The SAP glossary for executives.

SAP's rallying cry for a two-pronged push: a harmonised public cloud ERP delivered through GROW with SAP, with AI innovations built in, for customers, partners and users across buying centres.

Converting the existing system and keeping what already works, so business disruption stays low. SAP notes it can cost less than greenfield because working processes need not be rebuilt.

Starting on a new system landscape instead of converting the old one. SAP describes it as the easiest way into SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, particularly for customers whose landscapes are heterogeneous and poorly standardised.

SAP's bundle of products and services from SAP and partners designed to bring net-new midmarket customers onto SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. On sapperment, GROW is the public cloud path.

SAP's multi-tenant cloud deployment: the software runs in SAP's infrastructure and the resources are shared by many customers. Since 2023 "public edition" is part of the product name, as in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.

Formerly: public cloud edition

SAP's "business transformation as a service" offer, launched in 2021. It bundles software, cloud infrastructure and services from SAP and partners to move enterprises, especially existing SAP customers, to the cloud. On sapperment, RISE is the private cloud path.

A reused name with a new meaning. SAP now uses "SAP Business Suite" as a marketing handle for how all of its software-as-a-service offerings work together as one end-to-end suite in the cloud. It is not sold as a single offering; SAP sells it through priced line-of-business packages.

The original integrated suite SAP sold from 2009: on-premise SAP ERP, SAP CRM, SAP PLM, SAP SCM and SAP SRM, first on SAP NetWeaver and later on SAP HANA. SAP S/4HANA started life as "SAP Business Suite 4 SAP HANA".

Formerly: SAP Business Suite

A marketing handle, not a product. SAP uses it for all of its cloud-based ERP products, services and programmes together. It replaced the older phrase "digital core", and SAP's own style keeps the word "cloud" in lower case.

Formerly: digital core

SAP's cross-company initiative for moving its installed base to the cloud across key business processes. It combines the former SAP S/4HANA Movement, SAP Customer Experience Movement and SAP Human Experience Management Movement programmes, and includes RISE with SAP.

Formerly: SAP One Movement

The main software component of SAP ERP, the on-premise system at the heart of most established SAP landscapes.

In SAP's own wording, the on-premise ERP suite for customers that have not yet moved to the cloud. It is the direct successor to SAP ECC on the SAP HANA database.

SAP's flagship cloud ERP suite, covering finance, supply chain, sustainability and more. SAP markets and sells it in two editions: SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. It is a key element of RISE with SAP.

The second edition in which SAP markets and sells SAP S/4HANA Cloud, and the edition at the centre of RISE with SAP. Unlike the public edition, it runs in a dedicated environment for a single customer.

A deployment choice for SAP's public cloud editions that allows more flexibility and customisation than the standard public cloud offer. SAP positions it for organisations with configuration, performance, security or regulatory needs that a standard public cloud deployment cannot fully meet.

SAP's generative AI copilot across the portfolio, combining generative AI, machine learning and natural language processing. In the February 2025 glossary, SAP includes it in select products at the highest tier level, for example SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition premium plus, or as a premium option.

A capability delivered through Joule that helps consultants, systems integrators and IT teams implement and maintain SAP applications. It uses anonymised implementation data and generative AI to produce tailored guidance for SAP implementations and cloud transformations.

Formerly: SAP Consulting Capability

SAP's marketing handle for all of its AI initiatives, capabilities and offerings, across its enterprise applications and SAP BTP, with use cases embedded in finance, supply chain, procurement, sales, marketing, HR and IT.

SAP's managed software-as-a-service offering for data and data management, announced for launch in February 2025. It combines curated data products, analytics and AI-powered insight applications, and includes SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP BW/4HANA Cloud and SAP Datasphere as well as AI capabilities from Databricks.

A third-party component of SAP Business Data Cloud: the Apache Spark-based analytics platform from Databricks, bringing machine learning and very large-scale data processing alongside SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP BW/4HANA.

SAP's business data fabric service, launched in March 2023 as the new name and positioning of SAP Data Warehouse Cloud. It unifies data integration, cataloguing, semantic modelling, data warehousing and virtualisation across SAP and third-party data. It is now part of SAP Business Data Cloud.

