Optional extended maintenance will be available from 2028 until the end of 2030 at a premium of two percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organisations that do not select extended maintenance, or reach its end, will move to customer-specific maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The migration is here<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The 2025 SAPinsider SAP S\/4HANA Migration Benchmark Report found that the end of maintenance and support was the leading migration driver, cited by 57% of respondents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only 32% had already transitioned to S\/4HANA, while 27% were still implementing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
African operations also face distinct realities, and the African SAP User Group material cautions organisations against assuming that a solution designed for a South African or core entity will automatically work elsewhere in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For African manufacturers and miners, migration complexity is intensified by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Multiple mines, plants, warehouses and distribution points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Ageing operational and infrastructure assets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Years of accumulated SAP customisation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Interfaces with planning, warehouse, fleet, maintenance and production systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Dependence on contractors, transport providers and external suppliers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Significant working capital invested in inventory and spares.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The requirement to maintain production throughout the transformation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Limited availability of experienced internal business resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Migration is not the same as transformation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An S\/4HANA implementation can be technically successful and still damage the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SAP experts warn that even a technical or brownfield migration should not be treated as a simple lift and shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
S\/4HANA introduces different functionality, technologies and architecture, creating new considerations for security, controls and governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The operational priority is equally clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Operational performance guardrails should be established before design begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These should cover the outcomes that matter most to the organisation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Production schedule adherence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Plant and asset availability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Inventory availability and accuracy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Critical-spares service levels.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Procurement cycle time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Supplier delivery performance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Forecast accuracy and planning stability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Working capital.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Logistics reliability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Order fulfilment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- User productivity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The purpose is not to promise that every measure will improve immediately at go-live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is to prevent the program from making design decisions without understanding their operational consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every major process decision should answer four questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- What operational problem are we solving?<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Which performance measure should this decision influence?<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What could go wrong at the mine, plant, warehouse or distribution centre?<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How will we verify the process under realistic operating conditions?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
The technology must work when the operation is under pressure, not only when the test script follows the expected path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do not migrate complexity simply because it exists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Years of ECC operation often leave organisations with accumulated custom code, local workarounds, duplicated reports and site-specific variations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The migration creates a rare opportunity to decide what should be retained, redesigned, standardised or eliminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That decision cannot be made through technical usage statistics alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The objective should be a fit-for-purpose operational core: standard where standardisation creates value, differentiated where the business genuinely requires it, and free from complexity that no longer contributes to performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The differentiator is operational understanding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
SAP implementation expertise remains essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organisations need specialists who understand architecture, configuration, data conversion, security, integration, controls and cutover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But technology expertise alone is not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mining and manufacturing businesses also need people who understand how planning affects production, how procurement affects maintenance execution, how material-master quality affects inventory and how a small workflow change can influence the reliability of an entire site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where HybridFuzion\u2019s operational perspective<\/strong> becomes the differentiator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HybridFuzion does not replace the SAP systems integrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HybridFuzion connects program design to operational reality – helping leaders determine whether the migration:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Protects operational continuity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Resolves or transfers existing weaknesses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Improves supply chain decision-making.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Reduces unnecessary complexity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Leverages more of the SAP functionality already being paid for.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Creates measurable operational value.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Leaves the organisation more adaptable after go-live.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The ECC deadline provides an unavoidable reason to act. But urgency should not become an excuse for a technology-led migration that protects the deadline while putting operational performance at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ECC deadline creates the reason to act. Operational value must determine how you act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click here to learn more about how HybridFuzion will help your business migrate to SAP S\/4 Hana.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/HybridFuzion_Infographic_S4HANA-Migration_01-3_page-0001-725x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAP has confirmed that mainstream maintenance for its Business Suite 7 core applications, including SAP ERP 6.0, will end at the close of 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":869466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2087068505724088439","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2172844210202645","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[26108,19731,1073,26109,26110],"class_list":["post-869462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-hybridfuzion","tag-migration","tag-sap","tag-sap-ecc","tag-sap-s-4hana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869462"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":869622,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869462\/revisions\/869622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Which performance measure should this decision influence?<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What operational problem are we solving?<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n