The Evolution of SAP Cloud Platform Extension Factory into SAP Cloud Platform Extension Suite

Note that this blog was published before our branding changes related to SAP technology announced in January 2021.

Where the story begins

When we first released the new concept of “SAP Cloud Platform Extension Factory”, our goal was to simplify the extension journey for our SAP customers. SAP Cloud Platform was and still is THE platform to build extensions for existing SAP applications. To improve that experience, we wanted to provide connectivity capabilities that would enable customers to easily and securely connect to the needed data sources, access APIs and events and manage those connections with an intuitive UI. Essentially, the goal of Extension Factory was to provide:

• A standardized way to register SAP LoB solutions on SAP Cloud Platform
• A central registry for registered solutions with their APIs, events, and credentials
• One developer experience for applications built on the SAP Cloud Platform, regardless of the runtime

But as we soon realized, that was just the first step…

Where we are today

The SAP Cloud Platform Extension Suite not only includes everything outlined above, it also provides services, tools and low-code capabilities to help realize your extension use cases. The complete portfolio is available on the SAP Cloud Platform Discovery Center, but let’s break it down into 3 main pillars:

• Digital Experience

Establish new, engaging and contextual multi-channel experiences to facilitate access to relevant data for both internal and external users. Enhance digital collaboration functionalities with intelligent technologies, like integrated chatbots to assist and guide users throughout their day. Create native mobile apps using our SAP Cloud Platform SDKs for Android and iOS.

• Digital Process Automation

Digitalize and automate paper-based tasks and business processes to increase efficiency, empower the end user and allow your workforce to focus on value-adding tasks. Combine workflow capabilities with automation technologies to achieve your desired business result faster. Since Q2 2020, we offer live process content packages on the SAP API Business Hub to accelerate implementation of digital business processes.

• Development Efficiency

Jumpstart or accelerate your project, from development through lifecycle management. Within this pillar you’ll find tools, services and APIs that can help you start building your application extension. For example,

• Use our SAP Business Application Studio as your cloud-based IDE, complete with templates for mobile, workflow and UI development.
• Implement important security concepts and develop secure applications with our Enterprise Security Services
• Manage the lifecycle of your applications using our integrated DevOps portfolio.
• Looking for deployment options? Choose the runtime that best fits your business requirements and skill set: Cloud Foundry Runtime on the Cloud Foundry environment, leverage Kubernetes-based technology with Kyma Runtime or Serverless Runtime. And of course, transform existing ABAP assets unlocking the full potential of ABAP in the cloud, a.k.a, the ABAP environment.

What comes next

We will continue to enhance the capabilities of our SAP Cloud Platform Integration and Extension Suites to cover more use cases. For information on what’s to come, check out:

• Introduction to SAP Cloud Platform Extension Suite (OpenSAP course)
• SAP Cloud Platform Road Map
• SAP Cloud Platform Discovery Center

Oh, and don’t be surprise if you stop seeing SAP Cloud Platform Extension Factory on slides, road maps or service names. For example, our runtime names, will no longer include “Extension Factory”. They’ll follow the regular service naming standards:

• SAP Cloud Platform Cloud Foundry Runtime
• SAP Cloud Platform Kyma Runtime
• SAP Cloud Platform Serverless Runtime

In Summary, if you are looking for information on how SAP Cloud Platform can help you build and manage your extensions, look for SAP Cloud Platform Extension Suite and you’ll be in the right place.