Businesses using SAP ERP must have heard about the requirement for migrating to SAP HANA. Recently, SAP announced that it will likely end the support for SAP ERP by 2027. Moreover, to increase its adaptability, it will discontinue the support for other traditional databases like Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL, and MaxDB. It’s essential to understand the basics and benefits of this move and know the migration process. Let’s look at the details about SAP HANA here.
What is SAP HANA?
SAP HANA is one of the prominent technologies presented by SAP in recent years. It possesses the greater capability to integrate most of the SAP products that are released post-HANA release. It’s different from traditional databases and an in-memory database which uses RAM to help manage, analyze, and offer real-time information on big data. It can be deployed on premises or in the clouds. SAP HANA helps speed up business processes with advanced AI capabilities to help you run your business efficiently and simplify your IT.
Some of the capabilities you can expect with SAP HANA are database management, application development, data virtualization, and processing. It also supports business applications for programming languages.
Why SAP HANA Migration?
While SAP HANA has been running in Linux for almost a decade, it has exclusively started to use Linux OS (operating system), which means all the businesses using any alternative operating system will be required to migrate to Linux along with their ERP system.
The reason for this change in OS is Linux can back SAP HANA with a stable foundation to increase performance, security, stability, and availability. This change will also enable organizations to be more competitive and agile as they step into more modern and cloud-based digital transformation.
How to Migrate to SAP HANA?
Identify SAP HANA Landscape Requirements:
It’s a crucial step when you create a technical project. Doing so will help you create a better ROI and reduce the long-term ownership cost. An inappropriate landscape (inadequate and iver providing) can either lead to excess capacity and spare hardware or limited capacity that would cause delays and lead to increased operational costs. Also, note that the data get compressed in the HANA, so it will not give you the exact number of memory requirements.
To identify the exact landscape, look at the main memory, which you can determine with the precise amount of data stored in the memory. Use tools like the SAP Quick Sizer tool or SAP sizing reports to find the correct size for memory.
Select an Appropriate Platform and Migration Strategy:
Plan your migration spending on your business needs, budget, and other requirements. You can deploy HANA on-premises (for better control) or cloud (for better scalability).
On-premises Deployment: You can choose a certified SAP HANA appliance from any SAP hardware partner. It comes with a preconfigured device and preinstalled software to help you effectively use the SAP HANA in-memory platform behind your firewall. You can increase its flexibility with TDI (tailored data integration). Doing so will help you leverage your existing hardware and operations and cut additional operational expenses.
Cloud Deployment: When it comes to the cloud, there are a variety of deployment options. One is the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (privately owned). In the case of private clouds, IaaS offerings enable you to have your own SAP HANA license to run on third-party clouds.
Once done, select the most effective migration strategy. To do this, you have two options: Classical migration and Database migration Option. If your system doesn’t require any updates or additional components, choose the classical method else the database migration one. If you’re dealing with a lot of technical issues, go with a fresh SAP HANA installation.
3. Clean Your Data:
Data cleansing is one of the crucial steps when migrating to SAP HANA as it deals with a lot of data analytics to help business optimize their operations. Some of the benefits of performing data cleaning are reduced data footprint (which reduces data infrastructure size), size (reduces latency and downtime), and help keep only meaningful data.
4. Implement Proper Migration Standards:
Make sure you follow the elaborate procedure and don’t resort to shortcuts. Focus on employing high migration standards and a technical team with high experience and understanding of SAP migration and other technicalities. Make sure your system is fully ready with data backup in multiple locations.
5. Perform a Proof of Concept:
Run pilot testing to validate your migration to the SAP HANA platform. Doing so will help you understand the amount of time the process will take and the potential issues and help you make important decisions regarding your business.
Conclusion:
If you have reached the end of this information, consider you are fully ready to migrate to SAP HANA. Make sure you remember the above crucial five pointers, and you shall see the migration process going smoothly.
