Global Manufacturer Gains SAP ERP Flexibility and Innovation Capacity

As a global manufacturer in recreational vehicles and marine products, the company was navigating a pivotal moment in its ERP journey. With SAP support timelines creating pressure across the legacy environment, leadership needed to maintain operational stability while preserving the flexibility to evaluate future modernization strategies on its own terms. The priority was to create breathing room for innovation without disrupting the business.

The challenge went well beyond a calendar deadline. The company depended on SAP ECC to run core operations across the business. As one customer leader explained, “We operate our entire business on our ECC instances”. The environment had also been heavily customized over decades, including 35,000 custom objects in one system and more than 25,000 in another.

A major complication also emerged in Europe. A large division that had originally been expected to remain on SAP support ultimately needed to transition with the rest of the enterprise, introducing a sensitive payroll requirement and increasing the complexity of the move. The customer later reinforced how serious that payroll exposure was, explaining that the company faced “the end of life of support” on ECC and, with integrated payroll, risked “not being able to run the payroll with the appropriate deductions”.

At the same time, leadership needed to reduce cost and operational risk while maintaining continuity for a business-critical SAP landscape and preserving resources for future modernization.

The company ran a competitive evaluation that included multiple providers and a formal RFP covering application support, custom code, security, methodology, coverage, and interconnected applications. Spinnaker Support advanced as a finalist, but the deciding factor was not simply technical scope. It was the consultative way Spinnaker engaged with the business.

Rather than focus narrowly on price, Spinnaker worked with leadership to solve the broader challenges of moving away from SAP support. A pivotal moment came when a Spinnaker SAP leader met with the customer’s CIO ahead of a key meeting with SAP leadership. He shared guidance on likely negotiation tactics, what to watch for and how to approach the conversation from a position of strength. The session proved to be a turning point in Spinnaker’s favor, reinforcing the value of a partner that could help the company navigate not just support requirements, but the broader business and negotiation challenges involved in moving away from SAP support.

Spinnaker took the same practical approach to the European payroll issue. By identifying a regional payroll partner already working with the division, the team eliminated a major transition concern and helped leadership move forward with confidence. That higher-touch engagement aligned with what the customer later described as the “ease of discussion” and ultimately the “ease of use” throughout the process.

Once selected, Spinnaker moved quickly to execute the transition. The customer signed a five-year agreement for third-party SAP applications and technology support, creating time to evaluate its ERP future without being forced into premature decisions.

One of the most significant onboarding efforts involved archiving entitled support materials from the prior arrangement. Using a customer-owned account to protect intellectual property, Spinnaker managed the download of more than 1 million files totaling 4 terabytes of data. The customer’s goal was to complete 75% of the archive by September 30. Spinnaker exceeded that target, reaching 95% completion.

The customer also conducted parallel testing between the prior support model and the support Spinnaker would provide. That validation gave the business added confidence in the transition. As the customer put it, “Results were fantastic, were stellar. It was essentially a perfect match”.

A year into the relationship, the story had evolved from transition success to sustained operational proof. By moving to Spinnaker Support, the company secured $6.53 million in projected savings over five years, unlocking budget for innovation initiatives and long-term strategic priorities.

The customer said Spinnaker Support allowed the company to continue operating ECC without diverting resources into unnecessary upgrades while still progressing toward S/4 on a more deliberate timeline. What initially began as a cost and risk discussion ultimately became a broader conversation about operational flexibility, modernization control, and long-term partnership.

The customer also highlighted the ease of working with Spinnaker, pointing to strong collaboration, responsiveness, timely follow-up, and consistent execution throughout the transition process. Even with significant organizational and change management complexity touching analyst workflows, testing plans, support roles, and user acceptance processes, the engagement remained smooth
and stable.

As the customer shared: “The collaboration is great.” And perhaps most importantly:

“We sleep better at night knowing you’re there.” A year later, the business had maintained continuity, avoided unnecessary upgrade disruption, and preserved the flexibility to modernize on its own timeline.