Insights from the SAP Midmarket Summit: Cloud, Partners, and Practical Innovation 

A few weeks ago, we attended the SAP Midmarket Summit in Barcelona, where we got a closer look at SAP’s strategy for the cloud ERP space, especially its approach to midmarket customers. The sessions shed light on how SAP is embedding AI across its platforms, expanding its Business Technology Platform (BTP), and doubling down on its partner-first strategy. 

A Practical and Central Role for Partners 

The opening sessions made it clear: SAP sees partners as essential to delivering its cloud strategy. It’s not just about implementing software. A lot of the focus was on how partners help customers get started, choose the right solutions, and adapt them locally. SAP also walked us through some of the tools available to support this, like the Partner Campaign Center, which helps partners manage marketing and lead generation more easily.  

There was also a strong push to encourage partners to build their own apps and share them through the SAP store, giving customers access to more targeted solutions, faster. 

Fit-to-Standard, with Room to Adapt 

SAP’s “fit-to-standard” approach remains the starting point for most cloud ERP projects, but the message was clear: this doesn’t mean one-size-fits-all. Businesses still need flexibility, and SAP offers that through built-in extensibility. 

You can make adjustments directly in the core system (like adding custom fields or tweaking the interface), or build separate tools alongside it using the Business Technology Platform (BTP). Whether it’s through low-code tools like SAP Build or more advanced development on BTP, there are ways to adjust and extend the system without making things harder to maintain over time. 

In the breakout sessions, we saw a few concrete examples of how this works. Some changes were simple UI tweaks, others involved adding functionality or even building side applications, all without touching the core system. 

AI That’s Just There When You Need It 

AI came up quite a bit, but not as a big headline feature, more as something quietly embedded in tools that people already use. The focus was on making routine tasks faster or helping users make sense of data more easily. 

Several examples were shared: 

• In SAP Analytics Cloud, users can now generate KPI dashboards from a prompt, using natural language. 
• In reporting applications, an embedded LLM will be able to generate a full analysis of the data displayed in the report. 
• A quick demo of the integration between SAP S/4 and Copilot was shown, where SAP data and objects can be accessed directly from prompts and shared with team members through outlook or teams. 
• SAP is now able to generate the code needed for a specific requirement or custom change. 
• Integration of outlook with Joule. 

SAP positions AI as an intelligent assistant, designed to augment, not replace, human decision-making. 

Why BTP Matters in SAP’s Cloud Strategy 

SAP BTP came up in almost every session. It’s the platform that supports everything from app development to automation, and it’s now included in most cloud packages by default. 

We saw examples of how teams are using it to build apps, connect systems, create custom interfaces, and even automate testing. SAP also made a point of saying they’re not trying to build all AI tools themselves. Instead, they’re partnering with companies like Microsoft and OpenAI to bring best-in-class capabilities into the SAP environment. 

Cloud packages include SAP BTP credits and entitlements to SAP Build tools, making it easier for partners and customers to: 

• Develop new applications 
• Automate business processes 
• Build tailored user experiences 
• Integrate SAP with third-party systems 
• Reduced time spent on testing with automated tests 

The goal is to make innovation more accessible  without locking customers into a rigid path. 

A Simple App, Built in One Session 

On the final day, we took part in a workshop using SAP Build, SAP’s no-code tool. In just one session, we put together a small app that pulled delivery data and displayed the addresses on a map via Google Maps. It was a straightforward example, but it showed how quickly you can build something useful without writing any code. 

The address info was pulled from the system and the app plotted each point. It took just one session to build, no code needed. It was a straightforward example of how easy it can be to build something useful with the right tools and a clever user interface.  

Although the example from the exercise still required some technical knowledge to understand all steps from the app building process, it is clear that SAP Build can definitely deliver great value even to less technical user. 

Wrapping Up 

A few key messages stood out: 

• SAP is leaning heavily on its partner network to deliver value, especially for growing midmarket companies. 
• Fit-to-standard doesn’t mean inflexible, there are plenty of options to extend and adapt. 
• AI and BTP are no longer “extras”, they’re part of the foundation. 
• Tools like SAP Build make it easier for non-technical users to contribute to innovation. 
• SAP is increasingly focused on scale-ups with revenues over €50M, aiming to support growth with solutions tailored to each stage of maturity. 

Written by