This article is based on a press announcement originally published on finance.yahoo.com in September 2019.
Basis Technologies Brings SAP DevOps Automation to Major Fall 2019 Conferences
In September 2019, Basis Technologies announced it would showcase its automated DevOps and testing platform for SAP at three major industry events: SAP TechEd 2019 Las Vegas (September 24–26), DSAG-Jahreskongress 2019 in Nuremberg, Germany (September 17–19), and SAP TechEd 2019 Barcelona (October 8–10). The announcement highlighted both new technology demonstrations and customer case studies from organizations that had already adopted DevOps practices for SAP environments.
Proof of Concept: abapGit + Jenkins + ActiveControl
The centerpiece of the SAP TechEd Las Vegas appearance was a proof-of-concept demonstration of an end-to-end DevOps workflow for SAP, combining three tools:
- abapGit – An open-source Git client for ABAP, enabling distributed and independent development of ABAP-based SAP applications. By bringing Git-based version control to the ABAP layer, abapGit opens the door to branching strategies and collaboration models common in non-SAP software development.
- Jenkins – A widely used open-source CI/CD automation server, used here to orchestrate the pipeline.
- ActiveControl – Basis Technologies’ proprietary DevOps solution for SAP, providing automated change analysis, deployment orchestration, and audit trail capabilities.
The combination aims to give SAP development teams a more flexible, automated path from code commit to production deployment—while preserving the safety and compliance controls that SAP environments typically require. According to Basis Technologies CTO James Roberts:
“The combination of abapGit and ActiveControl is a great example of one way they may be able to increase speed and competitiveness without compromising on the safety, transparency and efficiency of their SAP systems.”
James Roberts, CTO, Basis Technologies
Why This Matters for SAP DevOps Practitioners
SAP landscapes have historically been challenging to integrate into modern DevOps pipelines. Traditional SAP transport management is sequential and manual, making continuous delivery difficult. Tooling like abapGit represents an effort to bridge SAP-specific development with mainstream DevOps practices by introducing source-code-level version control for ABAP objects.
Pairing abapGit with an enterprise-grade change automation layer like ActiveControl addresses a key concern for SAP operations teams: how to move faster without introducing regression risk into business-critical ERP systems. The proof-of-concept shown at SAP TechEd Las Vegas 2019 was positioned as an early-stage demonstration rather than a production-ready solution.
Customer Perspectives: Real-World SAP Automation Results
A notable aspect of the conference appearances was the presence of Basis Technologies customers sharing their own DevOps journeys. Speakers from the following organizations were scheduled to present:
- Interpublic Group (IPG)
- thyssenkrupp Steel Europe
- BJ’s Wholesale Club
- Newell Brands
- Booking.com
Orhan Ozalp, Executive Director of Global SAP Solutions at IPG, described the practical impact of their DevOps adoption:
“We decided to embark on a DevOps project and began building our strategy in 2018. We have observed significant productivity gains and now we can deploy our solutions quickly to our production environment without worrying about business disruption. We were doing a major release and a minor release every year … now we’re just continuously delivering.”
Orhan Ozalp, Executive Director, Global SAP Solutions, Interpublic Group
This shift from release-based to continuous delivery is a common goal in enterprise DevOps transformations, and IPG’s account illustrates how it can be achieved even in complex SAP environments.
The Basis Technologies Platform: ActiveControl and Testimony
Basis Technologies’ automation platform for SAP consists of two certified products:
ActiveControl
ActiveControl is a change and release automation solution built specifically for SAP. It handles automated analysis of transport requests, controlled deployment sequencing across SAP system landscapes, and provides a full audit trail of changes. The goal is to give teams the ability to deliver frequent, high-quality changes to production without risking system stability or business continuity.
Testimony
Testimony is described by Basis Technologies as the first Robotic Test Automation (RTA) solution designed for SAP regression testing. Unlike traditional SAP test automation approaches, Testimony does not require scripted test cases or ongoing test script maintenance. Instead, it captures real business transactions from production and replays them against updated systems to detect regressions automatically.
Both products are certified for SAP NetWeaver and SAP S/4HANA. Together, they are positioned to support a “shift left” testing approach, enabling teams to perform full regression testing for every release rather than only at major milestones.
Event Booth Details (Fall 2019)
| Event | Location | Dates | Booth |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSAG-Jahreskongress 2019 | Nuremberg, Germany | September 17–19, 2019 | L27 |
| SAP TechEd Las Vegas 2019 | Las Vegas, USA | September 24–26, 2019 | 417 |
| SAP TechEd Barcelona 2019 | Barcelona, Spain | October 8–10, 2019 | 13 |
Key Takeaways for SAP DevOps Teams
- The integration of abapGit with enterprise change automation tools like ActiveControl represents a meaningful step toward Git-native workflows for ABAP development.
- Continuous delivery is achievable in SAP environments, as demonstrated by IPG’s shift from annual releases to continuous deployment.
- Robotic Test Automation (RTA) approaches like Testimony offer an alternative to high-maintenance script-based SAP testing.
- Both ActiveControl and Testimony are certified for SAP S/4HANA, making them relevant to organizations planning or executing S/4HANA migrations.
This article is based on a press release issued by Basis Technologies in September 2019. Product capabilities and certifications should be verified directly with Basis Technologies for current accuracy.