SAP ECC to S/4HANA Migration: Greenfield, Brownfield, and Selective Data Transition

SAP documents three ways to move from ECC to SAP S/4HANA: new implementation (greenfield), system conversion (brownfield), and selective data transition. A fourth term, lift and shift, describes moving a system to another infrastructure without changing it, and on its own it does not turn ECC into S/4HANA. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition accepts new implementation only. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and SAP S/4HANA on-premise accept all three paths.

The clock depends on your enhancement package (EHP). Mainstream maintenance for SAP ERP 6.0 with no EHP or with EHP 1 to 5 ended at the end of 2025. For EHP 6 to 8 it runs through December 31, 2027, with optional extended maintenance through December 31, 2030. On October 7, 2026, SAP stated that a Business Suite 7 system on a third-party database can be converted to S/4HANA only before the end of 2030, and that only new implementation remains after that.

What each target edition is gets covered in What is SAP S/4HANA, and what the SAP cloud contract covers during a migration is in RISE with SAP.

What are the official paths from ECC to SAP S/4HANA?

The table gives SAP's definition and the main condition for each path, based on Getting Started with SAP S/4HANA 2025 and SAP's lesson on transition paths, as of October 2026.

Path	SAP's definition	Key condition
New implementation (greenfield)	A brand new installation of the system, with master and transactional data migrated from the legacy system through the SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit	Completed, closed, and partially closed transactional data cannot be migrated; the new system inherits no Z code from ECC
System conversion (brownfield)	A guided technical process for a 1:1 conversion of an existing SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA	Not applicable for system consolidation; requires Unicode and does not support dual-stack; in one step it starts from SAP ERP 6.0 with EHP 0 to 8, with restrictions for some support package levels
Selective data transition	Migration of relevant business data that combines process redesign with keeping selected historical data	Relies on expert functions that are not generally available; SAP strongly advises SAP services or specialized partners
Lift and shift	Moving an entire system without change to a new landscape, typically through a system copy	On SAP Help, the source SAP S/4HANA system needs at least nine months of mainstream maintenance remaining; software and release version stay the same

In a conversion, the Software Update Manager (SUM) handles, in one procedure, the database migration to SAP HANA if needed, the software update, and the data conversion. Before that, the conversion guide requires the Maintenance Planner and the Simplification Item-Check and highly recommends custom code analysis. As an example of a warning, it notes that custom table appends are not retained by default and that the data in those fields is lost, which matters for custom fields on maintenance objects. What to do with Z programs is covered in SAP clean core.

Lift and shift is used to move a system that has already been converted, or to move on-premise ECC into SAP ERP, private edition. In neither case does the infrastructure move convert the ERP.

Which path is available for each target edition?

The table maps paths to targets, according to SAP documentation as of October 2026.

Target	Documented paths	Note
SAP S/4HANA on-premise	New implementation, system conversion, and selective data transition	The customer or partner executes and operates
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition (SAP Cloud ERP Private)	All three paths, plus lift and shift of an existing S/4HANA system	Under RISE, the customer or migration partner runs SUM, and responsibility for the system transfers to SAP Enterprise Cloud Services at the end
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (SAP Cloud ERP)	New implementation only	SAP states there is no system conversion or landscape transformation option for Public Edition

For Private Edition, SAP provides the RISE with SAP system transition workbench, with guided procedures for lift and shift and for one-step conversion. SAP S/4HANA 2025 received FPS02 on October 7, 2026. The two cloud editions run on different upgrade rhythms, compared in SAP Cloud ERP public vs. private.

How long is ECC supported? Deadlines by enhancement package

The table summarizes SAP's published policy for SAP ERP 6.0, as of October 2026. The dates did not change with the October 7, 2026 statement.

Environment or support type	Deadline	Condition
SAP ERP 6.0 with no EHP or with EHP 1 to 5	Mainstream maintenance ended at the end of 2025	Upgrading to EHP 6 to 8 moves the horizon to 2027
SAP ERP 6.0 with EHP 6 to 8	Mainstream maintenance through December 31, 2027	These are the latest three enhancement packages
Extended maintenance	From 2028 through December 31, 2030	Optional, at a premium of two percentage points on the maintenance basis
Customer-specific maintenance	For customers who do not opt for extended maintenance, or after it ends	Limited support compared with mainstream maintenance
SAP ERP, private edition, transition option	2031 through 2033	Cloud subscription for eligible customers; it does not extend on-premise maintenance

The premium applies to the maintenance basis of the contract, not to the cost of the project. Moving ECC to the SAP HANA database does not change the application deadline.

Conditions of the 2031 to 2033 transition option

SAP ERP, private edition, transition option is a time-bound subscription centered on ECC on SAP HANA. The conditions SAP had published as of October 2026 are these:

• Systems must be migrated to SAP ERP, private edition on SAP HANA before December 31, 2030.
• SAP HANA is the only supported database, and the minimum size is 2 TB per subscribed system.
• Eligible products are listed in SAP Note 3591251, and the offering is available only with the max success plan, charged in addition.
• It can be purchased starting in 2028. Customers who sign up for SAP ERP, private edition in 2026 get a standard 20 percent price uplift when they switch to the option in 2031; for 2027 and later, SAP has not disclosed the percentage.
• Java-dependent capabilities are not supported.

