Blog

Microsoft Azure Cloud Platform and SAP: migration, solutions and benefits

Angelika Agapow
Angelika Agapow
Content Marketing Specialist
December 09
11 min
Table of Contents

SAP and Microsoft – best cloud solution

Your business needs a high-automation platform with security and scalability in order for them to move successfully into this new era of technology. Microsoft Azure provides a reliable, scalable, and enterprise-proven platform for running your mission-critical SAP workloads.

Microsoft and SAP have been collaborating for more than two decades. The companies decided to use the enterprise software company’s platform on Azure, which means that they are trusting its security standards as well. What is more, Azure has full compliance with different tools from Microsoft.

Now you can take advantage of this expanded partnership and run your SAP’s applications across dev/test. Your data will be fully supported by the company while they continue adding more products for certification every day.

The Microsoft Azure public offerings for SAP solutions include both on-demand virtual machines with pay-per-use pricing and HANA large instances built to meet your specific workload needs. These provide you with virtually unlimited growth potential.

 

What is SAP?

SAP is an acronym for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing. SAP, by definition also refers to the ERP software. SAP is a European multinational company founded in 1972. The SAP system is a comprehensive platform for managing all aspects of the business. It consists of modules that cover every aspect, from finance and accounting to human resources management as well as customer relationships – which means it can be used by any type or size company.

SAP is the market leader in ERP solutions with more than 140,000 installations worldwide and 75,000 customers across 120 countries. They have 25 different industry-specific business applications that provide companies with a single platform to manage all aspects of their operations from accounting through human resources management as well as financial planning/analytics tools for big data analysis platforms on demand.

 

What is ERP?

Enterprise resource planning, or ERP for short, can be defined as a software application system that enables businesses to manage their primary business functions in one place. SAP is an example of such a solution that falls under this category and provides features like sales & marketing communication with other departments through its interfaces; it also helps procurement processes go smoothly by ensuring adequate inventory levels across various locations around the world.

 

What SAP migration can bring you?

SAP has grown in popularity because it can help organizations streamline their processes and make them more efficient. What it can bring you? Let’s see:

 

#1. Utilizing transactions

The ability to navigate through the SAP software with transactions and input data will give you a competitive edge in the ever-changing environment.

 

#2. Reporting

Understanding the right way to execute reports can provide data that you, your manager, or another department might need.

 

#3. Accounting

The SAP software is a powerful tool for anyone looking to expand your business prospects in the world of finance and accounting, but it’s also beneficial for employees working at companies with departments responsible for handling finances.

 

#4. Success factors

The process of recruiting new employees can be difficult, but with the right tools, it becomes much simpler. One such tool is SAP software which has been designed to streamline human resource processes for employers across industries and organizations alike.

 

#5. Management

Management positions may require a variety of skills, but gaining knowledge of management systems is an important first step. These include customer service and project managing among others that will give you more power.

 

#6. Communication

We all know that communication is key to keep a company running smoothly and efficiently. Understanding of how different departments communicate with each other using Azure with SAP software will give an edge over the competition.

Check out the case study on
how to keep the stock status always up-to-date!

 

What are SAP solutions on Azure?

SAP HANA

HANA is a powerful and intuitive database management system that can be used to analyze data in real-time, gather knowledge about business operations or perform things such as centralizing your company’s information. It runs on one instance of the cloud-based software at once without bigger problems.

 

SAP S/4HANA

The ever-growing needs of today’s modern business have led to the development and implementation of new technology, like S/4HANA. This suite was built on SAP HANA database which provides all these features in one place – financial analytics, supply chain management (including logistics), manufacturing with R&D operations for research and development. Hicron’s offer for SAP S/4HANA for private and public clouds.

 

Learn more about system integration in retail
and how it solves issues with
inventory management

 

SAP BW/4HANA

It includes features like simplified modeling and administration of change requests; integration with a wide range of sources – including external applications that send over their own updates automatically through SQL commands or web service calls. What is more, an intuitive interface for a better user experience plus you have real-time processing so your reports are up to date every single day.

 

SAP NetWeaver

NetWeaver is a flexible, industry-leading solution that you can use for application integration and development. It enables IT professionals to integrate their applications with SAP, no matter if they are using an on-premise solution or one from outside sources such as IBM Bluemix. You’ll have centralized control over all installations while still being able to customize existing functionality in order to make it more efficient than ever before.

 

SAP Hybris

With Hybris, you can take advantage of Microsoft’s cloud services and tools to improve your business operations. The product includes commerce products for managing customer transactions as well as billing systems that will keep track of their spending habits across all platforms.

 

SAP BTP

Cloud Platform is a powerful PaaS solution that you can use to build and extend your applications with open protocols. You can read more about PaaS solutions in our article about Azure for business.

 

SAP migration to Microsoft Azure Cloud

In order to successfully move SAP operations, it is important that you consider the different options available. The best database migration to Azure path for your company depends on how much downtime there will be during this process and what resources are needed in order to maintain an active deployment after completing their journey into cloud services. Migrating SAP workloads is a new volume for great business outcomes.

 

#1. Data transfer

Migrating your data can be a tricky process, but it doesn’t have to be! Data transfer involves manually or automatically transferring information from one system. This is best practice done when you only need certain pieces of software instead of all aspects in place – like an entire business application for instance.

#2. Database Backup/restore

The backup and restore is a great way to ensure your systems are in perfect working order. This process can be done on either new or existing machines, but it has a downside: you need identically configured infrastructure for this method’s full potential. It also uses large files which could strain Internet connections if you don’t have enough bandwidth resources available at both ends of each transaction, then it is not exactly ideal when we’re talking about such sensitive data.

