In this article, we explain what SAP has announced, the risks of continuing to operate SAP Commerce On-Premise after 2026, why many B2B companies are switching to SAP Commerce Cloud, and what a pragmatic roadmap to the end of maintenance might look like. Of course, we will also answer the question of how we can provide you with concrete support.
01
What does SAP's announcement to discontinue maintenance of SAP Commerce On-Premise mean?
SAP has officially discontinued the On-Premise line of SAP Commerce. The last available On-Premise version is SAP Commerce 2205. Mainstream maintenance for this version ends on July 31, 2026. From that point onwards, SAP Commerce On-Premise will no longer receive regular security updates, patches, or new features. New functionality and innovation in the commerce environment will only be delivered for SAP Commerce Cloud.
In practice, you will often hear terms such as “end-of-life,” “end-of-support,” or “end of mainstream maintenance (EoMM).” They all mean the same thing: SAP Commerce On-Premise will become a legacy platform. You can technically continue to operate the platform, but you will then carry the full risk yourself – especially in terms of security, compliance, and integrations.
02
What does the end of support mean for your B2B business?
It is technically possible to continue running SAP Commerce On-Premise after July 31, 2026. However, in our experience with B2B companies, this is only responsible if the risks are consciously assessed and actively managed. In many cases, the disadvantages and risks outweigh the advantages.
Risks and disadvantages
Security and compliance risks
Without regular security patches, the risk of cyberattacks increases significantly. Undetected or unpatched vulnerabilities in a business-critical commerce platform can lead to data breaches involving customer, pricing, or order data. This is particularly critical in B2B e-commerce, where sensitive conditions, framework agreements, and individual pricing structures are often processed.
There are also compliance requirements. In audits and certifications – for example, ISO standards or internal guidelines – unpatched systems can lead to problems. Anyone continuing to operate an unmaintained commerce platform must generally be able to implement additional protective measures themselves.
Integrations, payment systems, and regulatory requirements
SAP Commerce On-Premise is typically deeply integrated into the corporate landscape: ERP, CRM, PIM, payment service providers, identity and login services, marketing systems, and more. All these systems continue to evolve. Payment providers change their APIs, browser updates alter user behavior, and new regulatory requirements, such as strong customer authentication or additional data protection rules, are added.
Without current releases, the likelihood increases that integrations will break or require significant effort to maintain. Experience has shown that ad-hoc fixes on a legacy platform are expensive, slow, and risky – especially when only a few experts within the company or at the service provider still understand the system in detail.
Innovative capability and competition
With its focus on SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP is shifting all commerce innovation to the cloud. These include modern personalization features, AI-powered search and recommendations, intelligent merchandising, and omnichannel capabilities such as self-service and service portals, as well as marketplace integrations.
Companies that remain on SAP Commerce On-Premise limit their ability to innovate. Release and go-to-market cycles become longer because every feature must be developed, integrated, and tested individually. Competitors already using SAP Commerce Cloud can introduce new functionality faster and provide their B2B customers with a modern customer experience.
Costs, resources, and technical debt
At first glance, it may seem cheaper to simply continue running SAP Commerce On-Premise after 2026. In practice, however, the total cost increases over time. Operating costs rise due to workarounds and custom solutions, as functions that are available in the cloud standard must be developed and maintained individually. At the same time, the dependency on a small number of experts who still understand the legacy installation is growing.
Additional costs may also rise due to system outages, security incidents, or integration issues. Many companies that remained on legacy systems later realized that the combined costs of operations, emergency fixes, and risk buffers exceeded the investment in a planned migration to a new system.
03
Why SAP Commerce Cloud is the logical successor platform
The SAP Commerce Cloud is the cloud-based evolution of the well-known Hybris and SAP Commerce platform. SAP is concentrating its entire commerce innovation strategy on this solution. For B2B companies, it offers several key advantages.
A central argument is the seamless integration with SAP backend systems, such as SAP S/4HANA and the SAP Customer Experience portfolio. Standardized interfaces and preconfigured integration scenarios enable end-to-end sales and service processes – from availability checks and individual pricing to approval workflows in B2B purchasing.
Another advantage is scalability. The SAP Commerce Cloud is designed to support international portals, multiple brands, and complex multi-market scenarios. Order volume peaks, seasonal fluctuations, or new international subsidiaries can be handled more flexibly without requiring additional infrastructure investments.
A further benefit is regular updates. Instead of your own large release projects, you benefit from a steady stream of improvements, security updates, and new functionality. This takes the pressure off your IT team and enables shorter innovation cycles.
For B2B companies in particular, the platform already supports key use cases out of the box, including customer portals, service portals, spare parts stores, authorized dealer portals, and role-and-rights concepts for complex purchasing organizations. As an SAP Gold Partner with recognized expertise in SAP Commerce, we have encountered these scenarios in many projects and understand how to implement them in practice.
04
Your roadmap to the cloud
The end of support for SAP Commerce On-Premise does not automatically mean an unmanageable large-scale project with an uncertain outcome. What matters is a clearly guided, pragmatic approach aligned with your existing system landscape that offers you more security, step by step.
This is exactly where we come in and support you, following the proven SAP Activate methodology with five phases:
- Prepare: We begin by developing a clear understanding of your current SAP Commerce installation at both the business and technical levels.
- Explore: Based on this, we develop a realistic target architecture and a migration strategy aligned with your strategic goals, resources, and timeline.
- Realize: We prepare the new environment, establish modern deployment processes, and migrate development and test environments so that you quickly see initial results.
- Go-Live: A clearly planned cutover, coordinated testing, and close support for your team ensure that your SAP Commerce instance continues to run smoothly.
- Run: We provide Hypercare and support, and help you expand new functionality, markets, or channels in a targeted manner.
This approach creates trust in the new platform – within IT, in the business departments, and among your customers.
SAP Commerce Cloud Migration
Would you like to modernize your commerce platform while migrating to the SAP Commerce Cloud? We support you in turning the end of support into an innovation project.
- Clearly structured migration to SAP Commerce Cloud
- Stable processes
- Future-proof foundation for your digital B2B sales
