FlexFlow Sidecar: Composable Workflow Layer for Rigid ERPs
9/10
Demand Score
Business rules change weekly; waiting months for customizing transports causes revenue leakage and compliance gaps.
7/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
$3k-12k
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
70 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Moderate
The Problem
A sidecar orchestration layer that listens to ERP events (IDoc, change pointers, BAPIs, status tables) and lets ops teams compose alternative flows without touching core customizing. Rules engine rout
🔗 Validated by Real User Complaints
This problem has been verified through 3 real user complaints:
Competitor Landscape
- Camunda
- SAP BTP Workflow
- ServiceNow Flow Designer
- Bonita BPM
Must-Have Features for MVP
Event interceptors for IDoc/BAPI/status changes
Low-code rules engine with policy-as-code
Micro-forms overlay for missing data capture
External SaaS connectors with secure credential vault
A/B flow routing and versioned deployments
Pre-flight simulation for SoD/compliance
End-to-end audit logs and replays
⚠️ Potential Challenges
- Maintaining transactional integrity across ERP and sidecar
- Auditability and SoD certification
- Handling retries and idempotency for BAPI calls
- Change governance to avoid ‘shadow IT’
Risk Level: Moderate
🎯 Keys to Success
- Deploy new approval/data capture steps in days, not months
- Zero unsanctioned direct table writes; only BAPIs/APIs
- Proven cycle-time reduction and SLA adherence
- Auditor-ready logs with clear segregation of duties
Ready to Build This?
This moderate-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.