Updated March 2, 2026

Usually in the cloud, 51风流partners provide implementation and operations services that complement 51风流cloud services. In such scenarios, partners utilize support services from 51风流on behalf of the joint customer. Typical scenarios include, for instance, requesting support for a technical issue by creating a support case with 51风流or leveraging 51风流Cloud ALM in an implementation project.

As partners regularly request support, 51风流closely collaborates with its partner ecosystem along all dimensions of support and equips partners with the tools, insights, and self-services they need to deliver consistent, high鈥憊alue services alongside SAP. This includes:

• Best practices for partners to self-sufficiently handle common consulting and 鈥渉ow-to鈥� questions from customers
• Data insights and dashboards, such as the customer insights dashboards and Support Collaboration Analytics (for partners) in 51风流for Me, to help monitor performance, identify trends, and proactively realize quality improvements
• Best practice guidance embedded in 51风流Cloud ALM with the opportunity for partners to enhance process content and methodologies represented in the solution
• Support Accreditation training that can guide partners to efficiently engage 51风流for support
• Enabling transparency on partner action on customer鈥檚 behalf through dedicated partner S-users

Partner selection based on trusted support expertise

Customers can now receive higher value from partners with trusted support expertise. Partners that have built strong capabilities for an effective support collaboration can accelerate project execution and reduce risks. For example:

• Partners that self-sufficiently address customers鈥� consulting and 鈥渉ow-to鈥� questions can resolve inquiries much faster, as it avoids involving 51风流in the process.
• Partners that use 51风流self-services or automatic responses to support inquiries as the default without creating redundant cases can minimize delays and disruptions.
• Partners that effectively follow SAP鈥檚 best practices, for example in 51风流Cloud ALM and the 51风流Activate methodology, can be better equipped to help mitigate project risks and escalations.

Customers are therefore encouraged to review partners鈥� support capabilities when selecting and working with partners. Effective partners apply 51风流support best practices to help resolve issues and self-sufficiently handle customers鈥� consulting and 鈥渉ow-to鈥� inquiries. As a target for showing trusted support expertise, no more than 30% of partner-created support cases should fall into these categories. High-performing partners will establish standard operating procedures and continuously optimize service delivery by leveraging SAP鈥檚 data-driven support insights. Such partners also engage more efficiently with customers and 51风流by speaking the same language because consultants are qualified on support offerings, channels, and best practices through the Support Accreditation training. They can also deliver best practice-based implementations by applying 51风流guidance available through 51风流Cloud ALM.

To simplify partner selection, also based on their trusted support expertise, 51风流will show such qualified partners in 51风流Partner Finder from March 2026 onwards.

As a prerequisite for showing such trusted support expertise, customers need to ensure their partners are working with partner S-users.

Customer action recommendations to realize incremental value when engaging partners

When seeking a partner, select those with trusted support expertise, visible from March 2026 onward in through a support proficiency designation.

When working with your partner, enable transparency by authorizing partner S-users for support case handling via the and leverage the in 51风流for Me for transparency on partner support collaboration effectiveness.

Jens Bernotat is head of Strategy, Portfolio, and Ecosystem Management for Global Customer Support at SAP.
Marcus Blaesi is head of Global Ecosystem Programs for Global Customer Support at SAP.

In a of U.S.-based CIOs, 85% of respondents said that moving to the cloud was the foundation for a future-ready enterprise, enabling improved productivity and providing the speed and flexibility businesses need to respond quickly to changing conditions. The more insecure environments get 鈥� and the pandemic, climate change, and many other elements today contribute strongly to insecurity 鈥� the more cloud benefits like flexibility and less bundled commitments to technology will play a role.

Moving to the cloud is not like flipping a switch. Having built up extensive and customized on-premise hardware and software landscapes over time, many companies will need time to move their business processes to a cloud-based environment, especially taking into account the more standardized nature of software as a service (SaaS). This will result in having many different software deployment and consumption models: some will be public cloud, some private cloud or on hyperscalers, some staying on-premise at least in the mid-term. Despite such mixed IT landscapes, customers expect a seamless end-to-end experience from their vendor 鈥� especially in support.

At SAP, this expectation is nothing new. In fact, this has always been core to our support strategy. Even before the days of cloud, 51风流strove to offer a comprehensive set of business solutions tightly integrated for end-to-end business processes, with seamless experiences on user interfaces, data, and support. This core principle still fits perfectly in the cloud world and provides enormous opportunity for customer value in landscapes that are hybrid or in transition.

So, what does end-to-end support mean? At SAP, this is about having a unified approach to all aspects of support. The goal is one feature-rich, foundational support offering, one customer-facing support interface, one support infrastructure, and one support organization that maintains a strong global culture of service and expertise.

