Classic S/4 Release Change

SAP algorithms versus the golden record

For as long as it was as time-consuming to write programs as it was to maintain data, the two concepts of "algorithms and data structures" remained on equal footing. One was as important as the other. The foundation for this was laid by former university professor Dr. Niklaus Wirth (1934 to 2024) with his legendary computer science bestseller "Algorithms and Data Structures".

Classic programming languages such as Cobol and Pascal reflect this consonance. In addition to functions, the program also contains data definitions. Both were essential in a world without generative AI. It was just as time-consuming to construct data structures as it was to construct algorithms.

Generative AI replaces programming

In modern IT environments, functions are of secondary importance because they are widely available in cloud systems or can be quickly created using generative AI. ERP practice is not quite there yet, but the first approaches already exist. Necessary functions and applications are googled on the web or programmed on demand by generative AI. Traditional programs with licenses and maintenance are becoming less important. Buying and planning software is an old IT concept, and this means that traditional ERP is also becoming less important.

A release change from SAP ECC 6.0 to S/4 Hana is a step backwards due to current developments. Why replace an expensive, rigid, and outdated algorithm with an expensive, rigid, and new algorithm? Some things improved with an S/4 conversion, but the basic concept does not change. In the future, software as the materialization of an algorithm will no longer be licensed, but will instead be accessed as a service from anywhere. Generative AI offers freedom in terms of software functionality.

The value of the golden record

While algorithms are becoming more and more arbitrary—not in their function, but in their sources—data is becoming more and more unique, which makes it more and more important. Data is the core of a structure and process organization. Data is not arbitrarily available, producible, and retrievable.

Data structures and data management are the basis for any further ERP development. SAP, on the other hand, believes in the classic programming model and tries to preserve the old structures in a public cloud. The SAP Public Cloud is a modern IT architecture, but it is also an outdated software concept. At the end of the day, it makes no difference whether classic algorithms are executed in an on-premises system or in the cloud. First they’re called licenses, and later they’re called subscriptions.

The ERP systems of the future will be data-driven and the golden record is the ERP architecture paradigm. Programs will become interchangeable services and data will become the control element of new ERP architectures.