Delivering on the promise of SAP BTP

For many medium-sized companies, SAP remains the backbone of their business processes. However, the necessary modernization of IT landscapes and applications, especially the switch to S/4 Hana, is becoming a dramatic cost and complexity trap for many IT managers. While SAP was once a guarantee of stability and innovation, today it is increasingly becoming a stumbling block for digital transformation, presenting IT architects and CIOs with both a strategic and technological dilemma.

need for modernization

This tension is further exacerbated by three core problems and could become a real test of endurance:

1. When custom code becomes a burden: Over the years and decades, companies have adapted their SAP systems to their specific needs with countless in-house developments—known as custom code. And it is precisely this former flexibility that is now a heavy burden, because these countless individual adaptations create an enormous technical load. According to an analysis by Simplifier's technology partner WestTrax, often only half of the total custom code is used regularly.

However, maintaining it incurs considerable costs—an average of €112,000 per year—just to ensure security and compliance. Here are some more figures: Each individual ABAP in-house development costs an average of around €5,000 for initial programming and a further €500 for annual maintenance. When migrating to S/4 Hana, this expense explodes, as a large part of this code has to be analyzed, adapted, or completely rewritten.

2. The complexity trap of S/4 transformation: For many companies, the switch to S/4 Hana is strategically necessary and, thanks to the rapidly approaching end of support for SAP ERP ECC 6.0, also unavoidable – but the reality of many migration projects is often sobering. Industry reports show that over 60 percent of S/4 Hana projects have problems with budget, schedule, or quality. Ninety percent even exceed the originally planned timeframes. The reasons are manifold: complex data migrations, a new process mindset, and, last but not least, users who need to be convinced of the benefits of new applications and interfaces.

3. Shortage of skilled workers and innovation backlog: Traditional SAP development will still require highly specialized ABAP developers in 2025 (SAP Build or not), who are rare, expensive, and highly sought-after on the job market. Overflowing order books in IT departments and a chronic innovation backlog will then ensure that urgently needed digital solutions, such as mobile applications for field service or modern shop floor dashboards, remain on hold.

The key question for IT decision-makers and management is therefore: How can the SAP landscape be modernized and automated in order to respond agilely to new requirements and drive innovation? The answer is: Clean Core and side-by-side development with low-code! For some time now, the idea of the „Clean Core“ strategy has dominated many digitization projects in the SAP environment.

And this idea is as simple as it is revolutionary: The core of the SAP system is left as standard as possible, meaning it remains free of individual customizations. Instead, extensions and new applications are developed „side by side,“ i.e., on a separate and flexible platform—such as a low-code platform.

Low-code versus BTP

Many SAP customers use the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) for side-by-side developments. This is an option, but not a requirement. For price- and agility-sensitive SMEs with limited IT staff, Simplifier often proves to be the better and more suitable alternative. What's more, platforms such as Simplifier are ideally positioned to act as strategic partners to SAP-based SMEs. The low-code platform, which was developed specifically to create applications in the SAP ecosystem quickly, efficiently, and in a future-proof manner, provides the urgently needed bridge between the specialist departments with their process knowledge and the IT departments (keyword: citizen developers), which must guarantee governance and stability while the SAP core remains lean, stable, and update-proof.

Low-code instead of SAP constraints

What further distinguishes Simplifier from generic low-code providers is its profound SAP expertise—down to the last detail. The platform enables the design of modern, intuitive user interfaces (Fiori/UI5) and seamlessly connects them to SAP systems (both old ECC and new S/4 systems) as well as a variety of non-SAP applications – from shop floor systems to Salesforce, legacy systems, IoT devices, and Microsoft 365. The difference lies not only in the technology, but fundamentally in the business model and philosophy – and this is precisely what convinces many users from small and medium-sized businesses, as the following two examples clearly show:

Cost structure and budget security: SAP BTP is based on a complex, consumption-based pricing model with a wide range of services whose costs are difficult to calculate. Transactional costs can quickly escalate and exceed budgets. Low-code based on Simplifier, on the other hand, offers a transparent, user-based fixed-price model that includes runtime, integration into the system landscape, workflows, mobile functions, and support. This creates planning and budget security—a decisive advantage for small and medium-sized businesses.

All-in-one platform creates technical freedom and agility: While BTP binds companies even more closely to the SAP ecosystem, Simplifier relies on open standards and avoids vendor lock-in. In plain language, this means that companies retain full control over their source code and can operate the platform flexibly in hybrid architectures (whether on-premises, in the public or private cloud).

Another advantage is the integration of SAP and non-SAP systems without the cost trap of SAP Integration Suite. Development speed is significantly higher, enabling rapid implementation of prototypes and productive applications in weeks rather than months. Many customers achieve a return on investment (ROI) in less than twelve months. Numerous medium-sized companies—including well-known names such as Hako, AZO, Mann und Schröder, and Saertex—are already using Simplifier.

AZO: Reducing complexity

The AZO Group, a leading provider of automated raw material handling systems, faced the challenge of developing new, scalable, and mobile applications in the SAP environment with a highly complex IT architecture, which was very time-consuming and tied up an immense amount of IT resources. The solution: Side-by-side development with Simplifier made it possible to significantly streamline the system landscape.

A prime example is „3D spare parts ordering“: an application that enables customers and service employees to identify spare parts using a 3D model and order them directly from the ERP backend – a more cost-effective and flexible alternative to the standard SAP solution. The result: a single application led to savings of €250,000, data quality was increased by 100 percent, and the SAP Clean Core strategy was optimally supported.

Faster than with SAP's standard tools

Cosmetics manufacturer Mann und Schröder was looking for an efficient tool to implement UI5 applications faster than with the standard SAP BTP tools. The goal was to integrate SAP and non-SAP systems centrally on one platform and to be able to create interfaces so easily that the specialist departments could be closely involved in the development process.

The solution: The company deliberately chose Simplifier as its strategic partner to implement SAP-related processes in an agile manner. The platform made it possible to incorporate valuable process knowledge from the specialist departments directly into the digital solutions and reduce dependence on external service providers and in-depth ABAP expertise. The result: a strategic partnership on equal terms that enables requirements from the specialist departments to be implemented efficiently and reduces the burden on IT.

IT as a guarantee of innovation

Practical examples show a clear trend: the use of a flexible low-code platform such as Simplifier is more than just a technological decision. It is part of a strategic realignment that enables IT to evolve from a mere administrator of complex systems to a proactive designer and business enabler. This applies not only to traditional SMEs, but also to companies that have already ventured into the SAP Rise world, for example.

Stable and pragmatic

Modernizing SAP landscapes that have often grown over decades is one of the key IT tasks for the coming years. Attempting to meet all requirements using tools from a single manufacturer can lead to rising costs, vendor lock-in, and reduced agility. While SAP BTP is a valid option for large corporations, it often proves too complex and costly for price-sensitive small and medium-sized businesses.

Platforms such as Simplifier offer a pragmatic and economically sensible solution. They enable companies to fully exploit the advantages of a „clean core“ strategy, implement innovations quickly and in a user-centric manner, while retaining full control over costs and technological orientation. The „Made in Germany“ label is more than just a label of origin—it stands for a deep understanding of the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, for a partnership of equals, and for a transparent, predictable pricing policy.

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