The industry scope built into SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition covers the core of how a business runs, but a few business domains are deep enough to warrant their own specialized application. Rather than stretch the ERP to do everything, SAP offers a wider ecosystem of cloud solutions that each focus on one domain and connect back to the core. The connection is not an afterthought: applications exchange data with the ERP through governed integration on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and its Integration Suite, so master data, transactions, and financial results stay consistent across the landscape. The five applications below — listed alphabetically — each add depth in one area, while the ERP remains the system of record.
The SAP ecosystem, connected to your core
Some capabilities live beyond the ERP itself — so SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition connects to specialized SAP cloud applications for sourcing, people, external workforce, travel and expense, and digital commerce
The conneted SAP Industry Solutions
The conneted SAP Industry Solutions
SAP Ariba is a cloud application for procurement and business-to-business (B2B) sourcing. It connects buyers and suppliers on a shared business network, where sourcing events, contracts, catalogs, and purchase orders run in one place, bringing structure and visibility to spend management and supplier collaboration. Purchasing and invoice data flow back to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, so activity in the network and the financial records in the ERP stay aligned.
SAP Commerce Cloud, part of the SAP Customer Experience portfolio, runs digital commerce and personalized, omnichannel customer experiences. It manages online storefronts, product catalogs, pricing, and promotions across web, mobile, and store, with customer self-service built in. Orders captured in commerce are handed to the ERP for fulfillment and invoicing, so the online channel and back-office processes work from consistent data.
SAP Concur manages travel and expense (T&E). It covers the full flow from booking a trip to capturing receipts and submitting expense reports, automating policy checks and approvals along the way. The resulting expense and financial data post back to accounting in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, giving finance visibility and control over travel spend.
SAP Fieldglass is a vendor management system (VMS) for the external workforce. It structures the sourcing, engagement, and management of contingent workers, contractors, and services procurement — the labor that sits outside permanent headcount — with defined workflows for requests, onboarding, and spend control. Because it integrates with the ERP, external-workforce cost and commitment data stay part of the same financial picture.
SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud human capital management (HCM) suite. It covers core HR and payroll together with the talent processes of recruiting, learning, performance, and compensation, so the people side of the organization is managed in one system. Employee and organizational data integrate with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, keeping the workforce view consistent between HR and the ERP.
How they connect back to your core
How they connect back to your core
What makes these applications part of one solution rather than separate islands is the integration layer. SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and SAP Integration Suite provide the governed connections — pre-built integration content, application programming interfaces (APIs), and event flows — that move data between each application and the ERP, while a clean-core approach keeps those connections on released interfaces so upgrades stay non-disruptive. Which applications an organization connects depends on where its depth is: a services business may lead with SuccessFactors and Fieldglass, a procurement-intensive business with Ariba, a consumer business with Commerce Cloud. The starting point remains the industry scope already included in the ERP; this page covers what extends it. For the industry fit built into SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, see our companion page, Industry Solutions — Included, and to go deeper into the integration mechanics, explore the SAP BTP and Integration Suite articles in our Knowledge base.
Industry Solutions (Included & Connected) for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition FAQ
What does "Industry Solutions" mean for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition?
It covers two things. First, the industry fit built into the product itself: pre-configured, best-practice processes that already reflect how different industries plan, produce, sell, and account for their work. Second, the specialized SAP ecosystem applications that connect to the ERP core to add depth in areas such as sourcing, people, external workforce, travel and expense, and digital commerce. The two Industry Solutions pages — Included and Connected — describe each in turn.
What is the difference between "Included" and "Connected"?
Included is the industry scope that is part of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition itself and is adopted through configuration. Connected is the set of separate SAP cloud applications — SAP Ariba, SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP Concur, SAP Fieldglass, and SAP SuccessFactors — that extend the ERP core and connect back to it. The ERP remains the system of record; connected applications add depth in one domain each.
Which industries does the included scope cover?
