In the SAP world today, there is a deep disconnect between the amount of investment made by the vendor and the actual adoption rate among customers. SAP invests approximately 6 billion euros each year in innovation - new technologies, advanced capabilities, user experience, automation, analytics, integrations, and of course, AI. But in reality? Only a small percentage of customers truly adopt this innovation.
What happens when such a gap exists? SAP changes its policy.
From now on, support is provided only for the two most recent versions. The implication is clear: repetitive upgrades, at an ever-shortening pace, are no longer a recommendation. They are a requirement.
And here lies the problem.
A technical upgrade that does not generate business value, does not improve processes, and does not eliminate bottlenecks, is an expensive, risky, and unnecessary event.
It costs millions, shuts down organizations for months, burns resources, and leaves the customer in exactly the same place - just on a newer version.
In this reality, we can no longer think about upgrades the way we did ten years ago.
This is where the Clean Core approach was born.
Clean Core is not meant to beautify presentations.
Its sole purpose: to enable smart, fast, predictable upgrades - especially those that generate real value for the customer.
And the critical point:
No matter where you are today in your system’s lifecycle - before an upgrade, after an upgrade, on ECC or S/4HANA, on RISE or On-premises - if you are an SAP customer, you must adopt Clean Core(!) And it is highly recommended to do so as a preparatory step before upgrading to S/4HANA, not retroactively.
It is important to state the truth, even if it is uncomfortable - the official SAP approach to implementing Clean Core, which relies almost entirely on massive use of BTP, is simply not feasible for most customers. Not today.
Three main reasons:
There is no mechanism for transferring developments from ECC to BTP.
Every development must be rewritten. There is no migration, no reuse, no shortcut.
The complexity of development in BTP is significantly higher than what most organizations are familiar with.
The tools are new, the stacks are different, and the number of developers who truly know how to work with them in depth is very small.
The cost of Capacity Units, as SAP calculates them, simply does not hold up economically.
Customers discover this the hard way, and usually too late.
Therefore, in practice, the only way to truly realize Clean Core is not through another development layer, but through a change in mindset.
This is where InsightZAP comes in - a true No-Code tool, Pure Clean Core, which, when used correctly, replaces a huge portion of business developments in the system without writing a single line of code.
It fully supports UI5 and FIORI at the click of a button, enables the construction of complex processes, business logic, automations, and a modern user experience - all with impressive AI capabilities that shorten processes from development cycles of months to minutes and change the entire interaction with SAP.
And the most important advantage: the Core remains clean.
We know how to assist customers at any stage they are in:
Before an upgrade - we have developed a dedicated pre-upgrade methodology, based on four clear stages:
Proof of Capability - a focused activity that shows the customer, on their system, how existing developments can be replaced with InsightZAP to generate immediate value.
Assessment - a combination of Readiness Check along with identifying problematic developments, technical debt, and pain points that need to be addressed before the upgrade.
Planning - building an organized cleaning plan, according to priorities, complexities, resource availability, and realistic timelines.
Cleaning - transferring relevant developments to InsightZAP, reducing code in the Core, and preparing the system for an upgrade in a smart and non-disruptive way.
During an upgrade - we have already encountered quite a few customers who approached us in the middle of an upgrade project with another vendor. We step in on the customer’s side and help during the project to transfer as many developments as possible to InsightZAP, reduce risks, and relieve pressure on the Core in real time.
After an upgrade - an upgrade is already a repetitive action. In two years, you will be required to upgrade again. Instead of waiting until the last minute, we suggest using the time between upgrades to gradually clean the Core, at the right pace, without pressure and without unnecessary downtime.
It is important to understand(!) - Clean Core is no longer a buzzword. It is a survival condition in the new SAP world. Those who do not adopt it will pay the price with every new upgrade. Those who do will turn upgrades into an almost trivial action.
If this topic speaks to you, whether you are before, during, or after an upgrade, now is the time to talk.
Feel free to contact us for more details at www.xcon.co.il
