SAP SE has announced the cloud edition of SAP Business Suite 4 SAP HANA (SAP S/4HANA) to help customers drive their digital business transformation with the simplicity of the cloud. SAP S/4HANA, cloud edition, brings the next wave of simplification and innovations across core business functions. In addition, it gives customers the opportunity to deploy real hybrid scenarios — combining on-premise and cloud solutions for unprecedented IT flexibility and accelerated business innovation.
Fully built on the advanced in-memory platform SAP HANA and designed with the SAP Fiori user experience (UX), SAP S/4HANA redefines how enterprise software creates value across industries. The launch has created tremendous market momentum, already resulting in more than 370 customers for SAP S/4HANA.
With the announcement of the SAP S/4HANA, cloud edition, SAP intends to significantly expand the business scope of its cloud offering built on SAP HANA. In addition to the available business scenarios for the marketing line of business and the professional services industry, customers will now also be able to run their entire enterprise in the cloud with a digital core comprising the most essential scenarios including finance, accounting, controlling, procurement, sales, manufacturing, plant maintenance, project system and product lifecycle management. Existing and new customers will be able to adopt the cloud edition of SAP S/4HANA via a simple subscription model. SAP aims to support customers in their journey with predefined migration, system conversion in the cloud, guided configuration and deployment packages to drive quicker time to value.
The comprehensive offering also plans to provide native integration between SAP S/4HANA and other cloud solutions from SAP, including those from SAP companies SuccessFactors in human resources and Ariba in procurement, as well as integration with the SAP hybris Marketing solution, SAP Fieldglass Vendor Management System and the SAP Jam social software platform. As a result, it is planned that customers can execute their IT strategy at their own pace, based on their needs, while keeping all the integration and business benefits of their existing SAP solutions. SAP S/4HANA, cloud edition, is also designed with the intent to easily connect with global business networks such as the Ariba Network and software from Concur, an SAP company.
“With the SAP S/4HANA, cloud edition, we are delivering on our promise to give complete choice to customers for adopting the next-generation business suite,” said Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board, Products & Innovation, SAP SE. “SAP S/4HANA is now available on-premise, in the cloud and even allows true hybrid scenarios. This is unique in the industry. Customers can rely on a modern digital business foundation to reimagine their business, on-premise or in the cloud, at a large scale.”
“SAP S/4HANA is redefining the concept of enterprise resource planning. This next-generation business suite unifies software and people to help businesses run simpler and in real-time, in a digital networked economy. Our customers including La Trobe University, PT Delami Garment Industries and Siam City Cement are already running this innovative business suite, and are enjoying numerous benefits such as simplified adoption, data model, user experience, decision making and processes,” said Simon Dale, General Manager, Innovation Sales, SAP Asia Pacific Japan.
The cloud edition of SAP S/4HANA is intended to offer a quarterly innovation cycle so customers can take advantage of ongoing innovation with minimal disruption. In addition, SAP HANA Cloud Platform aims to serve as an extension platform and agility layer for the cloud edition. This way, customers and partners will be able to build specific capabilities extending the scope of SAP S/4HANA by either integrating non-SAP functions or building their own innovations. With SAP S/4HANA, cloud edition, enterprises can now participate in the digital economy with a suite that intends to bring together the simplicity of the cloud and the value of instant insight across industries, business functions and networks, and granular data sets.
“Many companies are at a cross-roads with their IT and business process innovation. They need advanced capabilities and new user experiences and they need to connect formerly disparate business processes, and siloed applications into a coherent, holistic enterprise,” said Joshua Greenbaum, principal of Enterprise Applications Consulting. “Making this possible without undue disruption requires a cloud-based solution that supports hybrid operations leveraging the latest in innovative technology. The SAP S/4HANA, cloud edition, provides exactly this kind of low-disruption, high-value foundation.”
The SAP Simple Finance solution, announced in June 2014, helps customers transform finance with instant insight and marked the first step in the roadmap for SAP S/4HANA. Customers across various industries have found the solution demonstrates that it can help them experience the true value of simplification.
