Our Chief Consulting Officer, Klaus Wunsch, contributed an in-depth article to the September issue of the E3 Magazine, sharing hands-on experiences with Clean Core and the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). Below is a summary of the key insights:
As an SAP SOLEX partner and ISV for mission-critical software in the energy and process industries, Implico has made Clean Core the central pillar of its development strategy. The background: Many customers are still running on legacy, heavily customized ERP systems. These systems block innovation, drive up complexity and costs, and burden IT teams with technical debt. At the same time, demands for innovation, compliance, and operational excellence continue to rise.
Clean Core as a Business Enabler
Klaus emphasizes: Clean Core is not a limitation but a business enabler.
- “Clean” stands for current, transparent, consistent, efficient, and cloud-ready.
- “Core” stands for extensibility, processes, data, integration, and operations.
SAP’s Business Suite, powered by BTP, unites applications, data, and AI into an extensible ecosystem – the SAP “flywheel.” A vivid metaphor from the article compares it to a Lego house: altering a brick risks breaking future updates. Clean Core ensures that the system remains stable, upgradeable, and innovation-ready.
Key Customer Benefits
- Faster innovation access through latest releases and feature packs
- Data-to-Value with the Business Data Cloud and semantic data models
- AI enablement with efficiency gains of up to 30% through Joule
- TCO reduction thanks to much faster rollout of new functions
- Security and traceability via documented, sustainable extensions
- Upgrade safety without conflicts from custom code
Implico’s Clean Core in Action
Implico’s industry-leading solutions, SDM (Secondary Distribution Management) and RFNO (Retail Fuel Network Operations), already follow the Clean Core strategy.
A prime example is AddTCO, a BTP-based extension that uses machine learning for automated route planning. Beyond cost optimization, it also supports CO₂ footprint reduction. Customers with existing SDM systems can simply “add it on.” The solution will be available by year-end.
Architecture Principles
- No modifications to SAP standard code
- Extensions only at predefined, upgrade-safe points
- Side-by-side extensions on BTP
- Integration via APIs/CDS views and OData
- Seamless user experience through Fiori Launchpad
Looking Ahead
Implico is extending its Clean Core approach beyond the energy sector to adjacent industries with similar process requirements. New solutions will follow the same principles: side-by-side architecture, embedded AI and analytics, and integration via standard APIs.
Conclusion: The Clean Core Imperative
For Implico, Clean Core is more than a best practice – it is a strategic commitment to sustainable, fast, and simplified enterprise IT. Klaus Wunsch invites the E3 community – customers, partners, and peers – to join this journey and shape the future of enterprise software together: clean and intelligent.
The full article by Klaus Wunsch can be found in the current issue of the E3 Magazine.
