Hana on Azure and Linux on Azure

It's a rather impressive story with a kind of blockbuster that Microsoft has created. Already written off here and there, the company has more than recovered economically and is in a real climb. The main success drivers are the transitions to the cloud and Microsoft Azure.

More and more user companies are using public cloud Azure services as effective levers to push their digitization strategies, which almost always include hybrid cloud use. And they are doing so in both the non-SAP and SAP environments.

In the SAP community, Microsoft and Azure seem to enjoy a preferred reputation or have a run, ahead of Amazon AWS and the Google Cloud Platform. At least that is how one result of the DSAG investment survey published at the beginning of the year can be interpreted.

SAP, Microsoft and Suse in unison

SAP customers are increasingly using SAP or Hana on Azure and Linux on Azure in their hybrid cloud strategies. With on-prem here and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) public cloud from a hyperscaler there. Or they are about to include scenarios for this in their concrete calculations.

Also included is Suse Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) for SAP Applications as the preferred and recommended operating system platform with over
90 percent market share for SAP Hana.

Mission critical

A key advantage of the combination of SAP, Microsoft and Suse is that all three partners are seen as providing support with world-class solutions for mission-critical and application-related SAP use in cloud computing.

Furthermore, that the partnering of the three IT giants extends in part over decades and user companies from many industries and different company sizes benefit from it.

For example: Suse and Microsoft are driving forward the optimization of the Suse kernel for Microsoft Azure deployment as part of a co-engineering effort.

Or: At the beginning of April, Suse was the first and only OS provider to make "SAP Linux" available for SAP Large Hana Instances on Microsoft Azure. Both benefit user companies.

Likewise, the Suse-SAP cooperation is known to be very intensive. This is underlined by Suse's 20-year involvement in the SAP Linux Lab, which is characterized by the development and provision of numerous dedicated "for SAP solutions and functions".

Technology Consistency

It's obvious: The group of cloud doubters in the SAP community is visibly melting away in view of the factual advantages that cloud use demonstrably brings.

This does not mean that there will be no more SAP on-premise environments in the foreseeable future, but that a certain mix of on-premise and cloud services will be established, depending on the individual company's needs.

Suse has made far-sighted provisions for this. For example, with the provision of Suse Linux for SAP Applications for both SAP on-prem operation and cloud deployment. And with uniform and universal technology consistency, which brings a number of advantages - including cost savings.

The live patching function for downtime minimization, for example, is available for both SAP operating variants. And if you want, you can also obtain and use the Suse Manager for Linux and SAP Hana management via Azure.