SAP ECC 6.0 mainstream maintenance ends on 31 December 2027 for enhancement packages 6 to 8. If you are on an older enhancement pack, standard maintenance already ended on 31 December 2025. After 2027 you can pay more for extended maintenance to 2030, move to S/4HANA in one of its forms, switch to third-party support, or move to a different ERP such as Odoo.
This guide sets out the dates, the five real options, their cost drivers, and when an Australian mid-market business needs to start. Our team has 30+ years of SAP delivery for brands like Toyota, Subaru, Kubota and Hino. We still support SAP customers as an SAP partner, and as an Odoo Silver partner we also move businesses to Odoo. So this is a guide to options, without a single answer to sell.
The dates that matter
| Your ECC release | What happens | Date |
|---|---|---|
| ECC 6.0 EhP 0 to 5 | Mainstream maintenance ended, with no extended maintenance offered. Now customer-specific maintenance (new legal and regulatory updates generally not provided) | Ended 31 Dec 2025 |
| ECC 6.0 EhP 6 to 8 | Mainstream maintenance ends | 31 Dec 2027 |
| ECC 6.0 EhP 6 to 8, extended maintenance (optional) | Paid extension, roughly 2 percentage points added to your maintenance base | 1 Jan 2028 to 31 Dec 2030 |
| Extended maintenance agreement | Needs to be agreed with SAP before mainstream maintenance ends; don’t leave it to the last quarter | Before 31 Dec 2027 |
| SAP ERP, private edition, transition option | Paid option tied to a RISE contract that lets some customers keep running ECC in SAP’s private cloud while they finish moving | To end of 2033 |
| S/4HANA on-premise | Supported release path | At least 2040 |
Check your enhancement pack first (System > Status in SAP GUI, or ask your Basis team). Some businesses think they are on EhP 7 or 8 and find they are on 5.
Also note SAP’s 2025 product renames. S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, sold through RISE with SAP, is now SAP Cloud ERP Private. S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is now SAP Cloud ERP. You will see both old and new names in proposals for a while.
What “end of support” actually means
Your system does not stop on 1 January 2028. It keeps running. What changes is what SAP will do for you.
- Under customer-specific maintenance you still get access to existing notes and support for critical issues, but new legal and regulatory updates are generally not provided. For an Australian business that means things like Single Touch Payroll changes, GST changes and e-invoicing updates may need to be built or sourced elsewhere.
- Security patches and fixes for new issues become harder to get.
- Your partners, add-on vendors and hosting providers will start to set their own end dates.
The practical risk is a slow drift. Each year it costs more to stay compliant, and the people who know your system get harder to find. Australian SAP contract rates for functional, ABAP and UI5 consultants sit around $900 to $1,200 a day (Hudson SAP Salary Guide, Feb 2026).
The five real options
1. Extended maintenance to 2030
You stay on ECC and pay SAP more for three more years of maintenance. It buys time. You will face the same decision in 2030, with three more years of history to move.
2. S/4HANA on-premise or hosted
You convert or re-implement onto S/4HANA, run by you or a hosting partner. Support runs to at least 2040. You stay inside SAP and reuse much of your process design. A brownfield conversion brings your custom code along, for better and worse.
3. SAP Cloud ERP Private (RISE with SAP)
SAP bundles S/4HANA, hosting and services into one subscription. This is the path SAP is pushing hardest. Watch the licence detail. Developer access under RISE counts as 2 FUE per developer, which adds up with an in-house ABAP team.
4. Third-party support
Providers such as Rimini Street support your existing ECC system, usually for less than SAP Enterprise Support (typically around 22% of net licence value a year). It suits a stable system you want to keep for years. The trade-off: you leave SAP’s upgrade path, and coming back later can be costly.
5. Move to another ERP, such as Odoo
For mid-market businesses with 30 to 500 users, Odoo is worth a serious look. Licensing is per user and published. At the time of writing (October 2026), list prices in Australia are AUD $43 per user per month for Standard and AUD $80 for Custom (needed for Studio, custom modules, multi-company and the API), billed annually; see Odoo pricing. It is a real re-implementation, with data migration, training and change management.
Options compared
| Option | Best for | Main pros | Main cons | Cost drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extended maintenance | Businesses that need 2 to 3 more years to plan | Least disruption. Stays inside SAP support | Delays the decision. Higher annual fee | Uplift of roughly 2 points on your maintenance base (about 9% more) |
| S/4HANA on-prem / hosted | Large or complex SAP users who want to stay with SAP | Supported to 2040. Keeps SAP skills and processes | Large project. Custom code clean-up. HANA hardware or hosting | Conversion services, custom code remediation, HANA infrastructure, new licences |
| SAP Cloud ERP Private (RISE) | Businesses happy to move to subscription and outsource hosting | One contract. SAP runs infrastructure | Subscription lock-in. Licence metrics need care | Subscription (FUE based), migration services, developer FUEs |
| Third-party support | Stable ECC systems with little change planned | Lower annual support cost. Time to plan | Off SAP’s roadmap. Legal and tax updates via provider | Annual support contract, in-house change effort |
| Move to Odoo (or another ERP) | Mid-market businesses whose processes fit a modern standard ERP | Lower licence cost. Simpler platform. Python development | Re-implementation. Data migration. Change management | Implementation services, data migration (often 15 to 25% of the project), user licences |
For a fuller cost comparison, see what it really costs to leave SAP for Odoo and Odoo vs SAP S/4HANA.
