Side-by-side extensibility enables you, as a developer, to extend the functional scope of the core solution. For example, to enhance the capabilities of the core application, you can build and implement additional applications.
With the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), you can develop side-by-side applications, using low-code or no-code tools, such as SAP Build Apps, or pro-code development environments like the SAP Business Application Studio.
Note
Before you continue with this course, it is recommended to have administrative access to an SAP BTP account of any type (Trial, TDD, PAYG, Subscription, BTPEA) so you can practice as you go through the content. To get a free SAP BTP account, refer to this tutorial.
Note
For further information on how to use SAP Build Apps to develop applications, refer to the Related Resources section on the main learning journey page.
How does developing a side-by-side application benefit partners?
The partner can easily sell, implement, maintain, and provide support to the side-by-side application. This is because the application:
- Is hosted in the SAP BTP, Cloud Foundry environment of the customer’s SAP BTP account or in an SAP BTP sub-account of the partner environment.
- Doesn’t need a remote session or physical server access to access it.
- Provides a future-proof and cloud-ready solution.
- Reduces complexity due to Single Sign-On user authentication and authorization of existing SAP Business One users.
- Helps safeguard intellectual property by building an ERP-agnostic solution to serve various ERP products and customers with one extension.
How does developing a side-by-side application benefit customers?
- Customers don’t have to make manual updates–version upgrades are done automatically.
- Customers can use the latest technologies quickly, without changing their implementation.
- Customers keep a strong, secure, and reliable landscape, because with side-by-side extensibility, the software runs independently beside the main system and the secured connectivity protects it from risks.
- Side-by-side extensibility reduces customers’ total cost of ownership (TCO) because the cloud infrastructure and license-models are more cost-effective than for on-premise.
Side-by-side extensibility helps to maintain a clean core. In other words, side-by-side extensibility enables you to customize ERP functionalities without altering the main aspects of an ERP system (the core) - no code is added to the SAP software. All the additional code or applications written by the developer are run externally (side-by-side).
When there is a clean core, the reliability and integrity of the original system is preserved, and it simplifies processes, reduces errors, and enhances performance.