The era of SAP Identity Management (IdM) will come to an end on December 31, 2027, when SAP will discontinue maintenance of the Identity Management solution. Although there is the option of agreeing to a one-time charge for extended maintenance until 2030, this option is merely a contingency plan for many companies. There will be no successor product for SAP IdM 8.

With the end of SAP Identity Management, companies are faced with the challenge of ensuring consistent IdM operations – without security risks and with all compliance requirements being taken into account. In addition, the investments made in SAP IdM must be secured and, if necessary, transferred to a new system.

SAP emphasizes that SAP systems can continue to be operated via the internal tools SAP Identity Access Governance (IAG), SAP Identity Provisioning Service (IPS), SAP Identity Authentication Service (IAS) and SAP Identity Directory Service (IDS). However, this SAP Cloud Identity portfolio is not a replacement for the previous Identity & Access Management and cannot be used as a central IdM system (that also covers non-SAP systems).

So what comes after SAP Identity Management? When deciding on a successor solution, there are numerous factors to consider, such as the type of deployment (on-premise tool vs. cloud solution), the range of functions, customizing, the mapping of hybrid system landscapes, the update procedure and the usability. The following can be said: There is no one perfect IAM tool, as the available solutions continue to converge in terms of their range of functions.

There are a number of providers on the market whose products can be used as reasonable SAP IdM successors. These are Microsoft Entra, One Identity, Omada, SailPoint and Microfocus.

The approaching end of maintenance for SAP Identity Management requires companies using SAP IdM to plan and prepare carefully so that they can continue to work smoothly after 2027. The question of how long the old IdM system should continue to be used and when is the best time to switch to a new system also needs to be clarified.

Together with you, we examine the options for ensuring consistent IdM operations, look for alternative software solutions and draw up a detailed plan outlining the transition to a successor tool for identity management.

The aim should be to have completed the migration to the new IdM solution at least six months before maintenance for SAP IdM ends in 2027. In total, around 36 months should be estimated for the preparation of the changeover and for the actual migration.

Benefit from our proven best-practice approach to SAP IdM migration and take advantage of our many years of experience and extensive expertise in Identity & Access Management. 

The IBsolution Migration Audit for SAP IdM analyzes your existing SAP Identity Management, drafts a reliable schedule and identifies the most suitable IAM tool for the succession of SAP IdM. If required, we can then also implement the new identity management system – as a migration or as a greenfield approach.