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SAP says customers can now choose different maintenance and support arrangements for separate commercial installations of its on-premise products. The changes took effect July 10, 2026, and apply globally to current and future customers. They expand choices about on-premise support, but do not change SAP’s published product-maintenance dates or give customers a general right to exit cloud subscriptions.
What SAP changed
In a July 9, 2026 announcement, SAP described commitments that took effect the following day. The European Commission adopted the decision on July 10, and SAP says the commitments run for 10 years from that date. SAP describes them as applying globally to current and future customers across its on-premise products.
The main change is the ability to organize a system landscape into separate “commercial installations” and choose a support arrangement for each one. That can include choosing no SAP Support, or another arrangement outside SAP Support, for a particular installation. The choice is tied to an installation as defined under SAP’s framework; it is not necessarily a right to split any system component out and treat it separately.
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The announcement also describes broader access to single-metric contracts, clearer contractual provisions, and additional ways to terminate on-premise licenses in specified objectively justified circumstances. SAP identifies examples including severe workforce reductions, products in customer-specific maintenance, bankruptcy, divestiture, and implementation failure. These are not blanket cancellation rights: eligibility depends on the detailed commitments and the customer’s circumstances.
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Returning to SAP maintenance
For customers returning to SAP maintenance, SAP says it will charge no administrative fee and cap back-maintenance at the lower of six months or 50% of the fees for the period away. SAP also says certain defined outdated products will incur no back-maintenance. The announcement does not establish how those provisions apply to a particular contract or product, so customers should confirm the relevant definitions and calculations in the governing terms.
What the changes do not cover
SAP says the commitments concern on-premise maintenance and support. Its cloud offerings, including S/4HANA Cloud and RISE with SAP, are unaffected. A customer’s new ability to scope on-premise support by installation therefore does not, on its own, change a cloud subscription, its price, or the right to end it.
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Nor do the commitments replace the product-specific maintenance schedule. SAP’s general dates are important planning inputs, but a customer needs to verify the status of the exact product and release in the Product Availability Matrix or applicable release strategy.
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| Product or support stage | SAP’s published timing | What it means for planning |
|---|---|---|
| Business Suite 7 core applications: mainstream maintenance | Through the end of 2027 | Check the specific application and release; the general date does not establish an individual system’s support status. |
| Business Suite 7: optional extended maintenance | 2028 through the end of 2030 | SAP states a premium of two percentage points on the maintenance basis for the scoped support offerings. |
| Customer-specific maintenance | Applies after extended maintenance ends, or to customers who do not select it | It is a different support stage, not a continuation of mainstream maintenance; assess its coverage and operational implications for the system. |
| S/4HANA innovation commitment | Through the end of 2040 | SAP says at least one release will remain in maintenance until then. This is not a promise that every release is maintained through 2040. |
These dates and terms come from SAP’s maintenance and support strategy page, accessed October 13, 2026. They are high-level statements, not a substitute for confirming a customer’s product, release, contract, and support status.
The 2031–2033 transition option is conditional
SAP announced a time-limited “SAP ERP, private edition, transition option” for business continuity in 2031–2033, while customers continue toward SAP Cloud ERP or SAP Cloud ERP Private. It is not a permanent extension of ECC support and should not be treated as an option every customer can use.
In its August 4, 2025 announcement, SAP said participating systems must first move to SAP ERP private edition on HANA before December 31, 2030. HANA is the only supported database, the minimum system size is 2 TB, and technical readiness conditions apply. The option is tied to a max success plan. SAP described a 20% uplift for customers signing up in 2026; it did not disclose later pricing in that 2025 announcement. Because these are dated vendor terms, customers should verify current eligibility, product scope, pricing, and the applicable SAP Note before acting.
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Other transition mechanisms are contract-specific
SAP’s strategy page describes cloud and on-premise extension programs. The cloud extension program can allow eligible elements of an installed on-premise solution to be reallocated to selected SAP cloud subscriptions; the on-premise extension program supports reallocating investments to selected on-premise products. SAP also describes requests to give up usage rights for certain licenses and seek corresponding maintenance termination without a replacement purchase, with a rediscounting of the maintenance base.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to assess before changing support
More choice can help organizations set different plans for systems with different business roles, but the commercial label “installation” needs to match the actual landscape and contract. Before changing support, map the systems and dependencies involved, then assess the following:
- Support exposure: Distinguish mainstream, extended, customer-specific, and non-SAP support. Decide what operational, security, and compliance coverage each system requires.
- Installation and contract scope: Confirm which systems constitute each commercial installation and whether the proposed support choice is permitted by the detailed commitment and contract.
- Migration readiness: Check the target architecture, technical prerequisites, release status, data and integration dependencies, and the time needed to migrate or retire each system.
- Total commercial impact: Account for maintenance premiums, license changes, back-maintenance rules, and any cloud subscription terms. Public policy descriptions do not establish an individual customer’s total cost.
- Control of timing and architecture: Decide which systems need to remain on premise, which can move, and what support or transition conditions would trigger a change in that plan.
SAP’s announcement and policy descriptions establish new options, not the cost or risk outcome for a particular organization. The right decision depends on the customer’s installations, contract wording, release-level support status, and migration constraints.
Why customer groups called the change significant
Jens Hungershausen, chairman of the executive board of the German-Speaking SAP User Group (DSAG), called the flexibility “an important step in the right direction” in SAP’s July 9, 2026 article. He said it would help member companies make decisions about their system architecture and stressed that customers should decide how to proceed with systems that still benefit the business rather than shut them down by default.
The practical significance is narrower than a general right to keep every system indefinitely: customers have more ways to scope on-premise support, while product maintenance schedules, contract conditions, and the feasibility of each system’s future remain central to the decision.
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