Unlocking SAP migration: Strategic paths to S/4HANA before the 2027 deadline

SAP ECC’s mainstream maintenance deadline in 2027 is not a distant milestone, it’s a fast-approaching reality. And for enterprises running mission-critical operations on legacy SAP systems, the timeline to transform is already tight.

Large-scale migrations to S/4HANA can take several years to plan and execute—especially amid increasing pressure from SAP talent shortages and rising complexity across IT landscapes. While SAP has introduced maintenance extensions until 2030 and transformation leeway until 2033, these are not invitations to wait. They’re buffers for those already underway—not a strategic roadmap.

The long-term vision is clear: SAP is moving toward a highly standardized public cloud (SaaS) model. This isn’t just a product shift, it’s a signal to align your business with a more agile, innovation-ready foundation.
For companies unable to adopt standardized processes, private cloud may offer a transitional alternative. On-premises? Still possible—but rapidly becoming an exception.

This article explores what your SAP migration strategy should look like heading into 2027—and why the time to act is now.

The ongoing strength of ECC & future flexibility

SAP ECC continues to run core business operations reliably across many enterprises, especially those with deeply integrated, customized environments built over years. Although its strength and resilience are still trustworthy, organizations must now look beyond ECC as SAP’s innovation roadmap is moving forward rapidly.

In highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and consumer products, migrating to a fully standardized public cloud (SaaS) model may not be immediately feasible due to compliance, data sovereignty, or process specificity. For such instances, private cloud or modern on-premises deployments offer viable alternatives that meet both regulatory and operational needs.

Remaining on ECC is still technically supported in the short term through SAP’s extended maintenance programs. But that timeline should be seen as an opportunity to plan and execute a strategic migration, not as a reason to delay.

What’s driving the next SAP evolution?

SAP’s ERP journey has evolved from R/1 to R/3, through ECC, and now into its most advanced generation—S/4HANA. This platform brings significant technological advancements, most notably real-time analytics, made possible by the in-memory HANA database. Unlike ECC, which often relies on overnight batch jobs, S/4HANA supports instant insights and faster, data-driven decisions.

The second key driver is AI-powered automation. With innovations like SAP Joule, SAP is embedding intelligence into business processes, enabling smarter workflows, faster exception handling, and context-aware support. However, delivering these capabilities at scale is only feasible within a standardized and consistently maintained ERP environment.

SAP’s ability to ship these innovations, especially across AI, automation, and predictive analytics—requires customers to be on current releases. That’s why in the public cloud, SAP enforces mandatory release updates twice a year: it's the only way to ensure compatibility, security, and innovation delivery across its ecosystem.

Gartner predicts that by 2027, over 60% of enterprises will have moved to cloud-based ERP, attracted by real-time capabilities, built-in security, and AI-led automation.

For SAP, this isn't just a preference, it’s a technical necessity. The more fragmented or customized the landscape, the harder it becomes to provide consistent innovation. This is why the move toward standardized, cloud-based ERP is not just strategic, it’s structural.

Strategic first movers: Unlocking value early with S/4HANA

Forward-thinking organizations aren’t waiting for deadlines—they’re moving to S/4HANA now to get ahead. For them, migration isn’t just about compliance; it’s about unlocking new business value, strengthening operational agility, and setting the foundation for innovation.

These companies are investing in adequate preparation, ensuring their transitions are smooth and their systems are ready for the future. By focusing early on data quality, process standardization, and change management, they’re not only reducing risk, but also creating a clear runway to capture S/4HANA’s full potential from day one.
Several enterprises have already shown how this approach pays off. With well-governed programs and a focus on foundational readiness, they’re streamlining operations, accelerating decision-making, and adopting new capabilities faster than their peers.

Rather than treating migration as just an IT project, these organizations see it as a strategic transformation opportunity. And their results speak for themselves: higher user adoption, simplified landscapes, and faster time-to-value.

Choosing the right migration approach

A successful migration depends on selecting the right approach (Greenfield, Brownfield, or Selective Data Transition) based on a company’s existing IT landscape and business goals.

