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SAP's Three Architecture Advisory Methodologies — Application Extension, Data & Analytics Advisory, Integration Solution Advisory (ISA-M)

As of 2026-10-15

Edited by Cédric Mary, sole editor and publication director — 27 years in the SAP ecosystem. How these pages are produced, and where automation is used.

What is SAP's Three Architecture Advisory Methodologies?

SAP's three architecture advisory methodologies (Application Extension, Data & Analytics Advisory, and Integration Solution Advisory, ISA-M) are structured, technology-agnostic ways to decide how to extend an application, which data architecture delivers a business outcome, and how systems should integrate; they form the second course of the C_BAIPA learning journey.

What it is

SAP publishes three architecture advisory methodologies for solution architects. The SAP Application Extension Methodology helps you decide how to extend an application. The SAP Data & Analytics Advisory Methodology helps you design a data and analytics architecture for a business outcome. The SAP Integration Solution Advisory Methodology (ISA-M) helps you set an integration strategy and the guidelines that follow from it. None of them is a product. Each is a structured way of asking questions in the right order, with templates, a vocabulary and decision aids that you tailor to a client.

They are the content of the second course in SAP's learning journey "Becoming an SAP Business AI Platform Solution Architect": BAIPAM, "Introducing the Architectural Methodologies", 180 minutes on learning.sap.com (read on 15 October 2026), with one lesson per methodology of 71, 58 and 53 minutes. SAP's course description says they let architects move beyond a tool-specific approach and design solutions aligned with Clean Core. The same journey feeds the C_BAIPA certification, which is why they matter to anyone preparing for it (module M395).

Why it matters

SAP's C_BAIPA learning journey teaches these three methodologies as its second course, so a candidate or consultant who cannot name their phases and artefacts is missing half of the official preparation.
They turn a vague 'which SAP service?' conversation into an ordered argument (use case, capability, pattern, building block) that a client's enterprise architect already recognises from TOGAF and SAP EAF.
Each one carries a clean core or governance angle, so using them early keeps AI projects from adding custom code and unmanaged integrations to the core.

Key points

Three methodologies in the SAP BTP Guidance Framework: Application Extension (3 phases), Data & Analytics Advisory (4 phases, 3 steps each), ISA-M (domains, styles, patterns).
Application Extension Methodology: Assess Extension Use Case, Assess Extension Technology (styles, tasks, technology mapping), Define Extension Target Solution. Version 2.4; clean core levels in the mapping.
Data & Analytics: Scoping & Baseline, Business Outcomes & Solution Requirements, Capability Map & Solution Architecture, Data Governance & Roadmaps. Based on TOGAF and SAP EAF; user guide dated 17 December 2024.
Phases II and III of the data methodology iterate per outcome; Phases I and IV usually run once. Phase III has a traditional route (capability map) and an accelerated route (pattern and reference architecture).
Data methodology patterns: four data foundation categories and four business use-case categories; proof of concept in five steps before the target architecture is final.
ISA-M: integration domains, four styles (process, data, user, thing), cross use cases, use case patterns, technology mapping, interface assessment, roles. Template 3.2 dates from October 2018.
ISA-M is technology-agnostic and open to non-SAP services; its sample mappings predate SAP Integration Suite and SAP Business Data Cloud and need re-mapping.
BAIPAM is the SAP course for all three: 180 minutes, lessons of 71, 58 and 53 minutes (learning.sap.com, 15 October 2026).
Agent-specific guidance is not in the methodology texts; extend them explicitly and say so.

Terms used on this page

Extension task: A unit of extension work in the Application Extension Methodology (for example adding logic or a new UI) that the technology mapping links to one or more technical extension building blocks.
Clean core level: SAP's A to D grading of custom extensions by how they use released interfaces; A is the strategic direction and D is not clean core.
Data product: In the Data & Analytics methodology, a controlled dataset provided by a data domain, with data, metadata and standard APIs for access.
Capability map: A selection of capabilities from the SAP Data & Analytics Capability Model, tailored to a client's requirements and mapped to products in Phase III.
Integration style: One of ISA-M's four archetypes: process, data, user or thing integration, refined by use case patterns.
Cross use case: An ISA-M category for integration patterns that complement one or more styles, such as API-managed or event-based integration.

Sources

Full card available to members. What the full card adds: the full decision framework · the SAP vs Snowflake / Databricks / Fabric comparison · the common pitfalls and their fix · the cheat sheet · the architecture schemas · the code blocks · the facts worth quoting.

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