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Brief Introduction To The Topic
ERP systems have greatly evolved over the last 30 years. Still, for much of that time, they were typically implemented by purchasing licenses and installing them within your data center or with hosting service providers.
Cloud computing and SaaS have changed this scenario drastically, providing flexible ways to consume software solutions that are suitable even for complex products. SAP S/4HANA was built from scratch to meet these growing enterprise software demands, serving as the basis of SAP's next-generation suite of business apps: S/4HANA.
SAP S/4HANA's foundational elements include its common data model, data semantics and user experience concepts. These all combine to form its cornerstone.
Not only is S/4HANA an on-premises development model with cloud elements included within, but it also features aspects from classic SAP ERP that have been reimagined but retained for cloud implementations.
SAP Consulting Firms uses S/4HANA Cloud is an extensive product stack built upon the SAP S/4HANA Cloud foundation that meets all the criteria required of public-cloud solutions, such as multi tenant architectures, workload isolation and segregation, provided by SAP as a SaaS provider.
SAP introduces new capabilities quarterly, but this may change to monthly, giving organizations quick access to new capabilities while quickly adopting new business models.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud offers an innovative alternative to the monolithic ERP system architecture found in classic ERPs.
By adopting a modular approach, it enables gradual migration into public clouds at your own pace step-by-step for maximum flexibility replacing central ERP software with flexible modern enterprise apps that leverage SAP Common Core data models and semantics while remaining part of an ecosystem where applications exist independently but work as part of one ecosystem. As demonstrated below in Figure 1, S/4HANA Cloud's modular nature offers you flexibility when migrating onto public clouds at your pace step by step.
The figure shows ERP's development over time and offers insight into its planned cloud architecture of the future.
On-premise SAP S/4HANA uses two stacks based on its foundation:
- SAP Cloud Services + on-premise components = hybrid stack.
- SAP has combined components designed specifically for cloud use with those specifically crafted to deliver capabilities far greater than what its previous ERP solution offered, giving your organization access to more features.
- Both of these options can be deployed either within SAP data centers or independently owned and maintained data centers of your own, offering both options simultaneously to your organization or you directly as needed.
Cloud consumption is the default model of SAP S/4HANA across both variants, following most market standards for public, hybrid, and private cloud consumption models.
You should select your appropriate cloud consumption option depending on where your ERP journey begins opting for standard apps to minimize customization needs or going with custom solutions that have been enhanced and modified specifically to your specifications.
Public Cloud
Cloud services provided by software vendors offer the least costly way of accessing software while speeding innovation within an organization.
SAP S/4HANA cloud offers one such cost-cutting, fast innovation solution which builds upon preconfigured best practices, market standards and future practices to provide you with an unprecedented enterprise software consumption experience long-term implementation projects can now be transformed into outcome-focused workshops where you customize standard processes according to your unique business requirements.
Your organization may require an evolutionary approach when transitioning to the public cloud since established processes must change significantly.
Your end users can benefit from more agile and responsive software solutions designed specifically to aid their day-to-day tasks efficiently and automatically.
Small and midsize businesses are excellent examples of businesses taking this approach, which aims to standardize processes and cut costs.
Large companies also utilize it in certain locations or divisions where speed and adaptability are crucial. SAP understands the transition of certain industries, like service sector companies, toward the public cloud is happening at an increasing pace and expects most of its new deals in this space to occur soon, both among smaller businesses and larger organizations.
ERP scenarios with limited complexity and financial focus will likely move onto this platform over time.
Private Cloud
By opting for private cloud services that are dedicated solely for use by your organization, they allow more flexibility.
At the same time, fewer standardization requirements than public SaaS solutions are met. SAP S/4HANA for on-premise environments is hosted and provided as part of a private cloud solution managed by SAP itself, similar to how software such as SaaS apps are offered via public clouds managed by providers like Azure.
SAP S/4HANA Private Edition differs from traditional hosting models in that its elements product support, operations and infrastructure are provided directly by SAP rather than subcontracted out to third parties can all be managed for your business by SAP itself creating an on-premises cloud environment but offering you the flexibility to tailor solutions according to company-specific needs or run partner add-ons.
