DSAG Annual Congress 2025
The DSAG Annual Congress 2025 has come to an end. Let's take a look at the various topics we encountered in Bremen and what we learned from them.
Table of contents
The highlight of the DSAG, the annual congress, has come to an end. Let's take a look at the various topics and keynotes we brought back from Bremen.
Introduction
The annual congress was once again very well attended; according to official figures, 5,300 SAP and ABAP enthusiasts were in attendance, and with 180 exhibitors, there was plenty going on in the halls. The weather in Bremen was good, at least by northern German standards, with a stiff breeze, some rain, and sunshine. But that didn't stop anyone from having a pleasant exchange.
Keynote (Day 1)
Day 1 began with the opening and the honoring of the officials. Recognizing volunteers is an integral part of the annual congress, especially since it involves voluntary service and commitment that members contribute to their working groups.
DSAG
So, what about the first keynote of the day? As usual, it began with the DSAG and addressed this year's motto: "The Balance of Art," finding the right balance within one's own company. This year, there was homework for both sides—the customer and SAP. There is a change taking place on both sides, especially at SAP toward the "new" Business Suite.
September 16, 1620, was the launch of the Mayflower, which was on its way to the new world, just as the customers are on their way to the new world. Discovering new things and exploring new worlds is the focus of the journey. S/4HANA migrations are likely to take just as long as the journey itself when it comes to processes and Clean Core. However, SAP is still looking for transparency and clarity regarding the next steps in data, AI, BTP, and ERP. The new solution should remain flexible for the customer.
There was also news from the investment report by DSAG and ASUG. When we survey customers on the topic of cloud, 51% are still in ECC and ERP. 42% operate S/4HANA systems on-premise, 33% in the private cloud, and 13% in the public cloud. The proportion of members operating in the cloud context and following the SAP strategy is generally growing. From the DSAG's perspective, more planning security, flexibility, fair conditions, and transparency are needed to ensure that this joint journey can work. Current incidents also show that Europe must invest more in the sovereign cloud. Where is data located, where does the cloud run, and who operates the systems?
The topic of AI is also in demand, with 45% reporting strong demand, 48% still very high, and 68% reporting high to medium demand. However, this also raises the clear question of how much of this topic is hype and how much substance lies behind the promises of productivity. The DSAG is calling for better access, not just for cloud customers, as well as more transparency and security from the outset.
Security remains an important component and is rated as highly to moderately relevant by 92%. IT security remains a concern for German companies, and investments in software and infrastructure should be made in this area over the coming years. SAP can help customers achieve this by integrating security by design into applications and systems. This is intended to ensure basic IT security, but monitoring should also be improved, and employees require regular training, as they are often used as access to the company network.
In conclusion, one can say that while the cloud is set as the future and customers are following suit, the reality currently looks very much like a hybrid. Cloud, AI, and security are also important topics for the coming years.
Dialogue (DSAG and SAP)
Then there was a brief dialogue between DSAG and SAP on stage. SAP continues to support the private cloud and sees it as an important strategy for the future. Continuous developments and innovations flow into this topic. SAP also provides important tools for customers with its toolchain (Cloud ALM, Signavio, LeanIX, BTP, SAP Build, and WalkMe). SAP is also strengthening its position on the topic of security. Attacks have now more than doubled, and security requirements have increased more than eightfold.
SAP
SAP's keynote was primarily supported by two customers. SAP continues to focus on its three core topics: AI, data, and apps. Colleagues from Pandora and Adesso supported the keynote as a customer and a partner, respectively. Pandora is on a growth trajectory and therefore opted for a scalable environment where they will continue to receive innovations and upgrades in the future. Finding the right balance between standard and customized development is also important to Adesso. Customer invoicing was cited as an example, where Adesso has invested slightly in side-by-side development. Pandora is currently also evaluating AI with Joule for Developers and Consultants.
Evonik
This year's customer keynote was held by the chemical company Evonik. The presentation focused on the journey toward clean core and public cloud. The company had opted for HANA as a database technology quite early on. The colleagues also impressively demonstrated that they still operate a very broad portfolio of on-premises applications. Evonik would like to avoid the private cloud and move directly to the public cloud. Naturally, they also hope that SAP will provide the corresponding applications and functions needed in the coming years. How should this topic be brought into the organization? For this purpose, a community of practice was founded internally, where developers can exchange ideas on current topics, frameworks, and technologies.
Currently, various topics are in focus: lifecycle management and transparency, a modular target architecture consisting of public cloud, partner solutions, and in-house developments. Furthermore, a clean core also needs time to mature. Developers must be trained; the ABAP Test Cockpit can support compliance here. Another important step is the adaptation of future solutions, such as the Integration Suite, Process Automation, and all the AI features in the solutions. Of course, it is also necessary to validate which AI solutions truly offer added value and which will be used in the future.
However, there was also some criticism, for example, regarding SAP's overly complicated contract structure. Credits are provided for the use of the BTP, but separate contracts with AI credits are required for the AI scenarios. These cannot then be used separately.
In summary, it now looks as follows: Fundamentally, planning security for the SAP strategy is still required. Strategic requirements must be compared and coordinated with SAP. Furthermore, commercial complexity should be reduced and more focus should be placed on best-in-class processes.
Keynote (Day 2)
The second day continues with the keynote from the specialist board members, as well as another customer keynote. Since a panel discussion was held at the DSAG this time, the various topics and opinions are somewhat mixed.
DSAG
Since 2021, the focus of SAP architecture has been on the modular principle. That is, the separation of various functions and modules into new products that can be sold as cloud products, among other things. This makes the topic of integration even more important, as the various systems must be connected and integrated. In principle, this opens up the ecosystem and also third-party solutions, as existing interfaces can be used to connect the products. However, every company must also invest the energy to train its employees in the architecture and establish an understanding of the cloud.
E-invoicing will become a mandatory format by 2028, but there is no standardized format for it in Europe. Therefore, the DSAG is also demanding a standardized format from the government, and something like the X-Invoice is desired as a solution. For smaller companies, SAP's cloud solution, DRC (Document and Reporting Compliance), is currently too expensive and too complex to implement. Therefore, a solution is needed to give smaller companies the opportunity to obtain a solution.
The new solution for on-site clouds was positively welcomed. These are solutions that are placed in the customer's data center, but continue to be supported and managed by SAP. However, such a private cloud will remain an exception and offered to specific companies, such as the public sector or the German Armed Forces.
The Business Suite is back, so it is not the classic Business Suite as we know it from the on-premise environment with ECC. Therefore, the term must be redefined, especially since the architecture is very different. This will also create new integration problems. If we look at the topic of Task Center Integration, for example, the connection and integration for customers is quite difficult and doesn't always work as easily and out-of-the-box as desired.
Various variants are now available, such as on-premises, the private cloud, and the public cloud. For each variant, you have to decide whether it is the right solution, what the correct architecture might look like, and how the solutions can actually be meaningfully expanded. RISE also plays a crucial role here, as contracts can be negotiated individually for each customer. Which cloud provider is used, who is the service provider for support, and who is ultimately responsible, just to name a few points.
The new licensing model for the new Business Data Cloud has been criticized. Capacity units are used here, which the company negotiates once; if they are not used within a month, they expire. Additional costs are also incurred for the new data products, and if you want to develop the products yourself, additional costs will likely also be incurred. There are also challenges in using the BDC, as the existing BW landscape also needs to be modernized. A new private cloud variant is also offered here. SAP also faces challenges in managing everything and delivering the appropriate products. Likewise, in delivering intelligence apps that generate real added value for the customer.
The citizen developer concept has also been criticized, as it cannot really work within organizations. Departments with IT expertise might be able to build halfway decent solutions, but they would then fail due to security, software requirements, and clean data storage issues. A company's fundamental architectural concepts could be circumvented, which in turn would harm quality.
Initial visions of a headless system are emerging. Joules are used as input to perform all tasks in the system and for the user. However, many companies are still operating in the transactional space and have not even reached Fiori. Currently, AI models still have very high error rates, and UIs and input masks are still required for verification or editing. However, SAP's GenAI Hub was viewed positively here; it is a very simple solution for consuming AI functions without having to engage in exchange and contract negotiations with every provider.
At the end of the discussion, the board member presented a few more points to the audience. More and more companies are engaging with BTP to leverage extensibility and services. Currently, almost 70% are using BTP, and another 10% are planning to do so. The private cloud remains an important and strategic product for SAP, which was perceived as positive. Customers and partners should also use the DSAG to engage with other companies and stay up to date on current topics. Furthermore, the S/4 transformation will bring plenty of challenges. Companies should prepare well for this or ensure they find the right partner.
Geberit
The customer of the second day this time was Geberit. Part of the Clean Core journey was demonstrated at the central Fiori Launchpad, which was transformed from an on-premise launchpad to the Work Zone. First, the various framework conditions within the company were explained. Initial Neo Cloud functions were tested early on, primarily in a PoC format. The same was true of the WebIDE, which was still in its early stages at the time. However, the decision was made against the WebIDE simply because performance and stability were also important. Finally, there was an insight into the platforms and products currently in use. These included the classic solutions, such as Solution Manager, S/4HANA, and other products.
