The Burden of Legacy Versions: How SaaS Changes the Game

In 2027, SAP will end official support for ECC, its “classic” ERP. According to data published by CIO, nearly half of customers plan to keep using it beyond that date. This means that thousands of companies will remain on legacy versions, with software that does its job but becomes a greater burden every day in terms of maintenance, security, and adaptability.

This is not an isolated case. The same thing happens with many of SAP’s competitors in manufacturing-related software: rigid installations customized for each client, which become frozen over time. The result is always similar: accumulated technical debt, difficulty evolving, and hidden costs that grow year after year.

At Bold Factory, we designed our product specifically to avoid this trap. And the contrast is clear.

The burden of legacy

The first problem with fixed versions is technological obsolescence. With each passing year, the libraries and frameworks a system relies on lose support, become incompatible with new platforms, or simply become outdated. Maintaining them becomes increasingly expensive and risky.

The second major obstacle is upgrades. Moving from one version to another is not just a matter of installing a patch. It involves projects lasting months or even years: refactoring code, conducting extensive testing, adapting customizations, and retraining users. In SAP’s case, many companies have been putting off migration to S/4HANA for a decade precisely because of the cost and risk involved.

The third critical issue is customization. In both SAP and traditional MES, customers accumulate layers of “custom code” to adapt the system to their processes. That code ends up intertwined with the software’s core. Every attempt to upgrade risks breaking it, and rebuilding it becomes a recurring expense.

All of this leads to a fourth problem: version fragmentation. When each customer is on a different release, the provider has to spread its resources across multiple support branches, reducing its ability to innovate and increasing exposure to vulnerabilities. In the end, the customer pays for that inefficiency too.

Added to all this are security risks, growing dependence on the provider, and the demotivation of technical teams, who see their skills trapped in an outdated ecosystem.

The warning from the SAP case

The delay in migrating to S/4HANA is a clear symptom of what happens when a platform does not offer a smooth upgrade model. As of today, only 39% of ECC customers have made the switch. The rest remain on versions that will soon be officially obsolete. SAP offers extended support options until 2033, but that does not solve the underlying problem: a system that ages while competitors innovate.

This same dynamic is repeated among MES providers that work with on-premises installations and highly customized projects. Each customer evolves at a different pace, and the installed base becomes a patchwork of versions that holds back both the provider and the customer.

The SaaS model as an alternative

The key to SaaS is not just the cloud, but continuous updates. There are no traumatic version upgrades or divergent branches to maintain. All customers move forward at the same time, with gradual improvements and no major interruptions.

This translates into several tangible benefits:

• Less technical debt: the software stays current and maintained.
• More security and compliance: patches are applied centrally, reducing exposure to vulnerabilities.
• Extensibility without breaking the core: customizations are managed through APIs and external modules, without compromising future upgrades.
• Operational efficiency: a single version channel allows the provider to focus resources on genuine innovation, rather than maintaining old branches.

For Bold Factory, this model means that customers can grow without worrying about falling behind. There is no need to plan multi-million-dollar migrations every ten years or accumulate invisible technical debt.

Conclusion

The SAP case shows what happens when customers can put off change indefinitely: technical debt accumulates, risks increase, and innovation comes to a halt. This is a warning for any organization still working with fixed-version software, whether a global ERP or a local MES.

The SaaS model offers a different approach: always being on the latest version, with decoupled extensions, centrally managed security, and a platform that evolves at the pace of the market.

That is the path we follow at Bold Factory. Not only because it is more modern, but because we believe it is the only sustainable way for operations technology to support—not hinder—our customers’ business strategies.