Why SAP ECC Customers Must Migrate to SAP S/4HANA: An Architect’s Perspective

Abstract

After working with enterprises across industries and geographies, I have observed that many organizations still rely on SAP ECC as their financial and operational backbone. While ECC has served businesses well, its limitations in agility, compliance, and intelligence are becoming increasingly evident. With SAP announcing the end of mainstream maintenance for ECC by 2027 (and extended maintenance until 2030 at a premium), customers face a choice: modernize with S/4HANA or fall behind in a rapidly changing digital economy. In this paper, I argue from practice and experience why the migration to SAP S/4HANA is not merely a technical upgrade but a strategic transformation—one that enables transparency, compliance, and predictive intelligence.