Introduction
Enhancements are SAP’s official way of allowing customers to adapt standard functionality to their business needs without modifying SAP-delivered objects. This design philosophy is one of the key reasons why SAP systems remain upgrade-safe and stable over decades.
This blog builds a strong foundation by answering
• What is an enhancement?
• Why are enhancements needed?
• What enhancement techniques exist in SAP?
• Which enhancement should be used and when?
What Is an Enhancement in SAP?
An Enhancement is a predefined extension point provided by SAP where customers can plug in their own logic.
In simple terms, enhancement means adding additional functionality to an existing SAP standard process without modifying SAP standard code while ensuring existing functionality does not break.
SAP itself decides where enhancements are allowed, and customers are allowed to implement logic only at those points.
Golden Rule: Enhance SAP, never modify SAP.
Why Are Enhancements Needed?
SAP delivers software that works for millions of customers across industries and countries. However, no standard software can satisfy every business rule.
Customer often request:
• Country-specific validations
• Additional fields on standard screens
• Custom menu options
• Extra checks before save
• Integration-specific logic
Why SAP Strongly Discourages Modifications?
A modification means changing SAP standard objects directly.
Problems with modifications:
• Lost during upgrades
• Require access keys
• Difficult to track
• High regression risk
• Not supported by SAP easily
Enhancements, on the other hand:
• Are upgrade-safe
• Are supported by SAP
• Are easier to maintain
• Do not touch standard code
What Can We Enhance?
There are 3 types of enhancements possible:
1. Customer-specific validations on the standard fields of standard SAP transactions.
2. Additional menu items in the standard menus of the standard SAP transactions.
3. Additional fields on the std. screens of the standard SAP transactions.
High-Level Classification of Enhancements in SAP
SAP enhancement techniques can be broadly classified into two categories.
1. Procedural Enhancements (Older Approach)• User Exits
• Customer Exits
2. Object-Oriented Enhancements (Modern Approach)• Business Add-Ins (BADIs)
3. Enhancement Framework (Implicit & Explicit Enhancements)SAP’s recommendation today is clearly tilted towards object-oriented enhancements, but procedural enhancements still exist widely in productive systems.
All Available Enhancement Techniques in SAP
Let’s look at all enhancement options, from oldest to newest.
1. User Exits (Legacy)User exits are the oldest enhancement technique in SAP.
Characteristics:
• Hard-coded in programs
• Mostly available in SD module
• Implemented using includes like MV45AFZZ
• Procedural and inflexible
Current status:
• ❌ Legacy
• ❌ Not recommended for new developments
• ✔ Still found in old ECC systems
2. Customer Exits (Procedural but Structured)Customer exits are a more organized version of user exits.
They are delivered as:
• Enhancements
• Managed using SMOD / CMOD
• Implemented via function modules
Customer exits support:
• Validations
• Screen extensions
• Menu enhancements
They are still widely used and supported, especially in legacy and support scenarios.
To gain a detailed understanding of Customer Exits, please refer to the following blog.
3. Business Add-Ins (BAdIs)BAdIs are SAP’s object-oriented enhancement mechanism.
Key advantages:
• Multiple implementations allowed
• Individual implementations can be activated/deactivated
• Clean OO design
• Better performance
• Filter-dependent logic supported
SAP strongly recommends BAdIs for:
• New developments
• S/4HANA systems
• Complex business logic
4. Enhancement Framework (Implicit & Explicit)This is the most flexible and powerful enhancement technique.
Types:
• Implicit Enhancements
• At start/end of programs
• At method boundaries
• Explicit Enhancements
• Enhancement points explicitly defined by SAP
Used when:
• No customer exit or BAdI exists
• SAP has provided enhancement spots in code
Upgrade-safe and widely used in modern systems.
5. Modifications (Last Resort ❌)Used only when:
• No enhancement option exists
• Business requirement is unavoidable
Requires:
• SAP access key
• Strong justification
• Careful documentation
SAP and architects generally consider this a design failure unless unavoidable.
Enhancement Search Order
Whenever a requirement comes, always follow this order:
1. BAdI
2. Enhancement Framework
3. Customer Exit
4. ❌ Modification (last resort)Relevance in S/4HANA
• All enhancement concepts still exist.
• Customer exits are mostly used for legacy support.
• BAdIs and Enhancement Framework are preferred.
• SAP actively discourages new procedural enhancements.
Conclusion
Enhancements are the backbone of SAP customization.
Now you understand:
• Why enhancements exist
• Where SAP allows enhancements
• Which technique to choose