ERP clean core strategy

New possibilities for your business emerge when you get the most value from your investment in the RISE with SAP offering.
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What is a clean core strategy?

With an ERP clean core strategy, your organization can benefit from the latest release with minimal modifications and cloud-compliant extensions and customizations.

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The stability of standardization with the flexibility to innovate

By standardizing the processes and data underlying ERP operations, your business can benefit from more best practices and customize what it needs to differentiate itself.

  • Reach new levels of IT efficiency and mitigate risks to the business

  • Execute decision-making and actions better with improved data quality

  • Accelerate innovation with regular upgrades and powerful development tools

  • Gain a competitive advantage with clean core-compliant enhancements in SAP Build tools and SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) with the SAP BTP Guidance Framework

 

Explore the value of a clean core strategy

80

%

less software customization*

70

%

of core business processes are automated*

50

%

reduction in database size*

80

%

of core business processes standardized across 24 countries*

Rapid innovation

  • Improve agility by creating differentiating business models and scaling capabilities as needed
  • Adapt with greater ease by using innovations directly from standard software releases from SAP
  • Gain clear visibility into business process performance and innovation priorities

Better execution

  • Make better decisions faster with increased data quality and availability
  • Collaborate more meaningfully by using one version of the truth to break down siloed departments
  • Optimize processes by connecting the right people to the right projects throughout the business

Operations efficiency

  • Allocate more of your resources toward innovation, instead of maintenance
  • Address regulatory changes quickly and simplify compliance tracking, auditing, and reporting
  • Enhance security through up-to-date upgrades and the most-recent innovations

*See Legal Notice on www.sap.com/legal-notice for use terms, disclaimers, disclosures, or restrictions.

Resources to support your journey to a clean core

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Clean core dashboard

  • Transparent views into your current clean core progress with user-friendly reporting tiles in the SAP for Me portal

  • Access available to your system administrators using RISE with SAP

  • Quarterly updates with new features, measurements, and tiles covering the latest cloud ERP solutions from SAP

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Clean core services

  • Advisory services to provide guidance about the benefits and transformation options

  • Implementation, migration, and development services to help you transform with the least risk

  • Enablement and coaching services to help optimize and monitor progress

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Global strategic service partners

  • Deep expertise for rethinking current systems, business models, processes, and operations

  • Defined cloud migration strategy to help select, implement, and integrate the right SAP solutions

  • Ongoing support and maintenance with industry solutions, custom development, and change management

Podcast

Navigating change with the agility of cloud ERP and a clean core

Hear how organization stay up to date with the latest capabilities, remain compliant with policies and regulations, and innovate to keep up with business changes.

Listen to the podcast
Blog

Keeping the clutter out while innovating continuously

Check out the benefits of maintaining a clean core with real-world insights from Eric van Rossum, chief marketing and solutions officer for SAP S/4HANA at SAP.

Read the blog
Video

Modernizing ERP through a clean core

Get expert advice from Paul Saunders, chief evangelist for cloud ERP at SAP, on why a clean core matters when moving to cloud ERP.

Watch the video
Blog

Extending SAP S/4HANA Cloud toward a clean core strategy

Explore the various extensiblity options in SAP S/4HANA Cloud and how they can help businesses achieve their clean core objectives.

Read the blog
SAP Support onboarding resource center

Analyzing and standardizing business processes

Start your clean core journey by optimizing your business processes using SAP Signavio solutions – a part of RISE with SAP.

Visit the SAP Signavio resource center
SAP Support onboarding resource center

Reducing customization and modularizing architecture

Turn your data into significant business value by leveraging the capabilities of SAP Business Technology Platform.

Visit the SAP BTP resource center

See how SAP customers are succeeding with a clean core strategy

Driving digital innovation with scalability and flexibility

Look at how leading global professional services company Accenture is applying the clean core paradigm to transition to a composable architecture and eliminate custom code.

What are analysts saying?

Succeeding in the digital world with the power of a clean core

Take a close look at how a powerful, modern cloud ERP system with a clean core – regardless of updates and adopted innovations – provides a single version of truth that becomes the heart of running a digital business.

Frequently asked questions

The core of ERP software consists of six fundamental dimensions:

  • Software stack: The standardized ERP software in use

  • Extensibility: Added functionality that goes beyond the standard ERP software

  • Integrations: Communication between solutions

  • Processes: Actions presented in an end-to-end experience

  • Data: Configuration data, master data, and transactional data

  • Operations: Ongoing governance and monitoring activity

With a clean core, the performance of each ERP dimension improves as follows:

  • A software stack can closely run with capabilities from the latest release, feature pack stack, support pack stack, and partner solutions that are clean core compliant

  • Extensibility is enabled by:

    • Upgrade-stable extensions that adhere to a prescribed extensibility model

    • Actively used and well-documented extensions

    • Adherence to general code quality standards and best practices

    • A single instance of each SAP standard functionality

  • Integrations are supported with upgrade-stable interfaces, proper monitoring and error resolution capabilities, and actively used and well-documented connectors

  • Data becomes more complete, accurate, widely used, and relevant

  • Process consistency and efficiency increases when using best practices recommended by SAP

  • Day-to-day operations are planned and executed regularly to maintain alignment with the guidelines mentioned above while opting in on lifecycle events such as periodic upgrades and complying with preapproved maintenance windows