The global and independent platform for the SAP community.
Cover story April 2024

SAP Basis with Cloud ALM, on-prem
and licenses.

Salzburg 2024: Hana and S/4 also need a robust SAP basis. The Customer Competence Center of SAP R/3 and Business Suite 7 is transforming itself with ALM, process mining and enterprise architects. The SAP Competence Center Summit in Salzburg is dedicated to this transformation process.

TO THE COVER STORY
Cover story April 2026

Trends and investment 2026

The year 2026 is a critical turning point for the SAP community: SAP's visions meet the reality of existing customers. As the end of maintenance for the old ERP system approaches in 2027, the pressure for S/4 migrations will increase massively and shape the market for service providers.

TO THE COVER STORY

The AI Clock Is Ticking in Low-Code Mode

November 21, 2025
Christopher Bouveret, Simplifier
Why low-code and AI are currently business boosters for SAP and non-SAP users, and how low-code-supported AI applications support users in their everyday work—here is a compact overview of how both technologies fit together perfectly and orchestrate business together.

Three Steps From a "Dirty" SAP System Back to a Core Sydtem That Complies With Standards

November 20, 2025
Prof. Dr. Andreas Hufgard, IBIS Prof. Thome
Initial situation: An SAP system becomes „dirty“ when customer-specific code, undocumented modifications to the standard system, and fragile integration interfaces are mixed with the product standard. Excessive process customizing and poor master data quality are also problematic. The consequences are rising costs, more difficult upgrades, and reduced flexibility.
Although the German economy believes it is well equipped when it comes to digital sovereignty, the majority is still dependent on digital solutions from non-European providers. This is shown by the first „Digital Sovereignty Index“ compiled by SAP Gold Partner Adesso and the HRI.

89 Percent Affected by Data Theft

November 18, 2025
E3 Magazine
Nine out of ten German companies have been affected by data theft in the past three years. 92% see an acute need for action due to geopolitical risks and are adapting their cyber strategies. Weaknesses are evident in protection against AI and quantum risks.

SAP Outsourcing From Cologne to New Zealand

November 18, 2025
E3 Magazine
Just imagine: It's 6 p.m. in Frankfurt. An SAP manager finishes his working day, takes one last look at the system dashboard - and breathes a sigh of relief.

Manage Master Data Centrally in S/4 

November 18, 2025
Stefanie Wenzel, FIS
Werner und Mertz strives for more efficiency, better data quality and transparent processes with centralized master data management. The focus was on clear workflows, flexible customization and SAP integration. With FIS/mpm, the manufacturer quickly achieved noticeable improvements.
In recent years, the SAP universe has been atomized. The consistent R/3 black box has become a heterogeneous conglomerate of ERP modules and cloud applications. From blockchain to IoT: SAP seemed to have to follow every IT trend. Today, AI chaos rules the SAP world.

SAP RISE 2.0

February 13, 2025
With a complex ERP initiative for a hidden maintenance extension and an alternative cloud roadmap, RISE with SAP should have been given a second chance at survival earlier this year. The announcement of the Business Data Cloud in addition to the Business Technology Platform has finally put S/4 out of business.
SAP recognized the value and importance of data early on, but failed to develop a stable solution across multiple ERP generations. From NetWeaver to Datasphere, there have been ambitious attempts, but no data orchestration in the ERP space.

E3 Roundtable on ERP Platforms, Data Streams, and E2E Workflows

Successful ERP, supply chain management, and CRM architectures are built on IT platforms. Data streaming and collaboration are essential to the orchestration of ERP systems. IT platforms are the new operating system for cloud computing. The E3 Roundtable will highlight the importance and strategy of platforms for a holistic IT infrastructure and ERP architecture. SAP customers will implement platform technologies for digital transformation. The E3 Roundtable will discuss the ERP architecture principle of platforms using Boomi's offering as an example.

Comments

Many SAP users stop halfway through automation. The potential of tools such as Ansible and end-to-end automation remains untapped—and with it the opportunity to combine migration with modern future-proofing.
No-name column
There is a veritable discussion going on at the SAP regulars' table as to whether SAP is actively and dynamically shaping its future or just conscientiously managing the legacy of Professor Hasso Plattner. I am of the opinion that SAP is at peace with itself.
May 9, 2025

WHAT With SAP?

We all know and love them: SAP acronyms. Most of them are three letters long. Prominent examples? BDC (Batch Data Communication or new: Business Data Cloud), BTP (Business Technology Platform), or BOM (Bill of Material).
May 8, 2025

Hana Can Do More

It is amazing how many services and functions can be found on the Hana database platform. Unfortunately, there is no scientific study on the degree of usage.

