Recent posts in this series have provided updates on SAP RISE and GROW, with a focus on how they can help streamline the path for companies migrating to SAP public and private cloud editions. This new episode drills down into the concept of maintaining a "clean core" in your ERP system to assure a solid foundation that minimizes unnecessary customization, which could impede organizational agility going forward.
Why Clean Core is Important
As more companies are moving their ERP systems and business operations to the cloud to gain better efficiency and scalability, many are facing challenges with adapting previously customized processes to mesh with the standardized processes that are key to cloud success. Organizations cannot achieve the next level of business transformation while carrying significant customized processes, because they make systems more expensive to run and upgrade, harder to maintain and adapt, and riskier to operate.
This is an area that Bramasol has been focusing on for years. In a previous post on reducing "digital debt", we explored the phenomena of how patchwork software improvements over the course of time can lead to higher costs, lower productivity, and continual need for updating to maintain the systems.
Excessive digital debt can exhibit the following symptoms, many of which appear together:
- Lack of flexibility and agility
- Inability to measure results
- Lack of end-to-end visibility
- Need for ongoing data manipulation and reconciliation between systems
- High maintenance costs and slow support responses
- Limited scalability options
- Orphaned code that no one knows how to update
- End users resorting to manual offline workarounds to get what they need
One of the overriding issues that influences creation of digital debt is whether a company takes a Fit-to-Standard or Fit-to-Purpose approach to their software implementation.
Basically a Fit-to-Standard philosophy defaults toward choosing systems that meet core objectives and then doing your best to avoid resorting to customized modifications. In contrast, a Fit-to-Purpose approach leans toward custom tailoring of the software for whatever it takes to meet a specific list of requirements from users, managers and other stakeholders.
Because the entire SAP ecosystem of applications has always been architected around shared core ERP and finance systems, SAP provides ample leeway to tailor functionality for specific customer needs while still adhering to an overall Fit-to-Standard philosophy.
However, the movement to cloud-based systems is making the need for standardization even more important for both near term and long term success. To help manage the transition, RISE with SAP provides a unified set of migration and optimization capabilities within a single package, which is designed to help businesses move from where they are to a seamlessly integrated, holistic, enterprise scale, S/4HANA environment. As part of this transition the concept of maintaining a clean core has also come to the forefront.
What Does SAP "Clean Core" Encompass
SAP's clean core initiative addresses the need to enable business value in the cloud without carrying forward digital debt or accumulating more ongoing customization that degrades the advantages of cloud ERP deployment.
The core consists of six key dimensions that form the foundation of a company's ability to enable a successful cloud strategy. Shown below, these include the software stack, operations, data, processes, integrations, and extensibility.
The clean core concept focuses on managing each of these six dimensions to help achieve cloud compliance with master data and business process governance. Rather than forbidding all customization, the clean core concept offers standardized guidelines for all elements that help avoid extensive manual efforts to adapt and test changes when upgrading the systems.
The table below shows key criteria that SAP recommends for maintaining the clean core.
| Core Element | Criteria to Maintain Clean Core |
| Software Stack | • Software version close to the latest release • Software version close to latest Feature Pack Stack (FPS) and Support Pack Stack (SPS) • Partner solutions clean core compliant |
| Extensibility | • Upgrade-stable extensions following prescribed extensibility model • Only actively-used and well-documented extensions • Adherence to general code quality standards and best practices • No duplication of SAP standard functionality |
| Integrations | • Upgrade stable interfaces • Proper monitoring and error resolution capabilities • Only actively-used and well-documented integration |
| Data | • Complete • Correct • Actively used and relevant |
| Processes | • No inconsistent or inefficient processes • Leveraging SAP recommended Best Practices |
| Operations | • Day-to-day operations are planned and executed regularly to maintain alignment with the above-mentioned guidelines (e.g., security authorizations, integrations, data, etc.) • Opt-in on lifecycle events such as periodic upgrades • Compliance with pre-approved maintenance windows |
Summary
Bramasol's core practices are aligned with SAP's recommendations for leveraging RISE with SAP along with the clean core approach to configure solutions that are as close as possible to standard processes.
Because the entire SAP ecosystem of applications is architected around shared core ERP and finance systems, that are built with a continuous emphasis on seamless interoperability, SAP's clean core approach provides ample leeway to enhance functionality for specific customer needs while still adhering to an overall clean core philosophy. In addition, SAP's initiatives on artificial intelligence (AI) are further enabling companies to evolve their applications and systems while maintaining alignment with clean core governance.
The result is a solid ERP cloud foundation that is low-risk, high-value, and readily extensible.