Shortfacts - September 2019

SAP in the public cloud

The public cloud is also becoming increasingly important for business-critical SAP applications. This is the result of a study conducted by the analyst firm Teknowlogy Group in collaboration with the IT service provider Syntax. Companies around the world are exploring the opportunities arising from the growing maturity of hyperscaler platforms such as AWS and Azure. The study analyzes the current situation, defines challenges and provides recommendations on how companies can best approach the topic. The drivers of the trend towards the public cloud are, on the one hand, potential savings in operating costs, not least through flexible pricing models that accommodate companies with fluctuating infrastructure requirements. On the other hand, companies expect the public cloud to bring more automation and agility to SAP operations. They appreciate the opportunity to set up globally standardized infrastructures more easily than before and to integrate and distribute data validly throughout the entire organization. According to analyses by the Teknowlogy Group, there is a good reason why companies are currently putting their SAP strategy to the test: the mandatory migration to S/4 Hana is an opportunity for many companies to think about alternative operating models and different areas of responsibility (see graphic).