" Code gives freedom " was the theme of Bernd 's Leukert (Head of Application Innovation and member of the Global
Executive Board of SAP AG ) keynote at SAP TechEd in Amsterdam." Freedom is the fundamental principle that allows people to innovate ... "
Remarkable in this age of standardization and engineered services. Yet precisely this freedom is also important in the cloud. Often cloud solutions are considered as solutions that can be quickly brought live, are easy to use and always up to date. But the question remains whether cloud applications also provide freedom and at the same time retain the benefits of the cloud. In this blog I will discuss how application development in the cloud can be done in the future with cloud Line of Business Applications and the SAP HANA Cloud Platform.
Shaping the future in the cloud
When organizations switch to the cloud, they benefit from numerous advantages. These are benefits that are discussed in every conversation I have with clients and colleagues on this issue. What always comes into play, is the point of extensibility. "Nice all ", then you hear, " but what I have all those benefits if I am bound to standard software. Our unique processes cannot be captured in standards.”
Is the cloud an online black box with software that you can hardly adjust? Not at all. I encourage cloud users even to bridge ' the last mile' by using the basis that is already in the software, to complete these best practices with business processes where they are distinctive and unique to the organization. We provide these best practice with years of experience for a solid foundation so that our customers can truly focus on delivering that value.
Software Development in the Cloud
We cannot escape some tech -talk here. Development in the cloud is not comparable to development ' on the ground'. Developing in the cloud is much simpler. To make extensions, integration and developments as easy as possible the SAP Cloud Applications Studio exists. The easy to use Software Development Kit for SAP Cloud for Customer, SAP Cloud for Travel and SAP Business ByDesign etc ...
SAP Cloud Application Studio is a metadata aPaaS, i.e. an application Platform as a Service. An aPaaS is a cloud service that is offering a development and deployment environment for application services. Developers create metadata (such as custom data objects, code and presentation elements) in a visual programming environment that is interpreted by the aPaaS during runtime. Point - and -Click programming and customizing tools can then also be used by non-professional IT developers. Applications that use the SAP Cloud application studio can thus quite easily increase the value of data and processes in the cloud solutions.
Cloud software development on the horizon
SAP HANA and the promise to simplify application development dominated SAP TechEd in Amsterdam. Let’s therefore have a look at the SAP HANA Cloud Platform, which could be THE cloud development environment of the future. What is it? Technically speaking SAP HANA Cloud Platform is a RAM - Optimized Cloud Infrastructure with SAP HANA SAP HANA Database Services and Application Services. How to look at it? SAP's vision of SAP HANA Cloud Platform is that it is a platform that combines the speed of SAP HANA and the ease of use and scalability of the cloud. The HANA Cloud Platform is a PaaS. But what we mean by that? First, it is designed for rapid development of cloud applications. I therefore see it as THE environment that will be used as the programming environment for cloud solutions, and also THE environment for development in the cloud for on-premise applications.
SAP HANA Cloud Platform scenarios
So how could the world of cloud application development look like? Customers want to use the cloud in an easy and non-disruptive way to accelerate innovation cycles at low cost, with high flexibility. How can this be achieved? We can look at a number of scenarios. One of the scenarios is that the SAP HANA Cloud Platform is used to expand cloud extensions for on-premise or SaaS applications. For example, to create application extensions to enrich or enhance existing functionality. We must not forget that application logic can now be developed at the level of the database, which ensures that we can offer much more targeted data to the application layer, including SaaS.
In my previous blog I mentioned the so-called hybrid scenario that could be a way to embed cloud gradually in the IT landscape. Connectivity plays an important role in this Cloud Move. When an organisation has a heterogeneous system landscape containing ABAP -based systems, Java -based systems and tools, SAP HANA -based systems on-premise, cloud-based LoB solutions and 3rd party systems than connectivity helps with the transition between on- premise and cloud, and thus applying hybrid scenarios. Examples of scenarios using cloud connectivity include extensions (on-premise, SaaS) or native HANA development in the cloud. An example is the extension of an on-premise ABAP-based system with a Web Shop in the cloud, or linking the HANA
studio in the cloud. Many variations are possible.
That completes the circle. SAP brings its cloud solutions towards the SAP HANA platform and so we will encounter many new scenarios, where innovation, new combinations and expanding applications for both on-premise and in the cloud, and with HANA and with HANA in the cloud opens doors to unexplored areas both in IT and in the business.
Do you want to stay up to speed on all things cloud? Keep following my blogs in this corner of the SAP Cloud Blog on SCN. If you have any comments or suggestions, please drop me a line. Leave a comment below or send me an e-mail.
