S/4 Hana - Born to perform

With the fourth generation of its business suite, the Walldorf-based IT group presented a solution for the first time at the beginning of 2015 that is based entirely on the Hana database system and utilizes the advantages of this in-memory database - with highly compressed storage space that would even fit on a smartwatch, and several times faster running speed.

SAP S/4 Hana offers real-time analyses, works in a network and, above all, is as simple as possible. S stands for "Simplification". More than 7,000 companies worldwide are already using the new system, and new customers are usually equipped with Hana straight away.

Nikolaj Schmitz, CIO at G.I.B, a certified SAP software partner, has observed a massive pull effect on existing customers:

"SAP's current Hana pricing policy has triggered a veritable run on licenses. Existing customers are securing them at a preferential price. However, I think it is unlikely that we will see a widespread changeover in the next five years.

I rather expect sandboxes and pilot systems to be set up in the short term, so that many SAP customers will be converted to Hana in at least some areas in the medium term."

Although there is still a certain reluctance to invest in hardware, licenses and services in some places and people are afraid of building up the necessary expertise in the new database technology, Schmitz is certain that anyone who wants to stay ahead of the economic competition will benefit from switching to the SAP database:

"Many business scenarios and processes cannot be realized without the superior technology and almost inexhaustible resources of a Hana database.

When taking a closer look at the processes and optimization possibilities with Hana, many companies will see added value that justifies the investment, be it through pure performance gains or through new business models - keyword digitization - that were previously not possible without Hana as a big data system."

Add-ons as the icing on the cake

There is no doubt that the Hana real-time platform is impressive in itself, but it is essentially "just" a basic technology. Only customer-specific applications and intelligent add-ons - the icing on the cake, so to speak - allow the full potential of the technology to be exploited.

The starting shot has long since been fired for the add-on providers: They are rewriting existing SAP add-on products for Hana and are in the process of finding innovative applications based on the new database technology and turning them into solutions for customers - a huge potential for the future.

The only possible risk of developing a technology that ultimately fails to establish itself is considered unlikely in view of Hana's development to date.

"We have been working with Hana, big data and digitalization for more than three years and have had our own Hana machine in-house since 2012"

says Schmitz.

The aim is to completely rewrite the entire G.I.B Dispo Cockpit family, the software provider's core product, for Hana over the next few years and provide it with new Fiori interfaces.

The Siegen-based company plans to present the initial results at its in-house exhibition at the end of April 2016.

"We were involved with Hana right from the start and developed the first application prototypes on Hana early on, thus building up the corresponding expertise."

One of these prototypes has already been successfully transferred to product status and is being used by the customer.

Essentially, the challenge in the Big Data Hana context is to develop solutions and applications that embrace the new technology. The Hana logic removes old restrictions in thinking.

"But you first have to free yourself from these old ways of thinking"

Schmitz knows.

"At the moment, the old programs are simply being rewritten."

But even if the programs are optimized and streamlined and column-by-column processing is taken into account, the basic logic always remains the same in the end.

"With in-memory technology, however, it is essential to reassess and re-evaluate the problem. In many cases, it will turn out that the previous solution was only the best solution under old conditions and restrictions"

Schmitz explains the casus knacksus.

"That's why our developers initially look at the processes rather than the technologies. They have to check which processes can be improved by new technologies or even created from scratch in order to provide impetus for further product developments."

Trendsetter IT

The potential of Hana technology is often underestimated at executive level, as the topics of Hana and digitalization are currently being driven and discussed primarily by the IT departments.

"However, our contacts are usually the heads of department and they tend to deal with this in passing"

says Schmitz.

"We then try to familiarize them with the possibilities offered by the technology and make them aware of them."

It's not just about making a system faster and more powerful, it's about making new processes and new business models possible in the first place on the basis of Hana.

"We try to take our customers with us on our journey into the future and not leave them behind, because despite all the big data euphoria, we can't afford to do that."

And to ensure that this does not happen, the software developer will continue to develop the non-Hana line and equip it with innovations so that added value can also be found here in new releases and the investments of non-Hana customers are also protected in the future. At the same time, G.I.B plans to certify technology consultants for Hana migration.

"Advice on Hana technology should always play a role, even independently of our own products"

says the G.I.B IT manager and emphasizes:

"The first examples of a Hana-optimized application in the DCC and DCF scheduling cockpit modules show a 90 percent increase in performance and more precise planning as a result of new KPIs that could not be determined without the Hana big data system."

In addition to a better basis for decision-making, intuitive user interfaces ensure easier handling. In short: a technology born to perform. Especially with the right applications.