Finding Your Best Cloud Migration Strategy for SAP®
Thinking about migrating some (or all) of your SAP landscape to the cloud? You’re in good company. A lot of companies are taking advantage of SAP in the cloud. Benefits include increased flexibility, rapid scalability, reduced capital expenditure and more. It’s a big move, however. One doesn’t just flip a switch and send SAP applications and data into the cloud. It takes planning. It takes a cloud migration strategy.
You have cloud migration strategy options
Some good news: You have a bunch of different choices when it comes to SAP cloud migration strategy. One of the most important options is to do nothing, at least at first. Rushing into the cloud without a carefully thought-out strategy is very unwise. Cloud hype makes some SAP managers feel as if they have to be in the cloud right away. You don’t.
Nor do you have to port an excessive portion of your SAP landscape to the cloud before you’re ready. Starting small is usually a good practice. It will give you some experience with the migration process and get you ready for bigger moves in the future. That said, there are three general cloud migration strategies in use today:
- Homogeneous “life and shift” – In this approach, you are moving exact copies of each SAP element from its on-premises instance to an identical setup in the cloud. Thus, if you’re running SAP Business Suite on Linux with an Oracle Database, you will set up a Linux virtual server in the cloud, with an Oracle cloud instance and SAP Business Suite in the cloud. This approach has certain advantages. It’s relatively fast and avoids complications inherent in modifying systems as they migrate. However, a pure lift and shift keeps you from enjoying some of the benefits of the cloud.
- Migrating to SAP HANA in the cloud—Here, you transform your database, whatever it is, to the SAP HANA database platform in the cloud. Similarly, you will change your on-premises OS, e.g. Windows Server, to SUSE Linux Enterprise for SAP (SLES). In this scenario, you would copy your SAP application directly to the cloud, unchanged.
- Application migration—This is a complete transformation. All three layers (Application, OS and Database) are transformed from their on-premises forms to new versions in the cloud. With this approach, you get the maximum advantage of the cloud, but also the most complexity and risk in the process. Adapting customized code, for example, can be a challenge in an application migration.
Who’s going to do it?
It may make sense to work with an experienced SAP partner in the development and execution of an SAP cloud migration strategy like Protera Technologies.
Implementing a comprehensive cloud strategy and with 100% migration projects success is critical for your SAP environment.
One reliable resource is Protera Technologies, a global leader in SAP and IT outsourcing. Seeking the assistance of an experienced team like Protera, is your best assurance of completing a successful, zero-risk, and low-cost cloud migration project.
