SAP Reference Architecture is an essential tool for enterprise architects. Laurenz Vogt and Julia Meyer from SAP’s enterprise architecture practice explain the value of SAP Reference Architecture in LeanIX and how it is represented as built-in features and in industry workspaces.
For enterprise architects, the pursuit of sustainable value creation is key. Yet, amid a multitude of initiatives, as well as demanding planning and modeling tasks, one metric stands out: time-to-value.
One of the many helpful resources SAP offers to address this is SAP Reference Architecture. Drawing on more than 50 years of ERP leadership in combining business and solution architecture, SAP Reference Architecture in LeanIX can drastically reduce modeling efforts and inspire customers as they design their future-state architecture.
You can leverage reference architecture in two ways:
- built-in features accessible in every SAP LeanIX workspace
- dedicated, pre-populated industry workspaces (Industry Kits), which serve as exploration playgrounds for a holistic view of SAP’s industry target landscapes
SAP Reference Architecture: built-in features
SAP Reference Architecture provides predefined, industry-specific business capability maps for you to leverage and combine, all linked to available SAP and SAP Partner solutions for you to utilize. By simply selecting the required business capabilities from the catalog and hitting the “import” button, all relevant content will be directly made available in the SAP LeanIX inventory.
Of course, the SAP Reference Architecture in SAP LeanIX is continuously reviewed and expanded. For example, we’ve added information on data architecture, the SAP Integrated Toolchain, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Soon, we plan to add business data objects linked to business capabilities. This will help enterprise architects to gain greater transparency on which data flows across different business domains and how it does so.
For the SAP Integrated Toolchain, we’re working to synergize process- and capability-centric perspectives in the SAP LeanIX Reference Catalog. Apart from a mapping of business capabilities to SAP Reference Processes, we plan to add links to scope items available.
In addition, reference business capabilities are systematically mapped to corresponding AI features. This mapping helps enterprise architects identify which solutions incorporate AI and highlights the overall coverage of AI in your enterprise.
When users leverage such features, they are directed to the SAP Discovery Center, where they can further explore relevant use cases and assess associated cost implications. All of this will soon be able to be imported into SAP LeanIX Workspaces with just a few clicks.
SAP Reference Architecture: Industry Kits
In addition to SAP Reference Architecture, SAP provides pre-populated reference workspaces called Industry Kits. These are also based on SAP Reference Architecture and enable the holistic exploration of SAP industry landscapes or key switch motions. You can currently leverage Industry Kits for retail, manufacturing, automotive, or life sciences workspaces and switch motions, like the migration from SAP BW to Business Data Cloud or PI/PO to Integration Suite.
Featured artifacts in SAP’s Reference Architecture Industry Kits include:
- a filled inventory of industry-specific fact sheets with relationships between industry objectives, capabilities, processes, SAP solutions, IT components, AI features, and AI agents
- dashboards, reports, and value scenario diagrams using terminology familiar to SAP customers with deep insights into the specifics of the industry
- guided navigation via user-friendly dashboards, offering single-click access to strategy maps, application landscape overviews, and architecture or AI-specific reports
Industry Kits also ensure that SAP solution fact sheets remain synchronized through the latest reference catalogues in SAP LeanIX, providing up-to-date information to enable confident decision-making.
Switch Motion Kits accelerate cloud transformations
SAP Switch Motion Kits are purpose-built bundles of reference architecture to accelerate strategic cloud transformations. For example, there is a Kit to guide migration from SAP Business Warehouse (BW) to SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC).
The transformation journey starts with an intuitive dashboard that introduces users to key resources, including comprehensive diagrams for BW and PI/PO modernizations and strategic initiatives that outline the path to a target architecture. You’ll then be guided to scenario diagrams and application landscape reports that clarify architectural contexts and support informed decision-making based on SAP-endorsed blueprints.
These kits utilize the Technology Capability Model (TCM) as a strategic framework, enabling organizations to map current SAP BW capabilities, from data modelling and governance, to modern, cloud-native services in SAP BDC. This ensures the transition is capability-driven, focusing on building robust data fabric and data products rather than simply 'lifting and shifting' existing systems.
Switch Motion Kits help you visualize your migration roadmap, plan phased transitions, and build the skills you need to succeed on the SAP BDC platform. To get started, contact your SAP LeanIX Customer Success Manager or SAP advisor to deploy a Kit in your workspace.
SAP Reference Architecture workspace flow and UX
Leveraging SAP Reference Architecture in SAP LeanIX typically begins on the landing dashboard, which provides an industry-specific introduction and pointers to relevant diagrams and reports. Users can quickly explore strategy- or business capability maps to envision future business directions.
Subsequent exploration of scenario diagrams and application landscape reports shows how to achieve business impact with SAP solutions in the respective industry niche. Dedicated diagrams and reports for artificial intelligence (AI) then help define strategies and select from SAP’s extensive range of AI offerings.
You can then seek inspiration and identify the delta between your current as-is landscape and SAP’s state of the art industry landscapes. This allows you to define your ideal to-be landscape.
SAP Reference Architecture in SAP LeanIX
SAP LeanIX accelerates enterprise architecture initiatives with built-in reference features, like industry-specific capability maps, that can be easily imported into your workspace. Industry Kits provide pre-populated, sector-focused workspaces with comprehensive dashboards and reports, while Switch Motion Kits support smooth, strategic cloud migrations by offering guided, capability-driven transformation paths.
Together, these tools help you realize value faster, streamline decision-making, and confidently shape your future IT landscapes. To find out more, book a demo:
