ABAP On-Premise vs SAP BTP ABAP Environment: The Comparison 2025

Category
Comparison
Published
Author
Johannes

ABAP on-premise or SAP BTP ABAP Environment? This comparison shows you the differences and helps with the decision.

Overview

AspectOn-PremiseBTP ABAP Environment
DeploymentOwn serversSAP Cloud (Hyperscaler)
ABAP VersionClassic + CloudABAP Cloud only
LicensesOne-time + maintenanceSubscription (Pay-per-Use)
UpdatesManualAutomatic
ScalingBuy hardwareElastic (up/down)
AvailabilitySelf-responsibilitySLA 99.5%+

1. Technical Differences

ABAP Version

On-Premise:

  • Classic ABAP available
  • ABAP Cloud available (from S/4HANA 2022)
  • All ABAP features
  • Dynpro, WebDynpro, Fiori

BTP ABAP Environment:

  • ABAP Cloud only
  • No Classic ABAP
  • No Dynpro
  • Only Released APIs
  • Only Fiori UI

When on-premise: Legacy code, Dynpro apps

When BTP: Greenfield, Cloud-Native

Database Access

On-Premise:

" Direct table access allowed
SELECT * FROM mara
  INTO TABLE @DATA(lt_materials).


" All SAP tables
SELECT * FROM vbak, kna1, mara...

BTP ABAP Environment:

" Direct tables forbidden
" Only Released CDS Views
SELECT Product, ProductName
  FROM I_Product
  INTO TABLE @DATA(lt_products).

Difference: BTP = Strict API release

System Architecture

On-Premise:

+-----------------------------+
|   SAP GUI (User PC)         |
+-----------------------------+
|   SAP S/4HANA (On-Prem)     |
|   - ABAP Application Server |
|   - SAP HANA Database       |
|   - WebDispatcher           |
+-----------------------------+
|   Own Servers/Datacenter    |
+-----------------------------+

BTP ABAP Environment:

+-----------------------------+
|   Browser (Cloud)           |
+-----------------------------+
|   SAP BTP ABAP Environment  |
|   - ABAP Runtime (Cloud)    |
|   - SAP HANA Cloud          |
|   - Service Manager         |
+-----------------------------+
|   Hyperscaler               |
|   (AWS / Azure / GCP)       |
+-----------------------------+

2. Cost Comparison

On-Premise

Initial:

  • Hardware: 50,000 - 500,000 EUR
  • SAP Licenses: 100,000 - 1,000,000 EUR (one-time)
  • Implementation: 200,000 - 2,000,000 EUR

Annual:

  • Maintenance (SAP): 18-22% of license costs
  • IT Personnel: 100,000 - 500,000 EUR
  • Power, Cooling: 10,000 - 50,000 EUR
  • Hardware Refresh: 50,000 EUR (every 5 years)

Total Cost of Ownership (10 years):

~1,500,000 - 15,000,000 EUR (depending on size)

BTP ABAP Environment

Cost Model:

  • ABAP Compute Units (ACU): ~200 EUR/month/ACU
  • HANA Cloud Storage: ~0.30 EUR/GB/month
  • Network Traffic: ~0.09 EUR/GB

Example: Small App

  • 2 ACU: 400 EUR/month
  • 100 GB Storage: 30 EUR/month
  • Traffic: 20 EUR/month

Total: ~450 EUR/month = 5,400 EUR/year

Example: Enterprise App

  • 20 ACU: 4,000 EUR/month
  • 1 TB Storage: 300 EUR/month
  • Traffic: 200 EUR/month

Total: ~4,500 EUR/month = 54,000 EUR/year

ROI Comparison

ScenarioOn-Premise (10 years)BTP (10 years)Savings
Small500,000 EUR54,000 EUR89%
Medium2,000,000 EUR270,000 EUR87%
Large10,000,000 EUR1,080,000 EUR89%

But: On-Premise = More control, less vendor lock-in

3. Pros and Cons

On-Premise

Advantages:

  • Full control over system
  • No vendor lock-in
  • Compliance (data stays internal)
  • Classic ABAP available
  • One-time license costs

Disadvantages:

  • High initial investment
  • Manual updates (downtime)
  • Own IT infrastructure
  • Scaling = buy hardware
  • Longer time-to-market

BTP ABAP Environment

Advantages:

  • Low entry costs
  • Automatic updates (zero downtime)
  • Elastic scaling
  • SLA 99.5%+
  • Innovation (new features fast)
  • Pay-per-Use

Disadvantages:

  • Vendor lock-in (SAP)
  • ABAP Cloud only (no Classic)
  • Data in cloud (compliance questions)
  • Ongoing costs
  • Less control

4. Use Cases

When On-Premise?