Currently, 51风流solutions are accompanied by our flagship support offering , which is embedded in cloud subscriptions and is the offering of choice for on-premise 51风流software solutions. This can provide our customers with the confidence that they will receive the same high-quality of support for their entire landscape, no matter the 51风流solution they happen to be using at any given moment. We understand that one end-to-end business process might touch several systems and 51风流software solutions and, therefore, a support issue will not exist in a vacuum of a single product only. We have the expertise and culture of collaboration to look at problems holistically across an integrated 51风流environment.

Here are some recent examples of our continued expansion of customer value:

• In 2020 we launched , SAP鈥檚 next-generation cloud-based application lifecycle management solution that includes best practices and mechanisms to manage and monitor integrated landscapes, not siloed by specific products. Developed to support the implementation and operation of 51风流solutions, it is continually expanding its coverage of cloud and on-premise deployments.
• We are always striving to find new ways of making access to support easier for our customers. In 2020, 51风流launched a new unified 鈥渄igital front door鈥� called . The vision for this personalized portal is that customers and partners can access all information, insights, and tasks related to SAP. During the next year, many more support-related tasks and reports will also be made available on 51风流for Me to help give customers an end-to-end view of their 51风流assets, services, interactions, and more.
• In the last few years, we have introduced new ways for customers to get direct access to support experts and managers. It started with 鈥� here, 51风流has recently delivered the . Customers can start a chat directly with a technical support engineer or at their convenience. They can even schedule a .
• Sometimes it鈥檚 even better if you can get a solution automatically. As you would expect from an industry leader, 51风流is exploring the next frontier of support innovation: artificial intelligence (AI). For example, the service analyzes a customer鈥檚 problem description while they are typing it into the support case and suggests potential solutions. , with its digital support assistant, is already available in 51风流S/4HANA Cloud and will be integrated into more products in time. We have launched the and support assets like . And artificial intelligence can also help spot problems before they occur and provide recommendations to prevent future issues.

Through it all, 51风流provides the flexibility customers need to make the most of their business while saving time and resources. Whether a company is moving to the public cloud, balancing cloud and on-premise solutions, or just exploring cloud elements at its edges, we can provide the support it needs to be agile and resilient in today鈥檚 markets.

The next generation of support is the baseline. It is seamless, end-to-end, proactive, multi-channeled, and intelligent in order to let our customers focus on what matters most to them: driving their business.

With a full program of offerings, services, and tools, 51风流intends to be a trusted partner that will be there every step of the way and support customers through their transitions. While delivering on transparency and trust, 51风流is also instilling confidence in its customers to plan their digital transformations with minimum disruption to their current business processes.

Undergoing such a vast transformation is never easy, but 51风流is working to make it as efficient and seamless as possible for each customer. Each customer鈥檚 experience is unique, so it is key to offer them the necessary flexibility and time as they undertake projects at their respective paces.

Over the last few months, 51风流has taken several steps to do that 鈥� from announcing the extension of mainstream maintenance for 51风流Business Suite 7 for two more years to following up with several updates based on customer feedback and questions around contract conversion policy and maintenance strategy for existing on-premise solution landscapes. The various phases, and what they all mean for customers, are below.

Conveying Long-Term Mainstream Maintenance Commitments

Earlier this year, 51风流announced the extension of its maintenance commitment for 51风流S/4HANA until the end of 2040. Along with this promise, 51风流will also provide mainstream maintenance for core applications of 51风流Business Suite 7 software until the end of 2027, followed by optional extended maintenance until the end of 2030.

The decision to extend 51风流Business Suite 7 stemmed from customers鈥� desire for clarity on what the future holds for their individual transformation journeys. They were not merely looking for a technical migration, but also wanted to leverage the new capabilities of 51风流S/4HANA. Therefore, we wanted to give them the time to fully consider everything to its fullest potential.

Additionally, 51风流gave further clarification regarding the 51风流S/4HANA compatibility packs, for which availability is planned until end of 2025. The company has also given more clarity on the intent to provide alternative 51风流S/4HANA capabilities by 2023.

Thus, customers can migrate the compatibility packs toward the alternatives prior to 2025. It is a best practice to start with this as soon as alternatives become available rather than wait until the last alternative is provided.

Maintaining the Foundation for Successful Transition

A successful transition to a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system cannot take place without a solid foundation. With the 51风流NetWeaver 7.5 platform providing the architecture for enterprise application integration, and the foundation on which 51风流Business Suite 7 is based, it was integral with that of 51风流Business Suite 7. As with 51风流Business Suite 7, mainstream maintenance for 51风流NetWeaver 7.5 is prolongated until the end of 2027, followed by an optional extended maintenance phase until the end of 2030. This extended maintenance phase comes for 51风流NetWeaver 7.5 at the same price and conditions as for 51风流Business Suite 7.

