Elevating SAP Basis Consulting: The Importance of Cloud Knowledge
Traditionally, SAP Basis consultants were primarily responsible for the technical administration of SAP systems, including installation, configuration, monitoring, and performance tuning. Their expertise revolved around on-premises infrastructure and traditional SAP deployments. With the advent of cloud technologies, the landscape has significantly changed. It has revolutionized how businesses operate, offering scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness.
Understanding cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like? AWS Cloudformation, Azure ARM templates, Terraform, and Ansible, etc., along with networking expertise gives an SAP Basis consultant an edge over others in the same domain and industry, and can be pivotal for both the personal growth and project success.
Why Cloud Knowledge is Crucial for SAP Basis Consultants
With the introduction of SAP HANA Cloud, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, SAP has made it clear that the future of the ERP lies in the cloud. And hence an SAP Basis consultant with a better understanding of cloud services, technologies, and integration scenarios with SAP will thrive. For further reading on SAP's take on the cloud technology with Rise with SAP: https://www.sap.com/india/products/erp/rise.html
Some of the key areas where knowledge of AWS, Azure, or GCP can be crucial and differentiator for an SAP Basis consultant are:
1. Cloud Migration
With SAP's push to Rise with SAP as a future transition and transformation roadmap for customers, many businesses are either already migrating their SAP systems to the cloud to take advantage of its benefits or are currently planning the transition. SAP Basis consultants play a crucial role in these migration projects by playing various roles like Partner Cloud Architect for Rise with SAP solution, deal finalization, and deployment, migration consultant to perform SAP S/4HANA conversion/migration to the cloud either in an IaaS setup or a Rise with SAP construct. And hence, they need to understand the intricacies of cloud platforms to ensure a smooth and successful migration.
Further reading: https://www.sap.com/india/products/erp/rise/sap-erp.html
2. Faster Deployment of SAP Components
One of the significant advantages of cloud technology is the speed of deployment by quick VM provisioning, pre-hardened OS images for SAP, and ready-to-deploy networking components along with automated SAP deployment services like AWS LaunchWizard for SAP and Azure Center for SAP solutions. Traditional on-premise SAP environments often took months to set up, from architecture to installation. Cloud environments, thus emphasize Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles, for the automated provisioning and management of infrastructure resources. Proficiency in these IaC tools can help SAP Basis consultants streamline their tasks, ensure consistency, and maintain better control over infrastructure changes. This can not only make operations more efficient but would also act as a career booster.
3. Understanding Hybrid Landscapes
Many organizations operate in hybrid IT environments, where a combination of on-premises and cloud-based SAP systems coexist. Even under the Rise with SAP offering, SAP supports running customers' mission-critical cloud operations for SAP S/4HANA Private, Cloud Edition in their own data center via Rise with SAP Customer Data Center (CDC) option, with seamless integration with other core cloud SAP SaaS and PaaS offering which continue to run in public cloud domain. SAP Basis consultants need to comprehend the intricacies of hybrid landscapes, including integrating cloud services with existing on-premises infrastructure, managing connectivity, and ensuring data consistency and security across environments.
4. Enhanced Disaster Recovery and High Availability
Cloud providers offer robust disaster recovery and high availability solutions, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity. By utilizing cloud-based high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) mechanisms and failover options, SAP Basis consultants can design resilient architectures that mitigate the impact of unforeseen disruptions and outages. To suggest the most optimal HA/DR solution to a customer,? the right understanding and knowledge of available options from cloud service providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP is extremely important.
Further Reading:? https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sap/latest/sap-hana/hana-ops-ha-dr.html
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5. Security and Compliance
Cloud security is a top priority for organizations entrusting their sensitive data to third-party providers. SAP Basis consultants must familiarize themselves with concepts like network segmentation, firewall rules, encryption protocols, and Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies to enforce robust security controls, mitigate cyber threats, and ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards.
Further reading: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sap/latest/sap-netweaver/net-win-security-and-compliance.html
5. Understanding of Network Services
It is desirable that SAP Basis consultants should possess knowledge of cloud network services such as VPN, high-speed dedicated network connectivity like AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, GCP Interconnect, routers, network gateways, security groups, VPC/Vnet, subnets, public and private IPs, and related technologies. Understanding these networking components enables SAP Basis consultants to design, solution SAP architectures with the right networking configuration, and troubleshoot network-related SAP issues which could further help to optimize latency, improve response times, and enhance the overall user experience for SAP applications.
At the end...
As organizations embark on the SAP on cloud journey, SAP Basis consultants find themselves at the forefront of a technological shift. Embracing cloud knowledge is not just a necessity; it is a strategic imperative for these professionals. The ability to seamlessly navigate the complexities of cloud environments will not only ensure the success of SAP transformation projects but also position SAP Basis consultants as indispensable contributors to the Intelligent Enterprise.
Helping Africa succeed with the SAP Business Technology Platform
1 年Thanks for a great article. One more area I think we need SAP BASIS in the cloud is to administer the SAP Business Technology Platform. This can't be left to developers in the name of DevOps. We still need some people who are focused on setting up to platform in a secure and managed way to work with the ERP.
Engagement Lead, Cloud Success Services
1 年I agree ..Basis role is changing ..Cloud technology, tools and new business process ...
Great Article
?Empowering IT professionals with training in SAP, Workday, Cloud Computing, Salesforce, and Data Science Technologies at ZaranTech
1 年It's fascinating how the role of SAP Basis consultants has evolved with the advent of cloud computing. Thank you for shedding light on this important transition in the SAP ecosystem.
SAP BASIS, Netweaver, Fiori, HANA, BTP, S/4HANA Expert | 20+ Years of Experience | Together, we can turn your SAP vision into a reality
1 年Well written and superb summary and career advice.