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The Sign-Off Table

Lesson 4 of 5

Service categories: what BTP offers

8 min

SAP BTP is a catalog of services, and the catalog is large. The SAP Discovery Center lists them with their plans and regions, and the service marketplace in the cockpit shows what a subaccount can use. To find your way, it helps to group services into a few capability areas. SAP has used four for some time: application development and automation, integration, data and analytics, and artificial intelligence. The exact grouping has shifted over the years, so treat it as a map, not a contract.

Application development and automationBuild apps and automate processes: SAP Build (Apps, Process Automation, Code), SAP Business Application Studio, SAP Build Work Zone for launchpads
IntegrationConnect SAP and non-SAP systems: SAP Integration Suite with Cloud Integration and API Management
Data and analyticsStore, model and analyze data: SAP HANA Cloud, SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud
Artificial intelligenceRun and consume AI: SAP AI Core and AI services, plus AI embedded in SAP applications
Foundational servicesIdentity (SAP Cloud Identity Services), destinations and connectivity, alerting, and transport (SAP Cloud Transport Management)
A practical map of SAP BTP capability areas, with example services.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-btp-101

What each area means for an ERP program

Application development and automation is where side-by-side extensions are built: low-code apps, pro-code apps with the SAP Cloud Application Programming Model, workflows and launchpads. Integration covers interfaces between SAP S/4HANA and other systems, such as Contoso's purchase order flow to Lakeside Components, and the APIs Contoso exposes to partners. Data and analytics provides databases for extensions (SAP HANA Cloud), data modeling across sources (SAP Datasphere) and planning and reporting (SAP Analytics Cloud). AI services run models and expose AI capabilities to apps.

The foundational services rarely make headlines but every landscape needs them. Identity services authenticate users. The destination service stores connection details so apps do not hard-code URLs and credentials. A secure connectivity component, such as SAP Cloud Connector, links BTP to systems not exposed to the internet. Alerting tells operators when something fails. And SAP Cloud Transport Management moves content between subaccounts, which is how Contoso keeps changes flowing development to test to production.

Contoso needCapability areaExample service
Fleet customers check order status onlineApplication developmentA Cloud Foundry app built with the SAP Cloud Application Programming Model, shown in SAP Build Work Zone
Send purchase orders to Lakeside ComponentsIntegrationSAP Integration Suite, Cloud Integration
Expose an order status API to Great Lakes Fleet ServicesIntegrationSAP Integration Suite, API Management
Combine ERP and warranty data for margin analysisData and analyticsSAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud
Sign-on with corporate accountsFoundationalSAP Cloud Identity Services
Move app and integration content between stagesFoundationalSAP Cloud Transport Management

Mapping Contoso's needs to BTP services. Exact products depend on licensing and architecture decisions.

  1. User signs onA fleet customer service agent signs on through the identity service
  2. LaunchpadOpens the fleet order status tile in SAP Build Work Zone
  3. Cloud Foundry appThe app in cmc-ext-prod handles the request
  4. DestinationThe destination service supplies the connection to the right S/4HANA system
  5. Secure connectionA connectivity component reaches the private S/4HANA system
  6. SAP S/4HANA APIA released OData API in CMP returns order and delivery status
One request through several BTP services. Each step is a place a test can fail, and a thing to configure per stage.
The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-btp-101

For testers, the service map has a practical use: it tells you what the system under test really is. A fleet order status test that passes touches identity, a launchpad, an app, a destination, connectivity and an S/4HANA API. If the test fails only in one stage, the stage-specific parts (destinations, connectivity and role collections) are the first suspects.

What would you do?

A developer suggests building the purchase order interface to Lakeside Components as custom code inside the fleet order status Cloud Foundry app, "since it already connects to S/4HANA". What should the solution architect recommend?

Key points
  • The SAP Discovery Center lists services, plans and regions; the cockpit marketplace shows what a subaccount can use.
  • Four capability areas: application development and automation, integration, data and analytics, AI; plus foundational services.
  • Foundational services (identity, destinations, connectivity, alerting, transport) are needed in every landscape.
  • Map each need to the service built for it; do not hide integration inside apps.
  • Stage-specific parts (destinations, connectivity, roles) are the first suspects when only one stage fails.

Check your understanding · not graded

Lesson check

  1. 1. Which service area would host the purchase order interface to a supplier?

  2. 2. What does the destination service do?

  3. 3. Where should you check current service plans and regional availability?

  4. 4. Which service is used to move content between BTP subaccounts?