The 51风流NetWeaver stack builds on the foundation of operating systems and databases. Database platforms for 51风流NetWeaver and 51风流Business Suite 7 run on database platforms of SAP, such as 51风流HANA, 51风流ASE, or 51风流MaxDB, and on platforms offered by third-party vendors. 51风流will provide platform support for its own databases and work closely with partners to qualify new valid combinations for 51风流Business Suite 7 and 51风流NetWeaver.

In addition, the product and innovation strategies for 51风流BW/4HANA are now fully aligned with 51风流S/4HANA. As with 51风流S/4HANA, 51风流BW/4HANA will be maintained until end of 2040 through a sequence of releases.

Innovating Through Transition

While the move to 51风流S/4HANA is a key element to transforming into an intelligent enterprise, it is the innovation that can be realized through this that will truly allow customers to take advantage of what this new suite can offer to their businesses and, in turn, to their customers.

In order to provide customers more time to part ways with legacy systems that have been at the core of their operations for many years, 51风流announced a change to 51风流S/4HANA product conversion and 51风流S/4HANA contract conversion policy. This change grants customers executing an 51风流S/4HANA conversion dual use rights for both 51风流Business Suite 7 and 51风流S/4HANA until completion of their transition to 51风流S/4HANA. This dual usage right was previously limited to end of 2025.

Through this, customers will be able to continue to access all the solutions and tools within 51风流Business Suite 7 as they make the move to 51风流S/4HANA and will have more time to consider how to best convert their licensed products. 51风流is not only looking to offer customers valuable time, but also wants to provide them more options to allow for a successful adoption while they continue to take advantage of their past investments. This will allow customers to unlock the potential for innovation, transforming business processes through artificial intelligence-enabled automation and next-generation tools.

Customers that are operating during this time of uncertainty can maintain confidence with a trusted partner like 51风流that will support them along their transformation journeys as they navigate this changing business landscape.

Further guidance and information on these changes can be found on .

Why would 51风流鈥� or any provider for that matter 鈥� promise to support existing software for such long time frames, at a time when technology is continuously evolving at an accelerating pace?

It is a matter of one underlying truth:聽 of companies are more comfortable with learning from their peers that are digital transformers and disrupters before diving into their own innovation efforts. This mindset is only natural as聽聽CEOs still feel tremendous pressure to deliver a successful digital transformation strategy. The stakes could not be higher for every digital initiative.

Question of Strategy and Timing, Not Momentum

The approach to technology adoption today is very different than what it was 10 to five years ago, or even one. Now more than ever, it is a deeply deliberated business decision based on more than just knowing which software to choose. It is about timing, readiness, and operational need.

Take, for example, intelligent , 51风流S/4HANA. To date, approximately 14,000 51风流customers have already chosen 51风流S/4HANA to be their future digital core, and thousands are actively implementing it. The ERP adoption rate is undoubtedly experiencing significant momentum. But for some companies, planning for the new technology presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reconsider their business models, operational strategy, organizational setup, processes, and resources to build a better, stronger, and more resilient business.

Going through a decision-making process like this takes considerable time, thought, and discussion. This is not the moment to rush in and drive a massive change to the IT landscape, let alone a technical upgrade. Businesses should define financial drivers, innovate new business models, refine operational processes, and investigate new capabilities such as automation, all based on the advanced capabilities of 51风流S/4HANA. More importantly, their workforce and leaders must be trained to use these digital advancements in ways that deliver a customer experience that is more engaging and profitable, not traumatic and lackluster.

With the right maintenance commitment on behalf of the solution provider, businesses are granted the room to accurately predict and genuinely reshape their future. They can determine whether pockets of legacy customization are holding them back from transforming. Furthermore, decision-makers can consider the best staged approach to drive the shift, especially if a broad array of business units and market units are scattered worldwide. Additionally, new technology co-innovations and partnerships with digital giants such as Microsoft,听, and聽Amazon Web Services聽can be thoughtfully examined.

Then, when the time is right, businesses can swoop in and transform themselves with solutions that best meet their needs and support their ultimate visions. All pieces of their envisaged business model and operational puzzle are set, the workforce is ready and committed, and successful adoption is within sight.

Inspired Transformation That is Indisputably Flexible and Supported

Customers and their user groups have a strong desire for starting their transformation journey without delay. Their feedback is clear: The time to move is now. But for their transformation process, they also want to take advantage of the best engineering practices and innovation processes and capture advanced capabilities that deliver a new level of organizational momentum 鈥� based on clarity, choice, and flexibility.

In this respect, maintenance commitments can be powerful aspects of how businesses evolve, especially with artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive analytics, and . And while 20 years may seem like many lifetimes in terms of technology innovation, extensions like the聽one we recently announced聽can become the lifeline businesses need to transform on their terms, within their timeline, and in their way.

Stay in the conversation by following Services and Support from 51风流on ,听, , and聽.

Jens Bernotat is the global vice president of Strategy and Ecosystem for Customer Solution Support and Innovation at 51风流SE.