Formerly: SAP Data Warehouse Cloud

SAP's AI model for predictions on structured, tabular business data, as opposed to language models trained on text. It is designed to find patterns and correlations in structured data sets.

A structured, graph-based model of information across the SAP portfolio. It captures business entities such as sales orders and invoices, technical entities such as ABAP tables and CDS views, and the relationships between them.

SAP's low-code and no-code portfolio, aimed at expert business users who do not code for a living. It includes SAP Build Apps, SAP Build Process Automation and SAP Build Work Zone.

SAP's unified platform for building, integrating and extending applications, bringing application development, automation, data and analytics, integration and AI into one place.

SAP's umbrella term for all cloud integration offerings on SAP BTP, connecting cloud and on-premise applications, data, devices and people from SAP and third parties.

The 2025 glossary adds SAP's end-to-end process names, among them lead to cash, order to cash, quote to cash, source to pay and record to report. Each spans several applications and organisational units.

SAP's enterprise architecture management solutions: application portfolio management, architecture and roadmap planning, and technology risk and compliance, as part of the business process transformation portfolio.

SAP's business process intelligence portfolio, built on the 2021 acquisition of Signavio. It helps organisations turn process insights into actions as part of business process transformation.

A cross-functional SAP programme to build a lean, largely automated, low-touch cloud sales model from lead to renewal, built for SAP's high-volume public cloud business.

A partner licensing model for SAP BTP test, demo and development use at the lowest partner price, with no upfront commitment, minimum usage or annual commitment, plus access to the BTP free tier.

SAP, its customers and its partners. SAP puts the ecosystem at more than 20,000 partners worldwide that build, sell, service and run SAP solutions and technology.

SAP's searchable directory of the companies in its partner ecosystem, hosted on sap.com.

SAP's global partner programme, giving official partners the tools, enablement and access to SAP software and platforms they need to build, sell and deliver.

A model within SAP PartnerEdge that gives eligible partners flexibility in how they engage with cloud customers, with a clear split between the steps of the customer lifecycle and how the partner is paid for each.

The IBM and SAP partnership launched in June 2020 to accelerate joint customers' moves to the intelligent enterprise with new industry cloud solutions.

Formerly: Evolution Partnership

A partner that earns most of its revenue reselling a vendor's software directly to end customers, often adding consulting, implementation, post-sales support, training and its own add-on applications.

Under the consumption-based model for SAP BTP, cloud credits are the prepaid monetary value customers spend on the cloud services they need.

A commercial model that combines a fund and overage: the customer commits to a fixed spend for the contract term and uses the included list of services flexibly, paying overage beyond the fund.

The agreement customers can choose as part of the consumption-based commercial model for RISE with SAP.

The initial subscription period of a cloud service, plus any renewal periods, as identified in the order form.

An internal SAP strategy programme for an end-to-end adoption model, with three goals: accelerate topline growth, improve customer experience and drive engagement efficiency.

SAP's framework for deploying, adopting and extending its solutions, combining best practices, implementation methodology and guided configuration, in the cloud, on premise or hybrid.

SAP's own implementation service for SAP S/4HANA, covering planning, design and execution on the SAP Activate methodology. SAP Value Assurance service packages address partner-led projects instead.

SAP's organisation and offerings for managed services around cloud applications: application management, managed data, managed security and managed testing.

Formerly: SAP Managed Services

SAP's term for a high-touch, personalised approach to implementation and support, with tailored onboarding, custom configuration, dedicated support and hands-on assistance.

SAP's former strategy of industry cloud solutions built by SAP and partners on SAP BTP. The February 2025 glossary lists industry cloud as a portfolio retired in 2024.

SAP's umbrella name for its cloud-based collaboration offerings that connect trading partners through a single directory, shared data and workflows.

SAP's warehouse management solution, on premise and in the cloud, for high-volume warehouse operations integrated with supply chain logistics and distribution.

The 2021 partnership between SAP and investment company Dediq to manage and grow SAP's financial services portfolio. SAP Fioneer's solutions are built on SAP technology such as SAP HANA, SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP BTP.

A stand-alone carbon accounting solution that books greenhouse gas emissions in carbon equivalents with the accuracy and auditability of a financial ledger.

Formerly: green ledger