{"id":61450,"date":"2026-02-05T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clarkstonconsulting.com\/?p=61450"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:20:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T16:20:59","slug":"2026-sap-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clarkstonconsulting.com\/insights\/2026-sap-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 SAP Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2026<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Download the full 2026 SAP Trends Report here<\/span><\/a>. <\/strong><\/h2>\n

This free trends report outlines industry perspectives and expert advice from our team of SAP consultants. You can view an excerpt of the report below, and if you\u2019d like to discuss any of the trends or other challenges in the SAP space, connect with our team today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Key SAP Trends<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As organizations in\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>consumer products<\/a>, retail<\/a>, and life sciences<\/a><\/span>\u00a0industries<\/span>\u00a0move into 2026,\u00a0<\/span>the focus\u00a0<\/span>needs to shift from planning to taking decisive action on\u00a0<\/span>SAP initiatives<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span>approaching ECC end-of-maintenance deadline\u00a0<\/span>makes it clear that delays are costly<\/span>, but it also\u00a0<\/span>creates\u00a0<\/span>an opportunity to simplify\u00a0<\/span>environments<\/span>\u00a0that have become\u00a0<\/span>difficult to manage due to<\/span>\u00a0years of\u00a0<\/span>customizations<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and extended product lifecycles, among other reasons.<\/span>\u00a0Organizations should take a hard look at which processes truly need to remain in the\u00a0<\/span>core<\/span>\u00a0and which can be supported through extensions or integrations.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clarkston’s SAP<\/a> consultants have highlighted the top trends that businesses should consider and keep top-of-mind throughout the year:<\/p>\n

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  1. The ECC Deadline Nears<\/li>\n
  2. Embedding<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>AI<\/span>\u00a0into\u00a0<\/span>Everyday Operations<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. SAP\u00a0<\/span>Business Data Cloud<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(BDC)\u00a0<\/span>Partnerships<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Clean Core Strategy<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  5. New Solutions and Capabilities for a Modern SAP Landscape<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. AI-Driven\u00a0<\/span>Supply Chain<\/span>s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Trend 1:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n
    The ECC Deadline Nears<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n

    As\u00a0SAP moves into 2026, both its commercial strategy and technology roadmap point in the same direction:\u00a0moving the remaining ECC customer base forward while making\u00a0<\/span>S\/4HANA<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Business Technology Platform (BTP)<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the center of gravity for innovation. In 2025, many organizations were still\u00a0operating\u00a0large,\u00a0highly customized\u00a0ECC landscapes that have been stable for years but increasingly hard to evolve. We continue to see clients juggling workarounds, third-party tools, and deferred enhancements simply to keep those environments running.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Even with\u00a0industry\u00a0estimates\u00a0suggesting that\u00a0<\/span>roughly 60% of SAP customers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0remain on ECC, the tone of the conversation has changed. SAP is leaning harder into incentives, bundled\u00a0offerings, and migration\u00a0accelerators\u00a0to address the remaining backlog\u00a0and bring customers onto platforms where new capabilities (like AI-driven features and advanced analytics) are\u00a0actually being\u00a0delivered.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Although the\u00a0<\/span>ECC support window has been extended<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0most clients recognize it as planning time rather than a true extension of the status quo. The reality is that meaningful innovation is happening\u00a0almost entirely\u00a0in S\/4HANA and BTP, and\u00a0<\/span>organizations that\u00a0continue to wait<\/span><\/a>\u00a0risk spending\u00a0too much time and too many resources\u00a0maintaining systems that no longer align with how SAP, or their own businesses, want to\u00a0operate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Trend 2:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n
    Embedding<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>AI<\/span>\u00a0into\u00a0<\/span>Everyday Operations<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n

    One of the most noticeable changes heading into 2026 is how AI is moving from something people interact with to something that quietly runs in the background of everyday operations.\u00a0In 2025, most organizations used generative AI in\u00a0fairly limited\u00a0ways.\u00a0Teams would ask questions in plain language or rely on AI for guidance, but the actual work still depended on someone translating those insights into action inside SAP.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    For many clients, this evolution is driven by practical constraints rather than experimentation. Teams are under pressure to do more with the same resources, and manual handoffs inside core processes are becoming harder to justify.\u00a0<\/span>Embedding AI<\/span><\/a>\u00a0into daily operations is increasingly viewed\u00a0as a way to\u00a0keep work moving\u00a0and\u00a0remove friction from SAP processes.\u00a0Organizations that delay\u00a0this shift\u00a0will struggle to keep pace with peers who have embedded intelligence into how work gets done.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Continue reading by downloading the full report below.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    Download the Full 2026 SAP Trends Report Here<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

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    Read last year’s SAP Trends Report here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

    As we move into 2026, that model is starting to break down. AI is becoming\u00a0<\/span>embedded directly into SAP processes<\/span><\/a>, with agents that understand\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0happening in the system and can act without being prompted step by step. Instead of explaining a problem to a generic chatbot, the system can\u00a0identify\u00a0issues on its own and move work forward within the application. SAP\u2019s AI assistant,\u00a0<\/span>Joule<\/span><\/a>, reflects this shift.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0evolving from an advisory tool into something that can take on routine operational work and support entire process flows, reducing the need for constant human intervention.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n