Maintenance and Support Offerings from SAP
To understand SAP's support offerings and the maintenance strategy, it is important to distinguish two dimensions: scope and time.
- In terms of the scope, SAP offers three levels of support offerings: SAP Standard Support, SAP Premium Support, and SAP MaxAttention.
- In terms of the timeline, SAP defines three maintenance phases: mainstream maintenance, extended maintenance, and customer-specific maintenance.
SAP's Release Strategy for all Major Shipments Up to 2005
In the past, SAP’s release and maintenance strategy was more component-oriented than application-oriented. Thus, former versions of the brochure "SAP’s Release Strategy" displayed a more fragmented planning approach. With applications as bigger units of upgrade and integration planning, the complexity of the upgrade planning process has been reduced and integration planning has become simpler.
Of course, customers who are still running SAP applications and components released before 2005, still have the possibility to view their release and maintenance dates on the following pages.
However, if you need information on the release and maintenance strategy in general, or on special topics such as the SAP upgrade offerings, please refer to the online version of SAP's release strategy for shipments from 2005 onward.
Online Version: White Paper "SAP's Release Strategy"
News on SAP Support Offerings and SAP Maintenance Strategy
End of Mainstream Maintenance for SAP CRM 3.0, 3.1
End of Mainstream Maintenance for SAP APO 3.0A, SAP APO 3.1, SAP SCM 4.0
End of Extended Maintenance for SAP R/3 3.1I, 4.0B, 4.5B, 4.6B
End of Mainstream Maintenance for SAP R/3 4.6C
End of Mainstream Maintenance for SAP EBP 3.0, SAP SRM 2.0 (EBP 3.5), SAP SRM 3.0 (EBP 4.0)
End of Mainstream Maintenance for SAP CRM 3.0, 3.1
Maintenance durations for releases of SAP CRM are scheduled as follows:
- SAP CRM 3.0, SAP CRM 3.1: End of mainstream maintenance on December 31, 2006, start of customer-specific maintenance on January 1, 2007
As these releases do not follow the 5-1-2 maintenance strategy, SAP does not offer extended maintenance.
If you have not yet planned an upgrade for these releases, you should do so now. The timing of the upgrade depends on your individual requirements. There is no general requirement to upgrade before the end of mainstream maintenance – SAP continues to support you even after mainstream maintenance has ended. However, you should evaluate whether the specific conditions of customer-specific maintenance affect you and make an early upgrade advisable.
Customer-specific maintenance begins automatically. It is covered by the standard support contract and priced at the same level as mainstream maintenance - there is no need to apply for an additional contract. During customer-specific maintenance, you still receive most of the services from mainstream maintenance, with the following exceptions:
- No new Support Packages
- No new legal changes
- Limited technology updates:
- New SAP Kernel patches or releases to support new operating system / database versions may not be available.
- Direct upgrades from releases in customer-specific maintenance to the most recent releases may not be available so that upgrades have to be carried out in several steps.
- Interfaces to integrate new functionality in new releases of other applications may not be available.
- Customer-specific problem resolution:
- SAP continues to process problem messages.
- Solutions for known bugs are provided; solutions for new bugs may be charged based on time and material.
- Corrections can only be done as individual corrections in the customer system. SAP may not be able to provide solutions for problems with third-party software components which are no longer supported by the vendor or for software components where the source code is not accessible to the customer.
These exceptions do not affect all customers equally. If they do not affect you, it is perfectly feasible to run a release in customer-specific maintenance. If one or several of these exceptions do apply, you should upgrade as soon as possible.
If you need more information, you can contact your SAP contact person or refer to the SAP Service Marketplace.
End of Mainstream Maintenance for SAP APO 3.0A, SAP APO 3.1, SAP SCM 4.0
Maintenance durations for releases of SAP APO / SAP SCM are scheduled as follows:
- SAP APO 3.0A, SAP APO 3.1: End of mainstream maintenance on December 31, 2006; start of customer-specific maintenance on January 1, 2007
- SAP SCM 4.0: End of mainstream maintenance on June 30, 2007; start of customer-specific maintenance on July 1, 2007
As these releases do not follow the 5-1-2 maintenance strategy, SAP does not offer extended maintenance.
