SAP BTP vs. Hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP): When to Use Which for Your SAP Extensions

In the era of cloud transformation, a critical question for any organization running SAP is how to architect its extension and innovation strategy. The choice often boils down to two powerful options: leveraging the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), SAP’s own Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering, or building on one of the major hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP). A common misconception is that these are competing choices, forcing a binary decision. The reality is far more nuanced and powerful.

The most effective strategy is not about choosing one over the other, but understanding when to use which—and how to make them work together. This article provides a decision framework for architects, developers, and IT leaders to navigate this choice, ensuring that every SAP extension delivers maximum value, whether it is built on SAP BTP, a hyperscaler, or a combination of both.

The Core Difference: SAP-Centric PaaS vs. General-Purpose IaaS/PaaS

To make an informed decision, it is essential to understand the fundamental difference in their design philosophies. SAP BTP is not a hyperscaler competitor; it is a complementary platform designed to be the best place to extend and integrate with SAP applications.

• SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) is a business-centric PaaS specifically designed to work with SAP data and processes. Its primary value lies in its deep integration with the SAP ecosystem, providing pre-built connectors, business services, and a development environment that understands the SAP data model and security constructs. It is the fastest and most secure way to build extensions that are tightly coupled with your SAP core.
• Hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP) are general-purpose Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and PaaS providers. They offer a vast catalog of services, from raw computing power and storage to advanced AI/ML, IoT, and big data analytics. Their strength lies in their massive scale, flexibility, and the freedom to build virtually any application without being tied to a specific vendor’s ecosystem.

SAP itself acknowledges this synergy. SAP BTP is often hosted on hyperscaler infrastructure, allowing customers to run their SAP PaaS layer on the same IaaS provider they use for other workloads, creating a powerful combination of SAP-specific services and general-purpose cloud capabilities.

A Decision Framework: When to Use SAP BTP

SAP BTP shines brightest when the extension is deeply intertwined with SAP processes, data, or user experience. It provides a “low-code/no-code” to “pro-code” environment that accelerates development by abstracting away the complexities of SAP integration.

Choose SAP BTP for:

In essence, if the question involves “How do I extend my SAP process?” or “How do I get access to my SAP data securely?”, the answer almost always starts with SAP BTP.

A Decision Framework: When to Use a Hyperscaler

Hyperscalers are the platform of choice when the application is not SAP-centric or requires specialized capabilities that go beyond BTP’s current offerings. Their sheer scale and pace of innovation make them ideal for a wide range of use cases.

Choose a Hyperscaler for:

If the question is “How do I build a scalable, custom application?” and SAP is just one of many data sources, a hyperscaler is likely the better starting point.

The Hybrid Strategy: Getting the Best of Both Worlds

The most powerful and common architectural pattern is not an “either/or” choice but a “both/and” strategy. In this hybrid model, organizations use SAP BTP as the integration and extension layer for the SAP core, while leveraging hyperscaler services for everything else. This creates a clean, secure, and scalable architecture.

Consider a common scenario: a manufacturing company wants to build a predictive maintenance application for its factory equipment. The application needs to:

1. Collect real-time sensor data from IoT devices.
2. Use a machine learning model to predict equipment failure.
3. Automatically create a maintenance order in SAP S/4HANA when a failure is predicted.

A hybrid architecture would look like this:

Hyperscaler (e.g., AWS):

• AWS IoT Core collects and processes sensor data.
• Amazon S3 stores the historical data.
• Amazon SageMaker is used to train and deploy the predictive ML model.

SAP BTP:

• When the ML model predicts a failure, it sends an event to SAP Event Mesh on BTP.
• An application on BTP, built with the SAP Cloud Application Programming Model (CAP), subscribes to this event.
• The BTP application uses a secure, pre-built connector to call the appropriate API in SAP S/4HANA and create a maintenance order.

This architecture leverages the strengths of both platforms: the hyperscaler for its best-in-class IoT and AI capabilities, and SAP BTP for its secure, reliable, and simple integration with the SAP core. Attempting to build the SAP integration directly from the hyperscaler would require complex networking, custom authentication code, and deep knowledge of SAP APIs, all of which BTP provides out of the box.

Conclusion: A Partnership, Not a Competition

Viewing SAP BTP and hyperscalers as competitors leads to flawed architectural decisions. The correct approach is to see them as partners in a modern enterprise cloud strategy. SAP BTP is the bridge that connects your stable, mission-critical SAP core to the fast-moving, innovative world of hyperscaler services.

To build a future-proof SAP extension strategy, follow this simple rule of thumb:

• For SAP-centric extensions, start with SAP BTP. Leverage its pre-built content, data integration, and security features to accelerate development and maintain a clean core.
• For non-SAP or highly specialized workloads, start with a hyperscaler. Use their scale, flexibility, and vast service catalog to build best-in-class applications.
• Embrace a hybrid approach. Use BTP as the integration layer to securely connect your hyperscaler-based innovations with your SAP business processes.

By understanding the unique strengths of each platform and designing a strategy that leverages both, organizations can unlock the full potential of the cloud, driving innovation while ensuring their core business processes remain stable, secure, and efficient.