With SAP ECC coming to an end by 2027, it's no doubt that the shift to SAP S/4HANA should become a strategic prerogative. But what if we say that this move cannot make your business future-ready? The global markets are predicted to experience serious economic downturns followed by monetary tightening, trade sanctions, meteoric rise in AI and blockchain, climate change, and increase in digital surveillance. While the future business environments will face more disruptions than before, it will give rise to more new opportunities as well. However, where businesses were unprepared to adapt to the COVID-19 market fluctuations, companies will have to be quick to their feet to meet future unprecedented changes. Which means they must reimagine their ERP strategies to transform their core business processes.

Considering the volatile market scenarios, adopting cloud ERP has become more relevant than ever. In this blog, we will discuss the challenges and benefits of SAP implementations, best practices, capabilities of SAP with RISE and why moving SAP S/4HANA to the Cloud is the best move.

Building a Cloud-first SAP Strategy: A Necessity

Here are three reasons why aligning ERP strategies to the cloud can reap you with benefits like:

• Creation of new business models: Over time, legacy ERPs can become outdated due to customizations, modifications and innovation constraints. With the adoption of new business models, companies can churn out new products to meet evolving customer expectations and revenue streams.
• Bolster operational efficiencies: Deploying intelligent technologies like ML, automation, IoTs, organizations can gain a competitive advantage in meeting business objectives and catering to the needs of the customers.
• Revamp mission-critical systems: Using a legacy ERP can give rise to downtime as companies have to deliver on-demand services. However, with a cloud ERP, the business systems can stay connected and work together

Choose the Right SAP Deployment Option for Your Business

SAP On-Premise

This solution includes migrating existing SAP ERP systems towards SAP S/4HANA. Since many SAP customers don’t start directly with greenfield implementation, they have the flexibility to choose from the following options:

System Conversion (Brownfield)

Under this method, users can migrate their data from the existing SAP systems to SAP S/4HANA. In other words, a step-by-step conversion is deployed to upgrade the existing SAP ECC systems to this advanced version. What this version offers are a sleek combination of already prevailing features as well as new features that can come handy in enhancing business operations further. This migration is suitable for businesses that are keen on retaining their existing investments and customizations while exploiting the latest innovations and functionalities offered by SAP S/4HANA. To put things into perspective, more than 50% of the existing SAP customers opt for system conversion to migrate to SAP S/4HANA.

New Implementation (Greenfield)

By scrapping the legacy systems, the greenfield migration process deploys SAP S/4HANA in a new environment and empowers users to develop new systems with the features and capabilities of SAP S/4HANA. This is ideal for companies that want to revamp their business operations, process, and workflows to help them thrive and sustain in the digital age.

Selective Data Transition

Typically, it involves two approaches: shell conversion and mix and match. Shell conversion involves generating a copy of the production environments without using master and transactional data. This copy is then converted to SAP S/4HANA. On the other hand, Mix and Match develops a new S/4HANA environment and transports or manually transfers the existing configurations and ABAP Repository to this new environment. Both these methods are supported by Data Management and Landscape Transformation (DMLT) that migrates "selective” data from the present SAP ERP systems to the brand-new SAP S/4HANA environment.

The SAP On-premise deployment comes with these following benefits:

• High security as it's only customized for one company and does not follow a shared model.
• Offers complete control over their application and data landscape
• Enhanced flexibility with extensions and enhancements
• Leveraging existing infrastructure or hyperscalers

SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC)

HEC is an Infrastructure-as-a-service technology that helps businesses enable SAP operations, applications, and processes. Meanwhile SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud is a fully managed private cloud solution that hosts and runs SAP S/4HANA memory databases and application systems including SAP Business Suite, and SAP Business Warehouse. It offers unparalleled agility, TCO, and visibility than public cloud and caters to those customers who want to move to the cloud but do not want a process redesign and want to take advantage of SAP capabilities including partner add-ons.

Under this model also, SAP takes the initiative of setting up infrastructure, including maintaining and managing storage, network, hardware, and security. Companies can concentrate solely on the core and strategic parts of the businesses without racking their brains over infrastructure management.

Below are the benefits of the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC) Model

• Enhanced Performance: For data processing and accurate decision-making, SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud deploys SAP HANA’s in-memory computing services that facilitate real-time analytics and processes huge volumes of data.
• Control over Customization: Unlike its public cloud counterparts, SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud offers high levels of customizations and help customers gain more control over configurations as they can build tailor-made environments to meet their specific business needs.
• Hybrid Integration Capabilities: What makes SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud Model different from other cloud solutions, is that it can integrate with on-prem or other cloud environments to develop high-performing hybrid cloud architectures that lets you take advantage of the benefits offered by both on-prem and cloud environments.
• Robust Security and Compliance: Generally, SAP managed services enable strong security measures, controls, best practices and compliance standards to safeguard customer data and strengthen data privacy.
• Pay-Per-Use Pricing: Since this cloud model utilizes the pay-per-use pricing feature, customers only pay for the resources and services they consume and use.

SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Edition

This cloud ERP helps SAP customers stay ahead of the curve with key insights into the latest industry practices and innovations. Along with this, the customers get a hold of the latest technological innovations with semi-annual upgrades in August and February. These upgrades are automatically updated into the system by SAP itself. This public cloud architecture can be scaled with the evolving needs of the business environment.

SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud is fine-tuned for those customers who want to adopt a cloud ERP with continuous innovations, speed, high performance, and predictability. Additionally, the customers get Cloud Platform Enterprise Agreement (CPEA) credits that help customers use an array of services on SAP BTP. This is useful for those who want to avail themselves of different SAP services and tools but don’t necessarily need them at the same time.