A Greenfield migration means starting fresh—rebuilding ERP from scratch and redesigning business processes. This approach is mandatory for S/4HANA Public Cloud implementations because of the high level of standardization. It is best for companies that want to clean their ERP processes and landscape. While Greenfield migration requires more effort in setting up processes, it ensures a future-ready, streamlined ERP system.

A Brownfield migration upgrades an existing ECC system to S/4HANA, keeping historical data and configurations intact. It suits businesses with well-structured master data and standardized processes, especially those moving to S/4HANA Private Cloud or on-premises.

A Selective Data Transition (SDT) offers a middle path, allowing companies to migrate only selected data and processes, leaving behind legacy elements. It provides flexibility and works best for private cloud deployments where some customization is still needed.

Since each approach has trade-offs, organizations should assess their processes and prerequisites early to determine the best migration path. In some cases, heavily customized systems may be easier to discard and rebuild a new ERP landscape with Greenfield, while others with a strong foundation can renovate rather than restart.

Pre-migration assessments are critical in choosing the right path. Before migrating, organizations should evaluate all processes, data structures, and IT prerequisites to determine whether a Greenfield, Brownfield, or SDT approach aligns best with their transformation goals.

Avoiding common pitfalls during migration

One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is trying to do too much at once. Migration should be treated as a structured IT project, not as an opportunity to introduce new innovations simultaneously.

S/4HANA is the platform on which AI, automation, and advanced analytics can truly take shape. It is important to understand that there’s no meaningful innovation without a stable, standardized core first. Businesses should avoid layering additional AI or automation projects during the migration itself, as this can lead to unnecessary complexity and delays.

Organizations that try to introduce advanced capabilities like AI or predictive analytics during the migration phase often experience delays and added complexity. The smarter approach is to treat migration as the critical first step in a broader transformation, focusing first on clean data, process harmonization, and system stability so that innovation can be unlocked at scale, post go-live.

Looking ahead: SAP beyond 2027

SAP’s long-term strategy is increasingly focused on cloud-first innovations, AI-driven automation, and seamless enterprise integration. This marks a major shift from SAP’s historical approach, where businesses had full customization freedom with minimal direct involvement from SAP. Now, SAP is positioning itself closer to customers, offering more structured, standardized solutions that streamline operations and drive efficiency.

Moving to S/4HANA is the first step in aligning with SAP’s vision for the future, which revolves around the SAP Business Data Cloud, AI-driven automation, and true end-to-end process integration. The latest innovations, including agentic AI capabilities and next-generation ERP features, are designed to work exclusively within SAP’s modern cloud-based platforms.

SAP’s Business Suite is part of this transformation, shifting the focus from simply selling IT systems to offering complete business processes as services. Instead of managing complex, customized ERP setups, companies will increasingly be able to adopt fully optimized financial, HR, and procurement workflows as pre-configured services.

While this fully integrated ERP model is still evolving, SAP’s current roadmap makes it clear that businesses migrating earlier will be in the best position to leverage AI-driven efficiencies, real-time data, and process automation.

This transition is not just about upgrading technology but about adopting a future-ready enterprise architecture that reduces complexity and enhances operational agility.

SAP is also expanding beyond ERP to offer a broader ecosystem of enterprise solutions, including SuccessFactors for HR, SAP Analytics Cloud for reporting, Concur for business travel management, Ariba for procurement, and CX for customer experience. These interconnected solutions create a more unified enterprise environment, helping organizations optimize business processes across departments.

As SAP continues to evolve, businesses that proactively transition to S/4HANA will be best positioned to take advantage of next-generation capabilities, ensuring long-term success in an increasingly digital and automated world.

Nagarro has been closely involved in guiding enterprises through every phase of this SAP transformation—from early assessments to structured migrations and long-term optimization. With a deep understanding of both the technology landscape and industry-specific challenges, we help organizations make informed decisions that align with their broader strategic goals. As SAP continues to evolve, we remain a trusted partner in helping our clients move forward with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

In case you are interested in knowing how we can help you effortlessly migrate your current ERP systems, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn (via the 'Connect' link below my author pic).