We recently asked you for some SAP Business Technology Platform questions to ask the authors of our introduction to the platform, and we received many good ones!
Read on to see what they had to say about SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)
Q: Which certification is appropriate for ABAP developers looking to work with SAP BTP?
A: The most relevant one would be SAP BTP Certification for SAP Extension Suite.
Q: For IoT edge services, will there be a free tier available? How can we get access to the edge software (e.g. for microcontrollers)?
A: The IoT service is not listed in the free tier. You’ll need to secure a license.
Q: Which IT role in a company manages SAP BTP?
A: The platform’s administration, connectivity, and security is generally done by the Basis team. Services like SAP Business Application Studio/Workflow/Central Launchpad configuration is used and maintained by the developer community. Process automation and SAP Build Apps (formerly known as SAP AppGyver) are more targeted to the business-focused audience.
Q: If we want to use SAP BTP with SAP S/4HANA Finance, where can I find the use cases?
A: SAP provides SAP BTP use cases on this page. You can also go through various use cases through an SAP Discovery Center mission.
Q: Where can I find the services in SAP BTP?
A: You can find all the available SAP BTP services in the services catalog on the SAP Discovery Center. Detailed instructions on how to navigate and find the services are described in section 2.2.1 of our book.
Q: Do we need to subscribe to SAP BTP to do just a POC?
A: You can sign up for a free trial of SAP BTP! You can learn more about this in section 2.3 of our book.
Q: How does an SAP BTP license work? Is it based on deployment of individual apps?
The SAP BTP license is a subscription-based license and the customer is charged based on the services they consume. There is also an estimator tool available for users. It’s always recommended to discuss licensing and pricing with an SAP sales representative.
Q: Can Python apps be run on SAP BTP?
A: Yes. There are multiple runtimes available in SAP BTP, and there is also an option for users to bring their own runtime.
Q: Can you elaborate about the clean core?
A: The idea of a clean core is to architect a custom solution in an upgrade-safe way, so that your core ERP software (like SAP S/4HANA) can extend its functionality without any hindrance to its upgrade path.
Q: Does SAP BTP work with on-premise solutions?
A: Yes, SAP BTP can be used to extend on-premise and/or cloud SAP applications. It can also be used to integrate SAP and non-SAP applications, data, and processes which are in the cloud or on-premise.
Q: Can you please elaborate on the SAP MDG/data cleansing-related services? How will data correction happen back in SAP S/4HANA?
A: You can refer to the SAP BTP Data Quality Management service for this.
Q: Is SAP BTP a development platform? How do you deploy what you’ve made?
A: SAP BTP is a platform in the cloud that can be used to build an application. It provides services such as cloud integration that let you integrate applications, data, and processes. It also provides services related to analytics and planning. It is more than just a development platform.
Q: Are there any scenarios in SAP BTP where I can implement an app using only ABAP?
A: SAP provides recommendations on which runtimes are best for specific scenarios. One of the most common scenarios is using the ABAP environment for side-by-side extensions on top of your ERP system (SAP Business Suite or SAP S/4HANA). You can also build a brand-new application in SAP BTP using the ABAP environment and leveraging the RESTful application programming model.
Q: Does SAP BTP include CPI also?
A: The Integration Suite, which is an integral part of SAP BTP, is what has the cloud integration service.
Q: How would new developers know what kind of pre-built libraries are in SAP BTP, and how to leverage them?
A: All integrations, open connectors, and APIs that are available for consumption are listed on the API Business Hub.
Q: Will the Basis role be completely wiped out with SAP BTP? What should I pivot to?
A: Honestly, the traditional Basis role doesn’t exist within SAP BTP because there is nothing to install and upgrade. However, there is a need for some configuration and maintenance of the account (entitlement, account/sub account, authorizations, etc). There are also other requirements around cloud connector set up, security set up for SSO, etc.
Q: What are the SAP BTP-related certifications?
A: The following are the various SAP BTP-related certifications: