It offers a vast, deep, and time-tested set of modules covering almost every major business function, including Finance (FI), Controlling (CO), Materials Management (MM), Production Planning (PP), Sales and Distribution (SD), and Human Capital Management (HCM).
SAP offers standard enterprise support for ECC (with mainstream maintenance currently scheduled until the end of 2027, and extended support available after that). The core benefit is access to SAP's highly technical, deep knowledge base, which is necessary for a system of this complexity.
Ease of use is widely considered ECC's greatest weakness, primarily due to its user interface.
As an older system, SAP ECC has specific strengths and weaknesses in these areas compared to modern ERPs like SAP S/4HANA.
The strength of SAP ECC's customer support primarily comes from the maturity of the platform and the vast ecosystem of experts, rather than the newest technology.
SAP Support (Official): SAP offers standard enterprise support for ECC (with mainstream maintenance currently scheduled until the end of 2027, and extended support available after that). The core benefit is access to SAP's highly technical, deep knowledge base, which is necessary for a system of this complexity.
Ecosystem/Community: The single biggest benefit is the massive global installed base and consultant community. Almost any issue encountered has been solved before, meaning solutions, forum answers, and experienced consultants are readily available.
Third-Party Support: ECC's established nature means that mature, comprehensive third-party support and maintenance options are widely available, offering an alternative to standard SAP support for many customers.
Ease of use is widely considered ECC's greatest weakness, primarily due to its user interface.
User Interface (SAP GUI): ECC operates on the traditional SAP GUI (Graphical User Interface). While highly functional and efficient for power users trained on it, it is often described as non-intuitive, complex, and having a steep learning curve for new or casual users.
Process Complexity: The system is designed for maximum functional depth and customization. This means that even standard business processes often require navigating multiple screens and cryptic transaction codes, which contrasts with the modern, simplified, and role-based user experience (UX) of newer systems like SAP Fiori in S/4HANA.
Stability for Power Users: For long-term, highly trained users, the traditional SAP GUI is seen as a stable, robust environment for high-volume, repetitive data entry.
ECC offers flexibility in integration methods, but the process is generally more technical and complex than with modern ERPs.
Flexibility via Multiple Methods: ECC is highly adaptable and supports various integration technologies, including IDocs (Intermediate Documents) for reliable asynchronous batch processing and RFCs (Remote Function Calls) for real-time communication. This flexibility is a major advantage for connecting to a diverse landscape of legacy and third-party systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Focusing specifically on Ease of Implementation and Frequency of Use (User Adoption), here are the key dislikes regarding SAP ECC:
1. Dislikes on Ease of Implementation
The implementation of SAP ECC is widely disliked for its inherent complexity, cost, and time commitment.
Extreme Complexity and Long Duration: ECC is a massive, highly modular system. Implementing it is not a quick installation; it is a complex, multi-year project for large enterprises. This leads to prolonged timelines and a high risk of project delays and budget overruns.
The issues with the end-user experience directly translate to low or grudging frequency of use among general employees:
Non-Intuitive, Outdated Interface (SAP GUI): This is the biggest hurdle. The classic SAP GUI is seen as a relic of the 90s. Its dense, non-graphical screens and reliance on four-digit Transaction Codes (T-codes) make it difficult and frustrating to use. Users often resort to workarounds (like using Excel) instead of using the system for simple tasks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
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