WALLDORF, Germany, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced a maintenance commitment for SAP S/4HANA® until the end of 2040. At the same time, SAP will provide mainstream maintenance for core applications of SAP® Business Suite 7 software[*] until the end of 2027 followed by optional extended maintenance until the end of 2030.

"Our customers show us that SAP S/4HANA is their future direction and that they expect a long-term commitment from SAP to this platform," said Christian Klein, Co-CEO and Member of the Executive Board, SAP. "We know that our customers have deep business transformations underway using the unique capabilities of the solution. Our user groups confirm this. A recent survey from the Americas' SAP Users' Group did not show a single customer not planning to migrate to SAP S/4HANA. In addition, the German-Speaking User Group indicates in their lately published survey that customer investments in SAP S/4HANA are increasing significantly. In response to this and to our customers' demand for choice, SAP will provide additional flexibility to fully embrace the groundbreaking opportunities of SAP S/4HANA that reflects the individual pace and complexity of our customers' projects."

Thomas Saueressig, Member of the Executive Board, SAP Product Engineering, SAP, added: "SAP S/4HANA is the architecture and platform of the future for our customers. SAP is committed to our customers' success and choice. Offering these maintenance periods is further delivering on transparency and trust. The significant growth in 2019 confirms our SAP S/4HANA strategy and demand."

Strong Momentum and Flexibility

SAP S/4HANA is the next-generation intelligent suite, enabling the move to a digital intelligent enterprise based on next-generation best practices and artificial intelligence–enabled automation. At the same time, it is paving the way to the cloud and hybrid architectures, driving a substantial level of landscape simplification and TCO reduction. Over 13,800 customers have already chosen SAP S/4HANA, and thousands are actively deploying the solution to reshape their businesses and become intelligent enterprises. Recent surveys from both the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) and the German-Speaking User Group (DSAG) show a significant growth in investments from customers in SAP S/4HANA. DSAG reports that over 49 percent of customers plan to migrate to SAP S/4HANA within the next three years while the ASUG report shows that the number of customers who have no plans of moving to SAP S/4HANA has dropped to zero.

SAP supports this move with a full program of offers, services and tools along with a vast ecosystem of IT service providers who represent over four decades of continuous success, innovation and growth in introducing SAP solutions.

As a result of collaboration with customers, user groups and partners, as well as with other industry stakeholders, SAP offers a commitment to SAP S/4HANA until 2040 combined with longer support for SAP Business Suite 7. This will help customers unlock the potential for innovation so they can revolutionize business processes with optimal flexibility while protecting their existing investments.

"Customers making the commitment to SAP S/4HANA for their digital transformations need a partner that is equally committed to supporting innovation across their businesses and processes. Providing maintenance for SAP S/4HANA until 2040 represents a commitment to SAP customers that should give them the confidence to plan for the future," said Joshua Greenbaum, principal, Enterprise Applications Consulting. "These customers also need the flexibility to plan their transformations carefully and with a minimum of disruption to their ongoing business processes. The additional maintenance timeframe for SAP Business Suite 7 is an important recognition from SAP that the pace of change will vary from customer to customer and that supporting existing SAP Business Suite software processes in sync with customers' business transformation is important for customer success."

Choice and Investment Protection

SAP gives final clarity on maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7. It will provide two more years of mainstream maintenance for core applications of SAP Business Suite 7. During this offboarding phase, SAP will continue to deliver the strong mainstream maintenance features that customers need. There will be no contractual change nor will any additional fees apply. Following this phase, SAP will offer customers a choice of how they would like to continue with the maintenance for core applications of SAP Business Suite 7 from 2028 onwards:

• Customers needing support for their applications in longer conversion phases to SAP S/4HANA can leverage the proven extended maintenance offering. This comes with a premium of two percentage points on the existing maintenance basis for core applications of SAP Business Suite 7 for all support offerings. It will be available for three additional years beginning at the start of 2028 and ending at the close of 2030.
• Customers who do not decide for the extended maintenance level of support by the end of 2027 but choose to carry on with their SAP Business Suite 7 software systems will automatically be transferred to the customer-specific maintenance model. This includes problem solving for known issues at unchanged fees.

"At ASUG, we have maintained all along that if you're an SAP customer who wants to grow and accelerate your business, remove inefficiencies, reduce technical debt and take advantage of the latest capabilities of SAP software, then you need to move to SAP S/4HANA. With today's news, we still believe SAP customers should move forward as far in advance of any deadline as possible," said Geoff Scott, CEO, Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG). "The decision about a company's 'ERP of the future' should not just center on a technical upgrade to SAP S/4HANA. It should be about how best to prepare a company's business for the future. This announcement is not a signal to slow down. This is now the time to commence plans and move forward so that SAP customers can harness business value from what is the most significant technology change in SAP's recent history."

Michael Kleinemeier, Member of the Executive Board, SAP Digital Business Services, SAP, said: "We are determined to make our customers successful. The extended commitment to SAP Business Suite 7 and the long-lasting support for SAP S/4HANA is at the core of this, providing our customers choice and flexibility in planning for the right path to the future. We thank our customers and especially our user groups for the strong collaboration to make this happen."

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About SAP

As the Experience Company powered by the Intelligent Enterprise, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world's transaction revenue touches an SAP® system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables more than 440,000 business and public customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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[*] Core applications of SAP Business Suite 7 software include SAP ERP 6.0, SAP Customer Relationship Management 7.0, SAP Supply Chain Management 7.0, and SAP Supplier Relationship Management 7.0 applications and SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA®.

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