SAP Customer Center of Expertise: CCC/CCoE relaunch

The IT transformation has begun at SAP Basis. Where for years existing SAP customers administered and orchestrated an R/3 and later an ERP/ECC 6.0 together with AnyDB, digitalization and cloud computing are changing the organization and functionality. At the SAP Competence Center Summit 2024, it became clear that existing SAP customers will still need a Customer CoE (Center of Expertise) in the future - albeit under completely different circumstances than in the past.

Change is coming through AI, automation, security and the cloud. Sponsor and exhibitor Ososoft showed how small steps can lead to big successes through AI. This was not about huge large language models, but about practical support functions and automation through AI. With this practical understanding of AI, Ososoft was a sought-after discussion partner at the summit in Salzburg.
A key point of discussion in Salzburg was the path to the cloud. Naturally, there was no doubt from SAP that cloud computing is the right thing to do. But SAP is well aware of the skepticism and doubts of its existing customers. As a result, SAP has stepped up its efforts and support over the past few months and sharpened up Rise with SAP.

No one officially wanted to comment on whether the ECC deadline of 2027 or 2030 could be changed. In confidential discussions, however, it was repeatedly pointed out that time and personnel resources are becoming scarce. However, SAP is accommodating its existing customers in one respect: Those with a valid cloud subscription will not be charged extended maintenace fees for the S/4 conversion, see graphic on the next page. This offer applies to both ECC 6.0 with EhP 6 to 8 and S/4 versions 1709 to 1909.

An important topic for the IT experts at SAP Basis and in the Customer CoE is SAP's Clean Core specification. With this, SAP wants to lead its existing ERP customers back to the standard and at the same time open up the possibility of further ERP individualization with the Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).

SAP BTP is therefore set to become an almost independent system alongside S/4 Hana. This platform gives the Customer CoE the opportunity to continue programming in Abap, which has become known under the buzzword steampunk. At the same time, BTP can also be used for extensions outside of Abap, see also the commentary on page 12 of this issue: SAP customization with CAP (Cloud Application Programming) and RAP (RESTful Application Programming). Christian Knell from SAP partner Snap reported on this in detail at the Salzburg Summit and presented an initial customer example from an Austrian SAP user.

The extent to which SAP BTP has already been accepted by existing customers was investigated by analysts from PAC in Munich. Frank Naujoks from PAC presented the results of a recent survey on the Business Technology Platform, see also Analyst commentary by Frank Naujoks.

One focus of the 2024 Summit in Salzburg was on security and automation. Sponsor Itesys presented a comprehensive monitoring and security solution for SAP on-prem and cloud installations. However, because many existing SAP customers in Europe still prefer their own data centers or at least on-prem architectures, numerous presentations in Salzburg dealt with automation topics, including one by SAP partner Empirius.

Nobody doubted the advantages of a cloud architecture, but many Summit participants agreed that it is necessary to differentiate between cloud functionality and cloud infrastructure. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) presented the concept of a cloud as an on-prem model.

At SAP Basis, the discussion is about exploring the balance between flexibility and individuality as well as standardization. HPE is positioning itself as a compromise between the on-prem and cloud worlds with its GreenLake concept, which was presented in detail in Salzburg.

No SAP Basis Congress is complete without presentations on the topic of licenses and conversion: SAP expert and renowned lawyer Jana Jentzsch came from Hamburg. She was supported by Myrja Schumacher from sponsor and SAP partner Honico and Guido Schneider from SLC 365 in a lively discussion.