SAP moves from 5-1-2 support to 7-2
SAP modifies the support windows
SAP used to follow the 5-1-2 rule till recently. All products were covered under the mainstream support for 5 years at a fixed price of 17% AMC. This was followed by a penalty of 2% for 1 year and 4% for the next two years.
A client had to enter a specific contract for any maintenance outside of the published timelines. However, starting this year SAP has made a few changes. They are encouraging clients to move to Enterprise Support scheme that is at 22% of the license cost. The enterprise support now replaces the 5-1-2 rule with a 7-2 window, where in a client will get 7 years of mainstream support with another 2 years at a 2% penalty. What more, SAP whose last ERP 2005 also known as ECC 6.0 was released in June 2006, but SAP has reset the clock so, the support window starts ticking from March 2008. Under the 7-2 window, a client will be supported under the mainstream support till March 2015 and till March 2017 with additional penalty. Suddenly decision making has become a lot more easier.
SAP has also provided a breathing room for clients on older versions like 4.6c and now if they sign up for the Enterprise version have another year before they have to start making decisions on Upgrade.
