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Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
In January 2021, SAP introduced a unique and powerful solution offering called SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). SAP BTP is the technical foundation of entire SAP ecosystem and plays a crucial role for all SAP customers and partners.

In this blog, we will understand what SAP BTP is from a beginner’s perspective.

Target Readers


Anyone who is completely new to SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) and want to get a crystal-clear understanding of what it is and what problems it solves.

This blog is targeted for people who are looking for a simple explanation of SAP BTP.

In this blog, we will learn:

  • What is SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)?

  • Technical aspects of SAP BTP

  • Five Key Pillars of SAP BTP

  • History of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)

  • Why was “SAP Cloud Platform” rebranded to “SAP Business Technology Platform”?

  • What makes SAP BTP different?


 

Prerequisite


It's good to have a clear understanding of basic cloud technical terms like Hyperscaler, Multi-Cloud, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS etc.

I will recommend you to spend 2 minutes reading my blog Important Cloud Terminologies for Beginners

 

Let’s start!

What is SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)?


Let s try to understand SAP BTP using 2 example scenarios.

Scenario 1

There is an organization (whether an existing SAP customer or new to SAP ecosystem) who wants to build a cloud solution or a mobile solution. In this solution, they need to integrate multiple systems, automate complex business processes, incorporate new-age technologies (like IoT, Predictive Analytics, Machine Learning etc.).

 

Scenario 2

An existing SAP customer wants to build a cloud solution to extend SAP systems ( e.g. S/4HANA, SuccessFactors). The customer need services for seamless integration between systems and application. They also need to have independence in managing downtime, scalability, and lifecycle management.

 

In both the scenarios, organizations want to build the solution with minimal effort, low cost and have faster time to market. They don’t prefer to spend money and time on things like landscape setup, system installation, configuration, and maintenance.

 


SAP BTP is an offering from SAP which fulfil all these requirements. SAP BTP is a portfolio of SAP solutions and services that are brought under one umbrella. These services, and solutions helps organizations build a new cloud solution or extend SAP systems.

In other words – SAP BTP is a bundle of many, many different services. Some of those services can be used for innovation and application development, some services are purely for monitoring, some are databases as a service, and some are runtimes as a service. BTP platform gives you access to all these services.
SAP BTP provides all the necessary resources to create a cloud solution. It allows you to focus on business logics, while BTP takes care of the technical aspects behind the scenes.

 

An Analogy of SAP BTP from Real-life


To understand SAP BTP, let’s take a real-life analogy.

Imagine you're starting a new business and you want to open a restaurant (similar to an organization building a new cloud solution or extending existing SAP solution). You have a clear vision of the type of food you want to serve and the atmosphere you want to create.

While you want to open a new-age, world class restaurant and have lots of creative ideas, there are 3 important criteria you have:

  • You want to focus only on your core restaurant business. (Like an organization wants to focus on their core business, e.g., BMW wants to focus on building world-class car.)

  • You don’t want to spend time on things which are although important but irrelevant for your business. For example, security of your restaurant, infrastructure like building, electricity, water supply etc. (Like an organization wants to avoid landscape setup, system installation, maintenance etc.)

  • You dont want to lose the market opportunity by delaying the opening of your restaurant. You want to open the restaurant as soon as possible. (Like an organization wants to launch new product fast to gain higher market share)






To achieve such goal, first thing that will come to our mind is, find a shop on rent, find a job consultancy firm which can help you hire good chefs, contact a vendor to procure tools and equipment for your kitchen, search another vendor to help you with interior of restaurant etc.

But imagine the hustle you will feel to manage all these vendors and providers. What if there is a company called SAP (Start-up Assistance Provider), which provides everything you need to open your restaurant. This company gives you an umbrella of services (equivalent to SAP BTP), which bundles everything you need, such as:

  • Infrastructure to open the restaurant like building, interiors etc. (equivalent to data centres, programming run time to build applications)

  • Security for your restaurant, security guards, locks, cameras etc. (equivalent to services for authentication, authorization, single sign-on, encryption, data privacy etc.)

  • Ready-made tools and equipment to setup kitchen (equivalent to services which provides out-of-the-box support for integration, development environment, IDE, alerts, monitoring, process automation etc.)