#3. Database backup/restore with log shipping

This method extends the above by adding log shipping, which helps you capture changes since your backup. Using this technique enables a lot more flexibility when it comes time to move SAP workloads to Azure because all logs will be synched up in order to replace any missing data or fix issues with current settings – making sure that nothing is lost during the transfer.

#4. Export/import

The traditional method of migrating data is exporting from your existing system and importing it into a new deployment. This process will reduce the size of large databases by compressing them between 20-40%, which may help you to cope with lower transfer speeds during the cloud migration process or when synchronizing changes in both sets after completing an export/import operation and successfully finishing without any problems.

 

Why SAP on Microsoft Azure will be beneficial for your organization?

 SAP to Azure, upgrade classical migration option. Combining your SAP and Azure operations can give you a variety of benefits that are difficult to obtain with either solution alone. These include greater flexibility and scalability for future needs. Integration capabilities between different technologies such as HR software on top rely heavily upon AI-based algorithms but also have other connections through their own protocol called REST queries. It lets employees access information about what data is being collected by an enterprise.

 

Microsoft Azure Cloud migration – great choice for SAP

Azure is hybrid

Azure offers support for hybrid operations beyond connectivity and infrastructure. It enables you to consistently perform operations regardless of platform, including identity management, application development, data security, and compliance. Native and third-party integrations support these capabilities.

 

Azure can use bare-metal hardware for HANA

HANA is a great fit for Azure because it comes with the resources needed to run for example storage or networking. What does it mean? Less time spent managing those aspects of your environment yourself.

The deployment options include converting existing VMs or bare-metal servers into high-performance data centers; making sure they’re certified. HANA’s tailored integration standards ensure that everything works seamlessly together when you bring up new applications – no matter how complex their needs may be.

 

Easy integration of SAP and Microsoft products

Microsoft and SAP have a long-term partnership that provides significant support for integrated solutions. For example, both Power BI as well as Office 365 allow you to connect with HANA via open standards including OData which allows seamless integration between products without any need for data transformation or cleansing first.

 

Great availability

With Azure, you can establish data and operations across multiple AZs with automatic replicas for durability. You also have the option of creating backup plans or geo-redundant storage in case of a disaster strikes.

Learn more about getting the best out of Azure services

 

More benefits of SAP on Azure

#1. Cost management

With this tool, you can easily provision and de-provision your SAP environment mixed with Azure environment to only pay for the resources that are needed at any given time.

 

#2. Greater speed

With the automation of your SAP infrastructure and application setup, you can have an instant cloud environment for development or testing with consistent provisioning globally.

 

#3. New capability

With data and artificial intelligence, you can extract the full value of SAP information while developing new capabilities. HANA, certified hardware, ensures that your company is prepared for any future business needs on an increasingly competitive market.

 

#4. Better performance

Protect your company from downtime with the most reliable and scalable SAP solution to help on market. The disaster recovery plan ensures that you will always be able to rely on our high-performance database, even in case of emergencies such as natural disasters or system failures which could otherwise cause significant losses if it is not covered by an effective backup plan.

A quick scale-up gives companies more flexibility when it comes to running their business however they want. With fewer hardware resources available for every task cycle due to increased demand across all aspects including capacity planning among others, things will arise faster than before.

See real-life case of system integrations in retail

 

Summary: Why SAP is so popular?

It is important for any business to have a system that can support its efforts. SAP enables companies in collecting and processing data from all functions within the organization on one seamless network with easy access available through their mobile devices or desktop computers. This way no matter where you are located at work – whether it’s across town or halfway around the world – everyone has an immediate look into what’s happening within your company thanks to this smart technology.

 

Hicron Software House grew from Hicron – an SAP company

Hicron Software House was born from the SAP implementation company, so we know its standards and Azure like no one else. We implement custom solutions based on SAP standards. If you need SAP for your business, we invite you to check out Hicron’s offer.

Angelika Agapow
Angelika Agapow
Content Marketing Specialist
  • follow the expert:

Testimonials

What our partners say about us

Hicron’s contributions have been vital in making our product ready for commercialization. Their commitment to excellence, innovative solutions, and flexible approach were key factors in our successful collaboration.
I wholeheartedly recommend Hicron to any organization seeking a strategic long-term partnership, reliable and skilled partner for their technological needs.

tantum sana logo transparent
Günther Kalka
Managing Director, tantum sana GmbH

After carefully evaluating suppliers, we decided to try a new approach and start working with a near-shore software house. Cooperation with Hicron Software House was something different, and it turned out to be a great success that brought added value to our company.

With HICRON’s creative ideas and fresh perspective, we reached a new level of our core platform and achieved our business goals.

Many thanks for what you did so far; we are looking forward to more in future!

hdi logo
Jan-Henrik Schulze
Head of Industrial Lines Development at HDI Group

Hicron is a partner who has provided excellent software development services. Their talented software engineers have a strong focus on collaboration and quality. They have helped us in achieving our goals across our cloud platforms at a good pace, without compromising on the quality of our services. Our partnership is professional and solution-focused!

NBS logo
Phil Scott
Director of Software Delivery at NBS

The IT system supporting the work of retail outlets is the foundation of our business. The ability to optimize and adapt it to the needs of all entities in the PSA Group is of strategic importance and we consider it a step into the future. This project is a huge challenge: not only for us in terms of organization, but also for our partners – including Hicron – in terms of adapting the system to the needs and business models of PSA. Cooperation with Hicron consultants, taking into account their competences in the field of programming and processes specific to the automotive sector, gave us many reasons to be satisfied.

 

PSA Group - Wikipedia
Peter Windhöfel
IT Director At PSA Group Germany

Get in touch

Say Hi!cron

    Message sent, thank you!
    We will reply as quickly as possible.

    By submitting this form I agree with   Privacy Policy

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy.

    OK, I agree