SAP Third-Party Maintenance in 2026: Rimini Street, Spinnaker and New Options After SAP's Support Changes

The 2026 3PM Landscape: What's Changed

The ECC 2027 maintenance deadline has accelerated third-party maintenance adoption at an unprecedented pace. What was once a niche strategy for cost-conscious enterprises is now mainstream — driven by real business pressure and improved provider offerings.

The 3PM market has experienced estimated 35% growth in SAP customer adoption since 2023, and this momentum is showing no signs of slowing. The legal landscape has shifted decisively: Rimini Street's multiple lawsuit settlements with SAP have established 3PM as legally defensible across most jurisdictions, removing one of the last barriers to adoption.

SAP's counter-moves have been aggressive. The company announced extended maintenance offerings extending to 2030 (and 2033 for select customers), designed to make 3PM less attractive by extending the runway before customers are forced to migrate. However, this extended maintenance comes at a premium — typically 2-4% above the standard 22% maintenance rate.

The competitive dynamic has fundamentally changed. SAP's extended maintenance pricing strategy, while protective, has inadvertently validated the business case for 3PM by publicly acknowledging that enterprises will face a choice. For many organisations, the mathematics are simple: pay the 2-4% premium to SAP or switch to a provider offering 50% of SAP's standard maintenance fee.

Rimini Street: What They Offer in 2026

Rimini Street remains the undisputed market leader in third-party SAP maintenance. As a publicly listed company (NASDAQ: RMNI), they serve over 5,000 clients globally and have become the most recognised alternative to SAP's own support organisation.

Their core offering is straightforward: full-service SAP support at approximately 50% of SAP's standard maintenance fee. But this simplicity masks a sophisticated support operation. Rimini provides:

• Security patches and vulnerability fixes (independently generated, not from SAP)
• Regulatory and legal updates for supported countries
• Interoperability support for integration with major third-party systems
• Custom code support and ABAP bug fixes
• Basis infrastructure support and performance optimisation
• 10-15 minute response SLA for critical mission-critical issues

In 2026, Rimini expanded its security patching programme significantly — this has become their key competitive differentiator as the ECC deadline approaches. The expanded programme means more frequent security updates and broader vulnerability coverage, directly addressing enterprise concerns about running older systems in an increasingly hostile security environment.

A notable addition to Rimini's offerings is "Rimini Protect," a security-focused addon that provides firewall-based protection for unpatched SAP vulnerabilities. For enterprises concerned about running ECC beyond its mainstream support window, this is becoming an increasingly important layer of protection.

Rimini's standard pricing model offers a 50% reduction from your current SAP maintenance fee, typically structured as 3-5 year contracts. However, Rimini has become more flexible with contract terms — you can now negotiate multi-year contracts with annual price adjustments, or shorter-term agreements if you're planning a migration.

Important limitations: Rimini cannot provide access to SAP's future roadmap features, and they cannot certify you for new SAP products like S/4HANA or RISE. This is a critical consideration if you're planning a migration within 5 years.

For a detailed comparison of Rimini Street against SAP and Spinnaker, see our full Rimini Street vs Spinnaker vs SAP comparison.

Spinnaker Support: The Mid-Market Alternative

Spinnaker Support has emerged as a serious alternative to Rimini Street, particularly for mid-market enterprises with heavily customised SAP environments. Founded by SAP veterans, Spinnaker brings deep technical expertise and a more consultative approach to enterprise support.

Spinnaker targets the mid-market segment — typically enterprises with SAP licence estates between $50M-$500M — primarily in North America and Europe. Their value proposition is built on custom code expertise and a deeper commitment to understanding how your specific SAP environment is configured.

The cost model is similar to Rimini: approximately 50% of your current SAP maintenance fee, typically structured as 3-year contracts. Where Spinnaker differentiates is in their approach. Rather than treating all customers identically, Spinnaker provides more consultative support, with deeper custom code support commitments and a greater willingness to engage with your specific technical challenges.

Coverage includes ECC, BW, CRM, SCM, and selected SAP add-ons. In 2026, Spinnaker expanded their European legal and regulatory update coverage — a significant addition for enterprises managing GDPR, CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), and other evolving compliance requirements. This is becoming increasingly important as regulatory requirements change.

Spinnaker suits enterprises that have made significant customisations to their ECC environment and need deep application support, not just basic maintenance. They're less suitable for vanilla SAP implementations or for enterprises planning near-term migrations.

Other 3PM Options: Origina and Emerging Players

While Rimini and Spinnaker dominate the market, other providers are gaining traction in specific segments.

Origina originally built its reputation as an IBM software maintenance specialist, expanding into SAP support in 2023-2024. Origina is still building its SAP-specific capabilities and tends to work with larger enterprises that have existing relationships in other areas of software support. Their SAP practice is less mature than Rimini or Spinnaker, but they're growing.

Lemongrass represents a hybrid model between traditional 3PM and cloud-managed services. Rather than taking over your on-premise ECC system entirely, Lemongrass provides cloud-managed services that include some support functions. This appeals to organisations that want to start moving toward cloud infrastructure without fully committing to S/4HANA yet.

