Managing costs on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) effectively requires a mix of governance, monitoring, and architectural best practices. BTP offers both Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) and Subscription models, and costs can quickly escalate if resources aren’t managed carefully. Below is a comprehensive breakdown of how to manage and optimize costs on SAP BTP:
🔹 1. Understand Your Commercial Model
Before optimizing, you need to know how you’re being billed:
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Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG): You pay for actual usage of services (measured in credits or currency).
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Cloud Platform Enterprise Agreement (CPEA): Prepaid credits with flexibility to use different services.
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Subscription: Fixed cost for specific services.
🟩 Tip: For dynamic workloads or development environments, PAYG or CPEA models offer flexibility. For stable, long-term workloads, subscription pricing is more predictable.
🔹 2. Use the SAP BTP Cockpit Cost Explorer
SAP BTP includes Cost Explorer (similar to AWS Cost Explorer):
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Visualizes spend by subaccount, region, or service.
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Identifies which services consume the most credits.
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Provides daily and monthly breakdowns.
👉 Navigate to:
Global Account → Usage Analytics / Cost Explorer
🟩 Tip: Enable alerts or budgets for usage thresholds to prevent surprises.
🔹 3. Set Up Account and Subaccount Structure Wisely
A clean hierarchy helps isolate and control costs:
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Use separate subaccounts for environments (dev/test/prod).
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Assign quotas or entitlements at the subaccount level.
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Map subaccounts to cost centers or departments for internal chargeback.
🟩 Tip: Use SAP Landscape Management or SAP BTP Account Modeler to plan account structures that align with cost accountability.
🔹 4. Monitor Resource Usage Proactively
Regularly check:
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Service Instances: Deprovision unused services (like HANA Cloud instances or Kyma clusters).
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Storage: Optimize retention in Object Store, Document Management, or Event Mesh.
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Compute Units: Scale down or shut off non-production systems after hours.
🟩 Tools:
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SAP BTP Cockpit → “Instances and Subscriptions”
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SAP CLI (
btpcommand-line tool) → automate cleanup scripts
🔹 5. Automate Lifecycle and Scaling
Implement automation and autoscaling where possible:
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For Kyma or Cloud Foundry workloads, define resource limits (CPU/memory).
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Use CI/CD pipelines to deploy ephemeral environments for testing and destroy them after.
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Schedule automatic stopping/starting of apps (via scripts or SAP Automation Pilot).
🔹 6. Use Quotas and Budgets
In the BTP Global Account:
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Define entitlements (quotas) per subaccount to prevent overconsumption.
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Track spending per service category and region.
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Apply cost center tagging using metadata labels.
🟩 Example:
Tag subaccount with "CostCenter=FIN-IT-001" for internal reporting.
🔹 7. Optimize Service Usage
Some SAP BTP services can be tuned or replaced with cheaper options:
| Service | Cost Control Tip |
|---|---|
| SAP HANA Cloud | Adjust memory tiers; move cold data to cheaper storage. |
| SAP Integration Suite | Reuse existing iFlows; archive old message logs. |
| SAP Build Apps/Process Automation | Use production-only tenants for runtime; develop locally when possible. |
| Kyma Runtime | Use autoscaling and small cluster sizes for non-prod. |
🔹 8. Leverage Reporting and APIs
You can extract usage and cost data via:
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SAP BTP Consumption APIs
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SAP Cloud ALM or SAP Analytics Cloud dashboards for trend analysis
This helps identify anomalies or opportunities for consolidation.
🔹 9. Governance and Cost Awareness
Create governance policies and educate teams:
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Define ownership for each subaccount.
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Review service usage monthly.
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Automate cost anomaly detection.
🟩 Tip: Some enterprises integrate SAP BTP usage into FinOps tools (e.g., CloudHealth, Apptio) for cross-cloud visibility.
🔹 10. Engage SAP for Optimization Reviews
SAP offers:
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Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) for CPEA customers.
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SAP Enterprise Support advisory sessions for architecture and cost optimization.
✅ Summary: Key Actions
| Area | Action |
|---|---|
| Visibility | Enable Cost Explorer & usage reporting |
| Governance | Use quotas, subaccounts, and cost centers |
| Optimization | Decommission unused services, use autoscaling |
| Automation | Use scripts and CI/CD cleanup |
| Review | Monthly cost reviews with stakeholders |
