Accelerating Out of the Turn
This summer, the roar of Formula One engines will echo not just from the big screen with the release of the new F1 movie, but also in boardrooms and IT strategy sessions around the world. Why? Because the principles that guide elite F1 drivers through hairpin turns are the same ones that can guide IT […]
SAP Renaming Strategy Brings Added Confusion and Costs
The parade of new names announced at SAP Sapphire 2025 had attendees tilting their heads and furrowing their brows. “Wait, what?” “But I thought ….” “What does ‘RISE’ mean now?” What’s clear is that SAP has once again moved the goalposts for its customers. At first glance, the recent rebranding of “RISE with SAP” to […]
What to Do Before SAP Says “NO”
No one likes to be told “NO.” Especially not from customer support, whose job is to say “YES” when you need help. Unfortunately, many SAP ECC6 and S/4HANA customers may be hearing “NO” a lot more soon. Mainstream Maintenance for SAP ECC6 is ending in 2025 or 2027, depending on which enhancement pack you use. […]
Dear SAP Support — I’ve Met Someone Else
I don’t think we should see each other anymore. It’s not you; it’s me. Actually, on second thought, it’s mostly you. Our relationship started as expected, but we’ve grown apart. We now want different things. Let me explain. You’ve changed It used to be that my annual maintenance fee got me support, maintenance and new […]
No More FOMO – SAP ECC Customers Are Not Missing Out on New Features
FOMO, or the fear of missing out, is a thing, mostly in social media and personal endeavors. But it also has a parallel in enterprise software roadmaps. Stay with me and I’ll explain. ERP software – it first hit the scene in the 1960s. In the decades that followed, the number and variety of ERP […]
Thanks, But No Thanks – SAP ECC6 EHP0-5 Customers Just Don’t See the Value of a Forced S/4HANA Upgrade
For customers of SAP ECC 6 versions EHP0-5, there’s a hard deadline coming December 31, 2025, when mainstream support from SAP will end for those versions. SAP isn’t offering extended support for EHP0-5. The deadline is a fork in the road created by the vendor. At that point, customers will be automatically converted to customer-specific […]
From TCO to TCC: Don’t Give Up Cost Control to a Vendor “Landlord”
The acronym TCO stands for “total cost of ownership” – a phrase that reminds us that the cost of a technology solution is rarely just the price of the solution. Oftentimes, there are numerous other components that comprise the total cost. But there is a fundamental problem when considering TCO for a technology solution: It […]
Independent, Third-Party Support Definition (in 1,000 Words or Less)
This blog was originally published in July 2020 and was updated in June 2024 Many organizations around the world are familiar with independent, third-party support. Many others are not. Still others have some preconceived notions about what it is and how it helps. What is Third-Party Support? A simple definition. Third-party support is software support […]
Your SAP Support Clock May Be Ticking Faster Than You Think
If you’re running SAP ECC 6, your support clock is ticking—perhaps faster than you realize. Not to worry, you’ve got options and we can help. By now, just about every SAP customer knows that 2027 is the end date for ECC 6 mainstream maintenance support. But that’s only half the story. That’s because for half […]