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Abap Metamorphosis

How will ECC Abap modifications make it into the new ERP world of S/4 Hana? SAP has created a development environment on the Business Technology Platform with the project name Steampunk. Are BTP and Steampunk the next ERP generation after S/4?
Peter M. Färbinger, E3 Magazine
September 28, 2023
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This text has been automatically translated from German to English.

Composable ERP on the BTP

In the next few days, a new book by Professor August-Wilhelm Scheer will hit the market, which could disrupt the S/4 SAP ERP scene as we know it today. Whether this will turn into an ERP revolution cannot yet be said, but in any case, it will conceptually change the way IT components are organized and orchestrated.

The concept of Composable ERP, as the book is titled, is not entirely new, because parts of it have already existed as best-of-breed for many years. But Composable ERP offers a new conceptual structure. Composable ERP modules will in the future harmonize in the form of a cybernetic system. Naturally, this composability requires a platform. This is where the BTP, SAP Business Technology Platform, comes in.

At the Steampunk and BTP Summit on February 28 and 29, 2024 in Heidelberg, the opportunities a Composable ERP present will be a topic of discussion, among other things. What can the Business Technology Platform do for a future ERP generation after S/4?

A plan for the S/4 successor

The German poet Bertolt Brecht wrote about the uselessness of people’s ambition. Regardless, SAP and the community should begin a discourse on possible S/4 successors. SAP developers will have to start programming by 2035 at the latest, perhaps already with ChatGPT support, but time is short.

A composable ERP can become a solution. Based on a stable platform including a powerful development environment, the next ERP generation can emerge. Professor Scheer has now taken the first step with his new book Composable ERP. Supplemented by AI, machine learning, process mining, open source, and cybernetics, a usable ERP is sure to emerge from the ideas that Scheer has now put forward.

Composability and Hybrid Computing

Best-of-Breed 2.0 brings opportunities and options for SAP customers; however, it can also be a disadvantage for SAP itself. Best-of-breed also means that SAP's customers will be able to choose from a wide range of ERP solutions in the future, and that the topic of hybrid computing will take on a whole new meaning and thus a new significance.

In a cybernetic, self-configured system, the dictate cloud-only will not have a chance to survive. On the contrary: Composable ERP will need a strong platform, but the composite modules can be on-prem and cloud. Ultimately, Composable ERP is also the counter-design to Cloud-only. So it remains to be seen whether Professor Scheer did his friend Professor Hasso Plattner a favor with his new book.

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Peter M. Färbinger, E3 Magazine

Peter M. Färbinger, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief E3 Magazine DE, US and ES (e3mag.com), B4Bmedia.net AG, Freilassing (DE), E-Mail: pmf@b4bmedia.net and Tel. +49(0)8654/77130-21


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Working on the SAP basis is crucial for successful S/4 conversion. 

This gives the Competence Center strategic importance for existing SAP customers. Regardless of the S/4 Hana operating model, topics such as Automation, Monitoring, Security, Application Lifecycle Management and Data Management the basis for S/4 operations.

For the second time, E3 magazine is organizing a summit for the SAP community in Salzburg to provide comprehensive information on all aspects of S/4 Hana groundwork.

Venue

More information will follow shortly.

Event date

Wednesday, May 21, and
Thursday, May 22, 2025

Early Bird Ticket

Available until Friday, January 24, 2025
EUR 390 excl. VAT

Regular ticket

EUR 590 excl. VAT

Venue

Hotel Hilton Heidelberg
Kurfürstenanlage 1
D-69115 Heidelberg

Event date

Wednesday, March 5, and
Thursday, March 6, 2025

Tickets

Regular ticket
EUR 590 excl. VAT
Early Bird Ticket

Available until December 20, 2024

EUR 390 excl. VAT
The event is organized by the E3 magazine of the publishing house B4Bmedia.net AG. The presentations will be accompanied by an exhibition of selected SAP partners. The ticket price includes attendance at all presentations of the Steampunk and BTP Summit 2025, a visit to the exhibition area, participation in the evening event and catering during the official program. The lecture program and the list of exhibitors and sponsors (SAP partners) will be published on this website in due course.