SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environment presented during workshops

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In a series of customer workshops The main subjects are custom code migration towards S/4HANA and SAP Cloud Platform ABAP Environment with the new ABAP programming models for extensions.

A lot of customers want to move their current custom code from the  SAP  Business Suites systems to the new SAP S4/HANA. More details can be reviewed in Olgas blog posts ( https://blogs.sap.com/2012/09/19/abap-test-cockpit-an-introduction-to-sap-s-new-abap-quality-assuran...  ) give an overview plus show the possibilities of the ABAP Test Cockpit. In the future a mus have tool for almost every customer will be the new cloud-based ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC) which is a vital part of SAP Cloud Platform (SCP). This SCP ABAP Environment offers new development technologies and a runtime environment to support SAP customers to migrate custom code to SAP S/4HANA. Additionally the  (SCP) ABAP environment is optimal for restful approaches and side-by-side extensions which are loosely coupled to SAP S/4HANA and NetWeaver based systems, e.g. SAP ERP. It is important to mention that the cloud based ATC contains all essential information on the simplification Database and the logic for code transition.

A typical migration project requires a detailed analysis to support the planning. ATC in SCP is delivering these valuable features to customers. The quality and the possible degree of automation during the migration processes depend heavily on the existing custom code. In a lot of cases the remaining manual work can be minimized. The Cloud approach for migration projects is an elegant solution because the central remote ATC is per definition decoupled from the source and target system. Furthermore, the cloud licensing offers a pay per use model with good amortization of the investments. There are no expenses for infrastructure which is only used once for a singular migration process.
In summary, ATC is an important part of SCP. It is available as Software as a Service (SaaS) and leverages the SCP features. Further the quarterly updates of SCP guarantee that the simplification database and the application is always in the newest and best state. This fact is relevant not only to ABAP developers, but to any business looking to step into the cloud quickly and securely. SAP is offering an important use case for SAP Cloud Platform with ATC. It is a typical side-by-side development and fits ideally to the SCP approach.

As part of our workshops, we are informing customers and partner about the roadmap of SAP Cloud Platform ABAP environment (https://www.sap.com/community/topics/cloud-platform-abap-environment.html#pdf-asset=7a62516c-157d-00...).  It is also interesting for the SAP community to transform ABAP custom code to the SAP Cloud Platform leveraging the advantages of PaaS. Restful ABAP is therefore a must learn for a lot of ABAP minded customers and partners so that they can develop new solutions during the next decades based on the SAP PaaS model.

During the workshop there is also Merve Temel’s very important contribution about the In-App-Extensions for SAP S/4HANA on prem and in the cloud. This is another important approach to develop extensions. With this technology it is very easy to manipulate standard tables and fields and to introduce new tables and fields. Due to the fact that ABAP private classes are generated the upgrade in the cloud and on prem is easy, quick and save. It is in use by SAP itself for the operation of SAP S/4HANA cloud. It is also available to on prem customers, who can save a lot of money for the next decades while upgrading their S/4HANA systems.

These innovative ABAP technologies are important for safeguarding the customer investments into ABAP extensions of the last two decades. Essential for the reuse in the Cloud is the current state of custom code.  Loosely-coupled add-ons with clearly defined interfaces to SAP standard objects are good candidates for reuse and transformation to the Cloud. Tightly-coupled custom code, heavily interlacing with SAP standard objects are less appropriate candidates to be transformed to the Cloud. This code might stay on prem and be reused in hybrid scenarios or completely redesigned for the Cloud.

The participants have given very good feedback and encourage us to continue.  A planning for 2020 will soon be communicated.