SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC)
1 Review 5/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★- End-Of-Life
SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) is a legacy on-premise ERP software for large enterprises. It is considered end-of-life, with mainstream support ending in 2027 and extended maintenance available until 2030. SAP encourages customers to migrate to SAP S/4HANA.
Product Overview
SAP ERP (also known as SAP ECC or SAP ERP Central Component) is an on-premise ERP software for larger enterprises. SAP is phasing out support for ECC in 2027. Customers are encouraged to migrate to SAP S/4HANA as an alternative. The software supports production, procurement, warehousing, sales, finance, human resources, and accounting. SAP ECC features strong multi-entity capabilities and the ability to handle complex global transactions.Pros
- Large network of resellers
- Extensive customer and partner community
- Many deployment optoins. Runs on multiple databases
Cons
- Complex learning curve
- High upfront costs
- No longer supported in 2027
What is SAP ECC - Central Component
SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) is the legacy enterprise resource planning system at the core of SAP’s Business Suite. Introduced in the early 2000s, with version 6.0 released in 2005, ECC became the backbone of business operations for thousands of global enterprises.
Built on the SAP NetWeaver platform, ECC was designed to unify critical business processes into a single integrated ERP system. It could run on multiple databases, such as Oracle, SQL, and IBM, and later gained support for operating on SAP’s newest in-memory database: HANA.
The modules or components, which are what SAP calls them, make up the entire SAP ECC Suite. They include 10 core functional components:
-
Finance and Controlling (FI/CO): Technically, two separate components, FI and CO, are often deployed together. FI manages the core financial processes like the general ledger, accounts payable/receivable, and asset accounting. CO manages cost centers, profitability analysis, and internal reporting to help organizations understand where money is spent and received.
-
Materials Management (MM): The MM component oversees the movement of materials across the enterprise, from procurement of raw components to the storage and delivery of finished goods. It is also tightly linked to inventory and warehouse processes, allowing businesses to optimize stock levels and reduce carrying costs, similar to modern inventory control platforms.
-
Sales & Distribution (SD): The SD component manages the full order-to-cash lifecycle. It covers order entry, product pricing, delivery, and invoicing capabilities. It ensures sales are directly connected to inventory and finance to improve accuracy and streamline fulfillment.
-
Production Planning (PP): The PP component aligns demand forecasts with available resources and production capacities. It is key for organizations managing complex supply chains and is used across discrete, process, and repetitive manufacturing industries. This module is similar to modern [MRP systems]/roundups/best-mrp-software/)
-
Quality Management (QM): The QM component ensures product and service quality from incoming materials inspection to final customer delivery. It includes statistical process control, quality certifications, audit management, and vendor performance assessment to maintain consistent standards.
-
Human Capital Management (HCM): The HCM component automates manual HR processes such as payroll, time tracking, and benefits administration. For large global operations, it consolidates employee data to improve workforce management.
-
Plant Maintenance (PM): The PM component monitors machines and facilities, such as production lines, boiler rooms, and HVAC units, to ensure working order. It supports preventative, corrective, and predictive maintenance processes to help reduce facility and production disruptions.
-
Project Systems (PS): The PS component supports the planning and execution of projects by tracking budgets, timelines, and resources. It ensures projects stay on schedule and meet budgeted targets.
-
Customer Service (CS): The CS component manages after-sales services, including warranties, contracts, and repairs. It gives organizations visibility into clients’ service and billing history for improving customer relationships.
Together, these modules made SAP ECC one of the most widely adopted ERP systems of its time, powering enterprises across more than 25 industries and in over 35 languages.
SAP ECC vs SAP ERP vs SAP HANA
The terms SAP ECC, SAP ERP, and SAP HANA are often used interchangeably, but they all refer to different parts of SAP’s software ecosystem.
SAP ECC stands for ERP Central Component and was the core application that managed business processes like finance, sales, and supply chain. SAP ERP is the broad label for SAP’s full product suite, which does include ECC, but it also encompasses other SAP ERP systems, Business One, and SAP Business ByDesign. Companies often call whatever SAP product they are using “SAP ERP”. SAP HANA, on the other hand, is not an ERP system at all, but a database platform that hosts applications.
While the ECC application could run on the HANA database in its later years, it was designed to run on third-party databases, such as Oracle and IBM DB2. This distinction is why SAP eventually rebuilt its ERP system as SAP S/4HANA, which was explicitly designed to run on the HANA database and take advantage of its real-time in-memory technology.
In short, ECC was the application, ERP is the catchall name and umbrella for SAP products, and HANA is the database layer. Today, SAP is focused on S/4HANA, which combines the ERP application and the HANA database into one modern ERP platform.
Future of SAP ECC
SAP has announced that mainstream support for ECC will end on December 31, 2027, with an optional extended maintenance period available until 2030. Beyond that, limited options, such as SAP’s ERP, Private Edition, can extend some usage to 2033. These timelines mark the official sunsetting of SAP ECC and signal SAP’s commitment to S/4HANA as its next-generation platform.
For companies still running ECC, the end-of-life status brings many challenges. While the system remains stable, it will no longer receive any innovations or security updates. This means delaying migrating to a new platform could risk security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and have much higher support costs as developers no longer maintain the system. The longer the old ECC platform is in place, the greater the potential impact these risks will have.
Because of these factors, most organizations are now evaluating their path forward. As of 2025, only 39% of ECC users have actually migrated to other platforms according to Gartner, signaling that the transition is more difficult than the risks of staying on. For many, this means planning a transition to S/4HANA, or finding an alternative ERP.
SAP ECC Alternatives
The logical successor to ECC is SAP S/4HANA, which SAP positions as its flagship platform moving forward. Still, some organizations may decide not to stay in SAP’s ecosystem, or may simply want to compare SAP to other enterprise resource planning options before making a decision.
Below are a few platforms worth considering:
SAP S/4HANA: SAP’s next-generation ERP system, built exclusively for the HANA in-memory database. It delivers real-time analytics, modern workflows, and cloud deployment options as the official successor to ECC.
Oracle Fusion Cloud: A cloud-based ERP designed for global enterprises. It offers advanced financials, supply chain management, and compliance tools. It regularly receives annual updates from Oracle.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations: A flexible ERP platform that integrates closely with Microsoft’s ecosystem. It is popular with mid-to-large organizations for its financial management, supply chain control, and scalable architecture.
Infor CloudSuite: An ERP solution with strong industry-specific versions for manufacturing, distribution, and healthcare. It offers modern cloud capabilities with deep industry expertise.
To explore other ERP systems, check out Our Top 10 ERP Roundup
Product Overview
Developer Overview
User Reviews of SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC)
Write a Review
Customers of SAP ERP probably only use 5% of its potential
SAP ERP brought some unique innovations in terms of data and processes, a “single truth” for management, and compliance with regulations.
The SAP ERP software is flexible and rich for every industry. It’s very complex and runs mission critical businesses all over the world, and can keep pace with the latest user experiences such as on an iPad.
Some of SAP’s new products are very sleek and usable while others take a bit longer to get there. It may seem a bit expensive, but it’s good value for what you get.
Customers of SAP ERP probably only use 5% of it’s potential and it can last a business for decades, which shows how much value it can provide.