SAP states that the offering does not prolong SAP ERP maintenance and that nothing changes for customers who keep running ECC on-premise after 2030.

The dates for every version, from ECC by enhancement package to S/4HANA, NetWeaver, and HANA, and what each maintenance phase covers are in SAP maintenance end dates by version.

What SAP's October 7, 2026 statement changes after 2030

The statement addresses a specific group: SAP Business Suite 7 and SAP NetWeaver customers using third-party databases or Java components. For that group, SAP said the following:

• At the end of 2030, SAP's reselling and support agreements with third-party database providers end. From then on SAP provides no database-specific support, including for customers who licensed the database through SAP.
• After December 31, 2030, customer-specific maintenance no longer includes kernel and kernel security patches for those databases.
• Converting a Business Suite 7 system on a third-party database to SAP S/4HANA or SAP Cloud ERP is possible only before the end of 2030. After that, the statement points to new implementation only.
• SAP NetWeaver AS Java 7.5, with its add-ons, moves into customer-specific maintenance starting in 2031 with no follow-on release.
• Moving the system to SAP HANA before the end of 2030 removes the third-party database dependency but does not extend maintenance. SAP does not recommend this as the strategic long-term path.

The scope matters. The conversion restriction applies to systems on a third-party database, not to every ECC system on any database.

Compatibility packs are a use right, not an ERP deadline

Compatibility packs are ECC functions that SAP made available in S/4HANA for a defined period. In its February 4, 2026 presentation, SAP separates maintenance from the use right: once the date passes, the right to use the function expires. Transportation (LE-TRA), Customer Service (CS), and Production Planning for Process Industries (PP-PI) keep their use rights until 2030, as do the other items in S/4HANA systems under a cloud subscription. Outside those cases the right ends on May 31, 2026. That date applies to specific functions inside S/4HANA, not to the ERP, and ECC has no compatibility scope.

What plant maintenance has to carry over on each path

The table shows where SAP PM data and dependencies end up on each path. The new implementation column follows the guide Migration Objects for SAP S/4HANA, in its version dated July 2, 2026; the object list is checked again for the target release.

Topic	New implementation	System conversion	Selective data transition
Technical objects, task lists, and maintenance plans	Loaded through the PM migration objects: equipment, functional location, BOMs, task lists, measuring point and measurement document, maintenance plan and maintenance item	Converted in place	Defined by the project design
Open orders and notifications	In direct transfer from ERP, the order object selects order types PM01, PM02, and PM03 with status created or released; the notification object selects types M1, M2, and M3 with outstanding status	Converted with the system	According to the selection
History of closed orders and notifications	Not included in standard migration	Stays in the converted system	Kept selectively
Z code and enhancements	Not inherited	Kept, with analysis before and adaptation after conversion	According to scope
Interfaces and field apps	Redesigned on the target's interfaces	Retested on the target	Retested on the target

Three points need an explicit project decision on any path.

• History. In a new implementation, closed work orders and completed notifications stay outside the standard load, and suborders are migrated as standalone orders. The project has to define where history will remain available for lookup.
• Interfaces. The maintenance APIs SAP documents for Public Edition should not be assumed on ECC or on another release. Every interface needs an owner and a test on the target, as described in the SAP PM integration log.
• Field apps. The SAP Service and Asset Manager 2511 guide lists Private Edition, S/4HANA on-premise, and SAP ERP 6.0 with EHP 7 or 8 as back ends, and points Public Edition to SAP Maintenance Assistant. An app validated on ECC is not validated on Public Edition as a consequence. Planning points are in SAP PM mobile project.

How to decide on a path by criteria

The table organizes the conditions in SAP documentation that rule options out, as published in October 2026.

Situation	What SAP documentation indicates
The target is Public Edition	New implementation, the only path
The system runs on a third-party database and the project may run past 2030	Conversion only before the end of 2030; new implementation after that
Order and notification history must stay in the same system	System conversion or selective data transition
Several ECC systems will be consolidated into one	Conversion is 1:1 and does not apply; new implementation or selective data transition remain
Processes will be redesigned and Z code should not be inherited	New implementation, which starts with no legacy code
Process redesign with part of the history	Selective data transition with a specialized partner; issues caused by non-SAP tools are not covered by SAP support agreements

For context on where SAP customers stand, ASUG's 2026 SAP S/4HANA research, published on October 6, 2026, surveyed 194 members, and 68 percent said they were running or migrating from ECC to S/4HANA. That figure combines live systems and projects in flight among ASUG members; it is not a count of US companies in production. The difference between the two SAP cloud journeys is in RISE with SAP vs. GROW with SAP.

Maintenance execution during and after the migration

On all three paths, field execution and maintenance planning and scheduling need a target validated against the edition and release. PM RUN is a maintenance execution, mobility, and planning platform that runs on top of SAP PM without replacing SAP, and it uses SAP PM on ECC 6.0 or S/4HANA, on-premise or in the cloud. In a migration project, its integration goes into the interface inventory and the regression plan like any other. The asset management in SAP page describes what the platform covers.