SAP News

The UNC joins the SAP University Alliances program and seeks to strengthen the digital skills of its students at one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Latin America.
DXC Technology, a global Fortune 500 technology services company, and Boomi, a provider of AI automation, have announced a new strategic partnership.
SAP access rights are often oversized—and expensive. Those who design roles intelligently not only save money, but also increase security. This article explains why modern access governance is now a must.
How often do users work in SAP and want the benefits of Excel, or do they work in Excel and want to have information from SAP at their fingertips? A solution that combines both advantages is available with SAP Analysis for Excel. The key solution for companies combines the robustness of SAP with the familiarity of Excel.

Business Management

The digital transformation towards sustainability presents managers with challenging transformation tasks. They demand economic solutions through number-based decisions as a valid foundation for all "green" endeavors.
The retail sector continues to find itself in a challenging market situation. Despite a slight increase in sales, as the industry association BEVH recently announced, sales are below the previous year's level.
Outdated systems are still slowing down business-critical communication processes in companies today. In purchasing, for example, unstructured, partly analog data often comes together that has to be processed manually.
Plant and machinery companies are facing one of the biggest transformations: they must evolve from manufacturers to service providers. End-to-end digital processes that go beyond ERP play a key role in this transformation.

IT Management

In future, SAP transactions can be easily controlled and automated without using the SAP user interface. Data entry via the SAP GUI is not self-explanatory and requires time-consuming user training.
Automation tools have long since become established for creating SAP system copies. SAP Basis teams expect providers to provide them with such software systems based on the latest technologies.
Austrian SAP customer Agrana is one of the world's leading food and industrial goods companies. In Germany, Agrana is probably better known for its strategic partner Südzucker, which is also an SAP user.
Invoicing is often still manual and thus prone to errors. During a labor shortage, it also deprives companies of valuable capacity for more value-adding activities. AI-based invoicing provides a remedy here.

Economy

With a new partnership with Northwave, q.beyond is expanding its expertise in the area of cybersecurity. The aim of the partnership is to provide medium-sized companies with proven defense mechanisms, especially in the acute phase of a possible cyber attack. Northwave specializes in this area, as well as in the topic of forensics, i.e. the investigation of cyberattacks, among others. The company, headquartered...
shutterstock1282371406metamorworks.jpg
According to a new ISG study, the pandemic continues to fuel the fledgling market for SAP in the AWS cloud.
shutterstock1020558985SydaProductions.jpg
The development of innovations, new business models and operational excellence are the priority topics for IT managers in the next two years.
ubh-valantic.jpg
April 28, 2021

Strategic partnership

Valantic and UBH promise turbo on the road to digital transformation.

People Management

E3 book tip

Getting started with SAP S/4HANA

Get to know SAP S/4HANA using practical examples! In this book, Christian Drumm, Bernd Scheuermann and Stefan Weidner introduce you to the most important modules and business processes of SAP S/4HANA. You will get an overview of the applications for sales, purchasing, production, warehouse management, accounting and controlling. Many exercises, case studies and practical cases enable you to implement what you have learned directly in the system. Currently for the example company Global Bike 4.3.
The prerequisite for using the exercises, case studies and practical cases is access to an SAP system with Global Bike Client version 4.3. SAP UCC Magdeburg.

Order here

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 fourth 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
+43-662-4355460

Event date

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

AI experience workshop only on June 11, 2026 (limited places)
Bonus: Access to all lectures on June 11, 2026

Regular ticket

Lectures, evening event and, depending on availability, the AI workshop on June 11, 2026
Places at the AI experience workshop are limited and registration is required.

Subscribers to the E3 Magazine Ticket

reduced with promocode CCAbo26

Students*

reduced with promocode CCStud26.
Please send proof of studies by e-mail to office@b4bmedia.net.
*The first 10 tickets are free of charge for students. Try your luck! 🍀
EUR 305 excl. VAT.
EUR 590 excl. VAT
EUR 390 excl. VAT
EUR 290 excl. VAT

Venue

Hotel Hilton Heidelberg
Kurfürstenanlage 1
D-69115 Heidelberg

Event date

Wednesday, April 22 and
Thursday, April 23, 2026

Tickets

AI onlyExperience workshop on April 23, 2026 
Bonus: Access to all lectures on April 23, 2026
Regular ticket
April 22, 2026: Lectures and evening event
April 23, 2026: Lectures and AI workshop
EUR 305 excl. VAT
EUR 590 excl. VAT
Subscribers to the E3 magazine
reduced with promocode STAbo26
EUR 390 excl. VAT
Students*
reduced with promocode STStud26.
Please send proof of studies by e-mail to office@b4bmedia.net.
EUR 290 excl. VAT
*The first 10 tickets are free of charge for students. Try your luck! 🍀
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.