Cloud services present some intriguing opportunities for augmenting, or even replacing, enterprise data centers. The ability to provision new servers, or in need of additional resources during peak periods or get a new landscape off the ground, the cloud can bring a new level of agility to organizations that can use it effectively. But before migrating to SAP Cloud Computing Solutions, customers need to pay lot of attention to all specific details says Ganesh Radhakrishnan, CEO of WFTCloud and Cloud Evangelist, a certified SAP Cloud Services and Consulting Company based in United States.
If customers are running SAP, we can understand that they will have SAP experts on their team who will be technically competent. But if customers decided to migrate to Cloud SAP Solutions, then they need more than technical competence. The business needs to have confidence and it is important for technology team to present a good case in front of them for migrating to SAP Cloud Computing Solutions. It is not advisable for companies to simply move their entire SAP Landscape to a cloud provider rather as first step it is better to choose certain SAP components which are Non-Critical to be moved to cloud. This avoids lot of questions with the business about security and compliance on their Production data.
Ganesh recommends customers moving non-production SAP systems,as the first one's to gain maximum benefits on the cloud. With pay-as-you model offered by Cloud SAP & ERP Solutions Providers, customer can take advantage with their SAP Development, Sandbox, Quality Assurance and training systems. Production systems generally accounts for 15% to 20% within an SAP Data center where as 80% of the systems are non-production. Most of the gain is achieved after business hours when these systems which are not highly utilized for capitalizing un-used resources (unless it is SAP Global Instance). There is lot of great opportunities for SAP Developers to create new instances if required with easy provisioning.
It is not all Cloud SAP & ERP Solutions Providers or Hosting turned cloud providers providing customers with the option of Pay-As-You go model. Few Cloud SAP & ERP Solutions Providers provide dedicated CPU and assure customers with performance guarantee. But at the same time once instances are launched they are charged on hourly basis and the only way to avoid those charges is to keep instances shutdown, which is not feasible with SAP Instances. (Typically 744 hours per month is charged). SAP Basis Most importantly regardless of cloud or not the critical fact for SAP customers is to ensure good response time, provide appropriate security (like Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)), secured dedicated VPN tunnel between the customer data center to Cloud and architect to scale when required. Ganesh says there should be some diligence required at the initial stage to size properly and ensure adequate bandwidth for better response time. He continues to talk about the RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) for both normal operation times and during Disaster Recovery. There are only few cloud providers who have the ability to failover in case of disaster between zones and still local backup is required which need to be maintained at OFFSITE Location for Compliance and Regulatory purposes. He says. "Customers can either make this simple or complicate themselves which depends on the cost vs. risk for their SAP landscape".
Finally cloud is not cheap either and it is better to understand customer's requirement with resource consumption. Based on their current landscape the reference to early watch reports and Go Live checks can help calculate their cloud resources needs. It is very important to understand backend storage on the cloud since the IOPS required for running SAP is very high and all Cloud Providers cannot ensure I/O performance since they only provide commodity storage, which cannot scale for peak performances.
It is better to look for companies who are CLOUD AGGREGATORS in the market place helping customer to choose their cloud providers. The advantage to go with Cloud aggregators on long run is if you decide not to continue with your current Cloud Provider (due to performance or security concerns) then they will provide different options and move to a Cloud SAP Landscape seamlessly. This avoids any legal contracts between customers and cloud providers. SAP in the Cloud Solutions providers will also provide SAP Support on their Cloud to achieve best performance to run SAP landscape where customer can take advantage of their experience.
SAP is the brainchild of five IBM engineers who broke off from IBM and founded SAP AG in 1992. It drives efficiency and value to the bottom line of large, mid-size and now smaller organizations by redefining how business should be done. SAP solutions deliver real-time visibility across the entire enterprise and are not limited to top management, control engineers or the IT team. It can be used by every individual in the organization. That said, however SAP training courses are a large and important component of the change.
SAP the acronym stands for Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing but SAP the ERP system stands for increased efficiency, streamlining the supply-chain network and overhauling the entire business process of the organization. Companies that adopt SAP can look forward to a total makeover before they are done. The transparency that follows, enables faster information processing and making decisions with ease and no fear of risk. SAP, having evolved for over 3 decades is agile enough to adapt to most industries. SAP is not offered in modules any more but available as various solutions tailored to each industry.
Enterprises must acknowledge that humans are as much a part of the chain and focus their efforts on making their personnel proud stakeholders in their new venture. To leverage SAP functionality SAP training courses are invaluable. SAP courses can help executives, finance managers, accountants, engineers and IT mavens. SAP functionality is truly enterprise wide. If one wants to replace an outdated and inefficient IT architecture, if one wants to implement business process change, if one wants to maintain a competitive advantage in the field, SAP Basis is the answer.
SAP is available today in country specific and industry specific versions in 28 languages at last count. However to get the most out of their SAP investment enterprises must equip their employees with the requisite skill sets. SAP courses can equip them to meet all the challenges of the marketplace: to bring products to market faster, get more out of procurement and eliminate duplication of effort. SAP training courses will ensure that key executives are well prepared to lead change. It will enable employees to have the right skills supported by tools and processes that set them up to succeed. All employees will feel confident of their skills and proud of their contribution to the company. It will help build ownership and boost morale. SAP courses will make sure that employees are prepared to succeed on the first day of the launch.
Taking SAP training courses is an ipso facto guarantee of a well-paid job in the worst economic crunch. SAP courses can jumpstart any career whether as a consultant or an employee. These skills are in great demand. Especially a proven knowledge of SAP applications via SAP training courses and certification can fuel ones career and become a passport to a whole slew of opportunities. In today's competitive market if one can demonstrate mastery in essential business and technological skills, the sky is the limit. The SAP trained can enjoy a definite advantage over their peers.