SAP injects more low-code into the ERP platform • The Register

SAP has launched another initiative aimed at helping so-called citizen developers create applications on their enterprise software platforms.

At TechEd in Las Vegas, German software giant is unveiling SAP Build, a low-code environment the company says gives users access to the end-to-end processes, data, and context for building applications within its enterprise software should give portfolios.

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It relies on the SAP Business Technology Platform, a middleware that sits between applications in a way the vendor claims will allow users to build and extend enterprise applications, automate processes, and launch business pages with “simple drag -and-Drop”.

In a canned quote, Juergen Mueller, SAP’s Chief Technology Officer, said, “SAP Build uniquely brings together the world’s most powerful business applications with a platform that’s truly built to quickly unleash business professionals.”

A rose by another name…

The company may have forgotten to mention that SAP Build is a name already in use by a user experience service it also offers, a point that will not have escaped those feeling the humiliation of the ever-changing SAP nomenclature suffer.

Nonetheless, SAP says the new SAP build will offer citizen developers a unified development experience. These include “complete insight into the dynamic range of their processes” and “real-time insights and user-friendly tools”.

Users will be able to integrate systems “easily”; Monitor, analyze and automate processes intelligently; and create applications. The solution also includes more than 500 pre-built industry and business process templates, the company says.

Tobias Hofmann, another Germany-based software developer and SAP consultant, said it would be a good idea to offer a single tool for citizen developers because they currently “don’t have a tool to help them do all the red tape and technical depths overcome .”

However, questions remain about the service, including whether it’s just another way of connecting standard services. Hofmann asked: “Why hasn’t the customer already done this and why doesn’t SAP deliver these as standard apps?”

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It was also unclear whether it would be available for the latest S/4HANA generation of SAP software and the business suite releases that are still widely used.

Last year at SAP TechEd, the company introduced a unified low-code/no-code development environment on its business technology platform called SAP AppGyver. At the time, Hofmann said it was a good idea, but the documentation for the API hub was complex, meaning users would have to involve developers to connect their systems to other applications.

He said more needs to come from the latest low-code offering to take the pressure off developers who are torn between creating new features and making strategic platform upgrades.

“A nice template doesn’t help when the citizen developer has yet to figure out how to create variables, deal with data models, transform them manually, and figure out how to run a workflow himself. Maybe SAP has solved this and the new SAP build is more than just a collection of templates and a mere integration of AppGyver or Process Automation,” Hofmann said.

SAP’s previous efforts in the low-code/no-code space also included a partnership with specialist Mendix and another SAP technology called Ruum.

SAP was asked for additional comment. ®