  • Training to your staff, expert advice on how to run a restaurant more effectively and profitably (equivalent to best practice, sample architecture for common use-cases in SAP Discovery Center, personalized training/advisory for customers etc.)


 

The company SAP (Start-up Assistance Provider) does not require you to pay all the money up-front. But provide an easy Pay-as-you-go model (equivalent to Pay-As-You-Go model in SAP BTP) where you pay very minimal amount in beginning to start your business. As and when you need more service, you can pay accordingly.

Just like this unique service helps people open a world class restaurant by focusing only on core business: cooking and serving delicious food, SAP BTP helps organizations build world-class cloud solution by focusing only on their core business.

 

Let’s understand the technical aspects of SAP BTP


Now, let’s wear a developer’s hat and understand technical aspects of SAP BTP.

Developers understand technical terms better such as coding, program, language, runtime, database, and API.

Let's decode SAP BTP for developers.

Assume you are a developer at a SAP partner or customer and have been given responsibility to build a new cloud solution and extend an existing SAP solution. Let's make a wishlist of developers to fulfil this requirement and see how SAP BTP addresses that.

1. To start the project immediately, you need a Platform-as-a-Service which helps you to build and deploy cloud solutions without any local installation . The platform should allow you choose any programming language of your choice.
--> Technically, SAP Business Technology Platform can be considered as a Platform-as-as-a-Service. SAP BTP provides 3 environments - Cloud Foundry, ABAP and Kyma. All these environments gives you options to choose any programming language in the world, gives you ready-made platform to build and deploy any cloud solution.

2. As a developer you need a ready-made development environment where all the plugins (e.g. CLI tools, build tools, test tools etc.) are preinstalled.
--> SAP BTP provides a service called SAP Business Application Studio, which gives you a ready-made development environment. You can start coding for your solution in no time. No need to install or configure anything.

3. As a developer, you wish for a setup where all the builds and deployments can be done in one click.
-->  SAP Business Application Studio along with MTA Build Tool (MBT), BTP CLI etc. simplifies all the build and deployment. No need to spend hours in building and deploying your code.

4. One of the major requirement of a cloud solution is a Database-as-a-Service which fulfil all data related requirement - Be it storing huge amount of data or processing structured as well as unstructured data or provide real-time access to data from multiple source.
--> SAP BTP provide a cloud effective variant of SAP HANA database called "SAP HANA Cloud". One service to solve all your data related requirement.

5. Developers love to focus on solving complex business requirements and writing best algorithm.
--> SAP BTP provides frameworks like "SAP Cloud Application Programming Model" which minimizes developers job. It literally helps developer focus only on business logic and take care of everything else.
6. As a developer, you look for services which simplifies integration. Nobody wants to spend hours in integrating and maintaining the systems.


--> SAP BTP provides a bundle of service under "SAP Integration Suite" which helps you seamlessly integrate any SAP and non-SAP systems and applications.

 

Five Key Pillars of SAP BTP


SAP BTP services and solutions can be broadly categorized in 5 pillars, which are:

  • Application Development

  • Automation

  • Integration

  • Data and Analytics

  • AI


Below image summarizes major services falling under each pillar.


 

You can go to SAP Discovery Center to know more about each services.

 

SAP BTP Environments


In SAP BTP, “environments” refer to the actual platform-as-a-service offering of SAP BTP that enables us to develop, run, and manage our applications and services.

Think of BTP environment as different playgrounds, each designed for specific types of tasks and technologies. They provide a suitable space for different kinds of software development and operations.

Each environment comes equipped with specific tools, technologies, and runtimes that you need to build applications.

SAP BTP offers 3 major environments – Cloud Foundry, ABAP and Kyma. SAP BTP offers one more environment as well called Neo, which is going to sunset.

 

To get a detail explanation on SAP BTP environments and a comparison of Cloud Foundry Vs ABAP Vs Kyma, check the blog SAP BTP Environments – Cloud Foundry Vs ABAP Vs Kyma

 

History of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)


Although SAP BTP offering is relatively new, it consists of solutions that have been around for years, and some of the BTP components go back quite a way.

The Application Development and Integration pillar of SAP BTP can trace its lineage back to SAP NetWeaver Cloud (Neo) - SAP's first Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering.

