07 October

Planning Beyond 2030: What SAP Business Suite 7 and SAP NetWeaver Customers Using Third-Party Databases or Java Need to Know

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Customer choice starts with clarity. With more than four years to go, now is the right time to understand what changes are coming at the end of 2030 and what they mean in practice.

The dates for SAP Business Suite 7 maintenance have not changed: mainstream maintenance remains available through December 31, 2027, followed by optional extended maintenance through December 31, 2030.

At the close of the optional extended maintenance period, several support arrangements will expire simultaneously, including SAP’s current reselling and support agreements for third-party databases and Java. What we want customers to understand is what the expiring third-party agreements mean for their systems—particularly for systems running on third-party databases or Java. Customers using these technologies should prepare now and plan accordingly.

According to Michael Bloch, member of the Board at the German-speaking SAP User Group (DSAG), “Early information is essential for companies operating SAP landscapes. We appreciate the open communication about the support implications after 2030. This transparency gives customers an important basis for planning. The significance of these developments will differ across organizations depending on their individual circumstances. What matters now is drawing the right conclusions and establishing a clear strategy for the way forward. However, any decision should be based on a comprehensive assessment of all available alternatives and their respective long-term consequences.”

What ends on December 31, 2030

At the close of the optional, extended maintenance at the end of 2030, several support arrangements expire simultaneously. Here are more details of what this means for our customers.

SAP’s current reselling and support agreements with major third-party database providers for these legacy environments

The existing reselling and support arrangements enable SAP and the technology providers to work closely together to build and improve tooling optimized for SAP workload on third-party databases and to support, when an issue evolves at the integration between SAP software and a third-party database or Java. SAP’s current reselling and support arrangements with major third-party database providers are scheduled to end for these legacy environments. With expiration of these arrangements, the foundation for providing these joint services to SAP customers ceases to exist.

Once these agreements expire, SAP will no longer provide database-specific support for third-party databases in these legacy environments, including for customers that originally licensed their third-party database through SAP and enrolled in SAP Maintenance and Support.

For all affected third-party databases, SAP support will no longer cover the database-related corrections available today. What does that mean in practice? Today, when a customer raises a support ticket on a third-party database issue, SAP handles it end-to-end, routing it through integrated internal processes directly to the database vendor’s team. After 2030, that integrated support path will no longer exist.

SAP’s support arrangements for Java

SAP’s current support arrangements for Java (Java 8/JEE5) used with SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java 7.5 (SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA 7.5) are scheduled to conclude at the end of 2030. This is the central constraint: once these arrangements expire, SAP maintenance, including customer-specific maintenance, cannot replace the support and rights they provide. SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA 7.5 with all the add-ons will fall into customer specific maintenance starting 2031 without a follow-on release.

What happens after December 31, 2030

Implications for customer-specific maintenance

After the extended maintenance period expired at the end of December 2030, on-premise SAP Business Suite 7 systems will run under customer-specific maintenance. However, what SAP can deliver under customer-specific maintenance is even further restricted specifically for the third-party database or Java side.

For such systems, SAP will not be able to provide comprehensive support for issues involving third-party databases or Java. This includes kernel patches and kernel security patches for third-party database environments. Also, SAP may no longer be able to provide support and even downloads of database tooling associated with third-party databases. This includes databases, administration tooling, backup tooling, and upgrade and migration tooling for third party databases.

Again, this is a reminder of an important consequence of the expiring agreements with third parties. An issue may occur that cannot be resolved within the support framework available after 2030. That is, as laid out, especially the case for third party DB or Java issues. Customers should therefore not regard customer-specific maintenance for affected environments as a sustainable long-term operating model of business-critical systems.

Implications for conversion

Timing matters for another reason. A system conversion from SAP Business Suite 7 on a third-party database to SAP S/4HANA or SAP Cloud ERP will only be available before the end of reseller/support agreements end of 2030. After that point, only greenfield transition scenarios (new implementations) will be possible.

For SAP solutions that rely on AS Java, SAP provides solution-specific transition recommendations. Detailed product impacts and technical guidance are documented in the relevant SAP Notes.

Recommended paths for our customers

SAP’s strategic recommendation

Customers should use the time available to move toward SAP Cloud ERP and the SAP Autonomous Suite. This is the path to continued innovation and a fully supported, future-ready environment. The right sequence will depend on each organization’s starting point, business priorities, and landscape complexity.

Customers should plan to complete their transformation to SAP Cloud ERP, together with the appropriate go-to solutions in the SAP Autonomous Suite, by the end of 2030. Starting early gives organizations greater control over scope, timing, and risk.

Transition option for SAP ERP

Qualifying customers whose transformation is underway, but that need additional time can consider Transition Option for SAP ERP. This time-bound subscription offering is intended for the largest and most complex SAP Business Suite 7 customers that may not complete their move by the end of extended maintenance. It is designed to support business continuity from 2031 through 2033 while enabling a structured path to SAP Cloud ERP. Systems must be moved to SAP ERP, private edition on SAP HANA before December 31, 2030, and further eligibility requirements apply. The transition option does not support Java-dependent capabilities.

In select cases, switching to SAP HANA database

Customers that intend to continue operating SAP Business Suite 7 on premise can remove the third-party database dependency by moving the relevant system to SAP HANA before the end of 2030. This does not extend mainstream or optional extended maintenance. The system would still enter customer-specific maintenance, with the limitations that this entails, and SAP does not recommend this as the strategic long-term path.

Moving forward together

Our customers do not need to make these decisions alone. We are working with customers, partners, and our user groups to make the implications transparent and support realistic planning.

The maintenance dates announced in 2020 remain in place. On top, after 2030, dependencies on affected third-party databases and SAP NetWeaver Java cannot be comprehensively supported even under customer-specific maintenance. Our customers have defined paths forward, but some choices must be implemented before the end of 2030.

Now is the time to assess affected systems, clarify dependencies, and discuss the best path together with SAP or an SAP partner. Acting early gives organizations the freedom to sequence the work around their business priorities, reduce uncertainty, and protect continuity.

We will continue to communicate transparently and support our customers as they move towards SAP Cloud ERP and the SAP Autonomous Suite.

Learn more

Maintenance Strategy

2020 announcement

SAP ERP/transition

Updates for SAP ERP, private edition, transition option

SAP Notes

Philipp Herzig is CTO and a member of the Extended Board of SAP SE.