SAP ECC end of maintenance 2027: Staffing requirements for S/4HANA

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The official end of maintenance for SAP ECC

The official end of maintenance for SAP ERP 6.0 (SAP ECC) has been confirmed: regular mainstream maintenance by SAP SE will end on 31 December 2027. For you as a department head, this date represents a hard deadline for the transformation of your system landscape. After this deadline, SAP does offer an optional, fee-based Extended Maintenance until 31 December 2030, but this comes with significant surcharges on your existing licence fees. Anyone remaining on the old system after 2030 will fall into Customer-Specific Maintenance without legal updates or functional enhancements.

Despite the looming deadline, you are by no means the only one looking for suitable project resources. According to the current DSAG Investment Report, only 37 per cent of companies currently plan to complete their migration to SAP S/4HANA by the end of 2027. Around 50 per cent of all SAP user companies are not targeting a migration until the end of 2030 using Extended Maintenance due to high system complexity and the acute shortage of skilled workers.

The high proportion of companies putting off the transformation is creating a massive cumulative effect on the market. 63 per cent of the companies surveyed cite the end of maintenance as a central influencing factor on their SAP investment decisions, meaning that project requirements across the entire DACH region are rising drastically at the same time.

The S/4HANA migration and the shortage of skilled workers

The temporal compression of migration projects meets a highly strained labour market. According to surveys by the digital association Bitkom, around 149,000 IT positions are currently vacant in Germany, with open vacancies remaining unfilled for an average of 7.7 months. In the SAP environment, this gap leads to critical bottlenecks when carrying out a complex S/4HANA-Migration.

Specific profile requirements in the transformation process

For a successful system conversion, general module knowledge is no longer sufficient. As a department head, you need specialists who bring deep practical experience in demanding core disciplines. If these key individuals are missing, you risk project delays, budget overruns and dangerous cutover risks.

• Cutover expertise: Experience in the error-free transition and go-live control of complex ERP systems during live operations.

• Brownfield and system conversion experience: Know-how in the technical conversion of existing SAP ECC systems, including historical customisations.

• ABAP Cloud & Business Technology Platform (BTP): Development and integration expertise for modernising individual extensions.

• Process Customising: Deep understanding of finance (FI/CO) and logistics modules (MM, SD, EWM) to map modern best-practice processes.

As demand for these niche skills is exploding at the same time, traditional job postings are rarely successful. Anyone who waits months for incoming applications risks the entire project schedule.

Salary development and daily rates for SAP consultants

The severe resource bottleneck is directly reflected in price and salary trends. For your budget planning in 2026, you must expect increased market conditions. A detailed look at the current SAP-Berater-Gehalt reveals clear differences depending on the type of employment, module and seniority.

For permanent Senior Inhouse Consultants, the salary bands in Germany typically range between 70,000 and 95,000 euros gross per year. For lead positions, cloud architects or in in-demand regions such as Munich (+10–18%) and Frankfurt (+8–15%), annual salaries easily reach 100,000 to 130,000 euros.

If internal capacities are lacking at short notice, external experts secure the milestones. The Tagessätze für Freelancer are at senior and architecture level between 1,000 and 1,400 euros per day. This investment secures the go-live and protects against much more expensive project delays.

Recruiting strategies for the SAP resource bottleneck

To master the end of ECC maintenance without project risks, you need a flexible staffing strategy that absorbs peaks and builds long-term expertise. The combination of permanent core teams and selective external support forms the most reliable foundation for your ERP transformation.

Three pillars for a future-proof team setup

1. Permanent Recruitment: Targeted sourcing of inhouse specialists for core modules, basic administration and process architecture to secure long-term expertise.

2. Freelancers & contract staffing: Short-term integration of vetted specialists for cutover phases, data migrations and specific niche topics.

3. Proactive Direct Sourcing: Actively approaching experts open to a change via specialised industry networks, without time-consuming CV noise.

As a specialised SAP-Personalberatung, Nova Search helps department heads and IT decision-makers in the DACH region to fill open key positions quickly and accurately. Under the professional management of Xenia Sadzikowski, we have access to a network of more than 1,500 pre-qualified SAP profiles. We will provide you with the first suitable profiles for permanent recruitment within 5 working days – and vetted freelancers & contract staff within 48 hours. Our 90-day guarantee additionally protects your investment for permanent hires.

Would you like to secure your S/4HANA migration with the right staff and wait 5 days instead of 5 months for qualified candidates? Request a non-binding briefing now and get immediate access to vetted SAP expertise.