Hyperscaler-offered support: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all offer SAP managed services that include some support functions. These offerings are particularly relevant if you're already running SAP on cloud infrastructure or considering cloud migration. Hyperscaler support is typically more expensive than dedicated 3PM providers but offers advantages in terms of infrastructure integration.

Regional players: Various local and regional firms offer SAP 3PM in specific geographies. The quality and depth of support varies considerably. Before signing with a regional provider, verify their specific track record with SAP (not just general software support) and ensure they have mature service delivery infrastructure.

Key consideration: Not all software maintenance expertise translates to SAP. SAP is a unique ecosystem with specific security, patching, and regulatory requirements. Before committing to any 3PM provider, verify they have genuine SAP expertise — not just generic enterprise software support capabilities.

What 3PM Covers (and What It Doesn't)

This is the critical distinction. Third-party maintenance is not a complete replacement for SAP support — it's a focused alternative that covers specific functions while explicitly excluding others.

The S/4HANA Question: Can You Use 3PM and Still Migrate?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions we encounter: "Can we use 3PM to save money on ECC while still planning to migrate to S/4HANA?"

The honest answer: technically yes, but practically more complex than staying on SAP maintenance.

3PM customers have successfully migrated to S/4HANA — the route is not blocked. However, migration becomes more complex when you're on a 3PM provider. The reason is straightforward: SAP wants you back on their maintenance before you migrate, and they can (and have) restricted access to migration tooling and resources for 3PM customers.

Some 3PM customers have solved this with a "3PM bridge strategy": switch to 3PM for 2-3 years to save costs, then return to SAP maintenance 12-18 months before your planned migration. This allows you to capture 3PM savings while maintaining access to migration resources when you need them.

However, this strategy has a cost: going from 3PM back to SAP maintenance requires a "re-entry fee" — a one-time charge (typically 20-30% of your annual maintenance cost) to return to SAP's support organisation. You need to negotiate this re-entry fee upfront with SAP before committing to 3PM. Don't assume you can return without penalty.

If you're planning S/4HANA migration within 5 years, factor the 3PM savings against the re-entry fee, plus the complexity of returning to SAP before migration. For many organisations, this breaks the economic case for 3PM.

For detailed analysis of 3PM migration strategies, see our S/4HANA Migration Licensing service page — we model these scenarios for clients regularly.

SAP's Response to the 3PM Market

SAP hasn't ignored the 3PM threat. The company has responded with multiple strategic moves:

Extended maintenance pricing: SAP announced extended maintenance at a premium — typically 2-4% above the standard 22% annual maintenance rate — extending to 2030 and 2033 for select customers. This is designed to bridge the gap between ECC's mainstream support end and typical migration timelines, making 3PM less economically attractive.

PCOE (Partner Centre of Expertise) requirements: SAP uses certification requirements to maintain leverage. If you want support for specific add-ons or extensions, SAP can require PCOE compliance — which often pushes 3PM customers back to SAP. This is becoming more restrictive as SAP expands the list of products requiring PCOE certification.

Account team pressure: SAP's enterprise account teams actively discourage 3PM adoption. When they discover a customer is considering 3PM, they typically offer a commercial counter-offer — usually a 2-4% maintenance rate reduction that makes returning to SAP more attractive. This is powerful leverage: even if you don't intend to switch to 3PM, getting a 3PM quote can trigger a substantial SAP discount.

The competitive dynamic: SAP's awareness of 3PM quotes and competitive pressure almost always results in a commercial counter-offer. For a $100M licence estate, a 2-3% maintenance rate reduction equals $2-3M in annual savings — without switching providers. This is driving a "quote game" where enterprises regularly solicit 3PM quotes primarily to negotiate better SAP pricing.

For details on SAP's extended maintenance offerings, see our SAP extended maintenance cost guide.

Decision Framework: Is 3PM Right for You?

The decision to switch to 3PM is fundamentally strategic, not just tactical. These questions will help you frame the right approach:

Negotiating 3PM Into Your SAP Discussion

Here's a practical truth: you should never approach an SAP renewal negotiation without a 3PM quote in hand. Even if you decide to stay with SAP, the 3PM quote is your most powerful negotiating tool.

Use the quote as leverage. You don't need to threaten to switch — just make it clear that you're evaluating options. SAP's typical response is a 2-4% maintenance rate reduction offered immediately, often combined with other concessions (tool access, training credits, consulting hours).

The math is compelling. For a $100M licence estate paying 22% annual maintenance ($22M/year), a credible 3PM quote of $11M/year should trigger a SAP counter-offer of $20-21M/year. That single negotiation saves $1-2M annually — often more than the total cost of engaging external advisors to manage the negotiation.

Timing is critical: get 3PM quotes 12-18 months before your SAP renewal. This gives you time to evaluate options, model 5-year scenarios, and prepare for negotiations. Don't wait until your renewal is imminent — at that point, you have no time to switch providers if needed.

For help with SAP negotiation strategy, see our SAP contract negotiation advisors service page.

Related Articles