RISE WITH SAP: The Making of an Intelligent, Sustainable Enterprise

Instead of building a new set of functionalities, RISE with SAP bundles all the existing SAP applications that support customers with end-to-end business transformation solutions, hosting flexibility on any cloud of choice including hyperscale public clouds. RISE with SAP helps to migrate ERP systems and data to the cloud at zero risk. The combination of customized ERP software, transformative services, business analytics and expert guides helps businesses create customized migration roadmaps to the cloud. To make the move to SAP S/4HANA Cloud seamless especially for small and mid-sized companies, RISE with SAP frees businesses from the burden of managing complex IT environments on SAP S/4HANA Cloud environments.

With the RISE WITH SAP license, companies get access to the following services

• SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public or private edition
• Free Business Process Intelligence capabilities (SAP BPI)
• Cloud infrastructure of choice
• SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)
• Free access to SAP Business Network
• Embedded tools and services

Given below is a breakdown of how these services and tools help in cloud-enabled transformations.

Why Rise with SAP is Instrumental to Digital Transformation?

Outcome Driven Tools

• Deploy services and tools by SAP to advance the digital transformation journey.
• Assess the technical readiness of the business processes and applications and leverage technical guidance for SAP S/4HANA Cloud migration.
• Assess the custom code and compatibility add-ons.

Business Networks

• Seamless collaboration among dealers, manufacturers, and service providers.
• Creating a robust supply chain with access to multiple supplier networks.
• Collaborating with logistics partner to oversee freight transactions and exchange documents

Cloud ERP

• Enabling new industry specific practices and processes with SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
• Fostering differentiation in line of business services and solutions.

Business Process Intelligence

• Real-time recommendations to improve and enhance business operations.
• Remove process inefficiencies.
• Minimize manual work and process variations.

Business Analytics

• Migrate and manage master data.
• Automate redundant processes and operations.
• Deploy predictive analytics to generate relevant and timely insights and develop differentiated business offerings.

Why Rise with SAP Should Be First Choice of SAP S/4HANA Migration?

• Driving Rapid Cloud Adoption: Since migration involves guesswork and estimation, RISE with SAP discards this approach and instead helps businesses quickly implement cloud-based SAP solutions and services.
• Offers a holistic set of tools –RISE With SAP has all the transformative tools and technologies in one place. This ranges from intelligent enterprise software, best practices to cutting-edge digital transformation tools and templates.
• Leveraging new features and innovations – Since SAP releases new innovations and upgrades, RISE with SAP offers instant access to its users. Meaning, businesses are always kept updated with the latest business technologies to cope with the evolving competition.
• Cost-savings – Embarking on business transformations will not burn a hole in the pocket because RISE with SAP offers all the latest tools and services as one bundle. This makes it more cost-effective as unnecessary expenses are not shelled out in buying individual licenses and services.
• Smooth integrations - RISE WITH SAP ensures that processes, operations and services stay inter-connected, integrated and function together seamlessly.
• Security and privacy – RISE with SAP come with robust data security and privacy controls and helps businesses meet evolving compliance regulations and laws.
• Consistent support – RISE with SAP offers comprehensive support to companies ranging from 24*7 customer support, technical guidance to best templates.

Cloud4C: Your Trusted Partner for SAP on Cloud Transformations

Searching for a SAP Partner that can meet your unique business needs can be either challenging or fulfilling. Regardless of the size and complexity of the business, a good SAP Partner should know how to implement, manage and run SAP solutions on the cloud or any environment. Cloud4C, one of the leading cloud services providers, has all the capabilities to equip organizations with the latest SAP solutions, including RISE with SAP to accelerate business transformations.

Cloud4C’s is the trusted end-to-end partner for your SAP on cloud transformations. Boasting of more than 600 SAP success stories and managing 4000 SAP production workloads, Cloud4C is the one stop shop for all SAP solutions offered at a single SLA at app layer. Being the largest premium supplier, we have served more than 400 SAP HEC/RISE customers globally. Compliant with the latest IaaS enhanced offerings, Cloud4C offers a vast portfolio of SAP solutions such as application management services, S/4 HANA implementation services, digital supply chain services, Cloud LOB solutions, automation-enabled managed services and SAP platform services. This solution suite is exclusively designed to build, deploy, and run SAP solutions at zero risk and make the entire SAP adoption process failsafe.

Additionally, Cloud4C’s partnership with RISE with SAP ensures that all the critical SAP solutions are offered under a single SLA. This capability comes with our experience in managing mission-critical, sop SAP environments for more than 700 customers across the globe.

Are you excited to take the next step towards your SAP transformation journey? Click this link to explore our SAP solutions or get in touch with our representative today.

Key Takeaways

Revamping SAP landscapes on Cloud can reinvent business processes and help businesses meet unpredictable market changes	Top 3 benefits that come with building SAP cloud-first strategy - rapid innovations, agile operations, minimal downtime	Factors like operational costs, security, and resource provisioning, connectivity networks and ownership model should be considered first	Three methods of migrating SAP ECC systems to SAP S/4HANA: greenfield, brownfield, data conversion
SAP systems can be deployed on on-prem, SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC) Model and SAP HANA Public Cloud Edition	RISE with SAP helps to migrate ERP systems and data to the cloud at zero risk	Top 3 challenges for SAP migration to the cloud include time constraints, costs, and availability of tools	Cloud4C is the trusted SAP Partner to advance seamless deployments of SAP solutions and to ensure reliable, cost-effective, and secured migration to SAP HANA