Getting out of a software maintenance contract used to be fiction. The contract renewed itself, the cost of leaving exceeded the cost of staying, and the question stopped being raised in committee.

Five situations have just been opened up at SAP, by a European decision binding for ten years.

The five doors, and the document that opens them

SituationWhat you must be able to produce
Product that has reached the last maintenance stage, reduced serviceThe vendor’s communication on the product’s maintenance stage, and its date
Failed implementation project, vendor’s responsibilityThe complete project file: commitments, milestones, reports, failures, all dated
Insolvency or liquidationThe proceeding’s documents
Workforce reduction of 10% or more over two yearsHeadcount at both endpoints, using a single definition, plus the licence inventory
Divestment of a businessThe transfer deed and the scope transferred

Divestment offers three outcomes, and it is the widest door: transfer the licences to the buyer, transfer part of them and terminate the rest, or terminate everything if the buyer has no need for the software.

Two fees fall at the same time. Reactivation fees, which penalised a return after an interruption, are scrapped. Backdated maintenance fees, which billed the arrears as if you had never left, are reduced.

These two fees were the real lock. The Commission noted that they sometimes matched the amount a client would have paid by staying the whole time. Their removal does not change a price, it changes a mechanism: interruption becomes a calculable option again.

The one door that must be argued

Four of the five situations are established with a dated document. The vendor-attributable implementation failure, on the other hand, must be demonstrated, and it is demonstrated with what you wrote during the project.

A company that recorded every unmet commitment, with date, recipient and consequence, holds a file. A company that handled everything by phone and goodwill holds a conviction.

The gap between the two amounts to the annual maintenance fee multiplied by the number of years you have left to run. This is the most concrete reason to keep a project log, and it has nothing to do with how good the project was.

The order of operations

First check that your products fall within scope: SAP software installed on your premises, not a cloud subscription.

Then check the date. A right is exercised within a window, generally tied to the contractual notice period, and a file ready three weeks too late is worth nothing.

Write only after that, never before. A termination request is made in writing, referencing the situation invoked and attaching the documents. A call to your sales contact before the file is ready tips off the vendor and costs you the element of surprise, which is the only advantage you have.

Recourse if it stalls

SAP must set up an internal appeal structure for clients who believe the commitments are being poorly applied. An independent monitoring trustee oversees implementation and reports regularly to the Commission.

In the event of a breach, the Commission can impose a fine of up to 10% of worldwide turnover, plus a periodic penalty of 5% of daily turnover per day. This is not your direct lever, but it is what gives weight to a properly grounded written request.

The caveat

The exact wording of the commitments, published in the public case register under number AT.40823, prevails over any summary, including this one. Before starting a procedure, have the full text read by someone whose job this is.

The sentence to remember

An exit door does not open on its own. It opens with a dated file and a letter sent within the window.

Sources

Last reviewed: 18 August 2026

Figures to review before 18 August 2028