SAP Application Development: Low-code solutions save time and money

Efficient, flexible, and individually tailored software solutions now have a major influence on the competitiveness of companies. At the same time, digitization projects must be implemented quickly, easily, and efficiently. Therefore, many companies are relying on low-code for SAP application development.

Enterprise needs often require more than just the standard SAP application development. When specialized departments need new functions, input masks, workflows or evaluations, it is often necessary to create additional applications. These are typically Fiori apps. SAP application development requires expertise. It is also tedious and complex in its traditional form, sometimes taking weeks, or even months, for new technical requirements to be implemented. In the face of increasingly quick and agile competition, companies can hardly afford such a long time to market.

Increasing the existing developer team size is not a viable solution for most companies. After all, SAP developers are scarce and expensive. The latter also applies to external programmers. The goal should therefore be to relieve the current IT team. Innovative low-code platforms help make this possible. One such product is Neptune DX Platform.

The Neptune DX Platform (Neptune DXP) provides developers with a modular system. New Fiori apps can be put together using drag and drop functionality. Extensive coding is no longer necessary – SAP application development can be done without in-depth programming knowledge. This applies even to the development of complex applications. Compared to conventional application development, SAP Fiori apps can be created ten times faster with the help of Neptune DXP. And since the UI5 framework is used, a uniform and appealing user interface is also guaranteed.

Apps built with Neptune DXP can also be connected to any backend, architecture, or cloud data source using APIs. This is a significant advantage, especially for overcoming data silos and providing consolidated data in real-time.

As a native development platform, Neptune DXP easily integrates into existing development processes and tools. The low-code platform is also seamlessly embedded in SAP Business Suite and SAP S/4HANA. If the migration to S/4HANA has not yet taken place, SAP application development with Neptune DXP is future-proof because the applications can still be used after the conversion. Some organizations even use the development solution to accelerate the S/4HANA conversion by transforming and renewing the code they create with it.

The Neptune DX Platform has several useful functionalities for developers. One important component is the App Designer. It can be used to develop graphically and model-based Fiori apps. Moreover, the solution can be used to create progressive web apps (PWAs) as well as offline-capable hybrid apps. This means that nothing stands in the way of the flexible, mobile applications.

The Workflow Designer is another well-designed tool that can be used to create complete business processes without having to write code. In addition, the API Designer makes it possible to easily integrate existing systems of all kinds into the workflows and apps that have been created.

The Neptune DX Platform is well known in the market. More than 660 companies from industry, manufacturing, energy & utility supply, health care, the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and several other sectors use it to create applications. One of the many references is Vattenfall. The utility supplier aimed to digitize and optimize its SAP processes easily and at scale. Thanks to the easy use of Neptune DXP’s fast app building, the first applications could be presented after just a few days. User training was hardly necessary, as the apps are very intuitive to use. After a very short project duration, employees could convert to the new app-based process.

Companies use Fiori apps to digitalize and improve their operations. They offer employees the ease of use they are familiar with from consumer apps to ensure that SAP application development can be carried out quickly and efficiently.