The included portfolio is grouped into five families: Service Industries (for example professional services, high-tech software, engineering and construction, banking, hospitality, telecommunications); Consumer Industries (wholesale distribution, consumer products, retail, agribusiness); Discrete Manufacturing (industrial manufacturing, automotive suppliers, high-tech components, aerospace and defense suppliers); Energy and Natural Resources (chemicals, oil and gas, mill products and mining, utilities); and Public Services (public sector including non-profits, and education and research).
How do I adopt the included industry scope?
Through a fit-to-standard approach: you review the delivered best-practice processes against your requirements and configure within supported boundaries, rather than rebuilding historic practices in custom code. Where a genuine gap remains, a clean-core approach addresses it in order — configuration first, then supported extensibility on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), and only then custom development kept outside the core, so future updates stay non-disruptive.
Which SAP applications connect to the core, and what do they do?
SAP Ariba for procurement and business-to-business sourcing; SAP Commerce Cloud for digital, omnichannel commerce; SAP Concur for travel and expense; SAP Fieldglass for managing the external workforce and services procurement; and SAP SuccessFactors for human capital management. Each focuses on one domain and exchanges data with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.
How do the connected applications integrate with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition?
Through governed integration on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and SAP Integration Suite — pre-built integration content, application programming interfaces (APIs), and event flows — so master data, transactions, and financial results stay consistent across the landscape. A clean-core approach keeps those connections on released interfaces so upgrades stay non-disruptive.
Besides configuration, is there a packaged way to adopt an included industry scope?
Yes. An SAP-Qualified Partner-Packaged Solution can provide a predefined, industry-specific baseline on top of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition foundation — a demonstrable starting scope and reusable delivery assets that make fit-to-standard more focused, while staying within the same standard, clean-core boundaries. For manufacturing, ReadySet Manufacturing from Scheer is one such SAP-listed package.
What is an SAP-qualified partner-packaged solution?
It is a partner offering that combines SAP software with defined partner contributions such as industry expertise, configuration, services, accelerators, and optional extensions. SAP reviews the offering against partner-packaged solution qualification criteria, while the partner creates, sells, delivers, supports, and maintains it. The offering is qualified, not the partner company, and "qualified" is not the same as "certified."
What is ReadySet Manufacturing?
ReadySet Manufacturing is a partner-packaged implementation offering from Scheer Nederland for manufacturing organizations. SAP's current SAP-Qualified Partner-Packaged Solution Finder lists the offering, and SAP-hosted material connects it to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and a predefined manufacturing scope covering forecasting, production, inventory planning, and operational analytics.
Is ReadySet Manufacturing an SAP product or a separate edition?
No. It is a partner offering that uses SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition as its foundation and does not change which capabilities SAP makes available in Public Edition. SAP provides and supports the applicable cloud subscriptions, while Scheer owns the package scope, services, assets, and any separately identified partner components.
What should I check before selecting a partner-packaged solution such as ReadySet Manufacturing?
Confirm the current SAP finder entry and package description, and request a bill of materials separating SAP and partner components, a process and country scope mapped to current Public Edition scope items, the assumptions and exclusions behind any price or timeline, a data, integration, testing, training, and cutover responsibility matrix, an extension inventory using supported clean-core patterns, relevant references, a support model, and a change-control process.
Why is SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition a suitable foundation for industry solutions?
Because the industry-specific processes are part of the standard, supported product rather than something each company assembles and sustains on its own. SAP delivers proven industry best practices as standard scope and keeps them current through its regular cloud release cycle, so much of the industry fit an organization needs is already in the product and maintained by the vendor. An organization adopts that scope through configuration instead of building and maintaining industry logic in custom code.
Are the connected applications required?
No. They are optional and chosen by need. The industry scope built into the ERP covers the core of how a business runs; the connected applications add depth where a domain is deep enough to warrant its own specialized system. Which ones an organization connects depends on where its depth is — a services business may lead with SuccessFactors and Fieldglass, a procurement-intensive business with Ariba, a consumer business with Commerce Cloud.