For today’s fast-paced businesses and ever-evolving business environments, organizations that want to leverage the full potential of SAP applications require more than just traditional on-premises systems. With the advent of SAP's RISE initiative, businesses can access the latest features and innovations first on the cloud, making cloud migration not just an option but a necessity. Features and innovations such as integrated intelligent suites, advanced analytics and AI, scalable infrastructure, enhanced security, business process intelligence, and tailored industry solutions make the cloud the ideal environment for SAP applications. This shift allows organizations to harness unprecedented agility, scalability, and innovation.
However, navigating this transformation requires expertise and tailored solutions. Leading cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offer specialized services designed to optimize SAP workloads. Choosing the right partner among these giants is critical to ensure a smooth and successful migration. This blog will guide you through the key factors to consider when selecting a cloud provider for your SAP landscape, helping you unlock the full potential of your SAP investments.
The Cloud Migration Landscape for SAP
Migrating your SAP environment to the cloud, especially under the RISE with SAP initiative, offers unparalleled opportunities to leverage the latest innovations and drive business transformation. Apart from the integrated intelligent suites and advanced analytics, SAP’s RISE model also includes GenAI capabilities, such as SAP Joule, directly to cloud customers first, enabling faster, data-driven decisions and automation across your enterprise. Joule is embedded throughout SAP’s cloud portfolio, delivering proactive and contextualized insights from across the breadth and depth of SAP solutions and third-party sources. Why would any organization give up such capabilities?
One of the primary benefits of moving to SAP on the cloud is the ability to implement new features and updates rapidly, without the traditional delays of on-premise upgrades.
| SAP S/4HANA Cloud | Real-time analytics, embedded AI and machine learning |
| SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) | Enhanced data management, integration, and application development |
| SAP Fiori | Improves user experience and mobile accessibility |
| SAP Ariba | Continuous enhancements in procurement and supply chain |
| SAP SuccessFactors | Continuous enhancements in HR functionalities |
This agility is crucial in responding to market changes and staying ahead of the competition. Moreover, automated tools provided by cloud providers streamline the migration process, reducing manual effort and minimizing potential disruptions. Cost optimization remains a significant advantage, with pay-as-you-go models offered by AWS, Azure, and GCP, ensuring you only pay for what you use. Additionally, these providers offer robust security features and industry compliance certifications, ensuring your SAP data remains secure.
Despite these benefits, challenges such as potential skills gaps and vendor lock-in must be addressed. Leveraging training programs and partnering with cloud migration experts can mitigate the skills gap, ensuring your IT team is prepared for the transition. To avoid vendor lock-in, ensure your provider supports open standards, facilitating easier future migrations if necessary.
By understanding and addressing these challenges proactively, and by capitalizing on the unique benefits of the RISE with SAP model, you can ensure a smooth and successful migration to the cloud, unlocking the full potential of your SAP landscape.
The Big Three Cloud Providers for SAP
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
As the industry leader in cloud computing, AWS offers a robust and extensive platform specifically optimized for running SAP workloads. Their commitment to SAP extends through a comprehensive suite of services, which we cover below:
AWS Well-Architected Framework - SAP Lens:
This framework provides best practices and guidelines tailored for SAP environments on AWS, focusing on security, performance, reliability, and efficiency. It helps design a robust infrastructure optimized for SAP workloads.
AWS Launch Wizard for SAP:
This tool automates the deployment of SAP HANA and other SAP applications on AWS. It simplifies the setup process, reducing time and complexity, and ensures best practices are followed for optimal performance and reliability.
Amazon EC2 and Amazon FSx:
Amazon EC2 offers dedicated instances designed for high-performance SAP applications. Amazon FSx provides high-performance file storage, crucial for the seamless operation of SAP HANA databases and other critical SAP applications.
AWS Connector for SAP:
This tool integrates SAP environments with AWS services, allowing for functionalities like storing SAP data in Amazon S3, performing predictive analytics with Amazon Forecast, etc.
Amazon Athena and Amazon DynamoDB:
Amazon Athena enables interactive querying of data stored in Amazon S3 using SQL, which is beneficial for analyzing SAP data. Amazon DynamoDB provides low-latency, high-performance data storage that can scale to support large volumes of SAP data.
Azure (Microsoft Azure)
For businesses already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, Azure provides a robust and integrated solution for SAP landscapes. Azure offers unique features and services designed to enhance SAP performance and management.
SAP-Optimized Infrastructure
Azure provides SAP-certified infrastructure, including purpose-built SAP HANA instances that scale up to 20 TB on a single node and up to 120 TB with scale-out capabilities. Azure's M-series virtual machines (VMs) and Mv2 VMs, the largest SAP-certified VMs, ensure high performance for demanding SAP workloads.
