencil in hand.
The maintenance basis and the notice period are set in the contract. Both decide what 2028 costs.
Contents
  1. Where the bill starts
  2. The four ways to stay maintained
  3. The bill, added up
  4. What changed in July 2026
  5. How customers are choosing
  6. A sequence for the budget
  7. Questions buyers ask
  8. Sources

The question behind most searches about the 2027 date is a budget question. A finance director needs to know what the ECC line costs in 2028, 2031 and beyond, and which of those costs can still be avoided. SAP publishes more of the answer than is commonly assumed.

Where the bill starts

SAP's list price for Enterprise Support on new on-premise purchases has been fixed at 22% of the licence value, and SAP states that once a contract is out of its initial price lock it may raise the support price by the consumer price index each year⁠1. SAP says those adjustments are capped at 5%, and that for 2025 nobody paid more than 5% even where local inflation was higher⁠2.

The fee buys maintenance of an existing system. It is also the larger part of what SAP earns from customers that have not moved: on-premise software support brought SAP €10.5 billion in 2025, about €2 billion more than the target its then finance chief set for that year in 2022⁠3.

The four ways to stay maintained

RoutePeriodPublished termsConditions
Extended maintenance2028 to end of 2030Two percentage points more on the maintenance basis⁠4Optional; agreed with SAP
Customer-specific maintenanceFrom 2028 or 2031No price or end date stated⁠4Applies automatically without, or after, extended maintenance⁠5
Private edition transition option2031 to 2033; may run to 31 December 2035Cloud subscription; no uplift for 2025 commitments, 20% for 2026, undisclosed from 2027; max success plan in addition⁠6Private edition on SAP HANA by 31 December 2030; minimum 2 TB
Third-party supportOpen-endedUp to 50% lower annual support fees, vendor-reported⁠7No new SAP patches or releases

Two details in this table are often missed. Extended maintenance is a premium on "all support offerings", so it applies whatever support level a customer holds⁠4. And the transition option is not maintenance at all. SAP describes it as a time-limited subscription that gives continuity and "a structured route" to its cloud ERP, available only in combination with the max success plan⁠6.

The bill, added up

The example below is an illustration from SAP's published rates. It assumes a net licence base of €1 million and leaves out index adjustments, which would raise every figure.

YearsRouteRateYearly feeTotal
2026 to 2027Mainstream maintenance22%€220,000€440,000
2028 to 2030Extended maintenance24%€240,000€720,000
2026 to 2030Both€1,160,000

Over five years the company pays more than the original net value of its licences for the right to keep an unchanged system maintained. If the index adjustment reached SAP's 5% cap each year, the 2030 fee alone would be higher still; Gartner told clients to expect annual support increases "every year for the foreseeable future"⁠8.

From 2031 the comparison changes shape, because the only SAP route is a subscription. SAP has stated the uplift, 20% for customers signing in 2026, but not the base price, and says final pricing will be communicated closer to 2028⁠6. Gartner's experience of SAP private cloud renewals is a guide to direction: where customers had not negotiated a cap, renewal proposals rose by 10% or more⁠8.

What changed in July 2026

Until this year a customer that left SAP support paid heavily to return, and could not drop support for part of its landscape. Under commitments SAP gave the European Commission in case AT.40823, effective 10 July 2026 and binding for ten years⁠9:

  • A customer can split its landscape into several commercial installations and choose, for each, a different SAP support model, a different provider or no maintenance at all.
  • SAP fully waives the reinstatement fee for customers returning to its support.
  • Back-maintenance is capped at the lower of 50% of the fees for the period off support or six months of payments.
  • The initial term of a maintenance contract no longer restarts with each additional licence purchase.
  • Maintenance can be terminated for products with a failed implementation, and after a workforce reduction of more than 10% over two years.

DSAG's licensing lead called the decision "a good one for now" and noted that third-party maintenance has been "a total niche business" in German-speaking countries⁠10. The commitments cover on-premise software only. SAP's cloud contracts, including RISE, are outside them⁠11.

