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How SAP Customization Is Suffering

Most SAP customers have relied on countless customizations to optimize their business. With S/4 transformation looming on the horizon, they are facing a complex challenge.
John N. Szalachy
14 July 2022
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In R/2, but especially in R/3, customers’ own developments were still part of SAP’s strategy and played an important role in its success. SAP provided customers with the necessary solutions in the form of standard modules. All modules were self-contained, but, at the same time, they were fully integrated with each other. A successful part of the strategy was also the possibility of adapting the modular standard solutions through customization, if required. The greatest benefit for customers was the ability to supplement standard solutions with their own developments of customer-specific requirements. A great concept for the customers! This approach made SAP as successful as it is today.

Overwhelmed support

However, due to an ever-increasing number of customers, the degree of customization quickly became a problem. Ongoing maintenance and provision of modifications, as well as ensuring the integration of the numerous customer-specific in-house developments, probably overwhelmed support. It is reasonable to assume that SAP sees S/4 as the solution. The new application platforms cloud, public cloud and private cloud were to replace the previous on-prem variants. Thus, SAP’s customers were put under pressure with a widely communicated “Cloud Only” strategy. The thing is, many customers had a big problem with this – until user groups came to the rescue.

SAP ruefully changed the S/4 strategy from “Cloud Only” to “Cloud First”, but this did not entirely solve customers’ problems. As standard solutions, public cloud solutions no longer allow any customer-specific adaptations. The private cloud still does, but it limits outsourcing options. As a result, most customers choose hybrid system landscapes, with their existing on-prem landscapes supplemented by cloud solutions. However, with this approach, they run into the problem of lack of integration.

It is a huge task to transform the countless in-house developments to S/4. This starts with evaluating of what is still needed and what is not. Customers should carefully examine which in-house developments can be completely or at least partially replaced by new S/4 applications.

Preferably immediately

This fit-gap analysis is one of the focal points in any S/4 transformation project. The result also shows which existing in-house developments need to be changed and where new in-house developments might be necessary. All in-house developments should be checked for their technical functionality during S/4 conversion because of massive changes in the existing data sets due to simplification as well as technological changes in programming. SAP provides very good services and tools for this. A good tip from my own experience and from many projects I’ve witnessed: You can never start too early.

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John N. Szalachy

is an SAP consultant and DSAG working group spokesperson Austria. His company specializes in S/4 project work.


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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

FourSide Hotel Salzburg,
Trademark Collection by Wyndham
Am Messezentrum 2, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
+43-66-24355460

Event date

Wednesday, June 10, and
Thursday, June 11, 2026

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Hotel Hilton Heidelberg
Kurfürstenanlage 1
D-69115 Heidelberg

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Wednesday, April 22 and
Thursday, April 23, 2026

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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 2026, 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.