About half of German-speaking SAP users on its legacy ECC ERP system are set to ignore the 2027 support deadline, according to a survey of users in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
The study from the German-speaking SAP user group (DSAG) shows that of the members still investing in the legacy ERP platform, almost half plan to migrate to SAP S/4HANA by the end of 2030. SAP maintains that mainstream support for ECC runs out at the end of 2027, after which extended support is available at a 2 percent premium until the end of 2030.
Thirty-seven percent of ECC users want to switch by the end of 2027, while 4 percent are targeting a switch by the end of 2033. The user group says these customers are likely to rely on support from SAP ERP Private Edition transition options, which means organizations must sign up to a migration plan first.
The survey took place between December 8, 2025, and January 21, 2026, and relied on responses from 198 people who were senior leaders in organizations using SAP.
They simply need this time due to the complexity of their system landscapes
Jens Hungershausen, chairman of the DSAG board, said: “The fact that some companies are not planning to switch to S/4HANA until 2030 does not mean that they will wait until then to make the switch. Rather, they simply need this time due to the complexity of their system landscapes. I see this as a reflection of the reality in IT departments. Skills shortages, parallel transformation projects, and limited budgets are also causing schedules to be pushed back – even if this results in higher maintenance costs.”
In the same survey, DSAG found SAP’s efforts to reboot its Business Suite branding were not resonating with users. In February last year, SAP relaunched Business Suite as a “truly modular, composable” set of cloud applications. The moniker was familiar to longstanding SAP customers and partners as SAP Business Suite 7 was introduced in 2006 and included the ERP application ECC 6, now considered a legacy application.
Respondents were asked how strongly their organizations base their investment planning on SAP’s vision for the “new” SAP Business Suite, which includes Cloud ERP, SAP Business AI, SAP Business Data Cloud, and Business Technology Platform. Thirty-five percent of respondents said they did so very strongly/strongly, while 62 percent said they did so less strongly/not at all.
“Companies expect clear statements on added value, integration into existing landscapes, and economic viability. Only then will strategic target visions be translated more strongly into real investment decisions,” said Hungershausen.
In December last year, a survey of UK and Ireland SAP users asked them to identify aspects of Business Suite they felt uninformed about, or that they needed more information on. Licensing and pricing models were the top issue, cited by 61 percent of respondents. ®
