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Identifying Key Features and Limitations of Extending SAP Sales Cloud and SAP Service Cloud Version 2 using Side-by-Side Extensibility

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to explain the features and limitations of side-by-side extensibility.

Extensibility Options for SAP Sales and Service Cloud Version 2

SAP Sales Cloud Version 2 and SAP Service Cloud Version 2, hereinafter commonly referred to as SAP Sales and Service Cloud Version 2, offer many settings to tailor the solution to the customer’s business processes and meet their business needs to a certain extent. If this is not sufficient, SAP Sales and Service Cloud Version 2 can also be extended to enhance its features and functionality.

Extensibility options are often divided into two categories depending on where they are implemented:

In-App Extensibility allows minor enhancements with tools built into the cloud solution, such as adding new fields, validating user input, or adjusting the user interface.
Side-by-Side Extensibility allows greater flexibility and more complex enhancements but requires a separate hosting environment, such as SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). Typical use cases are: Implementing complex logic or embedding a BTP-hosted web app into the cloud solution's user interface.

The following illustration provides an overview of the different extensibility options and typical use cases:

Figure illustrates typical use cases for In-App Extension and Side By Side Extensions. In App Extension typical use cases are - Dynamic Page Layout, Language Adaptation, Add Database Fields, Create Custom Buttons and Actions, Add Custom Logic, and Embed External UIs. Side By Side Extensions typical use cases are, Custom Applications, External Functions and Services, External Entities and Analytics, Data Science and Intelligence, and IoT & Big Data. Similar features are a secured connectivity in the UI, Rules and Workflow, APIs and Events and Meta Data.

Side-By-Side Extensibility and Tools

Side-by-side extensibility offers more customization possibilities than in-app extensibility. It also places higher demands on the initial setup and operation due to the nature of the external environment. This includes managing connectivity and security aspects, as well as the development process itself, which also requires a higher skill set for developing web apps.

With the following products and services, SAP offers a variety of tools to assist you with side-by-side extending your solutions:

SAP Build Apps is a low-code/no-code development platform to create apps for native mobile use and the web.
SAP Build Code is a pro-code development platform that leverages ready-to-use SAP services and SAP's generative AI copilot Joule to simplify the development of SAPUI5, SAP Fiori, mobile, and CAP applications running on SAP BTP using the Cloud Foundry runtime. It is the successor of SAP Web IDE and SAP Business Application Studio.
SAP Build Process Automation combines capabilities from SAP Workflow Management and SAP Intelligent RPA with a powerful, yet intuitive no-code development experience.
SAP BTP, KYMA Runtime is a fully managed Kubernetes runtime based on the open-source project "Kyma" that allows developers to extend SAP solutions with serverless Functions and combine them with containerized microservices.

This course focuses on SAP Build Apps, which reduces the barriers of complex development environments and programming languages with its low-code/no-code approach. It empowers consultants and business users without a professional development background to confidently build enterprise-grade apps that work seamlessly across all operating systems without writing a single line of code. This introduces a new category of developers known as citizen developers.

The following section compares this to the pro-code approach.

Comparison of Low-Code/No-Code and Pro-Code Extensibility

Just like the contrast between in-app and side-by-side extensibility, the low-code/no-code method has its advantages, disadvantages, and limitations, where the pro-code approach becomes relevant.

Low-Code/No-Code Approach

Advantages:

Less technical expertise required. These platforms enable non-technical users to create of modify applications with ease.
Faster development cycle. Low-code and no-code platforms dramatically shorten the time needed to develop and launch applications.

Limitations:

Limited customization. These solutions may not offer the degree of customization or complexity that certain specific applications require.
Vendor dependence. Available features rely on the given framework, which can lead to constraints even for non-complex projects.

Pro-Code Approach

Advantages:

Greater flexibility. More technical freedom over the application design and behavior.
Complete customization. Tailored to meet specific requirements.

Limitations:

Requires technical expertise. It requires a substantial level of coding experience and knowledge.
Time-consuming. Writing code to extend an application can be a time-consuming task.

In essence, the choice between low-code/no-code side-by-side extensibility and pro-code side-by-side extensibility is determined by the specific needs of the project, the complexity of the task, and the available resources.

Lesson Summary:

This lesson first defined In-App Extensibility and Side by Side Extensibility. Next, it detailed the advantages and disadvantages of other extensibility options. This way you can make the best decision possible when extending SAP Sales and Service Cloud Version 2. This course uses Side by Side Extensibility to customize the solution. The next lesson demonstrates how to set up the connection between SAP Sales and Service Cloud Version 2 and SAP Build Apps.

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