Highly regulated industries (Banks, Pharma)

  • Data must stay on-premise
  • Compliance requirements

Legacy systems

  • Lots of Classic ABAP code
  • Dynpro apps
  • Migration too expensive

High data volumes

  • Cloud traffic = expensive
  • Batch jobs with TB data

Long-term planning

  • Over 10+ years
  • ROI better with on-premise

When BTP ABAP Environment?

Greenfield projects

  • New apps from scratch
  • No legacy code

SaaS applications

  • Multi-tenant apps
  • Fast scaling

Innovation

  • AI/ML integration
  • Fast releases

Startups/SMB

  • Low entry costs
  • No IT infrastructure

5. Migration Paths

On-Premise -> BTP

Option 1: Lift & Shift (not recommended)

  • Migrate Classic code “as-is”
  • Doesn’t work (no Classic ABAP in BTP!)

Option 2: Re-Platforming

  • Refactor Classic code to ABAP Cloud
  • Use Custom Code Migration tools
  • Gradual migration

Option 3: Hybrid (recommended)

  • On-Premise for legacy
  • BTP for new features
  • Integration via APIs

See: ABAP Cloud Migration Guide

6. Integration Scenarios

On-Premise <-> BTP Integration

Options:

  1. Cloud Connector

    • Secure tunnel between on-prem and cloud
    • RFC calls possible

  2. OData Services

    • On-Premise exposes OData
    • BTP consumes via HTTP

  3. SAP Integration Suite

    • Middleware for complex integrations
    • Mapping, transformation

Architecture Example:

+--------------+         +--------------+
| S/4HANA      |         | SAP BTP      |
| On-Premise   | <---->  | ABAP Env     |
|              |  API    |              |
| - ERP Core   | (OData) | - Extensions |
| - Master Data|         | - AI/ML      |
+--------------+         +--------------+
        |                        |
        +------------------------+
           Cloud Connector

7. Developer Experience

Development Tools

On-Premise:

  • SAP GUI (SE38, SE80, etc.)
  • ABAP Development Tools (ADT) - Eclipse
  • Transport Management System

BTP ABAP Environment:

  • ADT (Eclipse) only - no SAP GUI!
  • Git integration (abapGit)
  • CI/CD Pipelines

Difference: BTP = Modern DevOps, On-Prem = Traditional

Local Development

On-Premise:

  • SAP GUI logon to server
  • Debugger in SAP GUI or ADT

BTP:

  • Cloud-based only
  • ADT Debugger (Remote)
  • ABAP Console for outputs

8. Operational Differences

Updates & Patches

On-Premise:

  • Manual (Support Packages)
  • Downtime required
  • Every 1-2 years

BTP:

  • Automatic (weekly)
  • Zero downtime
  • Continuous innovation

Monitoring

On-Premise:

  • ST22 (Dumps)
  • SM21 (Logs)
  • ABAP Profiler

BTP:

  • Application Logs (BAL)
  • ABAP Environment Cockpit (Fiori)
  • Feed Reader (ADT)

9. Decision Matrix

Rate each question with points:

QuestionOn-PremBTP
Compliance requirements (data on-prem)?+5-5
Greenfield project?-3+5
Legacy ABAP code?+5-5
Budget <100k EUR?-5+5
Fast scaling needed?-3+5
Own IT department?+3-2
Innovation important?-2+5
10+ year horizon?+3-2

Evaluation:

  • On-Prem > 10: On-Premise recommended
  • BTP > 10: BTP recommended
  • Neutral (-10 to +10): Hybrid approach

Summary

In 3 Sentences:

  1. On-Premise = More control, higher costs, Classic ABAP
  2. BTP ABAP Environment = Cloud-Native, Pay-per-Use, ABAP Cloud only
  3. Hybrid = Best balance for most companies

Recommendation 2025:

  • New projects: BTP ABAP Environment
  • Existing systems: On-Premise (with gradual BTP integration)
  • Long-term: Migrate everything to BTP (SAP strategy)

See also:

Good luck with your decision!