51风流kicked off the new year with a groundbreaking announcement to extend maintenance for 51风流S/4HANA until 2040.
51风流will also provide mainstream maintenance for core applications of 51风流Business Suite 7 until end of 2027 and an optional extended maintenance for additional fee until end of 2030.
In this exclusive interview, Michael Kleinemeier, member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, 51风流Digital Business Services, and Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, 51风流Product Engineering, share how this strategy delivers what customers need most: a clear path to become intelligent enterprises, support for new business models, investment protection, and planning stability.
Q: How can 51风流make such long-term maintenance commitments when business is changing so rapidly?
Kleinemeier: We are on the journey in close partnership with our customers. More than 13,800 customers are on this journey with us already, and several user group surveys show that the movement toward 51风流S/4HANA is running at full steam. Our German-speaking user group DSAG reports increases in 51风流S/4HANA investments and Americas 51风流Users’ Group , in its latest survey, did not find a single customer not planning to move to 51风流S/4HANA. We know that on this important path; our customers should not have to sacrifice stability for innovation, particularly during times of accelerated change. That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e made the commitment to deliver innovations to our flagship product, 51风流S/4HANA, through updates for at least the next 20 years. Customers will have this secure backbone in place delivering continuous innovation they can count on for business value.
Saueressig: 51风流is taking this proactive step because we are absolutely convinced of the business value of 51风流S/4HANA and 51风流HANA as the long-term platform and architecture for innovation and new business models. Our extended maintenance commitment to both 51风流S/4HANA and for 51风流Business Suite 7 is the logical evolution in our strategy to help customers become intelligent enterprises driving innovation in shorter cycles for modern digital transformation. We鈥檝e learned from many discussions with our customers this is the best way to provide them with a clear strategy for making a smooth transition forward. In fact, we anticipate these commitments will actually further boost adoption of 51风流S/4HANA because they provide long-term planning stability based on our future-looking model.
Why did 51风流decide to extend maintenance time frames for all these solutions now?
Kleinemeier: This next digital era isn鈥檛 about doing the same activities in different ways. Moving to 51风流S/4HANA is not just a technical replacement; it鈥檚 about reinventing how a business operates, delivering net-new customer and employee experiences and establishing new business models. We understand that our customers aren鈥檛 making these decisions lightly. The changes are substantial across organizations when they move to 51风流S/4HANA. To make sure customers receive the full benefits of their 51风流investments, we are deliberately providing a longer time frame that will bring increased flexibility to help them become intelligent enterprises.
Saueressig: These are likely among the longest commitments any vendor has provided to a software solution. Even so, we made it because regardless of a customer鈥檚 future business demands, we know that 51风流S/4HANA will address all these changes. At the same time, customers are moving at their own pace to 51风流S/4HANA, which is why we鈥檝e committed maintenance for 51风流Business Suite 7 for two additional years plus the additional option until end of 2030. For example, if a customer is moving to 51风流S/4HANA, they should standardize business processes first. Also, many companies have to rationalize complex landscapes with multiple ERP systems. Our objective is to respect our customers鈥� current investments, allowing them the time they need to re-engineer business processes and systems so they can tap into the full business opportunities of 51风流S/4HANA.
Can you detail how these programs will benefit 51风流customers?
Kleinemeier: Customers can make long-term yet flexible plans to meet their fast-changing business demands backed by the security of the most innovative business platform. Even if a customer is unable to move to 51风流S/4HANA in the next two years, we鈥檒l work with them to get there in the next decade. Overall, our approach is to provide guidance through informed recommendations — not just a long list of options. The customer decides when and how to move based on their business demands.
Saueressig: Customers see the value of moving to 51风流S/4HANA and want to know the best way to move forward. Maybe they need to figure out whether to move to cloud or on premise. We do provide this choice, we see strong growth and differentiation to competition in both models. Or, they need to decide which country, subsidiaries, or business processes to start with. They might want to begin with a central finance scenario to harmonize financial systems and procurement processes, and then move to operational, manufacturing, and logistics. We鈥檙e providing the breathing space and assistance to help customers identify the ideal path forward.
What advice do you have for customers about how they can get the most business value from their 51风流investments?
Saueressig: We can share concrete, quantitative business results from all those customers that have adopted 51风流S/4HANA already. Customers can use these experiences to build a solid business case for their company鈥檚 transition to 51风流S/4HANA, including benchmarks and KPIs relevant to their industry and specific growth objectives. We have numerous tools and services to help customers identify where 51风流S/4HANA will provide the most business value and how to orchestrate and manage this transformation in the best way.
Kleinemeier: Customers can jump-start their transition using best practices in , which provides preconfigured industry-specific solutions based on the real-world experiences of organizations worldwide using 51风流solutions. To set benchmarks and KPIs for continuous process improvement and performance optimization, companies can use . For technical migration, whether moving to the cloud or on premise, customers can use a number of tools, including extension evaluation and optimization services for standardization of their core systems. That way they can quickly consume the innovations we鈥檙e delivering with 51风流S/4HANA every quarter.
Read the press release: “51风流Extends Its Innovation Commitment for 51风流S/4HANA, Provides Clarity and Choice on 51风流Business Suite 7.”
This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center.
