Overview
The client recently invested in SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) as part of their modernization roadmap. Their goal was to move away from outdated, manual, and siloed SAP MM (Materials Management) transactions and transition into a cloud‑ready, scalable, and user‑friendly environment.
However, despite having a consulting partner, the client faced a major challenge:
- Their internal and partner teams were underpowered and underskilled in BTP
- They lacked the technical depth to design and build native BTP applications
- They needed a team that could translate SAP MM processes into modern cloud workflows
- They wanted to replicate many of the capabilities found in SAP Ariba, but tailored to their business
This created a gap between their modernization goals and their actual delivery capability.
Solution
AppSkilling stepped in as a third‑party solutioning partner, collaborating closely with both the client and their existing consulting firm.
Our role was to:
- Strengthen the delivery team
- Provide BTP-native architecture and development expertise
- Lead the modernization of all SAP MM transactions
- Build cloud applications that mirror the functional value of SAP Ariba, but customized to the client’s needs
We worked hand‑in‑hand with the consulting partner, acting as the technical backbone for the project. This allowed the client to fully utilize their BTP investment without replacing their existing partner, instead, we augmented them.
Results
The client now operates on a fully cloud‑based platform built on SAP BTP, tightly integrated with their S/4HANA system.
Key outcomes:
- External suppliers and third‑party users can now be granted secure access to the platform
- MM transactions are now streamlined, modernized, and accessible via the cloud
- The system behaves similarly to SAP Ariba, but is fully customized to the client’s processes
- The client maximized their BTP subscription instead of letting it sit unused
- The consulting partner was able to deliver successfully despite being understaffed
The result is a future‑proof, scalable, and user‑friendly procurement and materials management ecosystem.
Our Responsibilities
AppSkilling served as the technical extension of the consulting partner and the client’s internal team.
We were responsible for:
- Assisted Cloud solutioning and architecture for the entire MM modernization
- Designing BTP-native applications aligned with SAP best practices
- Developing custom workflows, approval processes, and supplier-facing features
- Integrating BTP applications with S/4HANA
- Supporting the consulting partner’s delivery team, acting as their “extra hands”
- Ensuring the project moved forward despite resource limitations
In short, we handled most of the cloud modernization workload, enabling the partner and client to deliver a successful transformation.