Azure Center for SAP Solutions (ACSS)
The Azure Center for SAP Solutions (ACSS) simplifies the deployment and management of SAP environments. Azure Center for SAP solutions is an end-to-end solution that enables you to create and run SAP systems as a unified workload on Azure.
Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem
Azure’s seamless integration with Microsoft products like Active Directory simplifies user management and security. Additionally, Azure ExpressRoute provides reliable and fast connectivity for SAP Fiori applications, enhancing user experience and productivity.
Comprehensive Support and Tools
Azure offers dedicated support teams with extensive SAP expertise to assist throughout the migration and beyond. Tools like Azure Migrate and the SAP Deployment Automation Framework streamline the migration process, reducing complexity and downtime.
GCP (Google Cloud Platform)
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) brings a unique set of features and innovations to support SAP workloads on the cloud:
Advanced Analytics and AI Integration
GCP integrates Google's advanced AI and machine learning (ML) services with SAP environments. GCP BigQuery and Vertex AI can be seamlessly extended to SAP Datasphere and ERP with endorsed integration patterns. This allows businesses to leverage AI and ML models trained on data from both SAP and non-SAP systems, driving innovative insights and enhancing decision-making capabilities.
Robust Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Solutions
GCP's Anthos platform provides a comprehensive solution for managing SAP workloads across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This ensures seamless integration between on-premises infrastructure and cloud deployments, offering flexibility and operational consistency.
Optimized Performance and Scalability
GCP offers high-performance instances specifically optimized for SAP HANA, supporting significant scalability. Additionally, GCP's global infrastructure ensures low-latency access and high availability for mission-critical SAP applications.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Cloud Provider for SAP
Selecting the ideal cloud provider for your SAP landscape hinges on several key factors. Here's a breakdown to guide your decision-making process:
- Security: Security should be paramount. Ensure the provider offers robust security features, including data encryption, access controls, and intrusion detection/prevention systems. Additionally, verify their compliance with relevant industry certifications specific to your business sector.
- Cost Optimization: Cloud migration presents opportunities for cost savings. Evaluate the pricing models offered by each provider (pay-as-you-go vs. reserved instances) and explore their cost-management tools. These tools can provide valuable insights into your cloud spending for your SAP workloads, allowing you to optimize resource allocation and avoid unnecessary costs. Both AWS, Azure, and GCP (collectively called SAP Cloud Providers offer various pricing structures and cost management solutions.
- Performance and Scalability: Performance and scalability are crucial for your SAP environment. Consider factors like network latency, storage options offered (e.g., high-performance storage for SAP HANA databases), and the provider's ability to dynamically scale your SAP resources up or down to meet your evolving business demands.
- Existing Infrastructure: Do you have existing on-premise infrastructure that needs to integrate with your cloud-based SAP system? Evaluate how each provider facilitates hybrid cloud deployments. Look for features like seamless connectors and integrable services that can bridge on-premises and cloud environments efficiently.
- Support and Expertise: A strong support system is invaluable during migration and throughout your cloud journey. Evaluate the level of support offered by each provider. Look for dedicated SAP support teams with extensive knowledge to assist you throughout the migration process and beyond.
- Dedicated SAP Features: Cloud providers should offer features specifically designed for SAP workloads. This includes purpose-built instances, high-performance storage options for SAP HANA, and specialized migration tools that ensure a smooth transition and optimal performance.
- Seamless Integration: The cloud provider should offer seamless integration capabilities with other enterprise services. This includes pre-built connectors for various SAP modules and third-party applications, ensuring a cohesive and streamlined IT ecosystem.
- Managed Service Provider (MSP) Ecosystem: Implementation and ongoing management of SAP workloads can be challenging. Ensure the cloud provider has a robust MSP ecosystem. MSPs offer expertise in SAP migration, customization, and continuous management, helping businesses leverage the full potential of SAP on the cloud.
Empowering Your SAP Landscape with Cloud4C:
Choosing the right cloud provider for your SAP landscape is a strategic decision that significantly impacts your business agility, scalability, and security. By carefully considering the factors outlined above—security, cost optimization, performance, existing infrastructure, and support—you can select the ideal partner for your cloud migration journey.
However, navigating the complexities of cloud migration can be challenging. Consider consulting with an experienced SAP on cloud migration partner like Cloud4C. Cloud4C boasts extensive partnerships with leading cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Their expertise extends to SAP migrations on dedicated in-country compliant private cloud and HEC. Cloud4C is one of the largest premium suppliers of SAP S/4HANA, HEC, and RISE with SAP, rendering risk-proof, intelligent business transformations. With a proven track record of successful, complex SAP deployments, Cloud4C can ensure a smooth transition for your business. Talk to our experts to get started today!
