NetApp Offers SAP Systems a Smarter Data Landing Zone
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Key Takeaways
⇨ NetApp ONTAP S3 enables SAP customers to use familiar NetApp storage systems as scalable data landing zones, facilitating the ingestion of raw and unstructured data efficiently before processing by SAP applications.
⇨ The multi-protocol support of ONTAP S3 allows simultaneous access for both file-based and object-based data, streamlining storage management and ensuring consistent data governance across SAP landscapes.
⇨ The integration of ONTAP S3 with SAP Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) provides enterprises with WORM compliance for archived data, optimizing storage practices and supporting stringent regulatory requirements in industries like finance and healthcare.
SAP systems increasingly rely on object storage to handle growing volumes of raw and unstructured data—especially as organizations adopt SAP Data Intelligence, SAP Information Lifecycle Management (ILM), and hybrid cloud solutions. To support this trend, NetApp has expanded its support for S3-compatible object storage within its ONTAP platform, allowing SAP customers to create data landing zones directly on their existing NetApp file storage infrastructure.
In simpler terms, NetApp ONTAP S3 allows enterprises to use familiar NetApp storage systems as a low-cost, scalable staging area for incoming data. Instead of storing everything in high-performance databases, businesses can ingest and hold data in its original format—such as logs, sensor readings, and external files—before it’s processed or analyzed by ERP systems. With recent ONTAP software releases, NetApp has made this object storage option more robust, enterprise-ready, and compatible with the needs of SAP landscapes.
SAP-Ready Object Storage for Data Intelligence and ILM
According to NetApp’s official documentation and technical blog, ONTAP S3 is increasingly positioned as a data landing zone for ERP systems such as SAP Data Intelligence—SAP’s integration and orchestration platform that connects structured and unstructured data across environments. These landing zones act as the first stop for external data entering SAP systems. For example, raw sensor data from IoT devices or batch files from third-party systems can be dropped into ONTAP S3 buckets, where SAP Data Intelligence pipelines can access them for further processing.
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What makes ONTAP S3 especially attractive for SAP environments is its multi-protocol support. A single NetApp system can serve both file-based (NFS/SMB) and object-based (S3) data—meaning SAP applications that rely on file access and those using S3 can operate on the same infrastructure. This helps reduce silos, streamline storage management, and ensure data governance is consistent across the entire SAP stack.
Beyond analytics, ONTAP S3 also plays a role in SAP ILM. For SAP systems that need to archive older transactional data, ONTAP S3 supports WORM (Write Once Read Many) compliance using NetApp’s SnapLock technology. This aims to ensure that archived SAP data is immutable and audit-compliant, a key requirement in industries like finance, healthcare, and public sector.
What This Means for SAPinsiders
On-prem S3 object storage opens a new path to hybrid SAP data pipelines. As SAP customers shift to more distributed and data-intensive workloads, the availability of S3-compatible storage within NetApp ONTAP provides a new option for managing ingestion workflows. SAP Data Intelligence users can now use ONTAP S3 buckets as landing zones for incoming files, logs, and IoT data—without deploying additional hardware. This supports modular data pipeline architectures, reducing infrastructure complexity while enabling governance and cost control. SAP teams can also take advantage of built-in data protection, access controls, and versioning features already present in the ONTAP platform.
Enterprise storage systems gain new relevance in SAP ILM and archiving use cases.
ERP customers with long-term retention and compliance obligations often need WORM-capable storage to archive cold data outside the transactional system. ONTAP S3, when configured with NetApp’s SnapLock technology, provides this functionality and integrates with SAP ILM via the S3 API. By using the same storage platform for both hot and cold data, organizations reduce the administrative burden of managing separate systems. This unified approach supports cost optimization strategies, particularly in industries with strict audit and retention requirements such as finance and public sector.
NetApp’s object storage strategy reflects a broader market pivot to multi-protocol, hybrid cloud storage.
The object storage market—estimated at approximately $10 billion by Statista—is evolving from cloud-only solutions to enterprise-integrated platforms that support both file and object workloads. NetApp’s inclusion of S3 compatibility within ONTAP aligns with this trend, offering a converged architecture that supports both traditional SAP systems and emerging data orchestration tools. Technology leaders should evaluate S3 solutions not only on cost and performance, but also on their ability to support hybrid SAP landscapes. ONTAP S3 may be especially relevant for organizations already invested in NetApp infrastructure and looking to extend its capabilities for new SAP use cases.
