Customers still using IBM i 7.2 for SAP applications may have noticed that it has transitioned to extended support as of 1 May 2021. This is a good time to consider moving to a later IBM i release to avoid extra maintenance fees.  As you do so, you may need to update your SAP kernel levels to meet minimum requirements for the release you are targeting.

As always, the SAP development team tries to make these transitions as easy as possible for you.  SAP Note 68440 helps you identify the required minimum patch levels for each SAP release and operating system combination.  It also links to the release specific SAP Notes for IBM i 7.3 and 7.4.

Even if your kernel levels satisfy the minimum requirements for a newer release, you may want to update to the latest SAP kernel levels to ensure that you are taking advantage of everything that your new OS and DB release level offers for SAP applications.

If you are planning on using the extended support, IBM has documented details regarding the service extension for IBM i 7.2.  If you are planning to upgrade to a later release, you should review the IBM i upgrade planning pages for release 7.3 and release 7.4 to understand the hardware requirements and changes in IBM software that may occur.