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Why Life Sciences Must Migrate from SAP ECC to S/4HANA Now
Discover why Life Sciences leaders are fast-tracking their move from ECC to S/4HANA to meet regulatory demands, unlock real-time insights, and drive competitive advantage.
#DrivingExpertLedTransformation
Mukund Shinde
Sr. Vice President (Enterprise Solutions – SAP Practice)
August 26, 2025
Accelerate ERP Transformation
Most life sciences businesses continue to use SAP ECC, a legacy ERP system in its end-of-life phase (mainstream support expires in 2027). Industry statistics underscore the imperative: of the approximately 35,000 SAP ECC customers globally, just over 39% had completed their migration to SAP S/4HANA as of late 2024. That is, some 30,000 organizations, including many pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and medical technology businesses, need to upgrade over the next couple of years to prevent unsupported software and increasing technical debt.
Delaying implies risk: 13,000 ECC users will remain on legacy ERP systems through 2030, with many unable to take advantage of new digital capabilities, according to analysts. [1] With IDC estimating that ~77% of SAP customers will require an SAP partner for the lengthy SAP S/4HANA migration, life sciences executives face a high-risk decision about timing and resources.
The 2027 cutoff for ECC support introduces considerable risk to business continuity, everything from a lack of vital security patches and compliance issues to an outright cessation of innovation. With the ever-changing global markets and the fast pace of digital transformation, staying on ECC not only restricts operating flexibility but also increases the expense and difficulty of maintaining legacy infrastructure. This is where we come in. Korcomptenz offers the right tools, expertise, and tailored solutions to ensure a seamless SAP S/4HANA migration with near-zero downtime and no disruption to your business operations.
Build the Digital Core for Pharma 4.0
As life sciences leaders double down on digital transformation, cutting-edge technologies such as AI, intelligent manufacturing, and predictive supply chains are transforming the industry. But to fully leverage these innovations, organizations require a modern, cognitive ERP backbone. SAP S/4HANA provides that foundation, providing real-time insights across R&D, production, quality, and finance through its in-memory design and integration with SAP’s analytics and cloud solutions.
The Imperative of ERP Modernization in Life Sciences
Life sciences businesses face challenges, including complex regulations, international supply chain pressures, and rising demands for agility and responsiveness. Despite this, many still continue to use outdated ECC legacy systems with fragmented data and slow batch processing. These systems weren’t designed for today’s volumes of data or real-time requirements, such as DSCSA or the EU Falsified Medicines Directive, and delaying migration only worsens the situation due to resource shortages and cost escalations amid growing demand.
SAP S/4HANA addresses this with features such as Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals, which automates serialization and partner data exchange. It combines transactional and analytical workloads, enabling quicker decisions, support batch traceability —a necessity in an industry where procrastination means incurring unnecessary expenses and compliance risks.
Though 85 of the world’s leading 100 companies run S/4HANA, roughly 85% of SAP’s total customer base is still on ECC. Migration is complicated and expensive; projects may last 3–7 years and cost $2M to $1B, but waiting only adds risk. For the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, the future is unequivocal: modernize now or risk losing ground.
Benefits of SAP S/4HANA for Life Sciences
An SAP S/4HANA core unlocks capabilities that map directly to life science’s needs:
Real-Time Visibility and Decision-Making
S/4HANA’s in-memory analytics provides real-time reporting on manufacturing batches, inventory, and expenses. For instance, with SAP BDC and AI capabilities, quality managers gain real-time visibility into batch release status, enabling faster, data-driven compliance decisions. Supply chain planners can execute quick what-if analyses when a component shortage occurs due to SAP IBP in conjunction with S/4. This kind of agility is essential in Pharma since an untimely ingredient can postpone drug shipments to patients.
Driving Business Value from the Top
CEOs of life-sciences companies increasingly measure value creation in terms of time-to-therapy, product quality, and supply continuity. ECC, designed in the client-server era, was never intended for
- Data-driven batch release with traceability at the device or vial level.
- Marginal visibility in real-time across complex contract-manufacturing networks.
- Incorporated AI models to predict stock-outs before patients are impacted.
SAP S/4HANA provides those capabilities natively, based on an in-memory architecture that integrates finance, supply chain, and quality events into a single layer of data. The outcome is not an IT upgrade; it is a rewrite of the operating model.
