For years, SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) customers have dutifully paid their 20–22% annual maintenance fees—expecting updates, innovation, and support. In 2025, it’s time to ask a hard question: What are you really getting in return?
The truth? Not much.
SAP has all but moved on from BPC. The future is now focused on SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and Group Reporting. For customers still relying on BPC, that means fewer updates, minimal innovation, and a shrinking support window. Depending on your version, mainstream support ends in 2026 (BPC Microsoft), 2027–2030 (NetWeaver), or 2040 (BPC 2021 on BW/4HANA), if you choose to upgrade. And that upgrade? It can be expensive, disruptive, and often unnecessary.
That's why Column5 created BPC Lifeline—an alternative that lets you keep what’s working, offload what’s not, and stop overpaying for support that’s no longer serving you.
Join our May 7 webinar with AWS to explore hosting, support, and alternatives to BPC upgrades.
❌ SAP Maintenance: A Value Proposition in Decline
Let’s be honest—most BPC customers aren’t seeing much value from SAP maintenance anymore. Here’s what you’re really paying for:
- No innovation: Even BPC 2021’s enhancements are mostly limited to BW/4HANA compatibility.
- Rare updates: Security patches at best—no meaningful improvements.
- End-of-support deadlines: June 2026 (Microsoft), Dec 2027–2030 (NetWeaver), and even BW/4HANA support relies on uncertain SAP roadmaps.
You’re not alone if SAP’s roadmap feels more like a cliff edge than a bridge forward.
🚀 BPC Lifeline: What It Is and Why It Matters
BPC Lifeline gives you a better path—preserve your investment, avoid forced migrations, and get real support from experts who’ve been with BPC since day one (OutlookSoft).
🔧 What’s Included?
- Extended BPC Support
- Continue using your BPC Microsoft or NetWeaver solution—no SAP upgrade required.
- Get support tiers up to 24/7 availability from a real team of BPC veterans.
- Optimize performance: faster logins, fewer Excel crashes, smoother planning.
- Cloud Hosting on AWS
- Select from Small, Medium, or Large hosting tiers.
- Run in a “frozen environment”—we lock in Office and EPM Add-In versions to eliminate 70–90% of user-side issues.
- Fully managed infrastructure with secure backups and scaling.
- Managed Services That Deliver
- Column5 handles BPC system management, security, backups, and even runs data packages if you like.
- Our Virtual Admin offering offloads most IT responsibilities from your internal team.
- Audit and compliance support are included in premium tiers.
📊 Real-World Value: What You Save
Let’s talk numbers. Customers typically save:
- 40–60% compared to SAP maintenance + on-prem infrastructure
- Avoid six-figure migrations to BPC 2021 or SAC, even more for an implementation of Group Reporting to address Consolidations.
- Simplify your IT landscape—no hardware, no upgrade risk, no downtime
A mid-sized customer running Medium-tier hosting + managed services can expect to spend ~$10,000/month vs. $100K+ in SAP fees and IT overhead. Want to see your specific ROI? We’ll show you.
🧠 Technical, Strategic, and Operational Benefits
- ✅ Preserve Your Perpetual License: Keep BPC running with no upgrade rewrites.
- ✅ Increase Stability: Say goodbye to random Excel errors, Office incompatibilities, or patch conflicts.
- ✅ Minimize Risk: No more SAP roadmap roulette.
- ✅ Future-Proof Your Analytics: Compatible with hybrid environments, and Darwin Analytics adds AI-powered orchestration down the line.
🎯 Who Should Pay Attention?
- Organizations running BPC Microsoft 10.1, NetWeaver 10.1, or earlier
- IT leaders managing SAP maintenance spend and infrastructure
- FP&A teams frustrated by tool instability or lack of roadmap visibility
- Anyone looking for a real alternative to disruptive migrations
💥 Don’t Miss Our Upcoming Webinar
Join Column5 and AWS on May 7, 2025, for a no-nonsense, solutions-focused look at BPC Lifeline and how to cut costs while extending the life of your SAP BPC environment.
🎙️ Featuring AWS guest speaker: Deepti Venuturumilli, Sr. Solutions Architect
🗓 Tuesday, May 7, 2025
🕗 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET
🔗 Register Now »
🔍 Ready to Assess Your Options?
We’re offering a complimentary BPC Health Check + ROI Assessment to explore your path forward.
✅ Technical review
✅ Cost comparison with SAP maintenance
✅ Tailored proposal for your environment
📧 Email us at info@column5.com
SAP’s maintenance model is fading—and the time to act is now. BPC Lifeline helps you maintain control, reduce risk, and save money. You don’t have to leap into a major migration or accept a subpar support experience.
You just need a lifeline. And that’s what we’re here to offer.
👉 Register now for our May 7 webinar and see what BPC Lifeline can do for you.
