Hobby computer scientist

Skills shortage: SAP "no-code/low-code" build aims to unleash knowledge in companies

At the TechEd conference, SAP Build unveiled a new offering designed to leverage the expertise of those who know the business best: the people in the business departments. SAP Build is a low-code offering that leverages the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). It is designed to give users access to SAP's enterprise technology and direct access to end-to-end processes and data, as well as the context needed to make smarter decisions and drive innovation quickly.

However, what SAP Chief Technology Officer Jürgen Müller did not reveal during his presentation of Build: where the employees from the specialist departments are to obtain the extensive BTP, process and data structure knowledge. BTP is a powerful and comprehensive platform in the S/4 Hana system. The ability to develop ERP processes on this platform now, be it with Abap, Java or Build, has probably not come naturally to every SAP end user.

“SAP Build brings together the most powerful enterprise applications on a platform designed specifically to empower business users in the shortest possible time.“

Jürgen Müller, Chief Technology Officer, SAP

"SAP has unveiled Build, a low-code offering that leverages the Business Technology Platform and is designed to enable users with minimal technical knowledge to extend SAP enterprise applications, automate processes, and assemble web interfaces into a prototype using drag-and-drop," comment Jens Hungershausen, CEO, and Sebastian Westphal, Chief Technology Officer of the German-speaking SAP User Group. From DSAG's point of view, it goes without saying that SAP should build easy-to-create and easy-to-use applications - and not just for laypeople, but also for SAP experts.

"Nevertheless, SAP Build is a solution that we as DSAG welcome. It can be an effective means of taking the edge off the shortage of skilled workers in many areas and reducing the shadow IT that exists in many companies. However, it must be clear to everyone that this solution is not a substitute for traditional software development, so it remains to be seen to what degree of process depth the offering will prove itself in practice," add the two DSAG board members.

“As a DSAG survey has shown, a large number of our members are still in the on-prem environment.“

Sebastian Westphal,
Chief Technology Officer, DSAG

The SAP tool is designed to enable users to build and extend enterprise applications, automate processes, and easily prototype Web interfaces with minimal technical knowledge using drag-and-drop. "SAP Build brings together the world's most powerful enterprise applications on a platform specifically designed to enable business users in the shortest possible time," said Juergen Mueller, member of the Executive Board and chief technology officer at SAP. "SAP Build and the full range of innovations we're unveiling today - from our new partnership with Coursera to enhancements across our portfolio - help customers future-proof their businesses and get maximum value from their technology investments in a volatile economic environment."

BTP, Signavio and Hana

The fact that SAP Build also uses the Business Technology Platform and is integrated with SAP Signavio shows that SAP wants to consistently continue on the path to the cloud-only world, the SAP user association is convinced. It is a path that, from DSAG's point of view, is entirely opportune and understandable, even if the Signavio process analysis tool adds another and complex layer that future hobby programmers are now expected to master. If the experiment succeeds, many IT experts will be out of a job, because up to now it has only been left to a small group of computer scientists to control and understand the enormous span from BTP to Hana to Signavio.

"However, as one of our recent surveys showed, a large number of our member companies are still heavily involved in the on-prem environment. It would therefore be desirable for the possible integration and use in the ECC environment to be presented in a tangible and implementable way to support the transformation programs for the member companies," note Jens Hungershausen and Sebastian Westphal critically. "Especially with regard to the extension of SAP applications, it is important that the undoubtedly goal-oriented possibilities of the solution also consistently benefit companies that do not yet want to or cannot rely on cloud solutions - and that usability for ECC customers is ensured until the end of maintenance communicated by SAP," is the DSAG opinion.

“The solution is an interesting offering, but the focus is on resulting transformation projects.“

Jens Hungershausen,
Chairman of the Board, DSAG

Build is designed to give users the full power of the Business Technology Platform. According to SAP, end users can easily integrate systems, intelligently monitor, analyze and automate processes, and develop innovative applications without having to move their data to an external system. By integrating with Signavio, Build provides users with a complete view of their processes. This way, they should know where to focus their efforts to achieve the best results in terms of innovation and automation. Over 275,000 process reference points from 4000 customers and 1300 application-specific workflows and automations enable users to instantly access all the expertise built into the SAP platform. The new Build program helps users quickly learn and share with other learners through hands-on exercises and best practices forums.

The DSAG association also sees points of contact for the DSAG Academy. Through numerous collaborations, the user association offers discounted training in the area of digital transformation and with regard to current and future competencies in the SAP environment. These include, for example, a cloud enablement initiative in cooperation with hyperscalers and SAP courses such as Abap programming and introduction to BTP, which reflect the needs in the DSAG committees. If necessary, the DSAG Academy could also expand its portfolio with regard to SAP's low-code offering to include offerings for users with less technical know-how.

"The demand for advanced digital solutions is significantly greater than the capacity of professional developers to deliver them," said Arnal Dayaratna, research vice president of software development at IDC. "IDC expects more than 100 million enterprise users worldwide to be involved in the development of digital solutions over the next decade. With SAP Build's low-code development solutions, business users can leverage their expertise to rapidly develop and optimize digital solutions at scale."

From DSAG's point of view, the announcement that Build should not only enable close integration with SAP's core products, but also integrate with existing IT governance and security concepts and be upgradeable and releasable in the long term, is particularly positive - after all, the IT department must ultimately ensure the operational capability of the entire SAP solutions and every company must be able to provide information about business and IT processes to auditors and accountants at all times. With this realistic demand, however, the future hobby computer scientists are challenged even further than a focused Abap and Java programmer. Build is thus a tool that counters the hype about no-code and low-code with a sophisticated product concept. SAP and user companies are now challenged in the coming months and years to show how the offering can also be used in complex scenarios.

"In addition, the new solution is certainly an interesting offer for a large number of the user companies, however, the focus of the companies continues to be on the transformation projects and programs resulting from the end-of-life dates of many long-standing SAP solutions. The SAP roadmaps are still full to bursting here and require prioritized implementation - the new SAP Build offering does not remedy this situation," conclude Jens Hungershausen, CEO, and Sebastian Westphal, Chief Technology Officer of the German-speaking SAP User Group.

"Thanks to SAP Build, we were able to easily create a better experience for our customers while reducing our development costs by 90 percent," says Spencer Cook, XM Advocates Lead at experience management company Qualtrics, in which SAP holds a majority stake. "Personally, I was able to quickly develop an application that will improve our reference program and increase customer satisfaction."

Certified learning opportunities

Every company is on its way to becoming a technology company, says SAP Chief Technology Officer Jürgen Müller. SAP is aware that the importance of professional developers will continue to grow. SAP has therefore committed itself to providing further training for two million developers worldwide by 2025. To this end, the free training offered on the SAP Learning website is to be tripled. In addition, SAP will work closely with the world's leading learning platform Coursera in the future to reach new target groups. "Today, SAP is launching a Professional certificate for beginners on Coursera. This certificate is designed for learners from a variety of backgrounds; no college degree or industry experience is required," said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera. "The certificate prepares learners for entry-level positions in some of the most in-demand fields. We're excited to work with SAP to increase access to job-related skills."