SAP Infrastructure

What is SAP Infrastructure?

Rapidly evolving from historical on-premise servers to private, public, and hybrid cloud and cloud-like environments, SAP infrastructure includes the systems, hardware, and platforms on which SAP systems and applications are run. Originally, SAP Infrastructure was limited to mainframe computers, though that changed with the client/server architecture included in the SAP R/3 release. While client environments have typically been Microsoft Windows-based systems, host environments normally included Unix systems. Over time, this shifted to include servers running Linux operating systems, though these were still located in data centers local to an organization’s physical locations.

What is SAP Infrastructure?

Rapidly evolving from historical on-premise servers to private, public, and hybrid cloud and cloud-like environments, SAP infrastructure includes the systems, hardware, and platforms on which SAP systems and applications are run. Originally, SAP Infrastructure was limited to mainframe computers, though that changed with the client/server architecture included in the SAP R/3 release. While client environments have typically been Microsoft Windows-based systems, host environments normally included Unix systems. Over time, this shifted to include servers running Linux operating systems, though these were still located in data centers local to an organization’s physical locations.

SAP Infrastructure now includes on-premise or local data centers, private cloud environments or hosting partners, public cloud and managed service providers, and hybrid combinations of these environments. SAP’s transition to a cloud-based company has resulted in a rapidly growing number of solutions and offerings being entirely cloud based, which in turn means that more SAP workloads are moving to the cloud. While these are not always public cloud or hyperscale environments, the infrastructure supporting SAP systems is more cloud based each year.

Organizations offering SAP Infrastructure solutions include: Atos, AWS, Dell Technologies, Google Cloud, HPE, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, Navisite, NTT Data, Nutanix, Rackspace Technology, Virtustream, and VMware.

Key Considerations for SAPinsiders:

• SAP Infrastructure continues to move towards the cloud, but SAP S/4HANA remains top of mind when it comes to infrastructure planning. As organizations make plans for the future, they need to determine what their future infrastructure should be. For many this revolves around SAP S/4HANA, while others are simply looking to eliminate older legacy infrastructure by doing a lift and shift to the cloud. This panel discusses what the priorities for organizations have been for SAP Infrastructure, where SAP S/4HANA plays into the picture, what technologies are areas of investment, and what impact RISE with SAP is having.
• SAP workloads, and the infrastructure that they are running on, are moving to the cloud. Based on research conducted by SAPinsider, 88% of organizations are running at least some SAP workloads in the cloud. While this isn’t every system, most of those who are still running workloads in on-premise infrastructure say that they plan on moving those systems to the cloud within the next two years. This article covers which workloads are still running on local infrastructure, which are most likely to be running in the cloud, and what approach organizations are taking when it comes to moving those workloads.