BTP Architecture

Here we will learn high level architecture of SAP BTP

Imagine we have a team working on creating computer programs. On the left side of our diagram, there's a developer responsible for writing, testing, and combining the code with others' code. Once everything is ready, the code is sent to a place where it can be used by people.

To write code, our developer uses a special tool called "BAS" (Business Application Studio). We also use "git" to keep track of different versions of our code, like saving different drafts of an essay. To send the code to different places where it can be used, like testing and production, we use "CTMS" (Cloud Transport Management Service), which helps us automate this process. For a smooth and automated deployment, we use "BTP CI/CD service."

Now, let's talk about what we need to make all this work. We build applications on top of data, which is like the building blocks for our programs. Think of it as the foundation for a house. Whether it's a data-driven app for analysis or everyday operations, we usually follow a modern way of organizing things called "microservices."

To get this data, we connect to different sources. In our case, these sources might be big databases like "S/4 HANA" or "ECC Onpremise," or they could be other software systems like "success factors," "ariba," or "concur."

There are two main ways to bring this data into our SAP BTP platform:

1. Using Standard APIs: These are like pre-made connectors that allow us to securely connect to our data sources. We use a service called "BTP Destination" with a "Connectivity Service" to do this. If we're connecting to data from on-premise systems, we use something called "Cloud Connector."

2. Smart Data Integration: This is another method where we can bring the data into SAP BTP HANA Cloud. We can choose to either store it permanently or simply use it temporarily. Once the data is in SAP BTP, we can build our applications on top of it.

Now that we have our data ready, it's time to build our applications. We want them to be modern, flexible, and able to grow as needed. For this, we use an environment called "Cloud Foundry." There are other options, but we'll learn about them later.

Now, here's the cool part: We don't have to create everything from scratch. SAP provides a bunch of ready-made tools and services (microservices) that do specific tasks, (like: to send a notification SAP has given Alert Notification service, to schedule a job SAP given Job Scheduling Service, to create a business workflow SAP given Workflow services, to manage the user/data security SAP given Auth & Trust management service, which you can see in the yellow section of the architecture and similarly SAP has given lots of standard services to fulfill different requirements)

At the top layer, we have the part that people see and interact with - the User Interface. To give people access to our applications, we use things like "Central Launchpad" or "SAP Build workzone." These are like the front doors to our programs.

Lastly, if we need our applications to work with other systems or connect to the outside world, we use "Cloud Integration Suite." It's like the bridge that helps our programs talk to other programs.

So, in a nutshell, SAP BTP is like a toolbox for our developers. We have tools to build, tools to connect, and tools to make our applications user-friendly and powerful.