SAP developed an alternative method to put Microsoft SQL Server systems in the cloud without using its own RISE with SAP application.
SAP announces an SAP ERP migration option for Microsoft SQL. This allows companies to move their legacy SAP systems running on Microsoft SQL Server to the cloud. In the past, the company offered its software for various databases, including Oracle, IBM’s DB2 and SQL Server. In 2010 it added its own database HANA, and in 2015 SAP released a completely revamped ERP for it: S/4HANA.
Not yet fully established choice
Unfortunately, ERP migration projects are often very slow and expensive. Therefore, some organizations are reluctant to make the switch. With the Microsoft SQL option, users go through two phases to put their systems in the cloud and eventually move to the S/4HANA system.
Only 37 percent of SAP legacy ECC customers had applied for a license S4/HANA in the second quarter of 2024: SAP’s preferred method of cloud migration is RISE with SAP. That includes numerous system integrations, cloud infrastructure and software to gradually transition users to the cloud. SAP thus wants its customers to flexibly migrate from ECC systems to new versions. A switch via RISE with SAP is not mandatory, but it is a logical next step.
That SAP is betting hard on cloud became painfully obvious last year. Companies running S/4HANA on their own systems, and therefore not in the cloud, did not receive any new functionalities. The fact that people who did opt for cloud received preferential treatment went down well with many. SAP itself called it poor communication on its part.
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