E3 Category: Editor-in-Chief Blog

The fundamental technology underlying SAP is still the R/3 Abap tables. However, SAP has long since stopped providing instruction in the field of ERP technology. Additionally, the company displays only a limited willingness to address SAP customers’ concerns and wishes.

Because SAP has watered down the business and organizational components of its offering, but has only achieved limited success against overpowering competitors with databases, cloud, and AI, the focus has shifted to maintaining the share price, which is a success story only in the short term.

In the cloud, SAP customers require appropriate tools to orchestrate their ERP applications. SAP's Cloud ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) could be an effective solution for this. However, it is still an unfinished product.

For 50 years, SAP sold an open ERP system based on Oracle, IBM DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server databases. With the dual stack (Abap and Java) of the SAP NetWeaver platform, the global market leader expanded even more.

The DSAG Annual Congress 2024 highlighted the necessity for an efficient SAP Basis team during and after an SAP RISE project. During a RISE conversion, numerous tasks are transferred to SAP, necessitating the presence of a controlling Basis team to oversee the process.

SAP's database platform has lost one of its attractions: the Hana House in Palo Alto, California, has closed its doors. Professor Hasso Plattner is no longer Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and his legacy is now being disposed of.

It is essential that IT platforms provide a transparent structure for users and integrate ERP applications in a comprehensive manner. Following the introduction of NetWeaver and subsequent developments such as HCP (Hana Cloud Platform), SAP has now unveiled BTP (Business Technology Platform). It represents the future of ERP.

The old IT adage applies: Never change a running system! The DSAG investment survey reveals that only just over half of DSAG members believe that the relevance of SAP for the future of their company will remain the same.

SAP CEO Christian Klein is a dedicated and hard-working executive. Following the departure of three members of the SAP Executive Board, he has been required to assume responsibility for a number of additional tasks. Klein is adept at multitasking and consistently maintains a high level of productivity. However, the ERP company is lacking in innovation.

The SAP community is familiar with the terms "clean core" and "BTP." SAP has been reluctant to provide detailed information regarding the specifics behind these terms, any relevant roadmaps, or any associated costs. SAP’s visions of a clean core and BTP appear to be only half-finished.

Jürgen Müller, SAP's Chief Technology Officer and BTP (Business Technology Platform) strategist, is leaving the company, creating a new balance of power on the SAP Executive Board after the recent departures of Julia White and Scott Russell.

Abap modifications were both a savior and a blocker of innovation. Abap was able to turn R/3 and ECC 6.0 into individual successes and also prevent the next release change. Light and shadow lie close together in the Z namespace.