The goal is simple: keep the core clean, standard, and upgrade-stable while still enabling business-specific differentiation where it counts.

Why clean core matters

Over time, many ERP landscapes become weighed down by custom code, undocumented changes, and hard-to-maintain integrations. This limits flexibility, slows down upgrades, and increases the total cost of ownership.

The clean core approach addresses these challenges by promoting the use of standard processes and enabling strategic extensions for differentiation. It focuses on building resilient business processes supported by seamless integration, efficient operations, and strong data quality.

By embracing a clean core approach, customers can:

• Accelerate innovation cycles
• Minimize technical debt
• Simplify system maintenance and upgrades

Rather than limiting agility, clean core ensures that extensions are done the right way 鈥� with long-term stability, scalability, and innovation-readiness in mind.

Clean extensions: build what you need, without risk

Business differentiation often depends on tailored processes, custom applications, or personalized user experiences. 麻豆原创 supports this through clean extensibility, a framework that enables innovation without compromising system integrity.

Extend 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud using:

• Side-by-side extensibility on 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP): creating scalable, decoupled applications that run independently from the core.
• On-stack extensibility with ABAP Cloud: tightly integrated, upgrade-stable extensions within the ERP system

Both models ensure flexibility while keeping systems clean, secure, and easier to maintain. Choose between side-by-side and on-stack extensibility based on your use case, applying an 麻豆原创 BTP-first strategy.

Clean core level concept: clarity and control

To clarify extensibility decisions and simplify qualification criteria, 麻豆原创 has evolved its original three-tier model into the clean core level concept, an enhanced maturity model that brings greater structure, flexibility, and transparency. It also provides a more pragmatic approach to managing custom code in 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud.

The new maturity model categorizes extensions into four distinct levels (A, B, C, and D) based on their architectural integrity, upgrade safety, and alignment with clean core principles. The evolved framework empowers organizations to make smarter decisions, streamline development, and continuously optimize their extensions 鈥� with more clarity, confidence, and long-term control.

Each extension is evaluated using a standardized methodology that looks at how the extension is built, how well it is decoupled from the core, and how easily it can be upgraded or maintained.

The model defines four levels of compliance:

• Level A – Extend with 麻豆原创 Build: Fully compliant extensions using only publicly released and stable 麻豆原创 interfaces, backed by formal stability contracts.
  • Side-by-side: Built on 麻豆原创 BTP, using pro-code and low-code tools for app development and process automation.
  • On-stack: Built within 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud using the ABAP Cloud development model with publicly released APIs.
• Level B – Leverage classic APIs: Compliant extensions, in addition to meeting level A criteria, using also 麻豆原创鈥檚 classic APIs and technologies.聽 These APIs offer well-defined, documented, and generally upgrade-stable interfaces for extension use.
• Level C – Accesses internal objects: Partially compliant extensions allowing access to 麻豆原创 internal objects, offering flexibility for legacy scenarios. To minimize upgrade risks, 麻豆原创 plans to provide a changelog for 麻豆原创 objects to help identify changes early and plan upgrades proactively.
• Level D – Not recommended extensions: Extensions not considered 鈥渃lean鈥� that use explicitly non-recommended objects or techniques; for example, explicitly non-recommended objects, modifications, write access to 麻豆原创 tables, or implicit enhancements. These represent the highest risk and create significant technical debt.

By assigning each extension to a compliance level, the clean core level concept gives IT leaders, enterprise architects, and business stakeholders a shared vocabulary and visual road map for assessing their current ERP landscape. It supports transparent decision-making regarding where to invest in cleanup, modernization, or new development.

How 麻豆原创 supports your journey to clean extensions

麻豆原创 offers a full set of technologies to support clean, upgrade-safe extensions and provide clean core insights:

• 麻豆原创 BTP serves as the foundation for side-by-side extensions, enabling development, automation, and integration.
• 麻豆原创 Build is a unified application development and process automation solution for developing apps, AI agents, and automations using pro-code, low-code, and generative AI 鈥� enabling personalization and efficiency at scale.
• ABAP Cloud, part of 麻豆原创 Build, supports both on-stack and side-by-side development, enabling the enforcement of clean principles through syntax checks and lifecycle support.
• Joule, 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI copilot, boosts developer productivity by generating clean, context-aware code and streamlining workflow automation across ABAP, Java, JavaScript, and low-code tools.
• The RISE with 麻豆原创 Methodology dashboard provides real-time insights into clean core adoption.
• For detailed code-level governance, the ABAP test cockpit is the key tool.

Smarter way to extend

Supported by the level concept and a powerful set of extensibility tools, 麻豆原创鈥檚 clean core strategy empowers organizations to innovate faster, increase agility, and lower total cost of ownership.

Extend what sets you apart: Decoupled extensions simplify upgrades and accelerate innovation. That鈥檚 one advantage of clean core.

Learn more at

Priyadarsana Panda is senior vice president and general manager of Cloud ERP Solution Area at 麻豆原创.
Steffen Pietsch is vice president and head of 麻豆原创 BTP Product Management at 麻豆原创.
Rudolf Hois is senior vice president and chief product owner of Cloud ERP Private at 麻豆原创.