Due to the pandemic, 90 percent of enterprises now expect to increase their cloud usage more than initially planned.
In today's rapidly-moving landscape, the cloud enables rapid and sustained transformation.
Whether you're looking to migrate your SAP estate - or other non-SAP workloads - to Azure, there are many benefits to glean from the native toolset. Many customers recognise that native toolset maturity is much higher and evolving faster. This reduces third party product costs and operational complexities.
In this blog, we'll cover four of the biggest advantages.
1. Transformative foundations
Digital transformation is a top industry priority. Why?
Well, 38 percent of organisations experience high-value returns from modernisation, which also realises increased competitive advantage. But there's more to gain than that.
Azure is a perfect stepping stone to digital transformation, allowing your organisation to:
- Scale rapidly. With Azure, you can spin up virtual machines (VMs) in minutes, rather than hours. You can also resize, recover and spin down just as fast.
- Manage cloud consumption. You can increase or decrease your cloud consumption in relation to your needs, optimising your costs as you go. This also improves compliance, security and consistency, as changes in cloud resources can be readily enabled through code.
- Adopt data analysis. Access real-time SAP and non-SAP data analytics, including vital customer information. In addition to this, you can embrace new analytical services and test rapidly, all with the confidence needed to accelerate innovation.
- Optimise your SAP estate. SAP approved Microsoft Azure as their preferred cloud provider, which makes it the perfect platform to finetune your SAP workloads. It also offers a wide array of integrated options, including Microsoft Teams, Azure DevOps, Synapse analytics, and Azure Data Lake for archiving. Indeed, it's the best-performing and most scalable SAP cloud infrastructure.
- Synchronise your on-premise directories. Using Azure Active Directory, you can enable single sign-on for all your applications. This recognises that many customers may operate a phased transformation to the cloud or retain some on-premise/private cloud services, which can be readily and securely integrated using Azure AD.
Plot your roadmap for digital transformation and trust Azure to get you to your destination.
2. SQL server consolidation
We find a lot of our customers use SQL and AzureSQL databases to run SAP and various non-SAP workloads. AzureSQL offers customers of all workload sizes a wide array of consolidation options which can significantly reduce complexity and costs. Some customers have realised over 40 percent savings in SQL database licensing through consolidation.
With the right expert partner, it's simple enough to integrate your SAP workloads onto SQL. Besides the reduced complexity of only having to manage one platform, this can have a number of further benefits. These include cost savings, increased integration, and better leverage of your data analytics.
Azure flexibility and agility also enables you to re-platform SQL databases or stretch database performance as required, in line with business demand and activities. You can separate databases out at specific times or events to dedicate performance and consolidate during quieter times.
3. World-class security
A key benefit to the Microsoft Azure native toolset is its world-class security. Microsoft put in the work to keep their platform as safe as possible, continually evolving their security intelligence as they go.
So, it's no wonder 95 percent of Fortune 500 businesses trust Azure with their workloads and data.
On Azure, you can benefit from security tools such as:
- Advanced threat detection and protection.
- Identity and access management controls.
- Multi-factor authentication.
- Enhanced Azure security update processes (which reduces disruption, cost, and downtime).
Further benefits include adopting an Agile Operating Model, which simplifies security updates and upgrades. This enables more frequent, less disruptive maintenance processes.
Peace of mind is an important factor when choosing a cloud platform for your workloads, so take comfort in knowing Azure have got you covered.
4. CAF
Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) is your map to the cloud. It consists of proven, best practice guidance that'll help you to create the optimal cloud strategy and leverage the most from Azure at all times.
Ultimately, CAF is the perfect foundation for Azure beginners. It aligns your technical wishes with your wider business goals, enabling you to adapt your cloud architecture as you go.
Your SAP on Azure
Once you place your SAP (or non-SAP) workloads into Azure, the world becomes your oyster.
From top-class security to transformative foundations that will allow you to revolutionise your business processes, there's a lot to gain from Azure's native toolset.
Understanding the native capabilities of Azure can significantly reduce operating costs, complexity and Azure costs.
We are experts in Azure Backup (including SAP HANA backup and recovery); Azure Site Replication (HA and DR solutions from code); Azure Datalake (for Azure analytics and SAP archiving); AzureAD (for SAP single sign-on and non-SAP workload integration; AzureSQL (for SAP and non-SAP Database consolidation); and Azure Sentinel (for Azure Security and Log Analytics).
From Advisory, design and deployment to heavy lifting migrations, transformations and optimisation, we are ready to help our customers at every step of their journey.
