SAP recently announced that SAP Business ByDesign will no longer be offered to new customers from April 2026.
For existing customers, this isn’t a cause for concern and there’s no immediate action required, and Business ByDesign continues to support many organisations effectively today. However, the announcement does provide a natural moment to pause and reflect on the future and brings with it some important questions to ask.
ERP systems are usually selected at a pivotal point in a business’s journey during growth, transformation, or the need for stronger governance. At that time, the system fits. It supports reporting requirements, matches operational complexity and gives leaders confidence in how the business is run.
As businesses grow, diversify, and evolve, many leaders find themselves asking a different question…
Is our ERP still aligned with how we plan to operate next?
ERP success often creates the next ERP question:
Interestingly, ERP reassessments rarely begin with failure. More often, they begin with success.
Over time, organisations experience natural change, such as:
- Expansion into new markets, entities, or regions.
- Increased operational or supply chain complexity.
- Greater pressure for real-time insight and faster decision-making.
- Evolving business models product-led, service-led, or hybrid.
- Higher expectations around flexibility, integration, and speed.
In these situations, the ERP system may still be stable and reliable but leaders begin to sense it was designed for a different version of the business.
That’s not a problem. It’s a sign of maturity.
Realignment is not replacement:
ERP reassessment is often misunderstood as a decision to change systems. In reality, it’s far more strategic than that.
Realignment is about:
- Confirming whether today’s ERP still supports tomorrow’s operating model.
- Understanding where friction is emerging and why.
- Separating short-term optimisation from long-term architecture decisions.
- Creating clarity before urgency exists.
In many cases, this process leads to confidence that the current ERP remains the right choice for the foreseeable future.
That, in itself, is a valuable outcome.
When ERP alignment conversations tend to emerge:
Across organisations, alignment discussions often surface when leaders notice:
- Reporting taking longer than the business now moves.
- Workarounds quietly increasing across teams.
- Integrations multiplying around the core system.
- Greater reliance on spreadsheets or external tools.
- Difficulty adapting processes without disruption.
These are rarely signs of system failure. More often, they indicate that the organisation has evolved beyond the assumptions made at the time of implementation.
There is no single “next” ERP:
One of the most important realisations leaders come to during ERP planning is that there is no universal upgrade path.
Different growth trajectories require different ERP shapes:
- Some organisations value operational simplicity and continuity.
- Others prioritise agility, insight, and user empowerment.
- Some require deep operational control across complex, multi-site environments.
The right ERP is not the most advanced or the most popular system.
It’s the one that best fits how your organisation actually operates.
ERP planning, therefore, is about fit not labels.
The advantage of planning before pressure exists:
The strongest ERP decisions are made early before timelines tighten and options narrow.
Organisations that plan ahead benefit from:
- Clear evaluation criteria.
- A realistic understanding of effort and change.
- The ability to phase decisions over time.
- Greater control over timing and investment.
Planning does not commit you to change. It gives you options and confidence.
How Frontline supports alignment-led decisions:
At Frontline, we work across SAP, Microsoft, and Sage ecosystems. This allows us to focus on architecture and alignment first, rather than steering conversations toward a predetermined outcome.
Our role is to help organisations:
- Assess ERP alignment against future operating models.
- Understand credible medium-term options.
- Design pragmatic 3–5 year ERP roadmaps.
- Move deliberately or confidently stay where they are.
Sometimes the right answer is change.
Often, it’s confirmation.
Both outcomes represent success.
Final thoughts…
If you’re currently using SAP Business ByDesign, Frontline can help you take a step back and assess whether your ERP is still aligned with how your business is evolving. Our approach is advisory and vendor‑agnostic, focusing on understanding your future operating model, where friction may be emerging, and what options make sense over the medium to long term. In many cases, that assessment leads to confidence in staying exactly where you are. When it doesn’t, it provides clarity and structure to plan next steps on your own timeline.
Book a call – Frontline Consultancy and Business Services Ltd
