Date: 11-07-2025
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Building a Digital Innovation Lab with SAP – A Step-by-Step Guide

In today’s dynamic market, innovation isn’t optional — it’s a critical driver of business success. Yet many organizations struggle to move from ideation to execution, particularly in large-scale enterprise environments where processes are rigid, and changes feel risky.

That’s precisely where Digital Innovation Labs make their mark — enabling rapid experimentation and value delivery.

At Splisys, we help enterprises build SAP-powered Digital Innovation Labs— agile ecosystems where ideas evolve into working prototypes, innovations are pressure-tested, and business value is proven before any large-scale deployment. Whether you’re in Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Retail, or Utilities, the innovation lab model helps you de-risk transformation, foster collaboration, and accelerate time-to-value.

Let’s walk you through the complete playbook.

Accelerate Innovation with SAP-Powered Labs

Splisys Innovation Labs turn your SAP ecosystem into a launchpad for digital breakthroughs

A Digital Innovation Lab is a structured environment—often a dedicated physical or virtual space—designed to experiment, prototype, validate, and scale digital ideas. When powered by SAP, it becomes a hub for:

Co-creation between business and IT
Testing SAP extensions, integrations, or AI/ML use cases
Building proofs of concept (POCs) on SAP BTP, Fiori, or SAP AI Core
Running low-code experiments on SAP Build
Iterating rapidly without disrupting core ERP systems

“You can’t innovate at enterprise scale without control. SAP gives us the foundation, but innovation labs give us the freedom.”
— Director of Digital Strategy, Splisys client (Oil & Gas sector)

Here’s what clients typically achieve with a structured SAP Innovation Lab:

4X faster POC development using SAP Build Process Automation
60% reduction in time-to-value for new use cases
Improved innovation ROI visibility, leading to stronger stakeholder buy-in
Controlled experimentation that keeps the SAP clean core strategy intact

1. Define Your Innovation Charter

Start by asking: What problems are we solving? Is the goal operational efficiency? Sustainability? Customer experience? Define 3–5 mission-aligned focus areas.

Splisys Insight: We help clients draft innovation charters that align with both business goals and SAP roadmap strategies.

2. Build a Cross-Functional Core Team

Your lab should not be an IT sandbox. Include process owners, UX designers, SAP developers, and even end-users. Diversity of input ensures relevance of outcomes.

Key Roles:

SAP Solution Architect
Business Process Expert
Design Thinking Facilitator
POC Developer (SAP BTP, Fiori, etc.)

3. Set Up the Technical Foundation

Utilize SAP’s modern toolsets:

SAP BTP serves as the backbone for seamless integrations and agile application development.
SAP Build Apps for low-code rapid prototyping
SAP Fiori for UX-forward UI development
SAP AI Core & SAP Datasphere for experimentation with ML and analytics

We also recommend sandboxing environments to simulate live enterprise scenarios without risk.

4. Launch Sprint-Based POC Cycles

Each innovation cycle should include:

Ideation workshop (2–3 days)
Prototyping sprint (1–2 weeks)
End-user testing
Executive demo and value assessment

Real Result: One of our clients in Mining went from concept to demo-ready prototype of a predictive maintenance dashboard in just 9 working days, saving them months of traditional project scoping.

5. Validate, Scale, or Retire

Not all ideas scale. And that’s the point. Use clear metrics for validation:

Time saved
Cost reduced
User adoption
Data accuracy
Sustainability impact

If it works → Integrate with SAP landscape
If not → Document learning, pivot, and restart

Cut POC Development Time by 60%

Accelerate SAP prototype development with SAP BTP, Build Apps, and Fiori—ensuring your core landscape remains untouched.

Oil & Gas

Challenge: Manual workflows across multiple asset inspection teams
Outcome from the Innovation Lab: Developed a robust SAP Fiori-based inspection application with offline sync capabilities.
Outcome: Cut field data collection time by 35% and boosted data accuracy by 42%

Manufacturing

Challenge: Lack of shop floor visibility
Innovation Lab Result: Created real-time production monitoring POC with SAP DMC + IoT
Results included enhanced throughput visibility and the successful deployment of predictive maintenance strategies.

Retail

Challenge: Legacy POS integrations and demand forecasting inefficiencies
Innovation Lab Result: Co-developed an AI-based demand forecasting model using SAP AI Core
Outcome: Reduced overstocking and improved store fulfillment rates by 22%

Utilities

Challenge: Limited visibility into grid load changes
Innovation Lab Result: Built a prototype for real-time load forecasting using SAP Datasphere
Outcome: Enabled a 26% improvement in forecast accuracy during seasonal peaks

SAP has evolved beyond ERP — it’s now a foundation for enterprise-grade innovation. And your innovation lab is the bridge between ideation and enterprise transformation. With Splisys, we bring the frameworks, technical capabilities, and execution mindset to help you turn your ideas into scalable SAP solutions—faster, smarter, and with real business outcomes.

Q1. What’s the difference between an Innovation Lab and a traditional IT department?
An innovation lab focuses on rapid prototyping, experimentation, and short sprints without long-term delivery pressure. It’s where ideas are tested quickly before being scaled via IT or SAP project teams.

Q2. How does SAP support rapid prototyping?
SAP BTP, Build Apps, and Fiori offer a modular, low-code environment built for rapid, user-focused innovation and iteration. You can build POCs without disrupting the core ERP system.

Q3. Can innovation labs align with clean core strategy?
Absolutely — Proof of Concepts are generally developed in sandbox environments or via SAP’s side-by-side extensibility, preserving the integrity of the core system.

Q4. How do I measure ROI from an Innovation Lab?
Key metrics include: prototype-to-pilot conversion rate, time-to-value, business adoption, cost savings, and even innovation funnel efficiency (ideas generated vs. ideas scaled).

Q5. How soon can we start?
With Splisys, we can co-create your charter and have your lab sprint-ready within 2–3 weeks, depending on your SAP landscape.

👉 Talk to Our SAP Innovation Experts
📩 Request a Free Innovation Lab Discovery Consultation Book Now

From Ideas to Impact—Rapidly

Splisys helps you de-risk SAP innovation by launching clean-core-friendly, sprint-based experiments tailored for Oil & Gas, Retail, Utilities & Manufacturing.

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