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What are some SAP public cloud benefits for IT teams?
Some companies are facing decisions about whether to move to an SAP cloud and if so, which one. Here's a look at the SAP public cloud option and what it offers.
For IT executives currently on SAP products, a common dilemma is whether to migrate their on-premises environments to SAP public cloud.
Organizations can choose different approaches depending on their needs and wants. Most companies choose to host their systems or services on either a private or a public cloud as part of their cloud destinations. Microsoft, Google and Amazon are widely adopted public cloud service providers, while vendors like SAP choose to focus on existing SAP platform users.
A decision to move to the cloud is driven by a number of factors. One popular reason for this move is the need for flexibility and scalability. For example, growing companies must expand their storage and servers to support the increase in system users and production. Companies may also want to adopt some of SAP's modern capabilities such as Leonardo's IoT, machine learning or AI applications.
For those using SAP ERP products, the vendor offers some compelling reasons to move to SAP public cloud. One of the biggest selling points is that it's meant to deliver end-to-end support of HANA database support, application and all integration tools. In addition, choosing S/4HANA's cloud services is meant to deliver improved performance thanks to its in-memory computer database for HANA as well as a centralized and easy-to-use management console. The console enables IT to easily manage different SAP cloud services from one portal.
On the support front, moving away from hosting the ERP infrastructure means that IT is no longer responsible for delivering the day-to-day support for servers, databases or other infrastructure-related needs. And hosting on Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform or AWS can be cost-effective. These options also allow for companies to host other non-SAP products within these environments alongside their SAP products.
Choosing the SAP public cloud option also has a resource implication. IT leaders don't need to train a team on systems such as HANA and Linux servers, which would host the latest SAP database engine.