Private clouds also enable companies to transition their SAP ERP solutions onto SAP S/4HANA Private Edition Cloud as part of an incremental approach toward migrating to S/4HANA on the public cloud, eliminating major internal changes as they make this changeover more manageable and speedy.
According to SAP, private clouds offer companies another valuable way of realizing all the financial and innovation advantages cloud solutions offer without undertaking massive transformation efforts themselves. This opportunity could present companies with numerous monetary savings as well as speedier innovation capabilities without significant internal adjustments needed when migrating onto SAP S/4HANA on public clouds; instead, it could make this an excellent transition step before moving onto SAP S/4HANA on public clouds for full cloud migration without forcing major internal alterations required when transitional steps.
SAP believes private clouds to be the future of many ERP systems, enabling organizations to standardize and streamline where appropriate while keeping flexibility and differentiation intact.
Following an organization's successful transition into private clouds, specific elements may then migrate over time into SAP Public Cloud offerings based on your organization's requirements.
Hybrid Cloud
SAP recognizes that large SAP customer organizations will continue running SAP S/4HANA Cloud in hybrid environments, including private editions or on-premise installations of S/4HANA.
Your organization's digital strategy and the needs of your business will ultimately dictate whether and when areas move to private or public clouds.
SAP S/4HANA provides organizations with a distinct competitive edge. Public and private editions are built upon an identical foundation with similar data structures, semantics and user experiences (UI).
Therefore integration among public cloud, private cloud and on-premise elements should be easy as all three essentially behave similarly; also available are predefined scenarios for central finance and central purchasing to assist your organization further. Your users will experience an optimal, seamless user journey across solutions, unaware during transactions if they're using features from either SAP S/4HANA cloud or on-premise SAP S/4HANA versions.
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S/4HANA Deployment Options
S/4HANA can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud; your chosen deployment mode will dictate which S/4HANA approach can be taken.
At present, there are two deployment options for S/4HANA available to choose from:
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, previously referred to as Essentials Edition or Multi-Tenant Edition, is the SaaS (Software as a Service) edition of SAP's ERP solution designed for SAP HANA in-memory database.
Hosted and operated by SAP themselves, S/4HANA Cloud offers subscription pricing with shared use among other SAP customers. In contrast, they offer managing fixed upgrades as required while automating and manual regression testing as part of this public cloud environment.
S/4HANA Cloud is available across 42 countries and various industries. An SAP Business Technology Platform extension suite with listed APIs enables users to extend and customize the SAP BTP, with Self-Service Configuration User Interfaces utilized for easy greenfield deployment.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the "standard", is one of several cloud deployment options. Other service scopes may also exist - S/4HANA Cloud is limited, while its counterpart, S/4HANA Cloud Private, offers more scope and flexibility.
SAP S/4HANA Extended Edition
The extended edition of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, also called its single-tenant version, provides all of the benefits associated with Cloud computing while giving greater flexibility and control than ever.
As with its counterpart S/4HANA Cloud, Extended Edition also uses subscription-based service, and SAP manages dedicated landscape infrastructure using Greenfield deployment methods however, unlike Cloud, Extended Edition must be upgraded every two years by both SAP and its customer.
S4 Cloud Extended Edition features the same S/4HANA functionality found in its on-premise counterpart but without add-ons from third parties.
In-app extensibility includes some classic ABAP extensions and further expansion via SAP Business Technology Platform Expansion Suite; also, SAP S4 HANA Extended Cloud is built around IMGs for standard workshops during its Explore stage.
This option should only be chosen if there are more than the required minimum number of users; typically, this works well in mid-sized or larger organizations.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, previously called PCE, became the latest migration option. Offering S/4 On-Premise Software Solution Stack as a private cloud managed by hyper scalers allows customers with ERP systems to switch over easily using an easy conversion tool - impossible with other Cloud editions.
Private cloud solutions are offered under RISE contracts, allowing customers to customize a deployment suited specifically for their requirements while remaining under maintenance (upgrade within five years).
