When starting with SAP BTP, one of the first concepts to understand is the account hierarchy.
The easiest way to remember it is:
Global Account → Directory → Subaccount → Environment → Services → Applications
Here’s what each layer means:
🏢 Global Account
The top-level account representing the organization. It manages entitlements, quotas, and the overall BTP landscape.
📁 Directory (Optional)
Used to organize subaccounts by purpose, such as Development and Testing, or by project, region, or business unit.
☁️ Subaccount
The actual working boundary where you manage applications, services, subscriptions, members, and security.
⚙️ Environment
The runtime where applications are built and executed:
Cloud Foundry → CAP, Node.js, Java, Python, etc.
Kyma → Kubernetes-based cloud-native applications
ABAP Environment → ABAP Cloud development and extensions
🔧 Services
Capabilities consumed by applications, such as:
SAP HANA Cloud, Destination Service, XSUAA, Integration Suite, Event Mesh, and many others.
🚀 Applications
The final business solutions running on these environments, such as CAP apps, Fiori apps, ABAP applications, APIs, and microservices.
Simple mental model
Global Account = Company
Directory = Organization
Subaccount = Working boundary
Environment = Runtime
Service = Capability
Application = Business solution
Understanding this hierarchy makes many SAP BTP topics—especially CAP deployment, security, connectivity, and landscape management—much easier to understand.
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