Contain Custom Code: Stop Z-Code from Owning AMS

{
  "id": "ams-006",
  "title": "Contain Custom Code: Stop Z-Code from Owning AMS",
  "hook": "Most SAP AMS pain is not caused by SAP standard. It’s caused by unmanaged custom code quietly becoming critical infrastructure.",
  "idea": "Custom code is not evil. Unowned, undocumented, and unbounded custom code is. Modern SAP AMS treats Z-code as a controlled asset with clear contracts, cost, and exit paths.",
  "sap_truth": {
    "what_usually_happens": [
      "Z-program solves an urgent business need",
      "Logic spreads via copy-paste and implicit dependencies",
      "Original authors leave",
      "AMS inherits fear instead of understanding"
    ],
    "result": "Every change becomes risky, slow, and expensive."
  },
  "operating_model": {
    "classification": [
      {
        "type": "Core-Critical",
        "definition": "Custom code without which legal or financial posting fails",
        "rule": "Rare, heavily tested, owned, documented"
      },
      {
        "type": "Business Logic",
        "definition": "Rules, validations, pricing, mappings",
        "rule": "Prefer externalization; SAP should not be the brain"
      },
      {
        "type": "Utility / Convenience",
        "definition": "Reports, helpers, data fixes",
        "rule": "Safe, isolated, replaceable"
      }
    ]
  },
  "containment_rules": [
    "Every Z-object must have a functional owner and a reason to exist.",
    "No custom logic without an explicit scope and blast radius.",
    "If logic changes frequently, it does not belong in SAP core.",
    "If no one can explain it, it cannot stay critical."
  ],
  "ams_execution": {
    "daily": [
      "Track incidents by Z-object, not just by module.",
      "Expose which custom code causes repeated pain."
    ],
    "strategic": [
      "Gradually move volatile logic to external services.",
      "Retire or freeze low-value Z-code.",
      "Stabilize what must remain."
    ]
  },
  "automation": {
    "copilot_moves": [
      "Map incidents to Z-objects and enhancements automatically.",
      "Detect hotspots: code that generates disproportionate AMS load.",
      "Generate living documentation from code + tickets + changes."
    ],
    "guardrails": [
      "No silent logic in exits without reference documentation.",
      "No emergency fixes without traceability."
    ]
  },
  "why_this_reduces_cost": [
    "Fewer regression incidents after transports.",
    "Faster root cause analysis.",
    "Lower dependency on rare SAP-only experts."
  ],
  "anti_patterns_to_kill": [
    "‘We don’t touch this, it’s too risky’",
    "Hero developers guarding black boxes",
    "Fixing symptoms around broken custom logic"
  ],
  "metrics_that_matter": [
    "AMS hours by Z-object",
    "Repeat incidents caused by custom code",
    "Custom code with no named owner"
  ],
  "design_question": [
    "If this logic disappeared tomorrow, what would actually break?"
  ],
  "meta": {
    "schema": "dkharlanau.dataset.byte",
    "schema_version": "1.1",
    "dataset": "ams",
    "source_project": "cv-ai",
    "source_path": "ams/ams-006.json",
    "generated_at_utc": "2026-02-03T14:33:32+00:00",
    "creator": {
      "name": "Dzmitryi Kharlanau",
      "role": "SAP Lead",
      "website": "https://dkharlanau.github.io",
      "linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkharlanau"
    },
    "attribution": {
      "attribution_required": true,
      "preferred_citation": "Dzmitryi Kharlanau (SAP Lead). Dataset bytes: https://dkharlanau.github.io"
    },
    "license": {
      "name": "",
      "spdx": "",
      "url": ""
    },
    "links": {
      "website": "https://dkharlanau.github.io",
      "linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkharlanau"
    },
    "contact": {
      "preferred": "linkedin",
      "linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkharlanau"
    },
    "canonical_url": "https://dkharlanau.github.io/datasets/ams/ams-006.json",
    "created_at_utc": "2026-02-03T14:33:32+00:00",
    "updated_at_utc": "2026-02-03T15:29:02+00:00",
    "provenance": {
      "source_type": "chat_export_extraction",
      "note": "Extracted and curated by Dzmitryi Kharlanau; enriched for attribution and crawler indexing."
    },
    "entity_type": "ams_byte",
    "entity_subtype": "",
    "summary": "Most SAP AMS pain is not caused by SAP standard. It’s caused by unmanaged custom code quietly becoming critical infrastructure."
  }
}