S/4 coding
SAP Build or Clean Core
It's not easy for existing SAP customers to find their way through SAP's numerous offerings, roadmaps, software products and recommendations. With the advent of the cloud computing era, the call for immutable standards and Clean Core quickly became loud. But SAP also offers the Business Technology Platform with Embedded Abap, Steampunk, as a solution for individual tasks. Both, of course, have their justification. However, existing SAP customers must find their own way through the jungle of offerings.
Clean Public Cloud
SAP's public cloud has to get by with almost no modifications because it is a standardized offering that thrives on being unchanging and the same everywhere. This naturally results in the advantages of automated testing and relatively low operating costs.
Build and steampunk
But because sustainable added value is often only created through modifications, Abap programming naturally has a long tradition in the SAP community. For a long time, customization in the Z namespace was a real competitive advantage. However, in the transition to S/4, the many Abap modifications present themselves as a stumbling block. Nevertheless, SAP will continue to promote custom problem solving with the Build program and the new Embedded Abap, or Steampunk. Abap RESTful Application Programming (RAP), Cloud Application Programming (CAP), Low-Code/No-Code with SAP Build and Steampunk as Embedded Abap are just a small selection of the possibilities for how an existing SAP customer will be able to modify his ERP system in the future.
Documentation and processes
Well-written Abap code does not need to be documented, is a statement of the E-3 Round Table at YouTube on the subject of coding. But what absolutely needs to be documented is the function of the modifications. Florian Schnitzhofer, CEO at Sysparency and a speaker at the SAP Competence Center Summit 2023 at June 1 and 2 in Salzburgemphasized in the E-3 Round Table that the knowledge of what the algorithm is supposed to do is often lost due to poor or missing documentation. He thus calls for stringent documentation of algorithms from the user's point of view.
Steampunk
A major achievement of the SAP community is the continuation of the Abap programming tradition with Embedded Abap on the Business Technology Platform. The name for the new Abap is Steampunk, and some experts are predicting nothing less than a revolution in the SAP community for this framework: With Steampunk and other components from the SAP Build program, existing customers should be able to plan and implement the further development of their ERP system in a much more autonomous and detailed way in the future. Some insiders claim that Steampunk could be a liberating blow for users. However, the fact is that there will continue to be many Abap modifications and enhancements in the future.
To consolidate this current development, there is on February 29 and March 1 next year in Heidelberg the first Steampunk Summit - Save the Date!