Today’s economic climate is testing the resolve of companies that need to launch B2B ecommerce. With trends like composable commerce dominating LinkedIn and analyst reports, companies are feeling the pressure to launch the latest and greatest technologies.

This is especially challenging for companies whose business depends on SAP ERP.

These organizations have already invested heavily in their ERP as the source of all business data and logic. When they look at complex, expensive architectures that require full-time teams to support, the investment in B2B ecommerce looks unattainable.

Recently, DigitalCommerce360 interviewed Corevist CEO Andy Martin on this very subject as part of their report, A Blueprint For B2B Technology. Here are the highlights of that interview.

1. SAP companies should analyze the #composable hype with care

As SAP shared at their recent CX Live event in New York, the company recommends a commerce approach that’s agile, modular, “composable-ready,” and unified on a single platform. This approach strikes the right balance between flexibility and minimizing technical debt.

Andy Martin reiterated this point in DigitalCommerce360’s report:

“Companies get excited when they realize they can leverage their existing ERP system to improve ecommerce because the barrier to entry is lower. Related to that, they want a lower-risk entry point. The biggest technology trend now is the need for prebuilt, configurable ERP integration that’s included in the B2B ecommerce platform. For companies with small IT teams that can’t deal with complex ERP integration, this is a make-or-break question.”

2. SAP companies should look for right-fit starting points (on expandable platforms)

One thing about composable commerce is quite attractive: The ability to choose business functions and technologies a la carte, as needed.

Of course, the challenge there is supporting new systems and technologies that weren’t designed to work together.

The alternative approach is to choose a platform that breaks up business functions into “functional modules” (as SAP calls them). This allows you to turn on the part of the platform that you need at launch, then continue to turn on new functional modules as your B2B ecommerce program picks up steam.

Discussing right-fit starting points, Andy put it this way in the report:

“Maybe it’s email order automation or a self-service customer portal. Maybe it’s full-featured B2B ecommerce. The key is to choose a platform that can do it all. That way, you can start in the right place, and you don’t have to re-platform or stitch together multiple solutions when you need to expand your offerings in customer experience.”

3. SAP companies should leverage existing technology investments

For companies running SAP ERP, one thing will never change—no matter how much B2B ecommerce trends evolve: Your business data and logic will always live in SAP ERP.

Unless you migrate off SAP ERP (or muddy your data landscape waters with competing systems), that fact will never change.

For SAP companies, the future of B2B ecommerce technology lies in that unchanging commitment to your ERP. Your future is bound up in that data and logic, and B2B ecommerce should serve that investment—not the other way around.

This is why the Corevist Platform includes prebuilt, configurable integration for ECC and S/4HANA. Our platform is always evolving to meet the changing needs of B2B buyers—but your SAP data and logic remain at the core. That’s a sound investment for the future.