Rimini Street: keeping the ERP on third-party support
The route that replaces the support contract instead of the system. It lowers the bill by the vendor’s account and removes the maintenance date as a deadline, and it leaves the ERP exactly as it is.
Contents
| Type | Keep the ERP, change who supports it |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Not published |
| Website | riministreet.com |
A company with a working ERP and an approaching end-of-maintenance date is being asked to decide to a vendor’s timetable. Third-party support is the way to decline the timetable. Rimini Street says its clients save up to 50% on annual SAP support fees and that it supports systems under a rolling 15-year commitment1.
Best for: Companies whose current ERP still does the job and that want to stop paying the vendor’s support fee while they prepare the real replacement.
Not the right fit for: Companies whose problem is the ERP itself: a support contract does not make a rigid system flexible or add AI to it.
What changed in 2026
The European Commission opened a formal investigation in September 2025 into SAP’s conduct in the aftermarket for on-premises maintenance and support, including the requirement to take support from SAP for the whole estate and the fees charged to return to it2. In July 2026 it accepted commitments from SAP, in force for ten years: customers may use outside providers for each part of an on-premises ERP system, contract terms are clarified, and licences can be terminated together with their maintenance in defined cases3.
The route is in use at scale. The Register reported that Kingfisher, which operates about 2,000 stores in Europe, moved its ECC system to the cloud with Rimini Street support4.
What it does not solve
Third-party support keeps the system running. It brings no new functions from the ERP vendor and no AI. Its value in a replacement programme is financial and tactical: it can fund the first stages of a new system from the old system’s support budget, and it lets the company set its own dates.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- Frees budget during the years a replacement is being designed, according to the vendor’s own savings claim.
- Removes the vendor’s end-of-maintenance date as the driver of the timetable.
- Since July 2026 SAP has committed, for ten years, to let customers use outside support providers for each part of an on-premises ERP estate.
Limits
- The savings figures are vendor-reported; fees are not published.
- No new software from the ERP vendor arrives under third-party support.
- It postpones the replacement decision and does not change what the system can do.
Choose another option if: The ERP already blocks the business. Then the money is better spent on the replacement itself.
Pricing
Not published. Rimini Street states savings of up to 50% on annual SAP support fees and "up to 90%" in total cost of ownership; both are the vendor’s own claims.
Questions to ask Rimini Street
- What is the fee against our current support bill, in writing?
- How are tax, legal and regulatory updates delivered?
- What happens to our licence rights and any vendor discounts if we later return to the vendor?
- Can we reduce the contract as modules move to the new system?
For third-party support against the other routes, see the comparison table.
Sources
- Third-party support for SAP. Rimini Street. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- EU probes SAP over alleged software support stranglehold. The Register, 25 Sep 2025. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- SAP loosens ERP maintenance and support rules. CIO Dive, 9 Jul 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- SAP’s grand cloud escape plan €2B short of the runway. The Register, 19 Mar 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.