A game plan to win in regulation or in overtime

My family and friends all know that I am a big fan of the NFL. I can be found parked in my recliner wearing my Carolina Panthers game jersey and watching the games on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday during the regular season, and on Saturdays during the playoffs. It’s always with mixed emotions that I watch the Super Bowl championship game because while I’m looking forward to an exciting game, it does mark the end of the season. Now this year’s game was especially exciting because although the Atlanta Falcons completely dominated the first two quarters, the New England Patriots adjusted their game plan at halftime to come from behind in the second half. The result: the first tied score ever at the end of regulation time in a Super Bowl. Ultimately the Patriots took full advantage of extra minutes in overtime to win and become NFL champions.

Those of you running any of your SAP systems on servers powered by SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 know that your service pack subscription included an extra 12 months of support. This is because we understand that nothing’s more important than keeping your SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Business Process Management (BPM) or other business systems stable and secure. Now that we’ve released SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12, you need a game plan for any remaining systems running on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11. And like the NFL teams, the plan you create will depend on whether you still have general support available, or if you need additional time.

If your SAP system servers are on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 SP4 then you still have support until March 31, 2019. This gives you about 2 years to plan your transition to a newer release. Those of you with servers on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 SP3 or SP2 no longer have general support available, but there is an “overtime” option with Long Term Service Pack Support (LTSS). But even overtime eventually ends and, in the case of release 11 SP2, LTSS is no longer available after April 30, 2017.

So will your game plan allow you to win in regulation, or do you need overtime to win as the Patriots did? We understand that a rigorous test and evaluation before upgrading to a new OS can take time. Including SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications and Long Term Service Pack Support in your game plan gives you that time, and the flexibility to keep SUSE’s outstanding problem resolution support and security updates for your SAP systems. To learn more, see this SUSE Product End-of-Support Reference Guide for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 SP3.