Today, while there are many partners already working with SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), there are also partners that are still exploring, asking the questions: What exactly is SAP BTP and what makes it unique? The second episode in the SAP Partner Live series focused on addressing these questions.
What Is SAP BTP?
SAP BTP is a classic cloud platform. It is available in every region and it is elastic, so it can scale. Think of it as a set of cloud services for development and integration, data and analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), all hosted and managed by SAP. These services are accessible to partners and customers and are built specifically for developing on and connecting to SAP solutions and technologies. So, if you’re an SAP partner interested in building a new software solution, connecting an existing app to SAP technologies, or building supporting content for SAP solutions, SAP BTP brings together everything you need in one unified environment, helping you unlock outcomes for your customers.
What Makes SAP BTP Unique?
If you are already engaged in SAP technology and the ecosystem, or plan to be, there are many areas of strength that elevate SAP BTP compared to other cloud platforms.
Business Process Context
While other cloud platforms put data at the center, SAP BTP adds context to the data that’s anchored in business processes. Our line-of-business solutions drive enterprise processes around the world, processes that extend into the unique aspects of supporting different industries and local governance, from tax and labor laws to safety and environmental regulations. That knowledge gives SAP BTP an advantage in connecting enterprise data and processes, resulting in real-time business context and creating a single version of the truth that is rooted in how the business runs.
Native Connections
With SAP BTP we’re not only talking about a platform that puts business processes at the center. We’re also talking about a platform that provides application development, integration, data, analytics, and AI capabilities that are native to the SAP application stack. So, when you’re building on or integrating with SAP BTP you can be confident you’re using services and technologies optimized to work together and simplify the process. Partners working with SAP BTP identify this as a key value.
“We’ve got the ability in SAP BTP to provide what customers want. It allows for simplicity in connecting solutions together and bringing together our value with the SAP promise and commitment behind it.”
– David Pereles, managing director within the SAP practice, Accenture
Accelerated Innovation
If the recent unpredictable market conditions around the world have shown organizations one thing, it’s the importance of agility, or the ability to innovate and respond quickly to changing conditions.
A recent IDC study, “SAP Business Technology Platform and Partner Success: A Foundation for Customer Lifetime Value,” showed that SAP partners working with SAP BTP are experiencing accelerated innovation due to reduced implementation times – from months to days – by avoiding development of custom processes and using prepackaged, repeatable content created by SAP and SAP partners.
“To help customers on their SAP BTP journey, SAP partners are building out documented and repeatable offerings that can speed the implementation and integration process or enhance SAP BTP capabilities.”
– IDC
This means that on the one hand, partners are accelerating development of their solutions by leveraging prepackaged content from SAP. And on the other hand, you have SAP partners building their own accelerators such as data models and analytic dashboards to improve functionality for customers across various lines of business and industries. Their prepackaged accelerators and content are monetized and made available to help the entire ecosystem speed the deployment and implementation of systems with SAP BTP.
All this integration tooling and prepackaged content can speed implementation time frames for partners while accelerating time to value for customers – resulting in improved agility, a cornerstone requirement for becoming an intelligent, sustainable enterprise.
Adopting a Customer-for-Life Posture
Partners are also telling us that their decision to go with SAP BTP has helped them adopt a customer-for-life posture. The “stickiness” of the platform has enabled them to move from a one-and-done model to a model that reflects continuous improvements and customer lifetime value. This iterative, building-block approach to innovation and growth involves understanding the customer’s longer-term business goals and results in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. For SAP partners, it presents a more holistic picture of partner value, new opportunities, and increased profits.
“The old model was all about landing the deal, but now it’s more about a longer-term relationship and making sure that we show value through customer business outcomes.”
– Martin Stenzig, chief technology officer, Rizing
SAP Is Committed to SAP BTP
The decision to endorse a platform represents a large commitment. It reflects a journey of learning, enablement, and development investments. No one knows this better than our partners. For that reason, it’s important to take time to ensure it’s the correct path for your business model and goals.
Going forward, from SAP’s perspective, we are committed to SAP BTP. All SAP lines of business and industry solution offerings will be built on SAP BTP. And we are committed to supporting our partners’ success with services touching each aspect of the journey, from technical advisory guidance, co-innovation, and certification offerings to social and joint sales support.
With our combined commitment and support, we see SAP BTP as a rising tide, elevating all boats in the ecosystem – SAP’s, our partner’s, and our joint customer’s.
If you’re interested in learning more about SAP BTP, please explore some of the learning and enablement resources available:
- SAP BTP product page
- SAP BTP partner page on the SAP PartnerEdge site (partners only)
- Become SAP BTP “street smart” in three steps (partners only)
- SAP BTP partner community
And for partners looking to get going with SAP BTP, there are test, demo, and development services available that start as free offerings through the Pay-As-You-Go model for SAP BTP.
Camilla Dahlen is global vice president of BTP Monetization for Partner Ecosystem Success at SAP.