When moving to Odoo is not the right move
We do both SAP and Odoo work, so we will say this plainly. Moving off SAP is the wrong call if:
- You are a large multinational with heavy regulatory reporting tied to SAP, or your parent company mandates SAP.
- Your processes depend on deep SAP industry solutions (for example complex variant configuration or heavy plant maintenance) and you have no appetite to simplify.
- You have just finished a large SAP investment and the system is stable and paid for. Third-party support or extended maintenance may make more sense for now.
- You cannot free up key business people for 5 to 9 months. Any ERP move fails without them.
In those cases S/4HANA, RISE, or third-party support is often the better answer. Some groups also keep SAP at head office and move smaller entities to Odoo. We cover that in running SAP and Odoo side by side.
A decision timeline working back from December 2027
Projects take time. Here is a realistic timeline for a mid-market business.
| By when | What you need to do |
|---|---|
| Q4 2026 (now) | Confirm your EhP level, licence position and support contract dates. Run an options assessment |
| Q1 2027 | Decide your direction. Get budget approval |
| Q1 to Q2 2027 | Select partner. Start design for any move. If staying on SAP, plan conversion |
| Q3 2027 | Agree SAP extended maintenance if you need a safety net. Sign third-party support if that is your path |
| 31 Dec 2027 | Mainstream maintenance ends for EhP 6 to 8 |
| Q3 2027 to mid 2028 | Build, migrate, test, go live (on extended maintenance or third-party support if past Dec 2027) |
As a rough guide, EnCollab’s indicative ranges for SAP to Odoo projects (services only, excluding licences) are:
- SAP Business One to Odoo: $40k to $120k, 3 to 5 months
- Mid-market ECC to Odoo: $120k to $200k, 5 to 9 months
- Complex ECC to Odoo: $200k and up, 9 to 15 months, usually phased
If you have not started by mid 2027, you will probably need extended maintenance or third-party support as a bridge. That is fine, as long as it is planned.
What to do this quarter
- Check your EhP level and licence position. Pull your licence audit (USMM/LAW) results and support contract terms.
- List your custom code and interfaces. How many Z programs, IDocs and third-party connections do you have? This drives cost on every path.
- Measure your data. Years of history, number of company codes, active materials, customers and vendors. Our guide to SAP data migration to Odoo covers what to bring and what to archive.
- Get two or three costed options. Include at least one SAP path and one non-SAP path, so you can compare.
One example: a New Zealand automotive distributor was heading for an SAP project. After comparing options they chose Odoo, with EnCollab’s vehicle and warranty capability covering their automotive processes.
Book a free SAP Exit Assessment
We will review your ECC release, licence, custom code and data, and give you a written comparison of options, including those that keep you on SAP.
Book a free SAP Exit Assessment
FAQ
When does SAP ECC support end?
Mainstream maintenance for SAP ECC 6.0 enhancement packages 6 to 8 ends on 31 December 2027. For enhancement packages 0 to 5 it ended on 31 December 2025, and those systems are now on customer-specific maintenance.
Can I extend SAP ECC support beyond 2027?
Yes. SAP offers optional extended maintenance from 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2030 for EhP 6 to 8, at an extra 2 percentage points on your maintenance base, agreed before mainstream maintenance ends. Some customers who sign up to RISE can also use a paid transition option that runs to the end of 2033.
Will my SAP ECC system stop working after 2027?
No. It keeps running. You lose standard maintenance, which includes new legal and tax updates, unless you buy extended maintenance or use a third-party support provider.
What is SAP Cloud ERP Private?
It is the 2025 name for S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, the system at the heart of RISE with SAP. It bundles S/4HANA, hosting and services into one subscription.
Is Odoo a realistic replacement for SAP ECC?
For many mid-market businesses with 30 to 500 users, yes. It covers finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, manufacturing and service. It is a re-implementation, so plan for data migration and change management. Very large or highly regulated businesses are usually better served staying on SAP.
How long does a move from SAP ECC to Odoo take?
In our experience, 5 to 9 months for a typical mid-market ECC system, and 9 to 15 months for complex, multi-entity systems, usually phased.
Sources
- SAP Community: Maintenance timelines for SAP ERP 6.0 “ECC”
- Rimini Street: No extension to ECC support 2027 deadline
- Rimini Street: SAP Cloud ERP Private rename
- Protera: SAP Cloud ERP Private, what you should know
- Walldorf Consulting: SAP simplifies the naming of its cloud ERP offering
- Gambit: SAP ERP, private edition, transition option
- SAP Learning: SAP maintenance and maintenance strategy
- SAP News: Extending SAP S/4HANA maintenance until 2040
- Hudson SAP Salary Guide Australia 2026
- Odoo pricing