Below image shows brief timeline.

Note: At this point, you may not understand terms like Cloud Foundry, Kyma etc. That’s perfectly ok. We will learn these in our next blog.


 

2012: SAP entered the PaaS market with "SAP NetWeaver Cloud". The code name Neo, short for NetWeaver On-Demand.

2013: SAP NetWeaver Cloud renamed to "SAP HANA Cloud Platform"

2017: Cloud Foundry environment got added along with Neo

2017: The term “HANA” was dropped from the name. New name: "SAP Cloud Platform". So far, it was a PaaS offering by SAP to create new applications or extend existing SAP applications in a secure cloud environment.

2018: ABAP environment got added in SAP Cloud Platform

2020: Kyma environment got added in SAP Cloud Platform

2021:  SAP Cloud Platform brand was officially retired to support SAP’s One Platform Strategy. SAP BTP was introduced as new brand name. SAP BTP provides extended functionality; however, the core is still equivalent to what is formerly known as SAP Cloud Platform.

SAP BTP is not a 1:1 replacement of SAP Cloud Platform. SAP Cloud Platform makes up only the

application development and integration pillar of SAP BTP.

Why was “SAP Cloud Platform” rebranded to “SAP Business Technology Platform”?


Imagine you have a store selling different kinds of candies. Over time, you notice that customers prefer more than just candies; they also want different types of treats like chocolates and cookies. So, to better serve your customers and reflect the variety of products you offer, you decide to rebrand your store with a new name that includes "Treats" in it. This way, people will understand that your store has expanded beyond just candies.

Similarly, SAP Cloud Platform was originally focused on providing cloud-based services for businesses. However, as time went on, SAP realized that their platform was offering more than just cloud services. It also included technologies for application development, integration, analytics, and more.
To better represent the broader range of offerings and show that it's not just about the cloud, SAP decided to rebrand their platform as SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).
This new name helps customers understand that the platform is not limited to the cloud but also includes various technologies to help businesses with their overall technology needs.

To summarize, SAP rebranded SAP Cloud Platform to SAP BTP to better reflect that it's not just about cloud services anymore. It's a comprehensive platform that provides various tools and services for businesses to build, integrate, and run all kinds of digital solutions, like mobile apps, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and more.

What makes SAP BTP different?


There are 3 major benefits of SAP BTP, which makes it different and unique solution offering for organizations.

Unified


To meet customer demand for a more intuitive, simple platform, SAP BTP offers a unified experience that spans a wide variety of scenarios around integration, creation of value from data, and extensibility for processes in 25 key industries.

Capabilities in SAP BTP support a simplified user experience and enable functional inter-operability between SAP applications and technology.

Business Centric


SAP BTP is designed for business transformation and not just technology transformation or optimization. SAP BTP features are focused on improving the business outcomes companies can achieve.

The platform offers process- and data-specific tooling that helps organizations rapidly build and extend SAP applications. Business services and prepackaged content help users meet domain-specific requirements and develop focused data analysis scenarios.

Open


Companies need flexibility when it comes to how they deploy and run business processes and IT systems. Because SAP BTP is open, organizations can choose how to build and extend – on a hyperscaler cloud infrastructure, in SAP data centers, or on their own premises.

 

Generative AI in SAP BTP


Generative AI provides us with a whole new toolbox that opens so many opportunities to simplify and improve our work. SAP BTP acts as the enabler for SAP and partner applications to leverage generative AI capabilities in an SAP context. Generative AI capabilities in SAP BTP will improve the developer experience, how integrations are done, the process automation space, analytics and holistic planning activities, as well as simplify administrative tasks.

There has been many announcements on this area. For more information, see:

Unleash the Power of Business AI with SAP Business Technology Platform

Supercharging Developer Productivity with SAP Build Code

SAP Turns Every Developer Into a Generative AI Developer at SAP TechEd in 2023

 

If you are looking for a super simple explanation of AI, Ml and Generative AI, refer to my blog How I Explained AI, Machine Learning and Generative AI to My 5 Year-old Kid

SAP BTP Reference Architectures


SAP’s Official reference architectures for SAP BTP are available in the Reference Architecture section at SAP Discovery Center. This provides ready-to-use templates for building enterprise applications.

