Avantra 26 adds AI root cause tool for SAP operations
Mon, 11th May 2026 (Today)
Avantra has launched Avantra 26 for SAP operations. The release includes Avantra AIR, a new AI-based root cause analysis product.
The software is designed to cut the time engineers spend diagnosing incidents in SAP environments, where teams often manage business-critical systems and complex hybrid estates.
Avantra AIR automatically investigates SAP incidents and presents a structured diagnosis as soon as an issue is detected. It is sold as a separate licence alongside the main platform release.
The product examines logs, system data and alerts across multiple systems to identify likely causes and suggest next steps. The wider Avantra 26 release also adds tighter links with SAP Cloud ALM and new discovery tools for SAP Business Technology Platform environments.
These additions come as SAP customers shift more workloads to cloud and hybrid setups while moving away from older management tools. Vendors serving that market are trying to reduce manual work for operations teams under pressure to resolve incidents faster without adding staff.
Avantra cited survey data showing engineers spend an average of 19 hours resolving a single incident, with most of that time spent on diagnosis. Early users of the new release reported up to a 60% reduction in mean time to insight and resolution, a two- to three-fold increase in automated tasks, and monthly time savings of 10 to 20 hours for each senior engineer.
Brenton O'Callaghan described the company's position on the shift. "SAP operations teams have long had solutions that flag issues but leave it to experts to find the cause. Avantra AIR changes that. Engineers now get a diagnosis in seconds instead of hours. This is the AI-led shift that customers are demanding from their tech stack, and Avantra 26 brings it to our global customers," said Brenton O'Callaghan, Chief Product Officer, Avantra.
Cloud links
A central part of the release is deeper integration with SAP Cloud ALM, SAP's cloud-based application lifecycle management tool. The updated platform provides two-way synchronisation of system data and alerts, allowing teams to act on Cloud ALM systems from within Avantra rather than switching between tools.
The approach is intended to reduce operational sprawl in RISE with SAP environments, where customers rely on a mix of SAP-managed and customer-managed systems. For operations teams, a single view of alerts, workflows and system states can cut delays caused by tool fragmentation.
On SAP BTP, the release introduces automated discovery of services and environments across a customer's estate. Avantra said this should give teams a unified view of growing BTP deployments while cutting manual onboarding work and improving oversight of governance and cost.
Automation push
The release also introduces what Avantra calls Automation Runner, a new interface for workflow execution and monitoring. It combines workflow execution, exception handling and execution history in one place.
The feature is intended to let business users and first-line support teams carry out more complex SAP tasks, including system refreshes, without specialist Basis expertise. This reflects a broader trend in enterprise software operations, where suppliers are packaging routine and repeatable administration tasks into guided workflows that can be handled by a wider group of staff.
The user interface has also been updated to combine older and newer product experiences in a single environment. The aim is to make automation and monitoring tools easier to access across different user groups within SAP operations teams.
Customer feedback
One early user described the operational change after adopting the software. "Before, when we saw an Avantra alert, we had to spend time working out what it meant and how to resolve it. Now it's all there - we can review, validate, and act straight away, and decide quickly whether it's something we resolve within the SAP teams or requires engagement with other teams to resolve," said Gillon.
Howdens, where Gillon is Head of Technical Operations, is one of the customers Avantra cited in support of the new release. The retailer and supplier operates across the UK, Republic of Ireland, France and Belgium.
Avantra, founded in Switzerland, sells software focused on SAP monitoring, automation and operations management. With Avantra 26, it is targeting organisations that need greater visibility across hybrid SAP estates while reducing the amount of expert time needed to investigate and resolve incidents.