The Public Cloud Is Ideal for Your SAP S/4HANA Environment. Here’s Why.

The global pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, leading to increasing numbers of organizations viewing the public cloud as the ideal platform to digitize their business processes. In fact, in its April 2021 forecast, research firm Gartner_® projected end-user spending on public cloud services to grow 23.1 percent to a total of US$332.3 billion worldwide.

That growth is no surprise. The public cloud is an ideal environment for many enterprise applications and platforms, including SAP S/4HANA. It provides an attractive range of benefits including flexibility, scalability, ROI, and more.

• No capital expenditures

  There’s no need to purchase and upgrade servers, switches, power supplies, and other gear, or pay for real estate to house your equipment when you deploy SAP S/4HANA to public cloud services. You pay your cloud provider only based on the resources you consume. Another advantage is the ability to take advantage of running your platforms on the latest hardware and software without having to pay for regular upgrades.

• No ongoing maintenance

  On-premises infrastructure requires you to maintain your own hardware. If a server or switch goes down, you’re responsible for fixing it, which takes time and operating expenses. In a public cloud environment, since your staff won’t be as busy with ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting, they’ll have more time to focus on strategic projects that deliver real value to the organization.

• Scalability

  The public cloud provides access to on-demand resources. If you need more storage or processing power, you can spin it up with literally the click of a button. In a more traditional environment, if you need to scale up your infrastructure, you have to invest in more hardware and software. Dealing with procurement, setting up servers, and installing new software takes time and money. And if you buy too much hardware, it will sit unused, wasting valuable budget. Buying too little hardware is even worse – potentially leading to slowdowns or outages. With public cloud, you can ramp your resources up or down based solely on your needs. Instantly. No need to wait.

• Flexibility

  Deploying SAP S/4HANA in the public cloud enables employees, suppliers, and customers to get the data they need easily, from any location. And there’s no need to be on-site to maintain your infrastructure. Access controls backed by continuous monitoring ensure only the right people have permission to get to the right resources.

• Reliability

  Unlike an on-premises environment, you don’t have to worry about having a secure off-site data center in case your primary infrastructure goes down. The public cloud has built-in fault tolerance. If one system fails, redundant resources kick in automatically to ensure your environment is always available. Large public cloud providers operate dozens of interconnected, highly available data centers around the world, so even if one data center goes offline, your operations won’t be impacted.

Just as important, many public cloud providers enable you to automate security tasks and encrypt your data, ensuring your important business information remains safe. Public cloud providers also have large teams with the latest security certifications to support their offerings – a huge benefit, given the effort and high cost associated with hiring trained IT security experts.

Transitioning to SAP S/4HANA in the public cloud helps foster growth and innovation, regardless of which hyperscaler you choose. But when making the move, be sure to choose a provider that enables you to do it quickly and reliably, with little disruption to your business processes. One that provides real scalability, and leverages automation to reduce administrative effort. And one that minimizes risks, while ensuring you continue to meet your business goals.

If you’re looking for tips and insights on how to make a smooth and seamless move to the public cloud, this informative whitepaper is a great place to start:

4-Step Roadmap: Transition to SAP S/4HANA in the Public Cloud