S/4 HANA extended edition features similar scope, configuration, and extensibility as its regular edition counterparts, providing flexible implementation through greenfield or system conversion (Brownfield), hybrid strategies, and selective data migration (hybrid).
SAP S/4HANA On-Premise Managed By SAP HEC
SAP Companies often utilize S/4HANA on-premise, managed by SAP HEC, designed for individual hardware and infrastructure hosted independently from SAP, hyper scalers or data centers.
Bring Your License (BYOL) subscriptions are offered, which offer more freedom when offering service offerings. Upgrades should take place annually as the customer assumes full control.
SAP S4 HANA covers a similar industry and country scope as its Cloud Private counterpart, offering similar customization, modification and extensibility options for customization, modification and extensibility.
SAP On-Premise Deployment can also be implemented via system conversions or selective data migration for quicker implementation than its Cloud Private equivalent.
This approach provides tools that allow customers to selectively migrate configuration and custom code from older ERP systems into SAP S/4HANA.
This involves migrating databases, applying software updates, and converting third-party models into the new SAP-specific S/4HANA model. Customers may utilize SAP Solution Manager for project design management.
SAP S/4HANA On-Premise: Managed By Hyperscalers Or On-Premise
S4 HANA On-Premise can either be managed on-site by cloud providers' hyper scalers (Microsoft Azure, AWS or Google Cloud) or customer databases themselves and includes perpetual licenses with Bring Your upgrades performed annually by clients themselves; customization modifications and extensibility options such as IMG configuration can also be enabled during an Explore phase for maximum adaptability to standards approach configuration.
Implementation is similar to private cloud (HEC), including new implementation, system conversions or selective data migrations.
SAP Solution Manager may be utilized by customers as a project design tool.
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Deployment Factors
When choosing the optimal deployment strategy of S/4HANA, many considerations need to be considered. SAP S4 HANA factors for deployment can include implementation methods, upgrades and third-party options.
Implementation Options
This article is here to assist you in helping you select an implementation method.
- System Conversion (Brownfield Approach): All on-premise deployments that support system conversion include S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.
- New Implementation: The Greenfield method can implement all deployment methods.
- Selective Data Transition (hybrid Approach): All deployments that allow for selective data migration are on-premise and include S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.
How Frequently Do You Want To Upgrade?
SAP embraces a cloud-first strategy. New features will be developed regularly for releases of SAP Cloud S/4HANA (public).
There will also be numerous software releases throughout the year, and all deployment options use the same "software stack" and release strategy. This "stack" receives updates in one major release annually; these "updates" comprise most, but not all, SAP S/4HANA Cloud updates.
What Is The Difference Between S/4HANA Cloud And S/4HANA On-Premise?
SAP alone offers S/4HANA Cloud Single Tenant as a Software-as-a-Service model; SAP will host and run OS, SAP Software and Upgrades using best practices while S/4HANA On-Premise can either be managed directly by customers themselves or third-party services like Azure AWS and Google that offer IAAS (Infrastructure As A Service).
These providers may or may not adhere to SAP Best Practices (and possess comparable expertise) yet still manage networking, storage, server, virtualization and OS components for customers.
Can You Combine Deployment Methods?
SAP S/4HANA Extended Edition can be deployed using infrastructure provided by third-party service providers and remains a SAAS offering with SAP Implementation Services.
At the same time, the private cloud edition is exclusive to their HEC infrastructure.
What Is SAP Implementation Methodology?
A typical SAP implementation process consists of five distinct stages:
Phase 1: Project Preparation
Project Prep: The initial goal of your SAP project should be identified; consider which benefits could come to fruition for you and your organization.
Gather and share information regarding current business processes, such as financial reporting. Next, develop and map out your value proposition; this step ensures everyone knows about desired outcomes as they affect different departments.
People tend to plan more diligently, limit disruption and meet deadlines more readily when they see the benefits they will reap from an innovation.
Establishing the optimal SAP implementation strategy is of key significance to organizations. They must choose either "greenfield" or "brownfield" implementation strategies each has different pros and cons, which must be carefully assessed based on processes, requirements and business needs.
Here is a comparison between these two options.