How customers are choosing

In DSAG's survey of 198 member companies, almost half of ECC users planned to take extended maintenance and switch by the end of 2030, 37% aimed for the end of 2027 and 4% for the end of 2033⁠12. Mr Hungershausen's explanation is that companies "simply need this time due to the complexity of their system landscapes"⁠13. In the Americas, an ASUG survey of 173 members found about two-fifths had not begun to move, with business process change the main barrier for 49%⁠14.

Paying for time is a reasonable decision when the time is used. The risk is that the premium funds three more years of the same position, and that 2030 arrives with the same choice at a higher price.

A sequence for the budget

  1. Find the three numbers. The maintenance basis, the rate and the notice date in the current contract. SAP support contracts renew by calendar year, with notice due three months before⁠2.
  2. Price 2028 to 2030 both ways. Extended maintenance at two points more, and third-party support for the parts of the landscape that no longer change.
  3. Split the landscape on paper. Mark which systems still need SAP's own patches and which only need to keep running.
  4. Name what the saving funds. A lower maintenance bill is worth having when it pays for the system that replaces ECC. The guide to leaving SAP ECC describes that reallocation.
  5. Set the end date yourself. Choose the year in which the last ECC system is switched off, and work back from it.

The outcome to aim for is a maintenance line that falls each year from 2028 as parts of the landscape leave SAP support, and a replacement that is paid for out of that fall.

Companies that want to build the replacement themselves can start in the OpenLazarus builder; those that want it built for them can talk with the OpenLazarus team.

Questions buyers ask

How much is SAP extended maintenance for ECC?

SAP states a premium of two percentage points on the maintenance basis for all support offerings, from the beginning of 2028 to the end of 2030. On SAP’s 22% list rate for Enterprise Support that makes 24% of the licence value a year. The amount in euros depends on each customer’s contract.

What is customer-specific maintenance?

The phase SAP applies to Business Suite 7 customers that do not buy extended maintenance, and to all of them once extended maintenance ends. SAP’s maintenance strategy page names it without giving an end date. Since July 2026, a product for which customer-specific maintenance is the only available phase can be terminated from a maintenance contract.

Is third-party support for SAP ECC allowed?

Yes. Under commitments SAP gave the European Commission, effective 10 July 2026, customers can split an on-premise landscape and choose a different support provider, or no support, for each part. SAP has also waived its reinstatement fee for customers that later return.

Will SAP raise maintenance fees again before 2030?

SAP says adjustments follow the local consumer price index and are capped at 5%. Gartner expects on-premise customers to face annual support increases every year for the foreseeable future. The two-point premium for extended maintenance comes on top.

Sources

  1. SAP Enterprise Support. SAP Support Portal. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  2. SAP support auto-renewal gotcha: Do nothing now, pay for another year. The Register, 26 Sep 2024. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  3. SAP’s grand cloud escape plan €2B short of the runway. The Register, 19 Mar 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  4. Maintenance strategy: SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business Suite 7. SAP Support Portal. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  5. SAP S/4HANA: commitment to innovation and maintenance until 2040. SAP News Center, 4 Feb 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  6. Navigating your RISE with SAP journey: updates for SAP ERP, private edition, transition option. SAP News Center, 4 Aug 2025. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  7. Support for SAP ECC and Business Suite. Rimini Street. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  8. Unwary SAP private cloud users face 10% renewal hikes, warns Gartner. The Register, 14 Oct 2025. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  9. SAP maintenance and support commitments effective July 10, 2026. SAP Support Portal. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  10. SAP concedes to EU, freeing CIOs from expensive support shackles. CIO, 10 Jul 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  11. The EU just handed SAP on-premise customers a win: what it actually means. UpperEdge, 17 Jul 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  12. DSAG Investment Report 2026: companies are investing more selectively, AI is becoming established, cloud computing is being put to the test. DSAG (German-speaking SAP user group), 26 Feb 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  13. Half of German-speaking SAP users set to pass the 2027 ECC deadline. The Register, 27 Feb 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
  14. Two-fifths of SAP Americas users yet to ditch legacy ERP. The Register, 5 Nov 2025. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.

Updated 11 Nov 2026: First published. Terms checked on SAP’s Support Portal and News Center.

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