We now know that migration to SAP HANA is inevitable. For users of SAP’s ERP software, support will stop in 2027. With that deadline in sight, quite a few warning stories are circulating. But what is the actual impact of the transition?

Distribution companies, wholesalers, financial institutions, universities, research institutes and the government – SAP is used in many sectors. Migrations are considered everywhere or have even been carried out. Seven years ago it was the early adopters, now the early majority starts.

In that context, we list for you three important facts and 3 persistent fables regarding the transition to SAP HANA.

Three important facts

1. HANA is disruptive
SAP HANA is technically different from all other forms of database software for SAP. Because of the in-memory database, data is handled in such a different way that it does not fit on traditional hardware systems for relational databases. The transition therefore requires in almost every a substantial investment in infrastructure, training and modification of tooling. Above all, SAP HANA requires a different way of thinking about capacity and continuity. This indeed can be called disruptive.

2. HANA is faster
Sessions in which extensive reports are built up, or otherwise a lot of data is processed, often demand a lot from the SAP environment and can in some ases run for hours. That is why they are preferably run outside office hours. With SAP HANA, the same process can often be reduced to minutes. The software is designed to process more reports during the day. This works more efficiently and provides much better and more actual insights. HANA delivers this speed thanks to the specific structure of the database, combined with the great computing power of the prescribed infrastructure.

3. The moment to transition is now
Transferring all your SAP environment to HANA does not happen overnight. Depending on the system size and customizations, this can take a few months to two years. However, the number of parties and specialists that can perform the transition, is limited. If their transition capcitity is full, you will have to wait. If you want to be prepared and start using the new SAP functionalities, then the time has come to make the step.

Three stubborn fables

1. I don’t have to go to HANA, there will come (storage) alternatives
Just like the SAP software, the storage technology suppliers also innovate. An excuse not to migrate to HANA can be “I put in some fast disk systems, then I will also have a better performance.” The misunderstanding is that the transition to HANA is not a hardware issue, but it is a software issue. The moment end users want to use new SAP functionalities, they simply have to migrate to the new HANA-dataplatform .

2. HANA in the cloud provides more benefits than on-premise
SAP HANA puts your database in the internal memory of the computer. The cloud – public, private or hybrid – is essentially nothing more than a remote computer. The investment that you must make with your organization will also have to be done by any cloud provider.

If you are mainly concerned with cost efficiency, then HANA is almost always more expensive in the cloud than on-premise. The software is so customer-specific and uniquely designed – certainly in comparison with public cloud software packages such as Office365 – that you cannot share a server with other users (multi-tenant). If you are concerned about flexibility, then the cloud solution is interesting. Although you are stuck with one provider for several years, it is technically easier to scale up and down.

3. We still have plenty of time, the support from SAP will not stop until 2027
SAP actively communicates the message that support will stop in 2027. Every SAP customer has heard of this, nevertheless research by SAPinsider shows that around 30% of SAP users have no plans to adopt SAP HANA yet. But the software supplier is not standing still and is innovating on the new platform. New, smart functions that become available are already based on the speed that HANA offers. Those who do not go along with the transition can therefore not use it.

It is also important that you bear in mind that as the deadline approaches, there is a good chance that fewer consultants will be available to assist you with the migration.

The benefits of the transition

BPSOLUTIONS prefers to talk about the benefits of the transition to SAP HANA. Based on years of experience with customers in different industries, we can state that:

• The benefits of the new functionalities outweigh the effort of the transition;
• It is wise to convert the current environment to HANA now, to get used to the “feel and look”, to be prepared for innovations from SAP and to build up management knowledge;
• The transition is not primarily an IT problem, but a challenge for the business as a whole. To prevent innovations in the field of SAP applications, Big Data and Machine Learning surprise you, it is important to become HANA-ready now. That way you keep control over the migration process.

Do you want to know more about the precise steps that must be taken during the transition to SAP HANA? Then contact one of our experts via www.bpsolutions.com, by telephone: 030-303 2900 or mail to info@bpsolutions.com.

About BPSOLUTIONS

BPSOLUTIONS helps organizations to organize their Mission Critical IT in a way that makes the organization smarter and can make progress. We do this by, on the one hand, ensuring that IT is and remains up and running and, on the other hand, we ensure with Data Analytics and AI that companies are ready for the future, with which data will really work for your company.

In everything we do, we make the world a little smarter.