SAP Container Platform

What Is a Container Platform?

A container platform is software that creates, manages, and secures containerized applications. Container management software allows for easier, faster networking and container orchestration. These platforms handle containerized application processes, such as governance, automation, layered security, extensibility, and enterprise support.

There are several types of container platforms:

Container engines, like Docker and Docker Enterprise Edition, provide a container runtime environment, which enables organizations to create containers, manage container images, and perform basic operations.
Container orchestrators, such as Kubernetes, enable organizations to manage, govern, and automate containers at scale.
Managed container platforms, like Google Kubernetes Engine, augment container engines and orchestrators with additional services, like management of the orchestrator and underlying hardware resources.

What Is a Container Platform?

There are several types of container platforms:

Container engines, like Docker and Docker Enterprise Edition, provide a container runtime environment, which enables organizations to create containers, manage container images, and perform basic operations.
Container orchestrators, such as Kubernetes, enable organizations to manage, govern, and automate containers at scale.
Managed container platforms, like Google Kubernetes Engine, augment container engines and orchestrators with additional services, like management of the orchestrator and underlying hardware resources.

What is an SAP Container Platform?

SAP Business Technology Platform, Cloud Foundry environment, supports Docker containers, Kubernetes for virtualization, and containerization.

SAP HANA Express can use Docker containers to build scalable applications.

SAP has developed several open-source Kubernetes projects:

Gardener, an open-source project offering operation of Kubernetes clusters as a service.
Kyma, a cloud-native application runtime that combines Kubernetes with a set of tools and open-source components to develop, run, and operate cloud-native applications.

In addition, SAP uses Kubernetes for SAP Data Intelligence cloud service and SAP Data Hub on-premise enterprise data orchestration solution.

Further Resources for SAPinsiders

The Role of Containers in Digital Innovation. In this webinar, Chris Urwin, Head of COE, DevOps, SUSE, discusses how container-based, cloud-native apps orchestrated by Kubernetes are becoming the building blocks of the modern IT infrastructure. Urwin describes how containers can help organizations solve business challenges.

Seven Tips to Customize Your Authorization Management Settings

Published: 15/October/2004

Reading time: 31 mins

You can manage user authorizations and profiles in your SAP systems more efficiently with these seven tips on changing settings for the Profile Generator. Key Concept Activity groups are data containers for the Profile Generator to generate authorization profiles. Generally an activity group (or role, since Release 4.6C) represents a job role (e.g., HR manager,...…
The New EJB 3.0 Specification — Why It’s Time to Reevaluate Enterprise JavaBeans

Published: 15/November/2005

Reading time: 2 mins

The new EJB 3.0 (JSR-220) specification has enhancements that help address the inadequacies of the previous release, and it might even change your mind about using EJBs. This article helps you get the emerging EJB standard into perspective so you can evaluate it for your own environment. See how EJBs have morphed into elegant Plain...…
TechEd Spotlight: Milja Gilliespie on the Latest Mobile Announcements from SAP

Published: 06/November/2013

Reading time: 6 mins

Read this interview with Milja Gillespie, Director of Product Marketing for SAP Mobile Security to learn about the latest announcements from SAP in Mobile Security. Learn about app-wrapping and SAP’s partnership with Mocana. Get answers on what Apple’s iOS 7 means for SAP’s security solutions. Milja Gillespie is the Director of Product Marketing for SAP...…
Building a Better Business Process Hierarchy (BPH)

Published: 31/January/2014

Reading time: 13 mins

ManagerLeverage these techniques and standards to produce a business process hierarchy (BPH) that accurately represents your “to be” solution, improves solution documentation, reduces effort, and provides more intuitive navigation. Key Concept Taking advantage of standards for naming conventions, using shortcuts, and document linking can provide more insight into your solution design, improve transparency of process...…
Align Employee Business Partner Master Data Between SAP HR and SAP CRM

Published: 15/February/2009

Reading time: 11 mins

Organizations that have both SAP ERP Human Capital Management (SAP ERP HCM) and SAP CRM can set up their systems to share employee master data, thereby eliminating dual maintenance of employee data, master data errors, and inconsistencies. Follow step-by-step through the process from activating integration in SAP ERP HCM to replicating the employee master data...…
How to Use Workflow to Streamline SAP Service Management Processes

Published: 08/May/2014

Reading time: 13 mins

SCMLearn how to implement a simple workflow to dramatically increase the power of SAP Service Management. A simple workflow can often eliminate tedious manual steps in the Service Management processes. Implementing a simple workflow can often provide additional functionality that would otherwise require complex ABAP coding within a user exit. A simple workflow enables you...…
- SAP Security
How to Secure and Monitor Your SAP Systems from Cyber Threats without Third-Party Software

Published: 12/August/2014

Reading time: 6 mins

Aman Dhillon explains how to secure your SAP systems from cyber attacks using SAP Configuration Validation. Key Concept Configuration Validation (CV) is a standard diagnostics tool available in SAP Solution Manager 7.0 and up. It enables companies to perform vulnerability checks to detect and remove security weaknesses in SAP systems. This includes vulnerabilities in areas...…
- SAP EAI
Use a Custom Adapter Module to Integrate SAP PI with the JSON Format

Published: 26/August/2014

Reading time: 19 mins

At the moment, SAP Process Integration (SAP PI) does not support direct integration with the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format. Aaron Long shows how to develop a custom adapter module processor in Java to convert data between JSON and the XML format. Key Concept JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is...…
Introduce Budget Availability Control into Cost Center Accounting

Published: 06/November/2014

Reading time: 14 mins

Learn how you can configure budget availability control for your Cost Centers with simple customizing steps. Key Concept Budget availability control in the managerial accounting (CO) and Project System (PS) modules is a standard SAP functionality that automates budget control through warnings and error messages. It also can send notification emails automatically to respective budget...…
Leverage SAP HANA on SAP NetWeaver Server for ABAP

Published: 01/December/2014

Reading time: 8 mins

Akash Kumar reviews the tools and techniques that allow you to maximize the use of SAP NetWeaver Application Server for ABAP powered by SAP HANA. Key Concept ABAP code performs data-intensive operations at the application layer and stores data in rows for aggregation functions, which can slow processing. ABAP on SAP HANA offers the opportunity...…