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The Sign-Off Table

Lesson 2 of 5

Finding authoritative dates

9 min

Release calendars go wrong in a predictable way: someone copies a date from a slide, the slide was from two years ago, and the date has moved. Dates in SAP's world are planned, versioned and sometimes changed. The discipline is simple: every date in Contoso's calendar has a source, a date it was checked, and a person who checks it again.

QuestionWhere to look
When does mainstream maintenance end for a product version?SAP Product Availability Matrix (PAM) on the SAP Support Portal
What are the maintenance phases and what happens after mainstream?SAP Support Portal pages on release and maintenance strategy and maintenance phases, and the SAP Notes they reference
When will the next S/4HANA feature pack or release arrive, and what will it contain?SAP Road Map Explorer and SAP's release information for SAP S/4HANA; What's New Viewer once released
When will SAP upgrade our public edition systems?SAP's upgrade and maintenance schedule for your landscape type, plus the notification emails and SAP for Me
Which security notes came out this month?SAP Security Notes in SAP for Me, linked from the SAP Security Notes page
What changed in SAP BTP or SAP Cloud ALM?What's New Viewer for the service; SAP Discovery Center for plans and regions
What is the plan for SAP Solution Manager?SAP Support Portal pages for Solution Manager and the transition to SAP Cloud ALM

Where authoritative answers live. Announcements explain; the reference tools and your contract decide.

Maintenance phases

SAP describes several maintenance phases. Mainstream maintenance is the standard phase included in the maintenance contract. Extended maintenance, offered for SAP Business Suite 7, extends support at an additional fee under a separate addendum. After mainstream (or extended) maintenance ends, systems move to customer-specific maintenance, where SAP continues to address known issues but with a reduced scope; SAP's Solution Manager FAQ points to SAP Notes 52505 and 305372 for the restrictions. Reading a date correctly means knowing which phase it ends.

Mainstream maintenanceStandard support, corrections, legal changes; included in the maintenance contract
Extended maintenanceOptional, for SAP Business Suite 7; additional fee and addendum; similar scope for a limited period
Customer-specific maintenanceAfter the end of mainstream or extended maintenance; known issues handled, reduced scope (see the SAP Notes referenced by SAP)
Maintenance phases. Always note which phase a date ends.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-rel-204

Reading dates carefully

  • "End of 2027" means December 31, 2027. SAP's Solution Manager transition page states mainstream maintenance ends on that date.
  • Announcements versus reference data. A news article explains a decision; PAM and your contract carry the dates that apply to you.
  • Planned dates move. SAP's road map and schedule documents are marked as planning information subject to change.
  • Region and landscape matter. Public edition upgrade windows depend on landscape type and data center; use the schedule for yours.
  • Product version, not product family. SAP S/4HANA 2023 and 2025 have different end dates; check the version you run.
  1. Find the sourcePAM, the support page, the schedule document or the notification
  2. Record itLink, product version, the phase the date ends, and the date checked
  3. Enter in the calendarEvery date carries its source link and check date
  4. Set a reviewOwner and next check date, for example every quarter
  5. Recheck and log changesIf SAP moves a date, record old and new values and notify the people affected
Luis's date verification routine.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-rel-204

Contoso's calendar shows what this looks like in practice. The entry for SAP Solution Manager reads: end of mainstream maintenance December 31, 2027; source, the SAP Support Portal page on the transition to SAP Cloud ALM; checked on the first business day of the quarter by Luis. The entry for SAP S/4HANA 2025 reads: end of mainstream maintenance per PAM, about seven years after release under SAP's policy; exact date to be confirmed in PAM and rechecked each quarter. The second entry is honest about what is known and what still needs checking, which is exactly what a planner needs.

What would you do?

A consultant's slide in a steering meeting says SAP Process Orchestration support "ends in 2025". Contoso still runs an interface on it during the transition. What should Luis do?

Key points
  • Every calendar date needs a source, a check date and an owner.
  • PAM holds planned maintenance dates per product version; support pages explain phases and transitions.
  • Mainstream, extended (Business Suite 7, extra fee) and customer-specific maintenance end at different times.
  • Road maps and schedules are planning information; recheck them regularly.
  • Prefer SAP's own material over slides and secondary summaries.

Check your understanding · not graded

Lesson check

  1. 1. Where should you check the planned end of maintenance for a specific SAP product version?

  2. 2. Extended maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7 is:

  3. 3. What should every date in a release calendar carry?

  4. 4. After mainstream and extended maintenance end, systems move to: