Constant market changes demand a high level of innovation and agility from companies. The SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) creates the conditions for this. It offers a wide range of cloud services to make the IT system landscape future-proof and to implement extensions and in-house developments in SAP S/4HANA quickly and flexibly with modern tools.
The SAP BTP is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering from SAP that enables companies to seamlessly integrate cloud services into their IT system landscape. It provides the necessary infrastructure, runtime environment, and middleware.
Which Cloud Services Can be Found on the BTP?
An extensive selection of cloud services makes the SAP BTP a central platform for companies that want to modernize their IT system landscape and optimize their business processes. These include tools for:
- Management: Tools for managing cloud services and users
- Development: Low-code and pro-code tools for developing and extending applications
- Integration: Solutions for the seamless integration of SAP and third-party solutions
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): Tools for the implementation and use of AI and Machine Learning (ML) – Link to the news “AI possibilities from the cloud”
- Business Intelligence (BI): Tools for data analysis, data visualization, and planning
- Database and data management: Solutions for high-performance data processing and storage
- Integration and process automation: Low-code and pro-code tools for the integration of applications
- Security: Security services to protect data and applications
Why should Companies Use Cloud Services?
Cloud services offer numerous advantages for a flexible and future-proof IT system landscape:
- High scalability: IT resources can be flexibly adapted to current needs.
- Predictable costs: Companies only pay for the resources actually used and avoid high investment costs.
- Automatic updates and less maintenance: Cloud providers take care of the maintenance and updates of the services.
- Reliability: Redundant data centers and automatic backups ensure high system availability and reliability.
Why is the SAP BTP Particularly Interesting for SAP S/4hana Users?
The SAP BTP is particularly advantageous for SAP S/4HANA users, as it provides the development and hosting environment for in-house developments and extensions as part of the side-by-side extension.
In order to be able to use the advantages of cloud-oriented system landscapes even with an SAP S/4HANA on-premise system, future developments and in-house developments must be implemented in a cloud-compliant manner. The clean core concept plays a central role in this, according to which the core applications of a company should be kept as clean and standardized as possible. If adjustments, developments and extensions are required on the system, these must be implemented according to the Cloud Extensibility Model.
This model comprises three main principles:
- Separation of core and extensions: Extensions are either implemented internally within SAP S/4HANA Cloud as on-stack extensions or externally as side-by-side extensions on the SAP BTP.
- Use of SAP-approved interfaces: Extensions may only be implemented via approved SAP APIs. For internal system use, Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) and CDS views can be used, among other things. For cross-system use, such as with the ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model, OData Services or SOAP Services can be used.
- Use of cloud-enabled technologies: Extensions must be implemented with cloud-enabled and approved technologies. For cloud-enabled development with ABAP, a more restricted form of ABAP is required, known as ABAP Cloud. With ABAP Cloud, developments with ABAP can be implemented in the cloud and operated as side-by-side extensions.
The SAP BTP provides the necessary tools for the management, development, and operation of in-house developments and extensions to make optimal use of the cloud.
What Advantages Do the Clean Core Concept and the Cloud Extensibility Model Offer?
By implementing adjustments and extensions outside the core system, the effort and risk involved in release changes in SAP S/4HANA are significantly reduced. This enables better maintainability, as adjustments and extensions can be managed and updated independently of the core system. In addition, flexibility increases, as companies can react more quickly to new requirements and implement innovations separately from the SAP S/4HANA system by making adjustments and extensions in the SAP BTP.
As can be seen here in the overview, companies have numerous forward-looking cloud services available with the SAP BTP
How Can XEPTUM Support your Company in the Optimal Use of the SAP BTP?
In order to unleash its full potential, the SAP BTP, together with its numerous cloud services, must be perfectly integrated into the existing IT system landscape. The XEPTUM experts are here to help you achieve this. We combine many years of SAP project experience with in-depth technology and integration know-how. Therefore, we can advise you specifically on which technologies and tools offered on the SAP BTP offer the greatest added value for your company and provide you with expert support during implementation.
Contact us today! We would be happy to support you in answering the questions of which cloud services are best suited for you and how you can optimally use the advantages of the SAP BTP.
