When does SAP ECC reach end of life?

Mainstream maintenance for SAP ECC 6.0 on enhancement packages 6 to 8 ends on 31 December 2027. Optional extended maintenance runs from 2028 to the end of 2030 at an additional fee on top of standard maintenance; third-party sources cite a premium of about 2 to 4 percent. Enhancement packages 0 to 5 already left mainstream maintenance at the end of 2025. Check your contract and SAP's maintenance strategy pages for your exact terms.

When does Microsoft Dynamics GP support end?

Mainstream support for Dynamics GP ends on 31 December 2029, extended from an earlier September 2029 date, and security updates end on 30 April 2031. Microsoft stopped selling new perpetual licenses to new customers on 1 April 2025 and subscription licenses to new customers on 1 April 2026. Payroll users stop receiving annual updates after the end of support.

What replaces Dynamics GP?

Microsoft steers GP customers toward Dynamics 365 Business Central. Other cloud ERPs such as NetSuite are common alternatives. Whatever you choose, list first the processes that run outside GP today, in spreadsheets, add-ons and custom reports, because those are what a migration most often breaks.

Do I have to move from SAP ECC to S/4HANA?

Not necessarily. Options include S/4HANA, another ERP, extended maintenance to 2030 to buy time, or third-party support. The decision should start from which processes the ERP really runs well today and which ones already live outside it.

How do I avoid a failed ERP migration?

Avoid the big bang. Move one process at a time with real data and testing, keep customization out of the new ERP's core, and build the processes no standard ERP covers as separate modules connected through its API. Each step should end with something in production and a decision point.

SAP ECC and Dynamics GP End of Life: Dates and Options

Two large ERP machines with hourglasses on top, one nearly empty, while a small glowing module is connected to the side of one machine and more modules wait

SAP ECC mainstream maintenance ends on 31 December 2027, with optional extended maintenance to 2030 at extra cost. Microsoft Dynamics GP mainstream support ends on 31 December 2029, with security updates to 30 April 2031, and Microsoft no longer sells GP to new customers. Between them, these two ERPs run a large share of mid-sized companies, and both deadlines are close enough that the migration decision has to be made now: these projects take years, and the companies that start late are the ones that do them in a rush. The other lesson of this year is that rushed ERP projects fail in public, as Vital Farms and Zimmer Biomet showed. Below: the real dates, what each one means, and how to move without betting the business on one go-live.

SAP ECC: the dates

From SAP's announced maintenance strategy as summarized by d.velop and ERP Research:

What	Date
ECC 6.0, enhancement packages 0-5	Mainstream maintenance ended end of 2025
ECC 6.0, enhancement packages 6-8	Mainstream maintenance ends 31 December 2027
Optional extended maintenance	2028 to end of 2030, at a premium on top of standard maintenance (third-party sources cite about 2-4%)
After that	More restricted customer-specific maintenance

Check your own contract and SAP's maintenance pages: the premium and the exact terms depend on your agreement.

Dynamics GP: the dates

From Microsoft partner summaries of Microsoft's announcement (Stoneridge Software):

What	Date
New perpetual licenses for new customers	Ended 1 April 2025
New subscription licenses for new customers	Ended 1 April 2026
Mainstream support (enhancements, regulatory and tax updates, service packs, technical support)	Ends 31 December 2029 (extended from 30 September 2029)
Security updates	End 30 April 2031

For US companies, the payroll point matters most: payroll users stop receiving annual updates after the end of support, which makes year-end tax compliance the practical deadline.

What the deadline really forces

Not a new ERP on a date. A decision on a date, and a project long enough to finish before it. The trap is treating it as one big switchover, which is exactly how ERP projects fail: every process moves at once, customizations pile into the new system, and the go-live becomes a gamble.

Move in slices instead

Map what runs where. Which processes really run in the ERP, and which already run around it in spreadsheets, add-ons, Access databases and custom reports. The second list is where migrations break.
Keep the new ERP standard. Use the new system for what it does as standard: ledger, purchasing, inventory, payroll. Resist rebuilding every old customization inside it.
Build what's specific as modules next to it. Quoting, pricing, a customer portal, a shipping or field workflow: separate modules connected through the ERP's API, which survive the next ERP change too.
Move one process at a time, with real data, tested before each switch, and a stop point after each.
Use extended maintenance as a bridge, not a plan. Buy time only with a dated exit.

Where we come in

We don't sell or implement SAP or Business Central. We do the part around them: mapping what runs outside the ERP, and building the processes no standard ERP covers as modules next to whichever one you choose. Examples:

a quotation platform for Casa Europa where large quotes are correct by construction;
a California equipment company's shipping and service platform, in production the day after we got the workbook;
a wine distributor's 90-tab price book, turned into an application.

A first module covering one process costs $5,000 to $18,000. You own the code, and it keeps working when the ERP underneath changes.

SAP ECC and Dynamics GP End of Life: The Real Dates, and How to Move Without a Big Bang

Two of the most used ERPs in mid-sized companies have their clocks running. SAP ECC mainstream maintenance ends in December 2027; Dynamics GP support in December 2029. Here is what each deadline means, and a way to move that doesn't bet the business on one go-live.