The 2027 end of support for ECC may consume the oxygen in the room lately, but a less covered topic might be more critical: the end of support for Solution Manager has the potential for a larger-near term impact on large enterprises and SAP migration projects. This event is potentially more disruptive than the end of support for ECC by directly impacting the ability to continue IT operations for SAP.
SAP’s end-of-support decisions, aimed at incentivizing the move to Cloud ERP, have consequences for customers using Solution Manager functionality. The end of support for Solution Manager – included with SAP ECC as part of current maintenance, and continued availability depending on existing on-prem SAP maintenance agreements – creates exposure for any customer using Solution Manager today.
Those impacts are very real, as Solution Manager covers a lot of ground with SAP operations. Making it worse, even customers on extended maintenance through 2030 will lose some portions of Solution Manager in 2027 per SAP Note 3255311.
The picture differs by product, and the differences matter for planning.
Focused Build and Focused Insights are included in the usage rights of Solution Manager and follow its maintenance conditions. Mainstream maintenance ends in 2027.
SAP Landscape Management 3.0 reaches end of mainstream maintenance on 31 December 2027. SAP has confirmed no extended maintenance phase, and SAP Landscape Management Cloud has been discontinued.
SAP Focused Run sits outside this timeline. Its maintenance conditions are independent of Solution Manager, and SAP has committed to mainstream maintenance beyond 2030.
For Basis teams, the end of Solution Manager might be the bigger story of 2027. The end-of-support announcement and the absence of recent roadmap commitments make clear that Solution Manager is effectively end-of-life already.
What’s the exposure?
Solution Manager includes a broad range of functionality around SAP IT operations, creating a potential for disruption in many SAP deployments. Test case management, risk-based testing, test data management, technical monitoring, change/transport management, security, process management, infrastructure management, landscape management and more.
Frustratingly, the successor to Solution Manager, Cloud ALM, isn’t intended as a solution with feature parity to Solution Manager: the design is specifically Cloud ERP centric, and not intended for large on-premise estates or complex hybrid environments mixing SAP deployment topologies. This leaves many enterprises with a daunting challenge for the gap left by the end of support for ECC and Solution Manager, but before a full decommissioning of all ECC environments becomes possible.
So… what to do?
No one solution replaces all Solution Manager functionality in an ECC environment. Many solutions available, however, cover a specialized segment of capability and often more comprehensively with better functionality. With an understanding of the most important aspects of Solution Manager coverage to a given enterprise, a choice can be made for a replacement solution, and one likely to have additional technical and operational cost benefits.
Observe. Optimize. Innovate.
Avantra covers many key aspects of SAP IT operations, including improvements on Solution Manager components for monitoring, landscape management, ITSM integration, and Security Notes / Hot News implementation.
Avantra extends Solution Manager today and works alongside SAP Focused Run. For SAP Landscape Management, where mainstream maintenance ends on 31 December 2027 with no extended maintenance planned, Avantra provides a direct migration path. Expect improvement in the following areas:
- Monitoring across on-prem, hyperscaler, and RISE, with AIOps for automatic, real- time observability far beyond simple thresholds.
- ITSM Integration with enterprise solutions including Service Now.
- Landscape Management tasks and automation.
- Automation for many SAP operations tasks with a robust workflow engine built in.
- System Refresh – including automatic execution of pre and post copy activities often accelerating refresh by 10x or more.
- Automating Hot News and Security Notes, essentially eliminating evaluation/applicability research and verification and automating deployment in many situations.
This isn’t a complete list – there’s much more Avantra does for SAP IT operations! And, for other portions of Solution Manager – including Testing, Data & Change Management – we have great partners and we’re happy to speak with you about them.
Where SAP Cloud ALM fits
SAP positions Cloud ALM as the successor to Solution Manager. Its design targets Cloud ERP, not large on-premise estates or hybrid environments that mix deployment models. As you adopt SAP Cloud ALM alongside or after Solution Manager, Avantra supplies the monitoring depth, landscape automation, and cross-system operations Cloud ALM does not cover natively. The two run together. Cloud ALM manages the application lifecycle for your Cloud ERP scope. Avantra runs technical monitoring, automated daily checks, and operations automation across every system you still operate yourself, on-premise, on hyperscalers, and under RISE with SAP.
SAP SAFARI!
So, ride your Lama into the sunset, but don’t sweat Solution Manager’s end-of-life. While the end of support can present a challenge for ECC users planning to operate past 2027, Avantra provides a range of solutions generally more capable, more flexible and often with a lower total cost of operation than legacy SAP IT operations tooling. Now there’s an extra nudge to go ahead, dive in and improve.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does mainstream maintenance end for SAP Solution Manager?
Mainstream maintenance for SAP Solution Manager ends in 2027, with some portions of functionality ending per SAP Note 3255311 even for customers on extended maintenance through 2030.
What is SAP Cloud ALM and does it replace Solution Manager?
SAP Cloud ALM is the successor to Solution Manager, but it is still years from parity in many functional categories and may never have all the features of Solution Manager.
What functionality does Solution Manager provide that will be impacted?
Solution Manager covers test case management, risk-based testing, test data management, technical monitoring, change/transport management, security, process management, infrastructure management, landscape management, and more.
What are the alternatives to SAP Solution Manager?
Alternatives include specialized third-party solutions that cover specific segments of Solution Manager functionality, often more comprehensively with better features and lower total cost of operation.
How does Avantra replace Solution Manager capabilities?
Avantra covers technical monitoring, landscape management, ITSM integration, Security Notes and Hot News implementation, SAP operations automation, and system refresh. As you adopt SAP Cloud ALM alongside or after Solution Manager, Avantra adds the monitoring depth, landscape automation, and cross-system operations Cloud ALM does not cover natively.
What are the risks of continuing to use Solution Manager after 2027?
Customers using Solution Manager past 2027 face potential disruption to SAP IT operations, lack of updates in key functional areas, and limited support even with extended maintenance agreements.
Can Avantra help with the transition away from Solution Manager?
Yes. Avantra covers the Solution Manager capabilities most exposed by the 2027 timeline: technical monitoring, landscape management, ITSM integration, and Security Notes automation. Avantra also gives LaMa customers a migration path for system copy, refresh, and start/stop orchestration before LaMa maintenance ends. Where you run SAP Focused Run, Avantra works alongside it rather than displacing it.
Does Avantra replace SAP Cloud ALM?
No. Avantra runs alongside SAP Cloud ALM. Cloud ALM handles application lifecycle management for your Cloud ERP scope. Avantra handles technical monitoring, automated daily checks, and operations automation across your full estate, including the on-premise and hybrid systems Cloud ALM was not designed for. Most enterprises running a mixed estate through 2027 and beyond will use both.