SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) is evolving from a powerful integration and development platform into a foundational enabler of intelligent, extensible customer experiences. While our earlier blog (link to https://blog.langia.se/en/btp) introduced SAP BTP and its core pillars, this blog post dives deeper into how SAP BTP powers the extensibility of SAP Customer Experience (SAP CX) solutions. From in-app flexibility to side-by-side innovation, SAP BTP helps businesses stay agile, maintain a clean core, and deliver tailored customer journeys.
The Strategic Role of SAP BTP in Customer Experience
As customer expectations rise, businesses must deliver consistent, personalised, and scalable experiences across all touchpoints. SAP BTP empowers this transformation by acting as the digital foundation that links customer data, automates workflows, embeds AI, and supports extensibility across all CX solutions—including SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP Sales and Service Cloud, SAP Emarsys, and SAP Customer Data Cloud.
Harmonising Innovation with Stability
SAP BTP supports clean-core principles by encouraging side-by-side extensions. Rather than customising the core system—leading to upgrade complications—businesses can build tailored extensions on BTP. These extensions run independently but integrate seamlessly with core applications using APIs and events. This results in:
- Faster upgrades and lower maintenance overhead
- Improved governance and lifecycle management
- Increased agility for innovation without technical debt
Key Extensibility Patterns
- In-App Extensibility
In-app extensibility refers to adaptations made directly within the application using built-in tools. Examples include:
- Custom fields to collect additional data
- UI layout changes to optimise user experience
- Validation rules and autoflow logic in SAP Sales and Service Cloud v2
- Mash-ups in SAP Cloud for Customer to combine internal and external data sources
While in-app tools are highly accessible—especially for key users or administrators—they are best suited for non-complex, UI-centric modifications.
- Side-by-Side Extensibility
For use cases requiring scalability, advanced logic, or integration with third-party systems, SAP BTP enables powerful side-by-side extensibility. This model separates custom applications from the core while maintaining robust integration via:
- Events and webhooks (e.g., SAP Commerce Cloud triggering an event when a customer places an order)
- OData and REST APIs
- Low-code tooling such as SAP Build Apps and Process Automation
- Pro-code development with ABAP Cloud, CAP, and Kyma
Businesses can create sophisticated new services, integrate AI, or automate complex workflows—without jeopardising core system stability.
SAP Build: Low-Code and Pro-Code Unified
SAP BTP offers a unified development environment through SAP Build, empowering both developers and business users:
- SAP Build Apps: Visual drag-and-drop builder for mobile and web apps
- SAP Build Process Automation: Automate approvals, tasks, and workflows
- SAP Build Code: Full-stack, pro-code development with ABAP, CAP, or Kyma runtime
- SAP Build Work Zone: Create centralised digital workspaces with role-based experiences
This fusion development approach supports collaboration between IT and business, accelerating delivery of customer-centric innovations.
Extending the CX Suite with BTP
SAP Commerce Cloud
- In-app: Modular architecture enables extensions with predefined templates
- Side-by-side: Trigger external actions (e.g., inventory check) via events and APIs
SAP Sales Cloud v2 & SAP Service Cloud v2
- In-app: Extension fields, validations, layout assignments, and autoflow automation
- Side-by-side: Low-code extensions, external event notifications, webhooks, and APIs
SAP Customer Data Cloud
- Customisation through JavaScript parameters in screen-sets
- Webhooks for real-time event notifications
- Extensions for business-specific validation logic
SAP Emarsys
- Automation Center workflows
- Form builder and custom fields for campaign personalisation
- APIs for data exchange and campaign orchestration
Clean Core Strategy: Extensibility with Discipline
A clean core is fundamental to SAP’s cloud strategy—and essential for scaling customer experience without compromising system integrity. Instead of embedding custom logic directly into the application layer, SAP encourages side-by-side extensibility via SAP BTP. This approach enables businesses to innovate rapidly while keeping their core systems standard, stable, and upgradeable.
SAP defines five pillars of clean core compliance:
- Extensibility – Use SAP BTP to develop custom features, keeping modifications outside the core.
- Data – Maintain structured, business-ready data with consistent semantics.
- Integration – Leverage standard APIs and events for seamless and secure connections.
- Processes – Adapt workflows without hardcoding changes into standard applications.
- Operations – Ensure efficient governance, monitoring, and lifecycle management.
This model reduces technical debt, accelerates implementation cycles, and enhances long-term agility. SAP BTP provides the full toolset—ranging from low-code environments and APIs to pro-code runtimes like Kyma and ABAP Cloud—to support clean, scalable innovations across the CX portfolio.
By adhering to clean core principles, businesses can future-proof their digital foundation while delivering tailored, responsive experiences to their customers.
Conclusion: Agility Without Compromise
Extensibility is no longer a technical luxury—it’s a strategic necessity. SAP BTP enables businesses to adapt, innovate, and deliver differentiated customer experiences without compromising system integrity. By leveraging side-by-side architectures, low-code tools, and AI-infused automation, organisations can respond to market changes faster, create value-added services, and scale securely.
At Langia, we help you navigate this journey with deep SAP CX and BTP expertise. Whether you're enhancing SAP Emarsys campaigns or integrating SAP Commerce Cloud with your fulfilment systems, our team ensures your innovations stay clean, compliant, and customer-focused.
Let’s build the future of customer experience—together.