If you have not yet planned an upgrade for these releases, you should do so now. The timing of the upgrade depends on your individual requirements. There is no general requirement to upgrade before the end of mainstream maintenance – SAP continues to support you even after mainstream maintenance has ended. However, you should evaluate whether the specific conditions of customer-specific maintenance affect you and make an early upgrade advisable.
Customer-specific maintenance begins automatically. It is covered by the standard support contract and priced at the same level as mainstream maintenance - there is no need to apply for an additional contract. During customer-specific maintenance, you still receive most of the services from mainstream maintenance, with the following exceptions:
- No new Support Packages
- No new legal changes
- Limited technology updates:
- New SAP Kernel patches or releases to support new operating system / database versions may not be available.
- Direct upgrades from releases in customer-specific maintenance to the most recent releases may not be available so that upgrades have to be carried out in several steps.
- Interfaces to integrate new functionality in new releases of other applications may not be available.
- Customer-specific problem resolution:
- SAP continues to process problem messages.
- Solutions for known bugs are provided; solutions for new bugs may be charged based on time and material.
- Corrections can only be done as individual corrections in the customer system. SAP may not be able to provide solutions for problems with third-party software components which are no longer supported by the vendor or for software components where the source code is not accessible to the customer.
These exceptions do not affect all customers equally. If they do not affect you, it is perfectly feasible to run a release in customer-specific maintenance. If one or several of these exceptions do apply, you should upgrade as soon as possible.
If you need more information, you can contact your SAP contact person or refer to the SAP Service Marketplace.
End of Extended Maintenance for SAP R/3 3.1I, 4.0B, 4.5B, 4.6B
Maintenance durations for SAP R/3 releases are scheduled as follows:
- SAP R/3 3.1I, 4.0B, 4.5B, 4.6B: End of extended maintenance on December 31, 2006; start of customer-specific maintenance on January 1, 2007
If you have not yet planned an upgrade for these releases, you should do so now. The timing of the upgrade depends on your individual requirements. There is no general requirement to upgrade before the end of extended maintenance - SAP continues to support you even after mainstream and extended maintenance have ended. However, you should evaluate whether the specific conditions of customer-specific maintenance affect you and make an early upgrade advisable.
Customer-specific maintenance begins automatically. It is covered by the standard support contract and priced at the same level as mainstream maintenance - there is no need to apply for an additional contract. During customer-specific maintenance, you still receive most of the services from mainstream maintenance, with the following exceptions:
- No new Support Packages
- No new legal changes
- Limited technology updates:
- New SAP Kernel patches or releases to support new operating system / database versions may not be available.
- Direct upgrades from releases in customer-specific maintenance to the most recent releases may not be available so that upgrades have to be carried out in several steps.
- Interfaces to integrate new functionality in new releases of other applications may not be available.
- Customer-specific problem resolution:
- SAP continues to process problem messages.
- Solutions for known bugs are provided; solutions for new bugs may be charged based on time and material.
- Corrections can only be done as individual corrections in the customer system. SAP may not be able to provide solutions for problems with third-party software components which are no longer supported by the vendor or for software components where the source code is not accessible to the customer.
These exceptions do not affect all customers equally. If they do not affect you, it is perfectly feasible to run a release in customer-specific maintenance. If one or several of these exceptions do apply, you should upgrade as soon as possible.
If you need more information, you can contact your SAP contact person or refer to the SAP Service Marketplace.
End of Mainstream Maintenance for SAP R/3 4.6C
Maintenance durations for SAP R/3 4.6C are scheduled as follows:
- SAP R/3 4.6C: End of mainstream maintenance on December 31, 2006; extended maintenance offered from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2009. If customers do not make use of extended maintenance, their 4.6C installation will automatically enter customer-specific maintenance on January 1, 2007.