Check Reference Architecture section at SAP Discovery Center

 

SAP BTP Best Practices


If you are looking for best practices to plan, set up, build and run your applications on SAP BTP, check this Best Practices for SAP BTP document. It contains best practices and recommendations for planning development projects – from setting up the correct organizational structure to creating an account and security model, to developing and operating applications.


You may also look at SAP BTP Guidance Framework, an one-stop shop for all SAP BTP professionals to build and run enterprise-grade solutions on SAP BTP.

There is also an SAP BTP Developer’s Guide available which explains the building blocks for developing, delivering, and integrating business applications.

 

Learning Journey for SAP BTP


I have created a comprehensive learning path for SAP BTP customized for various job profiles such Developer, Architect, Consultant, Administrator, Citizen Developer and DevOps Engineer -


Learning Path for SAP BTP – Customized for Developer, Architect, Consultant and Administrator

 

I hope by now, you will have a clear understanding of SAP BTP.

 

SAP BTP Certification


Whether you’re learning SAP BTP to boost your skills or getting ready for a job change with it, getting certified is like adding the perfect finishing touch.

If you need a guide to choose the right certification one based on your role and expertise, check this blog A Comprehensive Guide to SAP BTP Certifications

 

What's Next?


Here are some other important blogs to learn SAP BTP:

10 “Hello World” Apps on SAP BTP in Different Languages

SAP BTP Environments – Cloud Foundry Vs ABAP Vs Kyma

Fundamentals of Multitenancy in SAP BTP

Fundamentals of Security in SAP BTP

How to Become Expert in SAP BTP Security– A Complete Learning Journey

Demystifying SAP Build for Beginners

Demystifying DevOps with SAP BTP

 
Join me on  LinkedIn for more such insights on SAP and AI!

 

Happy Learning!
53 Comments
Mayanksaxena15
Explorer
As always you explained the topic like a child can understand 🙂

Keep up the good work.
tayyeb_52
Explorer
Excellent Blog
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Thank you najam123
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Thank you a558598283927 đŸ˜Š
Good Information. Thank you
nitesh_agrawal2
Explorer
one 2 words : Brilliant Article.
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
nitesh.agrawal2
Thank you the lovely feedback ☺


Regards,

Raja
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Welcome krnchrn_5
Hi @Raja Prasad Gupta,

Great article and you described to understand everyone's.I'm eagerly waiting for your next article.
S0025098455
Discoverer
Nice Blog Raja !. You have explained it very innovatively. Keep up the good work !
AAncos
Participant
Great post!

Neo = NetWeaver On-Demand??? 🤯

 
Juan_Munevar
Explorer
Hi Raja!

This is truly amazing. Great article and it certainly describes the title: SAP BTP for beginners. I’m looking forward to see your next article.

Greetings from Mexico!
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Hi juan_munevar,

Thank you for the feedback.

 

Regards,

Raja
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Thank you poshan1
Wallace
Active Participant
0 Kudos
Neo was the original SAP Cloud Platform base (I think perhaps SAP datacenters)
It is being replaced by Cloud Foundary and Neo has an end of life set, this blog: https://blogs.sap.com/2023/06/14/farewell-neo-sap-btp-multi-cloud-environment-the-deployment-environ...

 
sinhasouvik
Participant
Nice Blog !!! Thanks.

 

Regards,

Souvik

 
former_member316684
Discoverer
Very well articulated!!
Tanishaa
Participant
Very well explained. It felt like a piece of cake to understand each and everything 🙂
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Thank you tanisha24
Wozza
Explorer
Great blog, enjoyed the restaurant analogy. To extend it, I would add that using BTP is like buying into a restaurant franchise, in addition to SAP being a “startup assistance provider” it packages some of the offerings (think burger patties) for you - for this convenience, you pay some recurring franchise fees.

Warren
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
warrenei,

Nice point. Thank you .

 

Regards,

Raja Gupta
rajesharya2000
Associate
Associate
Hi Raja Prasad Gupta,

 

Nice blog.

 

Rajesh
JohnyBandela
Employee
Employee
Thanks a Lot - that was a very comprehensive overview of SAP BTP in a 10 minute read. Great Job!!!
Rajesh_Kura
Discoverer

Excellent Blog rajaprasad.gupta and Explained it very easy manner. Thank you.
Since a long time I am trying to understand what is BTP does, And this blog answered my question.

