A new SAP release every six months. No surprises on Monday.
SAP upgrades SAP Cloud ERP twice a year, on SAP's schedule, for every customer at once. You can't skip a release, and you wouldn't want to: each one brings new features and AI. But each one also changes screens, roles and processes your people rely on. We plan every upgrade, test what matters to your business, and switch on the new features worth having.
Two big releases a year, and smaller ones in between.
SAP Cloud ERP gets a major release every February and every August. Between them, SAP ships smaller feature deliveries and regular fixes. Everyone runs the same version, which is why SAP can move this fast, and why nobody falls years behind.
- February: major release (for example 2602).
- Spring: feature deliveries 2602.1 and 2602.2.
- August: major release (2608).
- Autumn: feature deliveries 2608.1 and 2608.2.
- All year: regular fixes.
Major release
Year 26, August. SAP upgrades your systems, and enhancements to processes you already use arrive automatically.
Feature delivery
Small additions between majors. You can switch them on early, or they come on with the next major.
Always your choice
New processes and countries are never forced on you. You add them when you're ready, through SAP's configuration tool.
Six steps, every release, the same way.
SAP gives about six weeks' notice. It upgrades your test system first, and your development and production systems about three weeks later. Those three weeks are the window to find anything that would affect your business, so we plan the work before it opens.
Plan
Agree dates, testers and the freeze with you. Clear open changes so nothing is half-moved.
Assess
Run SAP's impact analysis against your actual scope and read the release notes for your processes.
Prepare
Update automated tests, brief key users, and move extensions to production before transports close.
Test
Automated regression tests, SAP's post-upgrade tests, and key users checking what only they can judge.
Fix and sign off
Fix what we find, retest, and give you a go or no-go before production is upgraded.
Watch and adopt
Close monitoring on the first working days, then a review of the new features worth switching on.
Only the changes that touch your business.
A major release has hundreds of changes across every industry and country. Most of them don't affect you. SAP's release assessment tool compares the release with the processes you actually use, and lists the changes, retired apps and new features that matter to you.
We go through that list with you, decide what needs testing or training, and track every item as a task until it's done. Role changes get special attention: after each upgrade, SAP's role catalogues change, and someone has to update your roles so people can still do their jobs.
Machines run the routine checks. People check what matters.
SAP Cloud ERP includes a test automation tool at no extra cost. We build automated tests for your main processes during implementation and keep them current, so every upgrade starts with a full regression run in hours rather than days. SAP also runs its own post-upgrade tests if you allow it.
SAP's tests
Standard checks SAP runs on its own processes after each upgrade.
Your automated tests
Your processes, with your data, roles, fields and variants.
Key-user checks
Forms, reports and outputs a person has to look at.
Most failures aren't SAP faults. They're test data, roles or a changed label. We sort the real issues from the noise before anyone else sees them.
The local pieces SAP doesn't test for you.
Sri Lanka isn't one of SAP's standard country versions, so local requirements are built on top of SAP's template. SAP's own tests can't know about them. We check them on every release.
VAT tax invoices
The tax invoice layout, VAT at 18%, and the details the Inland Revenue Department requires.
VAT submissions
The connection that sends invoice data to the tax authority's system, where it applies to you.
Bank payment files
Payment file layouts for each of your banks, including LankaPay transfers, checked end to end.
Withholding tax
Withholding tax calculation and certificates, in line with current Inland Revenue rules.
Local reports
Statutory and management reports your finance team files or relies on every month.
Local integrations
Payroll, customs and other local systems that exchange data with SAP Cloud ERP.
New features you've already paid for.
Every release brings new features and AI capabilities, and many of them are switched off until you choose to use them. Most companies never look. We go through each release with you, show the useful features in your test system, and switch on the ones you want.
Some features can't be switched off again once they're on, so we test them first and agree the change with the people it affects.
Six things we plan for every time.
None of these is hard on its own. Together, they're why some upgrades go quietly and others cause a difficult first Monday.
Transports freeze
Moves between systems stop a few days before the upgrade. Changes still in progress have to wait or be finished early.
Extensions out of step
Changes built on the old release may not move into an upgraded system, so we time them carefully.
Roles change
SAP's role catalogues change each release. Someone has to update your roles before people log in.
Content updates
New configuration content arrives in development first. Moving it on is your call, so we schedule it.
One-way switches
Some new features can't be turned off again. We test them before anyone switches them on.
Month-end clashes
When an upgrade lands near a close, we plan cover and extra checks around it.
See it from SAP.
SAP publishes release highlights for each area with every major release. Here are three from release 2608.
Published by SAP on its official YouTube channel.
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Straight answers.
Can we delay or skip an upgrade?
No. SAP Cloud ERP is one version for all customers, and SAP upgrades everyone on a published schedule. That's what keeps you current. The way to reduce risk is good testing, not delay.
Will the system be down during the upgrade?
Production is upgraded over a planned weekend window that SAP announces in advance. We tell your users when it is and plan around your critical dates.
How much of our team's time does an upgrade take?
With automated tests in place, mostly a few days of key-user checks during the test window, plus a short briefing on what's changed. Without automation, it's much more, which is why we build the tests early.
We didn't build automated tests during our implementation. Is it too late?
No. We start with your most important processes, such as order to cash, procure to pay and the month-end close, and add more each release.
Are new features switched on automatically?
Improvements to processes you already use arrive with the upgrade. Many new features stay off until you choose them, and new processes or countries are always your decision.
Is this included in your support service?
Yes, upgrade testing is part of our Managed and Extended support plans. We also offer it on its own for customers who support themselves.
Get ready for the next release.
In one session, we look at your scope, your extensions and your Sri Lanka layer, and give you an upgrade plan with dates, tests and the features worth a look.
- Impact on your processes
- Automated and key-user tests
- Roles, extensions and the freeze
- Local requirements checked
- New features worth switching on
SAP, SAP Cloud ALM, Joule and SAP Cloud ERP are trademarks of SAP SE. Screens shown are illustrations.
The Nolmarsh Cadence is our shorthand for looking after the details nobody sees in SAP Release & Upgrade Management.