Preparing Your SAP Landscape for 2025: The Final Countdown to S/4HANA

As the 2027 deadline to move off SAP ECC approaches (with mainstream support for older versions ending even sooner for some customers), thousands of organizations still find themselves stuck between planning and doing.

Yet what was once a distant milestone is now a hard reality: delaying your S/4HANA migration could expose your business to unnecessary risk, higher costs, and missed opportunities to modernize.

Why Are Many Businesses Still Behind

For years, companies have postponed migration for good reasons — tight budgets, complex custom code, and competing priorities. But each year of delay means:

·       Growing technical debt and fragile integrations

·       Rising support costs for aging systems

·       A shrinking talent pool that understands ECC

·       Limited ability to adopt the latest innovations, like embedded AI, sustainability tracking, and advanced analytics

Now is the Time to Accelerate

The good news? Modern migration strategies make transformation far less disruptive than you might think. Instead of “rip and replace,” organizations are embracing flexible approaches that keep the business running while modernizing the core.

Key accelerators include:

·       RISE with SAP: A subscription-based, business transformation-as-a-service model that bundles software, infrastructure, and services — ideal for companies wanting to move to the cloud with SAP as their single partner.

·       Clean Core: Moving away from heavily customized core ERP systems towards a “clean” digital core, with extensions and customizations handled in the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). This makes upgrades and innovation cycles faster and less painful.

·       Selective Transformation: Instead of migrating everything in one big bang, companies can modernize in phases, prioritizing business units, regions, or processes that deliver the highest value first.

Lessons Learned from Early Movers

Organizations that have already made the move to S/4HANA share valuable insights:

·       Start with a clear roadmap: Align IT and business teams on priorities and value drivers.

·       Clean up data early: Data quality issues are one of the biggest causes of delays.

·       Embrace process standardization: Resist the temptation to rebuild decades-old custom code. Challenge what truly delivers competitive advantage.

·       Choose the right partners: Expert guidance and proven frameworks can reduce project timelines and de-risk your journey.

A Final Word: Act Now, Win Later

No one wants to squeeze a multi-year transformation into a rushed timeline. The later you start, the fewer skilled resources will be available — and the more you risk cost overruns and disruption.

By planning now, you can turn your S/4HANA migration into a strategic lever for growth: a chance to adopt modular ERP, unlock new business models, and build resilience for the future.

Ready to take the next step?

Our team at Resolve Tech Solutions has helped businesses of all sizes plan and deliver successful migrations, whether you’re exploring RISE, Clean Core, or a hybrid approach. Let’s talk about how to shape a roadmap that works for you, and future-proof your ERP investment. Contact us today to get started.