SAP ECC’s Second Act: From Cost Center to Cash Engine

enosix Founder Gerald Schlechter Unveils Smarter SAP ECC Strategy: Maximize Innovation, Minimize S/4HANA Risk, and Turn Legacy Tech Into a New Cash Opportunity

CINCINNATI, IL, UNITED STATES, May 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- For years, SAP customers were told one thing: Move to S/4HANA – fast – or get left behind. In early 2025, SAP made it official: ECC support ends in 2027, with extended lifelines to 2030. No more patches. No more updates. No more illusion of infinite time. Leading SAP solutions innovator, enosix, has weighed in on this move, offering a smarter alternative to abandoning ECC all together – one that accelerates innovation, preserves business continuity, and puts enterprises back in control of their roadmap.

“ECC isn’t a ticking time bomb. It’s a dormant gold mine – if you know how to unlock it,“ said Gerald Schlechter, founder of enosix. “The idea that you must rip and replace everything overnight – spending hundreds of millions just to get back to where you started – is outdated thinking. The new reality? SAP innovation is a hybrid game. ECC is still the backbone. And it’s ready to deliver again – without the years-long wait and wallet-crushing disruption.”

“We see digital transformation fail not because of a lack of ambition – but because of a lack of integration,” Schlechter noted. “The goal isn’t change for change’s sake. It’s ROI. It’s agility. It’s time-to-value.”

The SAP Hype – The SAP Reality
Today’s SAP customers hear a loud, simple narrative, “ECC can’t deliver the AI, CRM, Service, and Commerce. The answer? Spend big and migrate – or get left behind,” Schlechter said.

But the reality enosix sees on the ground tells a different story:
• S/4HANA migrations are slow, risky, and hard to justify in today’s economy.
• Modern CRM, CPQ, Commerce, and AI can all run on ECC – right now.
• With GDP growth hovering near two percent, CFOs are pushing back on multi-year, $100M+ projects with distant ROI.

“CIOs are being forced to make decade-defining decisions under pressure,” Schlechter said. “With so much on the line, pragmatism must beat panic.”

“This is the decade of operational discipline,“ Schlechter added. “If digital is the dream, integration is the reality check.”

ECC Is Still Doing the Heavy Lifting – And It Can Do More
With less than a third of customers having migrated to S/4HANA, ECC still remains the operational backbone for most SAP enterprises. According to enosix data, 90 percent of customers are choosing a hybrid modernization strategy:
• Innovate ECC Now: Real-time connections to best-of-breed frontends like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Microsoft, Shopify to accelerate revenue, margin, and productivity – funding your future S/4HANA migration.
• Phase to S/4HANA Wisely: Upgrade only where it drives measurable value. Transformation is only real when it delivers results now.

And when you’re ready to move to S/4HANA, the investment carries forward. With enosix, there’s no need to rebuild integrations – what works for ECC today continues to work seamlessly in S/4HANA tomorrow.

“The result? Faster time-to-value, better decisions, and a path aligned with business priorities – not IT mandates,” Schlechter said. “Because transformation is only real when it delivers now.”

Real Examples: Turning ECC Into a Cash and Productivity Engine
Across industries, enosix customers are proving ECC’s second act is more than theory:
• Mannington Mills – saved $400k, avoided ten new hires, and boosted portal usage by 250 percent by unlocking ECC data – streamlining sales, service,
and their S/4HANA path.
• Stanley Black & Decker – Reclaimed $10M from SAP pricing errors in one division – without touching ECC code.
• Sonny’s Enterprises – Cut quoting time from 5 hours to 10 minutes, unlocking 24 FTEs in productivity gains and real-time responsiveness.

With enosix, ECC isn’t fading out – it’s fueling ROI. Customers are unlocking 40-80 percent productivity gains by activating SAP data for AI automation without full migration delays.

“This is ECC’s second act,” Schlechter said. “Not just a bridge to S/4HANA – but a platform that pays you while you modernize.”

Smarter S/4HANA Upgrades Start With Smarter ECC Moves
By modernizing ECC’s engagement layer today, companies can dramatically shorten and simplify their eventual S/4HANA upgrades:
• Reduce SI spend: Simple migrations, lower service costs, faster results.
• Protect & grow revenue: Stable customer-facing systems prevent rollout risk and enhance customer service.
• Accelerate payback: AI, CRM, CPQ, and commerce gains start now – not later.

No rebuild required: The same enosix connections that unlock ECC today transition directly to S/4HANA – saving time, cost, and rework.

“The best S/4HANA migration strategy is one that pays you while you wait,” Schlechter emphasized.

You Already Paid for ECC -- Now It’s Time for ECC to Pay You Back
Schlechter emphasized that CFOs and CEOs today face a simple choice:
• Spend $100M+ and hope S/4HANA transformation pays off years from now?
• Or unlock $10M - $100M in cash and productivity gains from ECC now – while setting up a smarter S/4HANA future.

“You’ve already paid for ECC – why let it sit as a cost center?” Schlechter asked. “With enosix, ECC becomes a cash engine that funds your future. In digital transformation, the ones in the lead extend their lead. But you don’t get ahead by waiting -- you get ahead by unlocking value now. ECC isn’t a sunset story. It’s a second act that drives real financial impact. And when that second act sets the stage for S/4HANA – without a rebuild – you save twice.”

About enosix
enosix is the SAP Transformation Catalyst™ helping enterprises unlock real-time SAP data and automate processes faster than ever. Our SAP virtualization technology bridges ECC and S/4HANA to today’s CRM, Service, Commerce, and AI platforms – without disruption, middleware, or rip-and-replace nightmares. Built for innovation, built for impact. Feel the Impact™. Learn more at www.enosix.com.

Randolph Pitzer
Pitzer Relations
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