Clean Core for Modernizing SAP Environments
Meet the Authors
Key Takeaways
⇨ As businesses evolve and expand, maintaining a clean core within a company’s SAP systems becomes challenging.
⇨ It is about running a company’s SAP system on the latest version provided by SAP while keeping custom extensions separate from the core SAP codebase.
⇨ Neptune Software’s solutions, like the Neptune DX platform, support organizations on their journey toward a clean core.
The concept of maintaining a clean core is gaining increased traction as a crucial strategy for modernizing legacy systems. As businesses evolve and expand, maintaining a clean core within a company’s SAP systems becomes challenging. In a recent webinar, Neptune Software discussed the importance of a clean core and how it relates to modernizing legacy systems.
In the context of SAP S/4HANA, the clean core is an SAP S/4HANA Cloud environment that is up-to-date, unmodified, consistent, efficient, and has custom extensions decoupled from SAP source code. It is about running a company’s SAP system on the latest version provided by SAP while keeping custom extensions separate from the core SAP codebase. This separation is crucial for ensuring that updates and modifications can be implemented without causing any disruption to the core system.
Keeping the core clean not only prepares the system for smoother upgrades and cloud readiness but also reduces the total cost of ownership and minimizes maintenance costs by decreasing the existing custom code base. With a clean core, there is also improved security as the risk associated with custom code is reduced. By transitioning to a clean core, organizations can streamline their processes, enhance agility, and adopt the latest innovations in enterprise technology.
Companies require continuous effort to evaluate and optimize custom code to maintain a clean core. One approach to clean core architecture is the on-stack extension, where custom code is developed on the SAP system using the ABAP Cloud development model. Another approach is the side-by-side extension, where custom code is developed on a separate platform and integrated with the SAP system via REST (Representational State Transfer) APIs.
Neptune Software’s solutions, like the Neptune DX platform, support organizations on their journey toward a clean core. Neptune enables the early development of custom REST APIs directly on the SAP ECC system. Through the API factory and tools provided by Neptune’s SAP edition, businesses can start building their custom code base and applications before moving to SAP S/4HANA. This approach allows businesses to start their clean core journey on the SAP ECC system and smoothly transition to SAP S/4HANA in a secure way with minimal disruption. This approach ensures compatibility across SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA systems and supports a smooth, secure transition with minimal downtime.
The Neptune DXP Open Edition can be deployed on various infrastructures, including on-premises, cloud services, and containerized environments like Kubernetes and Docker. With comprehensive low-code/no-code tools like app builders, app designers, a rules engine, and integration features like single sign-on and API support, Neptune enables companies to simplify the process of developing and deploying custom applications within their SAP systems.
Maintaining a clean core in SAP systems has become a strategic imperative for organizations looking to modernize and optimize their legacy systems. By adopting a clean core approach and leveraging tools like those offered by Neptune Software, organizations can future-proof their SAP systems and accelerate growth.