Then, the key aspects of the transformation were discussed. Security was the first point; central user management was created, SSO was introduced, and greater transparency regarding authorizations was ensured. The second important point is standardization, thus reducing complexity and accelerating innovation. The third point was change management. Here, the learning culture had to be adapted and employees had to be empowered through training.
The Fiori Launchpad plays an important role in the company, as it hosts approximately 500 Fiori applications used in all areas of the company. Therefore, the solution must continue to run stably and be available to employees. Before introducing the Work Zone, several things should be clear, such as eliminating the My Home page. However, it also fundamentally enables topics such as Joule integration.
It was highlighted as a positive aspect that scenarios in SuccessFactors are possible, for example, with a Basic AI package. This allows simple READ and information scenarios to be mapped, although changing access, for example, is associated with additional costs.
Geberit also relies heavily on influence requests from SAP, but unfortunately, these are processed too slowly, even though they may be important for many customers. Therefore, they would like SAP to process these requests. Stability is also important, and Thursdays are known for the deployment of changes, which can quickly lead to problems, as was the case with Destination Service, for example.
However, the company is fundamentally satisfied with the switch to the Work Zone, as performance has now improved significantly and the positive aspects far outweigh the negative ones.
Presentations
In addition to the keynotes, there was much more to see, at the stands in the exhibition hall, the influencing sessions, and the SAP trial area. Essentially, everyone should find something for themselves here. In addition, there were, of course, various sessions and presentations from the different working groups.
Levels instead of Tiers
Here, there were insights into the new Clean Core Level Concept and what has changed compared to the 3-TIER model. Essentially, it was an introduction to the topic of Clean Core and its various dimensions, which are not limited to extensibility. Following this, there was a deep dive into the topic and how we as customers and partners can achieve a Clean Core. The levels give us an indication of how far we've progressed with the transition and where urgent action is needed (Level D).
BearingPoint
The company BearingPoint provided insights into its "Equipment as a Service" solution. This involves the rental and leasing of machinery and the corresponding administration processes. The colleagues wanted to migrate their applications for funding management and assets to ABAP Cloud. Thanks to the provision of ABAP Cloud for on-premises, the migration began there. Many components of the current solution could be reused because they were already developed separately from the UI. This meant that the focus only had to be on the new development of the UI.
One challenge along the way was remodeling the data model with Core Data Service and introducing the virtual data model, since an existing model already existed. In principle, however, this now also allows the relationships between the artifacts to be mapped.
An exciting approach in this use case was the use of DDD, or Domain Driven Design. Such design patterns are not often seen in SAP development, and we would certainly give our colleagues credit for that. Essentially, the entire business logic was modeled in ABAP OO, so our colleagues wanted to stay true to the principle and implement additional objects using this methodology. This leaves only unmanaged RAP, which is perfectly suited for such cases. Since the solution already uses its own buffer, it could be easily integrated into the RAP object.
In principle, the entire add-on can be built using the same technology and the same team. Finally, the entire project with the new UI was imported into the ABAP environment. This means that the applications can now be easily made available to customers and expanded.
Bosch
The Bosch presentation included another introduction to the Clean Core Level Concept. The more often the topic is presented, the more likely it is to be applied and considered by customers and partners.
Bosch wanted to go its own way with the Clean Core metrics and, from the outset, evaluated SAP's 3-TIERs differently to measure the status of Clean Core. Various technologies from the standard were classified differently to obtain a similar view of the topics as the Level Concept does today. Bosch is currently in a shift with 50 system tracks being migrated and partially consolidated.
Guiding principals, which provide rules and frameworks, are used in this process. The first step is always to determine whether an extension can be mapped using the SAP standard. Then, a side-by-side approach is used to perhaps ultimately create an extension in the core if no other option is available. At the end, technical department management is carried out, during which each change is classified and a rating is calculated.
Bosch uses ABAP Cloud across all environments to reuse the same skills wherever possible. This eliminates the need to familiarize itself with different technologies and increases the use of developers in different positions. Another interesting point is that wrappers are delivered centrally by IT, which are then used by the developers in the teams.
Otherwise, colleagues strictly follow the ABAP Cloud rules with the corresponding packages and developments. Likewise, this principle is primarily used for new developments, and existing extensions are left as they are for the time being, which in turn would fit the level concept.
Conclusion
The three days in Bremen were once again full of impressions. Many topics were discussed and homework was completed. Or in other words: Another big class reunion to meet all the familiar faces and personalities again.
