M+E Connections

Companies can use the recently introduced SAP Build set of solutions to customize their business processes, Diana Galbinasu, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) Innovation executive CoE, Middle & Eastern Europe, said Feb. 7, during the webcast “Ignite innovation with SAP Build.”

SAP Build, a low-code portfolio of solutions designed to help business users of all skill levels easily create and augment enterprise applications, automate tedious processes, and design engaging business sites, was introduced by SAP in November 2022 at the SAP TechEd conference.

A key advantage of Build is “if you can think it, you can create it – without writing code [and] at a time when the pool of developers is small and the demand for fast innovation is growing,” according to SAP.

“Local no-code is a key driver for business transformation today,” Galbinasu said during the webinar. “That’s because in a world that keeps changing, rapid business innovation has a great impact on business performance. So for companies to stay agile, to be able to deliver fast on the business requirements and stay competitive, they really need to have all these new solutions and be able to customize the existing ones,” she explained.

Meanwhile, the “pipeline for IT projects is constantly growing, and we are seeing this at our customers and there are not enough developers to tackle these constantly changing requirements,” she said. “Many times, the IT departments are overwhelmed and don’t have the resources and time to fulfill the requests of all those that are coming from business, which may result in delays of the digitalization projects for certain lines of businesses. And this is all due to prioritization needs.”

And that, she said, is “where the local no-code tools can make a great difference,” adding: “We have seen the adoption of such tools is rapidly increasing.” That is supported by an IDC study done last year, she pointed out, noting “discoveries showed that 60 percent of the organizations are increasing their investments in the local no-code.”

Companies are doing that “for two main reasons,” she explained: “One, to provide the professional developers tools that improve their productivity so they can perform their development tasks more quickly and in an easier way. And the second reason is to enable new areas in their organization and empower the business users who are close to the business processes, those users that actually know best the challenges and the needs of business so these users can get access to the right tools to actively implement solutions.”

SAP’s goal, she said, is to “empower enterprise developers to become more productive but also, at the same time, to help the business and the process experts to engage in innovation building applications faster and simplifying process automation.”

Therefore, she added: “Our intention is to bring the power of Business Technology Platform and put it in the hands of the process owners, the business experts. That’s why, probably you are aware already, in November last year at TechEd, we introduced the SAP Build portfolio, which combines our local no-code solutions to enable users with all skill levels to easily create and customize enterprise applications. The unified SAP Build portfolio empowers users to create applications, automate  processes and design engaging business sites with drag and drop simplicity.”

SAP Build “can be leveraged both by professional developers and citizen developers, the business users,” she said.

Johhanes Meixner, solution advisor, SAP BTP for Central & Eastern Europe, went on to demonstrate how Build works, showcasing Build apps, process automation and works.