SAP S/4HANA Cloud Strategy Trends

In our 2021 September Executive Magazine, we wrote about SAP customers that are expanding and becoming global at an increasing rate against a backdrop of transformation. And we know from our March 2021 report, which surveyed our technology executive community, that CIOs’ top priorities — increasing process efficiencies and supporting new business models — point to an overall strategy of growth and innovation as opposed to one of constraint. These tactical approaches are occurring across industries and geographies and are accelerating the adoption of enterprise technology. They are also uncovering a skills gap.

SUSE’s Vice President, Solutions Technology, Markus Noga notices this challenge among his own customers that run SAP technology. “The challenges customers are seeing today are primarily around skill set and the ability to deal with the rapid pace of technological change,” Noga says. Visibility is being re-imagined as well. According to Noga, as executives struggle to gain proper visibility into their operations and performance, malfunctions are being escalated to the board and C-suite level faster than ever. More companies are experimenting with different tiers and flavors of cloud and taking greater risks to become more agile.

This thought leadership article explores:

- What type of environment SAP customers are using to deploy SAP S/4HANA, according to SAPinsider’s research;
- How containers and Kubernetes can be utilized to help support a hybrid environment; and
- Best practices for preparing infrastructure and teams to address mission-critical needs.