SAP commerce cloud is a stable and adaptive B2B and B2C commerce solution suitable for businesses of all sizes. Since it empowers organizations with the functionalities that are required to provide customers with the best possible experiences, when dealing with the most extensive product ranges and elaborate omnichannel visions. This article aims to unveil changes that have occurred in the SAP Commerce Cloud, explain what is SAP commerce on premise vs cloud, and the many benefits that it has for enterprises.
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From SAP Hybris to SAP Commerce Cloud
SAP Commerce Cloud, previously SAP Hybris, is the same tool under a new name in the SAP product lineup. The change in name from SAP Hybris to SAP Commerce Cloud was not unique since SAP has recently rebranded and rationalized some of its software applications. The purpose was to ensure the assembly of sets of solutions in one brand so that customers could more easily comprehend and embrace SAP full-spectrum solutions.
SAP Hybris was originally designed as hybris ecommerce development solution and was famous for its outstanding functionalities and customization capabilities. This platform was initially realized as Hybris and was gradually assimilated into SAP’s portfolio after it was acquired in 2013 and renamed SAP Hybris. Recently, SAP Hybris was renamed SAP Commerce Cloud in the framework of the ecommerce development of SAP’s focus on the cloud. This change was quite obvious as SAP aimed to further Cloud infrastructure and adopt more contemporary web solutions.
Because of that, SAP is phasing out on-premise versions of SAP Commerce, with the final version reaching End of Mainstream Maintenance (EoMM) on July 31, 2026. After this date, support will transition to Customer-Specific Maintenance. No further on-premise versions will be released, as SAP shifts its focus entirely to SAP Commerce Cloud.
History of Changes in Sap Hybris Ecommerce Platform
The platform, which is now under the SAP brand, was originally called Hybris before the takeover in 2013. Before the rise of cloud technologies, it was predominantly used on-premises, letting companies have full authority over their e-commerce environment. The original product was then renamed SAP Hybris after the acquisition and has equally boasted of potent e-commerce features while being well interconnected with SAP’s other business solutions.
When the product was renamed the SAP Commerce Cloud, the frequency of cloud deployment gradually changed. This was done to increase businesses’ capabilities to develop and adopt continuously improving and innovative applications at scale. That deployment was also in the cloud, which made the integration with other cloud-based SAP services much more seamless, thereby improving the overall proposition for the businesses.
CCv2 vs. CCv1
SAP Commerce Cloud Hybris has developed into different versions, such as CCv1 and CCv2. CCv1 was the first generation of SAP Commerce Cloud, primarily for cloud implementation, but it had several restrictions compared to on-premise products. SAP then released the CCv2 version, which was much better in terms of deployment, versatility, and integration.
The main differences between CCv1 and CCv2 include:
- Deployment Flexibility
CCv2 allows for better cloud deployment to enable improved scalability for the e-commerce platforms by business entities.
- Integration Capabilities
CCv2 is a more integrated solution that aligns better with other SAP cloud services to provide users with a comprehensive experience for their organizations.
- Licensing
SAP has ceased selling CCv1 to new customers, offering only a superior and versatile CCv2 instead.
Advantages of Using Hybris Web Development
SAP Hybris ecommerce platform has numerous benefits for enterprises, making it the right solution for businesses’ e-commerce needs. Here are some of the key advantages:
Omnichannel Capabilities
Omnichannel is possible because of SAP Commerce Cloud Hybris. It targets making the shopping experience as harmonious as possible across various channels, including online, mobile, and brick-and-mortar stores. It maintains consistency with the customers’ experience no matter their touch point with the brand.
Enhanced Customer Experience
SAP Commerce Cloud provides strong flexibility for unique client experiences and adaptability of façade B2B/B2C integration. The platform's highly sophisticated features are useful in analyzing customer data and behavior, hence helping businesses develop better marketing strategies that meet customers’ needs.
Cloud Infrastructure
One of the main advantages of SAP Commerce Cloud Hybris is its ability to be underpinned by the cloud approach; this provides multiple benefits, such as better scalability and flexibility of the system, continuous updates, and easier access to innovations. Organizations can grow the size of their online shops in sync with rising order volumes without having to invest in fixed structures. Furthermore, cloud deployment integration takes care of high availability and disaster recovery for the business.
Flexibility
A major strength of SAP Commerce Cloud is the flexibility it offers. The headless architecture liberated the front and back ends of applications so that business owners can update and manage each segment individually. This makes it easier for the user interface to be modified and updated from time to time without greatly affecting the major business processing.
Easy Scalability
SAP Commerce Cloud has scalability built into it since it is meant to handle a large amount of traffic and many transactions. Having such capability is especially important for rapidly growing businesses or during periods of high traffic.
Independent Frontend and Technology
Since the two are distinct, businesses can apply separate technologies for front-end and back-end. This independence helps developers select the most optimum tools and frameworks for the project and improves the efficiency of the application hybris web development process. It also means one can make new acquisitions of tools and applications and implement and incorporate them in a business environment without conforming to the existing structure or architecture.
Economic Efficiency
Another advantage of the headless commerce platform (SAP Commerce Cloud) is that this approach may be more cost-efficient with time. Since the front-end and back-end are split, businesses will not need to redesign at a high level but rather make changes gradually. This approach is not only efficient in terms of time and money, but it also helps avoid allocating resources to unnecessary things, spending money where those resources will be the most effective.
Unified Shopping Experience
SAP Commerce Cloud can help maintain a harmonized shopping experience across different channels. This integration makes sure that the customers are in a position to shop at any channel, be it the internet, mobile app or physical store. It also provides greater opportunities to synchronize the online and offline operations of a business.
Page Loading Time
The decoupled architecture allows one to work on the front and back end separately and, therefore, enables the preparation of the pages faster. This improvement can enhance a site's usability, double conversion, and easily decrease bounce rates because of the better experience offered by faster pages.
Microservices Updates
SAP Commerce Cloud incorporates the migration to multiple microservices that enable a business to modify components instead of the entire structure. This Specific approach we see reveals systematic progress and flexibility in meeting market changes. This also helps avoid catastrophes with large scale modifications because changes are implemented in small portions, and those fragments are stringently tested before release.
Conclusion
SAP Commerce Cloud is the evolution of SAP Hybris, which itself has already been an outstanding e-commerce solution, that now focuses on cloud solutions, flexibility and expandability. The evolution from SAP Hybris to SAP Commerce Cloud has unified SAP’s portfolio under one brand which enables businesses, to fully adopt the whole portfolio of SAP solutions. As such, the key capabilities include omnichannel commerce, customized customer experience solutions, and the cloud that makes SAP Commerce Cloud the right platform to support enterprises’ success in the contemporary e-commerce market. With these considerations, it’s evident that using SAP Commerce Cloud it’s possible to make sure that the businesses are as prepared as they can be to manage the modern commerce and provide the best customer experience possible.