{"id":55392,"date":"2026-10-08T14:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altares.be\/?p=55392"},"modified":"2026-10-08T14:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:31:09","slug":"sap-clean-core-why-innovation-starts-alongside-the-core","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altares.be\/en\/blog\/master-data-management\/sap-clean-core-waarom-innovatie-naast-de-kern-begint\/","title":{"rendered":"SAP Clean Core: why innovation starts alongside the core"},"content":{"rendered":"

An additional field for supplier information, a connection to an external data source or a customer acceptance check. Over the years, more and more customisations have been added to many SAP environments. Every change has a purpose, but together they can make the system more complex. Upgrades require more preparation, and integrating new functionality becomes more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With SAP Clean Core, the focus shifts towards extensions that respect the standard functionality of the ERP system. SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) plays an important role in this approach. But a more manageable system is only the beginning. How do you ensure that the customer and supplier data your processes rely on also remains reliable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"sap<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is SAP BTP?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SAP Business Technology Platform is a cloud platform for integration, application development, automation, data and AI, among other things. It allows you to connect SAP with other systems and add functionality alongside your ERP core. For example, you can use an application to retrieve external business information and make it available within your existing SAP processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This approach is known as side-by-side extensibility<\/em>: the extension runs alongside the ERP system and exchanges data through available interfaces. This makes the extension and the SAP core less dependent on each other. You can develop and manage new functionality with fewer changes to the core system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does SAP Clean Core mean for your organisation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SAP Clean Core is about maintaining an ERP environment that remains manageable and easy to upgrade. You make use of standard functionality and supported extension options where additional logic is needed. This can be within S\/4HANA or through an application on BTP, depending on the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main difference is therefore how you extend the system. Customisations that deeply affect standard SAP code can require additional checks and remediation work during updates. By designing extensions carefully and, where appropriate, placing them alongside the core, you reduce this dependency. This creates more room to improve your processes without every new development becoming a major technical project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A modern SAP environment requires reliable data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Clean Core makes your SAP environment more manageable. But duplicate customer records, missing registration numbers and outdated supplier data do not disappear automatically. Whether you are moving to S\/4HANA, digitising your invoicing or implementing AI, the quality of your master data partly determines how well your processes work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n