Cloud migration

How companies get the most out of the move to SAP S/4 Hana

For many existing SAP customers, it may mean saying goodbye to on-premises solutions and moving to cloud infrastructures such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon FSx, the exclusive managed service collaboration for NetApp ONTAP, enables a smooth transition from on-prem to AWS and enables fast, secure, and privacy-compliant operation of Hana landscapes.

More than two-thirds of all global business transactions are processed in some form via SAP systems. The fact that the global migration from ECC 6.0 to S/4 is a challenge for companies of all sizes and industries is probably no surprise to anyone. But it can also be seen as an opportunity. After all, when support for ECC 6.0 ends in five years, companies worldwide will be working with the faster in-memory database Hana. 

Some corporate SAP IT specialists may not view this development quite so positively. SAP systems and applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) are "mission critical" - without them, smooth business operations cannot be guaranteed. Extensive changes to these systems and possibly a change of hosting location from on-premises to the cloud: everything has to work flawlessly.

SAP Transformation to the Cloud

For some companies, moving their SAP system to the cloud would also be their first point of contact with this technology. To ensure that the first experience with the cloud does not become the last and that companies reap the benefits of cloud hosting in various areas in the long term, NetApp, an international software group with a focus on cloud and data management, and cloud specialist AWS have joined forces to simplify the migration of complex application environments to the cloud.

And because SAP transformation is such a hot topic right now, the two partners have had Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP certified for SAP. The
Fully managed solution takes work off your plate. It allows business-critical SAP workloads to be migrated to the cloud quickly and seamlessly without refactoring and restructuring. It also combines the familiar benefits of on-prem with the scalability of cloud infrastructures such as AWS.

Mastering the changeover

When moving to S/4, some companies want to continue hosting on-prem - not necessarily because that offers advantages over the cloud, but because companies don't want to "hand over" business-critical systems or compliance requirements define this. This is where Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP comes in.

The solution combines the ONTAP storage operating system with AWS cloud services. The operating system is the foundation on which SAP S/4 is built. The AWS cloud is the real estate on which the construct stands.

Unlike a building plot, however, a cloud environment is much more flexible. If the required storage volume for the system to be hosted changes: No problem, the storage space can be expanded both upwards and downwards. Latency and availability in today's clouds can also keep pace with on-prem servers. With Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, availability levels of up to 99.99 percent can be achieved. For an ERP system, this is also necessary!

Hosting and storage are part of the solution package. For S/4 to work easily, reliably, and securely via the cloud, data management must also be ensured. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP is fully certified for S/4. Integration of the Hana database is therefore possible without any problems. Extensive data protection functions are also integrated.

Data recovery strategy

These include point-in-time file system snapshots. This allows a company to maintain its ability to operate even in the event of a ransomware attack. The snapshots serve as the basis for a data recovery strategy. Storage replication is another data protection function. Users can use it, for example, to move data packages across different regions if secondary copies are needed because a service has crashed.

The DevOps area also benefits from the solution. At the push of a button, developers create instant clones of files. These clones serve as test environments for developments. If something doesn't work, the file with the original configuration is available unchanged. The advantage is that the clones only consume additional storage space if anything is changed on them. All the data and configurations they share with the parent files do not require any additional capacity. Development and test cycles are completed more quickly as a result. The improved time-to-market and time-to-value are a direct benefit to business success.

To keep track of all data streams, both AWS and NetApp tools can be used. This ensures that users always have an overview and notice suspicious activity early on. Snapshot-based data protection capabilities can also be centrally managed on these intuitive management platforms. To do this, the solution transfers back-up, recovery, and clone lifecycle management to the application owner.

Compliance Security

In the past, some companies also shied away from hyperscalers' cloud environments because they were concerned about compliance. Companies that must follow strict data protection regulations sometimes distrust the cloud. With Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, that no longer has to be the case. The solution meets international security standards. It complies with ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and PCI DSS, as well as SOC 1,2, and 3. It is also suitable for storing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) data. Audits can also be handled easily. If the log function is activated, events are recorded that users and auditors can read out with programs such as the Windows Event Viewer.

Performance and reconfiguration

One of the main benefits of the solution is the reduced Recovery Time Objective (RTO). This is necessary for mission-critical systems such as an ERP because they need to be back up and running quickly, even in the event of a cyberattack. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP provides snapshot technology that enables large datasets to be restored to a specific point in the past in just a few seconds. Backup execution time shrinks from hours to less than a minute. The server CPU and network experience no additional load during the backup. Restoring and reconfiguring the system takes minutes, not hours. Moreover, with this solution it is possible to make back-ups several times a day. The likelihood of data being permanently lost due to an attack is thus reduced. Systems are back online faster and damage can be minimized.

The end of support for SAP ECC 6.0 should be used by midsize companies as an opportunity to accelerate the roll-out of SAP S/4 Hana and the necessary cloud transformation. The joint solution from NetApp and Amazon successfully combines the simple and secure management of on-premises solutions with the scalability and speed of the cloud. This saves time, costs, and resources. The rapid migration to SAP S/4 Hana makes companies ready for the competition of the future.

Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP

Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP is a storage service that enables organizations to launch and run fully managed NetApp ONTAP file systems in the AWS cloud. It provides the familiar features, performance, capabilities, and APIs of NetApp file systems along with the agility, scalability, and simplicity of a fully managed AWS service. SAP environments and applications span different departments and across different levels of an organization. Typically, they are deeply rooted in the operational structure. Managing them is often resource-intensive and, over time, blows many a budget. However, this does not have to be the case. IT service providers offer various solutions to simplify SAP operations and minimize the total cost of ownership (TCO). The flexibility and scalability of the system are maintained and IT resources can be used more efficiently. Implementing such a solution requires a certain commitment. It should have the following features and functions:

• A cloud-like usage model for local environments
• Payment, subscription and usage-based service options
• Unified architecture with integrated automation
• Integrated data backup
• Native Cloud Integration
• Fully tested and proven solution
• Automated capacity monitoring and proactive problem monitoring
• Tools to better understand consumption and costs
• Data deduplication and compression