SAP ECC After the Music Stops: A Plan for Those Who Stay

Over the last three to five years, many SAP ECC customers have been singing the song. If you are a fan of 80’s music, you know the song I mean. It’s been playing at high volume and on repeat in SAP IT team meetings over the last several years.

Of course, the song I’m referring to is “Should I Stay, or Should I Go?” (The Clash, 1982, 1991).

We Are Staying, What Now?

By now, though, almost every SAP ECC customer has turned down the volume and has either gone, decided to stay, or decided to go. For those choosing to remain on SAP ECC for the foreseeable future, a few very practical questions quickly rise to the top:

• What do we do when it breaks?
• How do we keep it stable?
• How do we stay protected?
• How do we maintain relevance?

Supporting SAP ECC beyond 2027

Perhaps the most important question of all is a simple one: who fixes it when something breaks?

Unfortunately, time doesn’t stop just because ECC is getting older. The world keeps turning:

• Tax rules still change
• ESG requirements still need to be met
• New security vulnerabilities will still be discovered

SAP teams supporting ECC beyond 2027 realistically have three options:

• Extended maintenance
• Customer‑specific maintenance
• Third‑party support

There aren’t many paths forward—but one of them must be chosen.

SAP ECC Operational Stability

Keeping an aging ECC system stable isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a people challenge.

Over time, deep operational knowledge tends to walk out the door. That knowledge is often what keeps systems running smoothly, and once it’s gone, stability can quickly suffer.

To counter this, SAP teams need a deliberate strategy to retain and replace critical knowledge. That might include:

• People‑based approaches
• System‑based documentation and automation
• Solutions‑based tools
• Or, more realistically, a mix of all three

Automation and consistency become increasingly important as experience thins out.

SAP ECC Security

When it comes to ECC security, most teams focus on the usual suspects:

• User access
• Authorisations
• Segregation of duties
• Patching

But staying secure on ECC gets harder over time.

Managing access risk often relies on deep, specialist GRC knowledge—which may not be available forever. At the same time, traditional patching approaches need to change. There are no future SAP updates coming to neatly solve new security problems.

Add to that years of configuration drift, and suddenly “good enough” security no longer is.

Addressing this requires intent, visibility, and often a solutions‑based approach.

SAP ECC Modernisation

One of the strongest arguments for S/4HANA is modernisation:

• Better user experience
• Improved business processes
• AI‑driven capabilities

But choosing to stay on ECC doesn’t mean choosing to stand still.

Organisations that remain on ECC still need a modernisation plan. This could include:

• Building Fiori apps on top of ECC
• Adding third‑party applications
• Integrating external AI or analytics solutions

Standing still is rarely an option—even if the core system stays the same.

Next Steps

For organisations staying on ECC, success comes down to having a clear plan across four key areas:

• Support: Decide how ECC will be maintained—there are limited options, but one must be selected
• Stability: Use automation and standardisation to retain knowledge and ensure consistency
• Security: Proactively address access risk, configuration drift, and emerging threats
• Relevance: Invest in modernisation so ECC continues to deliver business value

Standing still takes effort. But with the right approach, staying on ECC can be a deliberate, manageable, and defensible strategy.

About Leg Up Software

Leg Up Software is an expert in SAP IT operational and infrastructure software automation solutions.

We know the landscape of SAP operations and infrastructure automation solutions and have already done the legwork to identify the best available options, including many that can help you if you plan to stay on ECC for a while.

Why not set up a time to start the conversation by putting something on our calendar?

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