SAP has announced that its support to the SAP Business Suite 7 will end by 2025. SAP will then support S/4Hana, to which it expects its customers to migrate to. Oracle has announced that EBS R.12.X premier support is available at least until 2030. What happens when the support ends?

If your company’s ERP strategy hasn’t yet been updated, now is a good time to start working on it. Companies have many different alternatives: For example, they can migrate to a SaaS solution that is provided by either SAP or Oracle. They could also decide to use another vendor’s software, by replacing CRM and HRM with other software and continue their financials with their existing vendor. They might also choose another ERP in order to fully replace the current ERP.

How do you agree on the right ERP strategy for your specific organization? An ERP strategy is based on the company strategy and supports its business goals. It provides transparency. The ERP strategy is based on the company’s overall strategy, as well as its vision and business case. The roadmap should then be created, which might include several phases.

What if your strategy or roadmap is not in place by 2025 or 2030? After the deadlines, these companies most likely will not provide any or a minimum number of fixes, upgrades, or security patches to these versions. It might not have an immediate effect on your company, as long as the software continues to work. However, it will eventually become outdated and the security risk will increase. To mitigate the risk, you should agree on your roadmap agreed and have your activities in place soon, so you can ensure your business continuity.

What are your next steps? Think about Industry 4.0. It covers interconnectivity, automation and machine learning, among other things. What is your company strategy to use IoT or AI in your daily operations and does it tie in with your ERP strategy? Are chatbots already in use or will they be sometime in the future? Can they be used now?

We are happy to help you plan your way forward and to support you in your next steps. Give us a call.