If you’ve already established that the end of support for SAP Commerce on-premise affects your business, the next logical question is: what comes next?
After 31 July 2026, doing nothing is unlikely to be the right strategy. Your system may continue to operate, but every month spent running an unsupported platform increases technical, security and operational risks.
In practice, businesses have three main options.
1. Migrate to SAP Commerce Cloud
For many organisations, the most natural next step is migrating to SAP Commerce Cloud. This option is particularly suitable for businesses that are heavily invested in the SAP ecosystem and want to maintain continuity while moving to a fully supported platform.
The biggest advantage is that you remain on a technology stack your teams already know. You don’t have to rethink your entire e-commerce strategy, while gaining access to a cloud-native platform with ongoing support, regular updates and SAP’s future innovation roadmap.
However, this is far more than a simple upgrade. Before migrating, it’s essential to evaluate:
- the extent of your customisations,
- integrations with SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA,
- connections to payment providers, PIM, CRM and marketing platforms,
- the quality of your existing codebase,
- the performance and scalability of your current solution.
Migrating to SAP Commerce Cloud is typically the right choice if you want to reduce infrastructure overhead, stay within the SAP ecosystem and prepare your platform for future growth without fundamentally changing your technology strategy.
2. Replatform to a Different E-commerce Platform
For some organisations, the end of SAP Commerce support is an opportunity to rethink their entire commerce architecture.
If you’re already struggling with technical debt, slow development cycles or increasingly complex integrations, migrating to SAP Commerce Cloud may not be the only, or the best option.
An alternative is replatforming: moving to a different modern e-commerce platform that better supports your current business requirements and future ambitions.
Enterprise alternatives include platforms such as commercetools, Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Enterprise. Companies looking for greater control over their platform or an open-source approach may also consider Shopware, OroCommerce or Medusa.js, particularly for more complex B2B commerce scenarios.
This approach is well suited for businesses that want to:
- deliver new features faster,
- simplify integrations with external systems and services,
- reduce dependence on a single vendor,
- gain greater control over their architecture,
- build a platform that supports long-term growth and international expansion.
Replatforming is generally a more complex initiative than migrating to SAP Commerce Cloud because it goes beyond replacing technology. It offers an opportunity to redesign your digital commerce architecture to better support your business over the next five to ten years.
The decision shouldn’t be based on which platform is currently the most popular. It should be based on your business model, integration requirements, desired level of flexibility and long-term operating model.
3. Stay On-Premise. Temporarily
The third option is to continue running SAP Commerce on-premise after support ends.
Technically, this is possible, but it should only be considered as a temporary solution with a clearly defined exit strategy.
This approach may make sense if your migration cannot realistically be completed before the deadline, if your implementation is particularly complex, or if you need additional time to make a strategic decision.
In that case, it’s important to put at least a short-term risk management plan in place, including:
- monitoring security vulnerabilities,
- strengthening infrastructure security,
- auditing critical integrations,
- preparing an incident response plan,
- defining a clear timeline for ending on-premise operations.
Remaining on an unsupported version should never become the long-term strategy. It buys time but it doesn’t solve the problem.
How Do You Choose the Right Path?
The right option depends on the current state of your platform and where you want your digital commerce business to go next.
Before making a decision, we recommend evaluating:
- the extent of your SAP Commerce customisations,
- your dependence on the SAP ecosystem,
- the current state of your integrations,
- accumulated technical debt,
- your expected e-commerce growth,
- requirements for performance, flexibility and time-to-market,
- your internal resources for maintaining and developing the platform.
If your current solution is relatively stable and you plan to remain within the SAP ecosystem, migrating to SAP Commerce Cloud is often the most straightforward path.
If, however, you’re already facing architectural limitations, slow delivery cycles or increasingly complex integrations, 2026 may be the ideal time to consider a broader replatforming initiative.
Where Should You Start?
Don’t start by choosing a platform.
Start with an assessment.
A thorough technical assessment will help you understand whether your biggest challenge is simply the end of support or whether it’s a broader architectural issue that should be addressed at the same time.
Only then does it make sense to decide whether SAP Commerce Cloud or an alternative platform is the right long-term solution.
Start with a SAP Commerce Assessment
Get a clear picture of your current platform, technical risks, integrations, and the best migration path for your business.
Book a Free ConsultationIn the next article, we’ll look at what a SAP Commerce migration typically costs and the factors that have the biggest impact on the overall project budget.
