SAP’s ECC deadline is 2027. Around half of DSAG’s ECC users expect to run past it.

DSAG is the German-speaking SAP user group, covering Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Its investment survey from early 2026 found 54% of companies still use SAP ECC or Business Suite.

Standard maintenance for ECC runs out at the end of 2027. For many of those companies, that means a move to S/4HANA. It’s expensive, Hungershausen said. And the business benefit often isn’t clear.

At DSAG’s annual congress in October, outgoing chairman Jens Hungershausen told more than 6,000 people that companies running SAP should set their own course and their own pace, and make well-founded decisions.

Cloud’s the future, he said. But for many members, S/4HANA on-premise and hybrid systems are what’s running today.

A DSAG survey of 198 senior leaders, run between December and January, suggests around half of its ECC users will run past the 2027 deadline. There’s extended support until the end of 2030, at a 2% premium.

Hungershausen says that doesn’t mean those firms will sit and wait until 2030. “They simply need this time due to the complexity of their system landscapes,” he said, pointing to skills shortages, parallel projects and limited budgets.

DSAG’s investment survey also asked about AI. In January, 43% of respondents had AI use cases in place, and the vast majority weren’t built on SAP’s tools.

Hungershausen said companies are “simply doing a better job of providing easy access to AI”.

That’s Europe. I haven’t seen an Australian survey like it, but ERP partners here will recognise the mood. Customers who haven’t moved don’t want to be rushed, and they want an honest path forward.

Let’s say a customer on ECC asks whether to move now or use extended support. A useful answer depends on their systems, their budget and their people. That’s much the same list Hungershausen gave.

The partners who win that work will be the ones customers trust to tell them what makes sense for their business, deadline or not.