Greenfield vs Brownfield
With respect to SAP implementation, greenfield means starting fresh. This approach does not add unnecessary customizations or technical debt, creating an ideal basis for business process reengineering efforts and "vanilla implementations" customized and configured by companies accordingly.
Greenfield projects tend to be more transformational and disruptive than brownfield ones, making change management even more of an undertaking.
Since more initial modifications will impact business users, user acceptance testing should play an integral part in stakeholder validation before deployment.
What Are The Benefits Of A "Greenfield" Implementation?
A "greenfield" SAP implementation enables your needs to be tailored precisely according to what works for you rather than being limited by limitations of existing system implementations, providing a compelling return on investment across several levels:
- Re-engineered processes can improve operational efficiency.
- Adopting standards and best practices whenever possible.
- Rapid introduction of innovation.
- The technical debt is eliminated.
Greenfield implementation is the preferred method for landscape consolidation and rationalizing legacy systems to SAP S/4HANA.
What Are The Benefits Of Brownfield Implementations?
Brownfield conversion projects can be broken into phases that offer quantifiable returns on investment, giving companies an easy and structured way to understand and optimize project scope management.
Brownfield approaches are beneficial because they reduce delays and disruption caused by testing changes made to mission-critical applications during SAP implementation while at the same time lightening initial user acceptance test loads for business stakeholders.
Change managers should tailor reengineering speed based on budget and market factors (such as development freeze during busy seasons).
A step-by-step approach enables business users to become more involved in designing and validating transformational changes. Brownfield projects tend to be faster and cheaper for companies seeking to preserve current business processes, making Brownfield an optimal option.
Phase one will include:
- Defining your project's scope and priorities by selecting operations to migrate or modernize.
- Setting an implementation sequence schedule.
- Selecting employees to include in this effort and their compensation needs.
The foundations for an efficient SAP deployment have been laid at this stage. It would be best if you gained an idea of the estimated amount of time, effort and testing necessary to complete your project successfully.
Phase 2: Business Blueprint
To prepare the business processes and organizational structure in which the SAP system will be implemented, create a blueprint of your processes using questionnaires from SAP that has been made available as tools to create this blueprint document that also serves as the baseline document for implementing the SAP system.
This step serves both practical and conceptual purposes for successful SAP system deployment.
A blueprint can identify any gaps or changes to be made to your business processes both before and after SAP implementation, along with what customizations may be needed for successful SAP deployment.
Furthermore, this document highlights programs or processes that need no adjustments after going live. At this stage, based on information gleaned through blueprint creation, you can refine both your project and timeline accordingly.
Phase 3: Realization
The final step in SAP's implementation methodology involves configuring its baseline. This involves making necessary infrastructure modifications and eliminating nonproductive processes from your SAP system's structure; further customization will occur to meet business and process demands.
Unit and integration tests will be run at this phase to verify that desired results have been reached. As these tasks occur, documentation for end-user usage based on lessons learned during realization is also being created.
Phase 4: Final Preparation
This final preparation phase covers all activities required to make SAP implementation successful, from system and staff preparation to final test drives and beyond.
SAP software can help train employees on how to perform daily tasks, adapt to new workflows or processes, and conduct stress tests (about daily loads, peak loads and any other relevant factors) on its system to ensure optimal stability.
Phase 5: Go Live And Support
You are now alive! That means migrating all your data from production environments onto SAP production servers and monitoring transactions and performance as necessary to adjust for optimal use of system resources.
Regular maintenance checks ensure that the SAP implementation method is successful and everything is progressing according to plan.
At this phase, it's crucial to create a production support system comprising a dedicated team tasked with troubleshooting issues, helping users and sharing documentation.
Once operational, long-term support, maintenance and building a knowledge base should follow suit for continued usage later. We recommend going with SAP Consulting firms in the USA to get the best services.
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The Conclusion Of The Article Is:
Understanding these options during the SAP S/4HANA Migration process is vitally important; your selection depends upon factors like enterprise needs, existing infrastructure and size.
Understanding the differences in deployments before migration allows an organization to stay abreast of upgrades, name changes and SAP updates as they unfold over time.
