SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) is an integrated offering comprised of four technology portfolios: database and data management, application development and integration, analytics, and intelligent technologies. The platform offers users the ability to turn data into business value, compose end-to-end business processes, and build and extend SAP applications quickly.
- The SAP Business Technology Platform provides integration capabilities to ensure connected end-to-end business processes across SAP & third-party applications. The following key aspects, called Suite Qualities, facilitate a consistent experience across applications:
- Seamless User Experience: SAP Fiori can be used to gain a common look and feel of many SAP solutions, which improves user experience & reduces interruptions.
- Consistent Security and Identity Management: SAP Cloud Identity services on SAP BTP enable us to manage identities and use the single sign-on capability across selected end-to-end processes.
- Aligned Domain Models, APIs and Events: Master Data Integration is a cloud service for master data integration. It provides a consistent view on master data across a hybrid landscape. We can use APIs for process integration among SAP solutions, SAP, and third parties, or by adopting an event-based integration strategy – all based on predefined integration content available on SAP API Business Hub.
- Embedded Analytics across Solutions: The analytical insights in various SAP solutions helps us make informed decisions. Embedded analytics from SAP Analytics Cloud are available e.g. in SAP S/4HANA and SAP SuccessFactors.
- One Workflow Inbox: With the unified view of pending tasks across SAP solutions in both mobile and desktop environments, we can complete tasks faster.
- Coordinated Lifecycle Management: Harmonized provisioning, setup and operations, and monitoring solutions allow us to optimize implementation projects and reduce manual integration configuration effort. Automated provisioning and guided integration setup are available for selected scenarios in lead to cash, source to pay, recruit to retire, and design to operate.
- End-to-End Process Blueprints: Process blueprints that follow the Industry Reference Architecture standard can help us to reduce planning effort for implementation projects and also support architecture decisions.
SAP BTP offers users the ability to turn data into business value, compose end-to-end business processes, and build and extend SAP applications quickly.
The services and solutions of SAP BTP are available on multiple cloud infrastructure providers. The multi-cloud foundation supports different environments, such as Cloud Foundry, ABAP, and Kyma, as well as multiple different regions, and a broad choice of programming languages.
The central point of entry to the cloud platform is the SAP BTP cockpit, where we can access accounts and applications and manage all activities associated with them.
Below are relationship between SAP BTP Accounts and Associated Activities
==> SAP BTP provides the following environments:
- Cloud Foundry Environment
The Cloud Foundry environment enables you to develop new business applications and business services, supporting multiple runtimes, programming languages, libraries, and services. We can leverage a multitude of buildpacks, including community innovations and self-developed buildpacks.
- ABAP Environment
Within the Cloud Foundry environment, we can create a new space for ABAP development. This is what we refer to as the ABAP environment. It allows us to create extensions for ABAP-based products, such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud, and develop new cloud applications. We can transform existing ABAP-based custom code or extensions to the cloud.
- Kyma Environment
The Kyma environment 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.
- Neo Environment
The Neo environment lets us to develop HTML5, Java, and SAP HANA extended application services (SAP HANA XS) applications. We can also use the UI Development Toolkit for HTML5 (SAPUI5) to develop rich user interfaces for modern web-based business applications.
==> Entitlements and Quotas
When we purchase an enterprise account, we are entitled to use a specific set of resources, such as the amount of memory that can be allocated to our applications.
Service Plans, Entitlements, and Quotas
On SAP BTP, all external dependencies such as databases, messaging systems, files systems, and so on, are services. In this context, multitenant applications and environments are considered services.
Each service has one or more service plans available. A service plan is the representation of the costs and benefits for a given variant of a particular service. For instance, a database may be configured with various “T-shirt sizes”, each of which is a different service plan.
An entitlement is our right to provision and consume a resource. In other words, entitlements are the service plans that we are entitled to use.
A quota represents the numeric quantity that defines the maximum allowed consumption of a resource. In other words, how much of a service plan we are entitled to use.
==> User and Member Management
On SAP BTP, member management happens at all levels from global account to environment, while user management is done for business applications.
User accounts enable users to log on to SAP BTP and access subaccounts and use services according to the permissions given to them. We distinguish between two types of users:
- Platform users are usually developers, administrators or operators who deploy, administer, and troubleshoot applications and services on SAP BTP.
- Business users use the applications that are deployed to SAP BTP. For example, the end users of SaaS apps or services, such as SAP Workflow service or SAP Cloud Integration, or end users of your custom applications are business users.
Member management refers to managing permissions for platform users. A member is a user who is assigned to an SAP BTP global account or subaccount. Administrators can add users to global accounts and subaccounts and assign roles to them as needed. We can use predefined roles, for example the administrator role for managing subaccount members.
User management refers to managing authentication and authorization for our business users.
==> Account Model:
The SAP BTP cockpit is structured according to global accounts and subaccounts:
- A global account is the realization of a contract you or your company has made with SAP. A global account is used to manage subaccounts, members, entitlements and quotas. We receive entitlements and quotas to use platform resources per global account and then distribute the entitlements and quotas to the subaccount for actual consumption. There are two types of commercial models for global accounts: consumption-based model and subscription-based model.
- Subaccounts let us structure a global account according to your organization’s and project’s requirements with regard to members, authorizations, and entitlements.
In the Cloud Foundry environment, the subaccount is divided into one or more spaces, which is where application development, deployment, and maintenance takes place.
Also, The SAP BTP cockpit is structured according to global accounts, directories, and subaccounts:
- A global account is the realization of a contract you or your company has made with SAP. A global account is used to manage subaccounts, members, entitlements and quotas. We receive entitlements and quotas to use platform resources per global account and then distribute the entitlements and quotas to the subaccount for actual consumption. There are two types of commercial models for global accounts: consumption-based model and subscription-based model.
- Directories allow us to organize and manage your subaccounts according to your technical and business needs.
- Subaccounts let us structure a global account according to your organization’s and project’s requirements with regard to members, authorizations, and entitlements.
In the Cloud Foundry environment, the subaccount is divided into one or more spaces, which is where application development, deployment, and maintenance takes place.
==> Type of Accounts:
SAP BTP provides different types of global accounts, enterprise and trial. The type we choose determines pricing, conditions of use, resources, available services, and hosts.
- A trial account lets us try out the platform for free. Access is open to everyone. Trial accounts are intended for personal exploration, and not for production use or team development. They allow restricted use of the platform resources and services. The trial period varies depending on the environment.
- An enterprise account is usually associated with one SAP customer or partner and contains their purchased entitlements to platform resources and services. It groups together different subaccounts that an administrator makes available to users for deploying applications.
SAP BTP also offers two different commercial models:
- Consumption-based commercial model: Your organization receives access to all current and future services that are eligible for this model. We have complete flexibility to turn services on and off and to switch between services as your business requires throughout the duration of your contract. This commercial model is available in two flavors: Cloud Platform Enterprise Agreement (CPEA) and Pay-As-You-Go for SAP BTP.
- Subscription-based commercial model: Your organization subscribes only to the services that we plan to use. We can then use these services at a fixed cost, irrespective of consumption.