As SAP continues to evolve its product and deployment models, one message has remained consistent: the future is standardised, modular, and cloud-ready. At the heart of this transformation lies SAP’s Clean Core strategy — a concept that’s becoming increasingly vital not only to SAP developers and architects but to procurement teams managing complex licensing, upgrade planning, and vendor negotiations.
Clean Core is more than just a technical ideal. It represents a significant shift in how organisations engage with SAP’s ecosystem, with profound implications for IT procurement, operational agility, and long-term value creation. This blog explores what Clean Core really means, why SAP is pushing it so hard, and how it affects upgrade cycles, support costs, and long-term licensing flexibility.
What Is SAP’s Clean Core Strategy?
SAP’s Clean Core philosophy is centered on keeping the core of the ERP system — especially SAP S/4HANA — free from modifications, hard-coded customisations, and complex extensions. Instead of embedding custom code directly into the ERP system, SAP encourages customers to build extensions on platforms like the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), use side-by-side extensibility, and rely on public APIs.
This approach supports a composable ERP strategy. It gives businesses a cleaner, more modular foundation that is easier to update, cheaper to maintain, and more compatible with SAP’s innovation roadmap — particularly in the cloud. The goal? Reduce technical debt and future-proof the ERP landscape.
From a procurement perspective, Clean Core means a departure from legacy ERP complexity, where customisations often trapped companies in outdated versions, incurred spiralling costs, and reduced licensing flexibility.
Why Is SAP Pushing for Standardisation?
- Cloud upgrades become simpler and faster
- New innovations like SAP Joule, AI-powered analytics, or embedded sustainability metrics can be adopted more easily
- Support becomes more scalable and cost-effective
The more standardised your core ERP system is, the more “cloud-ready” your business becomes — a key selling point for SAP’s RISE offering.
For procurement, this means fewer unpredictable implementation costs, smoother transitions to SaaS licensing models, and better leverage in vendor negotiations.
Impact on Upgrade Cycles: Reducing Friction and Downtime
One of the most immediate benefits of a Clean Core approach is its ability to simplify and accelerate upgrade cycles. Traditionally, ERP upgrades were major undertakings, often involving:
- Regression testing of bespoke code
- Custom development to re-integrate features
- Significant system downtime
Clean Core mitigates this by eliminating much of the embedded complexity. When extensions and modifications are detached from the core, the upgrade process becomes faster, more predictable, and less risky.
For procurement professionals, this translates to:
- Lower upgrade costs (fewer consultants, shorter project timelines)
- More accurate budgeting for digital transformation initiatives
- Faster adoption of new SAP features, without the need for large-scale rebuilds
Clean Core also aligns organisations with SAP’s two-tier ERP strategy, enabling seamless integration between headquarters and subsidiaries without dependency on localised custom code.
Support Costs: Simplifying Maintenance and Reducing Risk
Custom code and system modifications increase complexity, which directly impacts support costs — both with SAP and third-party vendors. Clean Core streamlines this by:
- Reducing the volume of customer-specific code that needs to be maintained
- Minimising the number of unique configurations support teams need to handle
- Ensuring faster and more reliable incident response from SAP’s support channels
The impact on procurement is clear:
- Support contracts can be negotiated at lower rates, given the reduced complexity
- Operational teams face fewer disruptions, decreasing the cost of downtime
- Post-go-live support and SLAs become easier to manage, with fewer surprises
Moreover, in regulated industries (like pharmaceuticals or financial services), Clean Core supports compliance by reducing system deviations that can trigger audit red flags.
Licensing Flexibility: Clean Core as a Commercial Advantage
A lesser-discussed but vital benefit of the Clean Core approach is its positive effect on long-term licensing flexibility. When systems are heavily customised, changing licensing models — or even moving to a new deployment model — becomes nearly impossible without extensive redevelopment.
By decoupling custom logic from the ERP system, Clean Core makes it easier to:
- Retire or consolidate unused modules without business disruption
- Switch between on-premises, cloud, or hybrid deployment models
- Adopt RISE with SAP or subscription-based models with greater control
In practice, this helps procurement teams negotiate from a position of strength. Clean Core reduces vendor lock-in, simplifies cost modeling, and enables smoother transitions during mergers, acquisitions, or restructurings.
Additionally, SAP’s licensing model is increasingly shifting toward consumption-based pricing and modular cloud offerings. Clean Core positions businesses to take full advantage of this shift — without the need for costly refactoring.
Procurement Implications: Clean Core as a Strategic Lever
To fully realise the benefits of a Clean Core, IT procurement teams must shift their thinking. This is not just an IT initiative — it’s a licensing, cost management, and vendor strategy play. It requires:
- Reevaluating custom developments and pushing for API-based extensibility
- Partnering closely with IT to ensure new projects align with Clean Core principles
- Rethinking license strategy in light of future deployment plans (on-prem vs cloud)
- Planning for modular service procurement, where vendors deliver plug-in solutions, not tightly integrated core customisations
Procurement must also factor in new training, tools, and change management support as part of the Clean Core transition. There’s a short-term cost to transformation, but the long-term payoff is in lower maintenance, predictable upgrade cycles, and sustainable vendor engagement.
Final Thoughts: Clean Core Is Procurement’s Opportunity to Lead
SAP’s Clean Core strategy is a catalyst for more agile, future-ready ERP environments. While its technical foundations lie with system architects and developers, the strategic outcomes — cost savings, licensing flexibility, reduced upgrade risk — place procurement at the heart of successful adoption.
In a world of fast-evolving cloud licensing models and increased pressure on digital ROI, procurement professionals who embrace the Clean Core mindset will be better positioned to drive innovation, reduce costs, and deliver long-term value for their organisations.
