The "right" partner for SAP on Cloud

Before selecting a partner, there is always the challenge of finding one or more suitable providers for the cloud journey. Here, classic tendering and selection processes are only partially effective.

Depending on the providers and solution scenarios, innovative processes are required: Tips using the example of a tender for the transformation of a classic Business Suite 7 basic operation to a public cloud platform.

The supplier market is developing rapidly, both in terms of solutions and concrete implementation experience. Therefore, a particularly broad scoping is useful in the initial determination of the long list for a tender.

Concrete reference examples should already be requested as part of an RFI (Request for Information). All providers today have "cloud experience", but only a few can name customers who are already running classic SAP solutions such as ERP/ECC 6.0 or Business Suite 7 on the public cloud.

Request for Proposal "Light

Public cloud providers in particular have a hard time with the classic multi-stage RFP process. The customer must rely on the generally available documentation for selection - customer-specific agreements are the exception.

The Providers do not submit a commercially binding offer, but refer exclusively to the currently published conditions and service descriptions, which may be changed unilaterally at any time.

In addition, the major public cloud providers are currently competing for innovation, particularly with regard to the provision of resources for SAP workloads.

In traditional full IT outsourcing of SAP Basis operations, the technical architecture was defined once by the managed service provider and usually implemented on the provider's own systems.

When using a public cloud platform, the SAP base operator still has architectural sovereignty, but is dependent on the highly standardized solution components provided by the public cloud provider.

The challenge lies in the optimal configuration of the target architecture, which requires precise knowledge of the current workloads for each system - ideally via monitoring of the actual environment.

The strategic advantage of this assignment, which is distributed across the layer structures, is that it gives the outsourcing company more freedom. At the same time, it reduces the risk of a potential lock-in effect.

Proof of Concept

The target architectures offered may differ from vendor to vendor. Therefore, the feasibility and performance of the offered solution must be validated via a PoC.

The PoC should reflect the conditions of the future operating model as far as possible. In particular, the use of migration, monitoring and backup tools should be taken into account - all of which are potential cost and complexity drivers!

Last but not least, the costs of using public cloud resources in the PoC must also be planned and closely monitored to avoid unpleasant surprises due to unused resources.

Determining the business case for public cloud use is undoubtedly a special challenge. On the one hand, a large number of service elements of the public cloud have to be taken into account that were not charged for in classic operation and were therefore not measured.

On the other hand, the dynamic usage options are also associated with increased risks in budget control. The use of special tools for cloud cost management should be considered here.

It makes sense to work with different scenarios that give a range for the total possible savings potential.