Expecting more such blog from you.

ahmada
Explorer
Very well explained. Kept it very interesting. In relaxed mode after lunch finished in 15 minutes.

You make it so simple.

Thanks, one again.
0 Kudos

Executive Summary:  SAP BTP = SAP Netweaver on the Cloud. 

For sure, with much more, but for an executive who finally got to understand what was Netweaver, the foundation of on-premise SAP Sofware,  BTP is the same but in the Cloud, with new tings, more integration points, diverse implementation approaches, but in essence SAP BTP is the foundation layer. 

n7_nelson
Explorer
Hi.

This is wonderful documentation that I am looking for...

Thank you very much for the blog.

 

Nelson Rodrigo

Sri Lanka
ashutosh24pce
Discoverer
Dear Raja Gupta,

Thank you for the detailed and easy to understand introduction to SAP BTP. This definitely motivates me to learn further about BTP.

 
adnanmaqbool
Contributor
0 Kudos
What about all developments and implementation efforts, in case a client is not interested to continue with BTP. All efforts, code and Data?
aamir_aamir
Explorer

Dear Raja,

 

You explained in very detailed and easy understanding.

Keep it up...Bravo

Fantastic Article...so crystal clear...Many thanks for this
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Thank you aamir.aamir
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
My pleasure subhomoy.mukherjee đŸ˜Š
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Happy to hear that ashutosh24pce.

Let me know if you need any further help.
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Thank you for the feedback  nelsonrodrigo. 😊

 
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Hi myfiat334,

SAP BTP is the technical foundation layer - Yes.

However saying that "SAP BTP = SAP Netweaver on the Cloud", may not be totally true. BTP's predecessor SAP Cloud Platform started as SAP Netweaver on the Cloud. However, SAP BTP has evolved a lot and it provides many other services/solutions which are beyond it's predecessor's scope.

 

 
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Thanks for the lovely feedback ahmada đŸ˜Š
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
Thank you for the motivation  rajesh2023
Raviteja117
Explorer
You explained in a clear cut way, and the efforts made by you was clearly visible. Thank you so much for  this presentation.
luanmatos
Explorer
Hello rajaprasad.gupta,

Congratulations on the article. The way you explain is clear and objective. Continue like this and you will help many people with your teaching. Thank you very much, I hope to read more of your articles!

Thanks!
Raja
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
Thank you luanmatos_ for the lovely feedback 😊
SaurabhGupta
Employee
Employee
Awesome Blog rajaprasad.gupta .Thank you.

Regards:
Saurabh Gupta
Kranthi_Kumar
Explorer
Nice Blog Raj.

Thanks,

Kranthi

Thank you. !

Great Explanation. I was new to BTP and wanted to understand BTP conceptually. Could not find better blog! Really helpful

pablooo860
Explorer
Great job!!! Thank you! I would like to see more explanations like this! There is no need to make things more complicated than they are just to "look like an expert" - and it doesn't matter that most readers won't understand it 🙂

Regards!
LuizSouza
Participant
Amazing! Thank you @Raja !!!!
AntonioRivera
Explorer
I think you blog is great; it helped me understand key aspects on SAP BTP.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards
Velusamy
Explorer
Hi Raja,

Wow it's really great, the impressive part the examples.

Keep writing and keep Rocking

Thanks

Senthilkumar Velusamy
sudheershankar
Discoverer

Hi Raja,

Brilliant. Thank you so much for providing such crystal-clear and easy to understand write ups on BTP.

I have recently came across one of your blog two days ago and from there on have started going through and reading all your BTP blogs/links on sap.com as well as other articles on medium.

To be honest could not find better blogs than yours.

So please keep writing and sharing your gyan with us in this lucid and inimmitable writing style of yours  🙂

Thanks

Sudheer Shankar

Harazu589
Explorer
0 Kudos

Is this four products of sap are live in sap ask to peer expert channel if yes only then I will apply to be an chat expert in SAP for ask to peer expert channel for any of this one category between 4,

 

SAP Fiori Launchpad

 

SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence platform

 

SAP Crystal Reports

 

SAP Analytics Cloud