If you are running SAP R/3 4.6C and have not yet planned an upgrade, you should do so now. The timing of the upgrade depends on your individual requirements. There is no general requirement to upgrade before the end of mainstream maintenance. However, if you plan to perform the upgrade in 2007 or later, you should evaluate whether extended maintenance or customer-specific maintenance is the right option to bridge the gap between the end of mainstream maintenance and the upgrade.
If you want to continue to receive the full benefits of SAP Standard Support beyond 2006, you should order extended maintenance. This can be done via an easy to use online order form. Extended maintenance is available for a small additional fee.
Customer-specific maintenance begins automatically. It is covered by the standard support contract and priced at the same level as mainstream maintenance - there is no need to apply for an additional contract. During customer-specific maintenance, you still receive most of the services from mainstream maintenance, with the following exceptions:
- No new Support Packages
- No new legal changes
- Limited technology updates:
- New SAP Kernel patches or releases to support new operating system / database versions may not be available.
- Direct upgrades from releases in customer-specific maintenance to the most recent releases may not be available so that upgrades have to be carried out in several steps.
- Interfaces to integrate new functionality in new releases of other applications may not be available.
- Customer-specific problem resolution:
- SAP continues to process problem messages.
- Solutions for known bugs are provided; solutions for new bugs may be charged based on time and material.
- Corrections can only be done as individual corrections in the customer system. SAP may not be able to provide solutions for problems with third-party software components which are no longer supported by the vendor or for software components where the source code is not accessible to the customer.
These exceptions do not affect all customers equally. If they do not affect you, it is perfectly feasible to run a release in customer-specific maintenance. If one or several of these exceptions do apply, you should upgrade as soon as possible.
If you need more information, you can contact your SAP contact person or refer to the SAP Service Marketplace.
End of Mainstream Maintenance for SAP EBP 3.0, SAP SRM 2.0 (EBP 3.5), SAP SRM 3.0 (EBP 4.0)
Maintenance durations for releases of SAP EBP / SAP SRM are scheduled as follows:
- SAP EBP 3.0, SAP SRM 2.0 (EBP 3.5) - End of mainstream maintenance on June 30, 2006; start of customer-specific maintenance on July 1, 2006
- SAP SRM 3.0 (EBP 4.0) - End of mainstream maintenance on December 31, 2006, start of customer-specific maintenance on January 1, 2007
As these releases do not follow the 5-1-2 maintenance strategy, SAP does not offer extended maintenance.
If you have not yet planned an upgrade for these releases, you should do so now. The timing of the upgrade depends on your individual requirements. There is no general requirement to upgrade before the end of mainstream maintenance - SAP continues to support you even after mainstream maintenance has ended. However, you should evaluate whether the specific conditions of customer-specific maintenance affect you and make an early upgrade advisable.
Customer-specific maintenance begins automatically. It is covered by the standard support contract and priced at the same level as mainstream maintenance - there is no need to apply for an additional contract. During customer-specific maintenance, you still receive most of the services from mainstream maintenance, with the following exceptions:
- No new Support Packages
- No new legal changes
- Limited technology updates:
- New SAP Kernel patches or releases to support new operating system / database versions may not be available.
- Direct upgrades from releases in customer-specific maintenance to the most recent releases may not be available so that upgrades have to be carried out in several steps.
- Interfaces to integrate new functionality in new releases of other applications may not be available.
- Customer-specific problem resolution:
- SAP continues to process problem messages.
- Solutions for known bugs are provided; solutions for new bugs may be charged based on time and material.
- Corrections can only be done as individual corrections in the customer system. SAP may not be able to provide solutions for problems with third-party software components which are no longer supported by the vendor or for software components where the source code is not accessible to the customer.
These exceptions do not affect all customers equally. If they do not affect you, it is perfectly feasible to run a release in customer-specific maintenance. If one or several of these exceptions do apply, you should upgrade as soon as possible.
If you need more information, you can contact your SAP contact person.