Efficient Supply Chain and Logistics
Life science supply chains today are complicated, say cold-chain, direct-to-patient fulfillment, and several contract manufacturers. S/4HANA’s sophisticated ATP engine quickly verifies order feasibility across various sites and warehouses. Contracting and spend management modules integrated into it result in procurement teams achieving improved pricing and adherence to supplier contracts. Industry commentators note customers experienced “faster and more accurate supply chain planning and ATP fulfillment decisions resulting in better order fulfillment” post-SAP S/4HANA implementations.
In reality, this translates into lower stock prices or overstock and increased on-time orders.
Integrated Compliance and Traceability
The platform natively supports industry benchmarks. S/4HANA offers “batch release management” and “advanced track and trace” to permit shipping only approved versions of the product to each country.
These capabilities automate FEFO (first-expiring-first-out) rotation and serialization of inventory, minimizing manual errors and audit aches. S/4 is also interfaced with SAP Quality Management (QM) modules for enhanced audit trails for Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). Essentially, clinical trial supplies for commercial drugs can be serialized and monitored in a single system.
Real Returns, Rapid Payback & Proven Results
Independent studies have moved the S/4HANA conversation from “why” to “how fast.”
| Study / Reference | 3–5 Year ROI | Payback Period | Key Operational Gains |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDC, SAP Digital Supply Chain with S/4HANA Cloud | 337% | 15 months | 14% faster order fulfillment; 27% fewer stock-outs |
| IDC, S/4HANA Business Value White Paper | 547% | 10.6 months | $53.1M average annual benefit per company |
| IDC, S/4HANA on AWS | 503% | <12 months | Elastic capacity cuts infrastructure costs and meets GxP requirements |
Finance and Commercial Excellence
On the financial side, S/4HANA streamlines complicated multi-entity consolidation (critical for global pharma companies) with real-time posting to a single ledger. Coupled with embedded SAP Analytics Cloud, finance organizations can close books in less time and analyze profitability by product family or region.
Sales and marketing organizations gain as well: revenue management and pricing solution integration (such as SAP Contract Accounting) streamline rebate and compliance computations (essential under value-based care frameworks). Industry analysis indicates top S/4HANA implementers say that they are capturing value early and entering new markets sooner with the improved finance platform.
Flexible Implementation Routes with Proven Results
| Migration Approach | What It Is | Typical Timeline | Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brownfield (System Conversion) | Upgrade the existing ECC system in place, reusing familiar processes | Approximately 6–9 months* | Minimal disruption, faster go-live, preserved validation and training effort |
| Greenfield (New Implementation) | Build a clean, optimized S/4HANA environment from scratch | Around 8 months on average | Full process redesign, leverages SAP best practices, ideal for innovation-driven firms |
| IBluefield / Hybrid | Mix of Brownfield and Greenfield—reuse selectively, redesign where needed | Phased deployment, timeline varies | Balances speed and customization, controlled scope, support for legacy & new processes. |
* Timeline estimates are for typical mid-sized implementations; actual duration depends on scope, complexity, and readiness.
Korcomptenz: Your S/4HANA Partner in Life Sciences Transformation
Korcomptenz brings 20+ years of SAP and industry knowledge to life sciences ERP transformations. Our certified experts are well-versed in the complexities of the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries, encompassing trial supply chains, FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, data integrity, and audit readiness. Our proprietary SDIT tool ensures accurate management of master and transaction data, enabling clean, consistent, and migration-ready datasets for a seamless transition to S/4HANA. We provide turnkey services, including readiness assessments, agile S/4HANA migrations, and ongoing maintenance, with embedded cloud, analytics, and security capabilities.
Our SAP S/4HANA specialists are experts in recovering delayed ERP projects, deploying fast and low-disruption implementations, and designing processes that address compliance and operational objectives. Supported by extensive cross-industry experience in pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, retail, automotive, and many other sectors, we deliver end-to-end transformation with quantifiable ROI through a global hybrid delivery model.
Final Thoughts
Life sciences leaders confront a once-in-a-generation inflection point: the end of ECC and the rise of AI-enabled, compliance-embedded SAP S/4HANA. The success stories will be those that frame migration as an enterprise transformation, measured in terms of ROI, patient impact, and regulatory trust, rather than a technical upgrade.
The clock is ticking. SAP will end mainstream support for ECC by 2027. Contact us to book an executive value discovery workshop and speed up your SAP ECC to S/4HANA migration before the 2027 window closes.
Speak with a specialist SAP consultant today and begin the next step in your digital transformation.
