Abap Metamorphosis

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.