Jan 25, 2021
•1 minute read
SAP HEC
SAP HEC (SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud) is SAP’s infrastructure-as-a-service offering, purpose-built for SAP applications. Unlike general IaaS platforms, SAP HEC is a complete managed service where SAP owns the infrastructure and all management, support, and governance of the environment. Organizations bring their own SAP HANA licenses and gain reference architectures backed by specific SLAs, onboarding services, and a platform designed to run SAP S/4HANA, SAP BW/4HANA, and other applications within the SAP Intelligent Enterprise. SAP’s full accountability for the environment is the defining differentiator.
What Is SAP HEC?
SAP HEC is an infrastructure-as-a-service offering from SAP that targets organizations running SAP HANA-powered applications. SAP provides both the infrastructure and complete managed services, differentiating HEC from general-purpose IaaS alternatives. Originally hosted in SAP-owned or co-located data centers, HEC now includes hyperscaler options across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. SAP delivers dedicated assessment and onboarding services for capacity planning and remains fully accountable for performance and security outcomes throughout, making HEC a distinctly complete managed cloud option for enterprise SAP workloads and mission-critical deployments.
SAP HEC (SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud) is SAP’s infrastructure-as-a-service offering, purpose-built for SAP applications. Unlike general IaaS platforms, SAP HEC is a complete managed service where SAP owns the infrastructure and all management, support, and governance of the environment. Organizations bring their own SAP HANA licenses and gain reference architectures backed by specific SLAs, onboarding services, and a platform designed to run SAP S/4HANA, SAP BW/4HANA, and other applications within the SAP Intelligent Enterprise. SAP’s full accountability for the environment is the defining differentiator.
What Is SAP HEC?
SAP HEC is an infrastructure-as-a-service offering from SAP that targets organizations running SAP HANA-powered applications. SAP provides both the infrastructure and complete managed services, differentiating HEC from general-purpose IaaS alternatives. Originally hosted in SAP-owned or co-located data centers, HEC now includes hyperscaler options across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. SAP delivers dedicated assessment and onboarding services for capacity planning and remains fully accountable for performance and security outcomes throughout, making HEC a distinctly complete managed cloud option for enterprise SAP workloads and mission-critical deployments.
What Use Cases Are Referenced?
Canadian General-Tower: Infrastructure Efficiency Through SAP HEC
Canadian General-Tower, a global leader in coated fabrics, moved to SAP HEC to run SAP S/4HANA without burdening IT with infrastructure management. IDC estimated a 28% lower cost of operations over five years compared with on-premises SAP HANA. The move reduced costs and gave CGT the tools to pursue global expansion. SAPinsider covered the case.
Aspen Pharmacare: SAP S/4HANA on HEC for Pharmaceutical Compliance
South Africa-based Aspen Pharmacare selected SAP HEC for its S/4HANA deployment after finding on-premise infrastructure inadequate. Pharmaceutical data security and compliance requirements drove the decision, and SAP HEC provided the scalability and governance controls Aspen needed for a global transition. SAPinsider reported the case in 2022.
Levi’s and Onapsis: Visibility and Threat Intelligence in SAP HEC
Levi’s piloted SAP HEC but faced a core concern: loss of visibility inside a managed cloud. Partnering with Onapsis, Levi’s gained application-layer visibility and threat intelligence, verifying HEC met its internal standards. The project produced a replicable ERP security blueprint for cloud migrations. SAPinsider covered the session in 2021.
Nutanix and NetApp: Resolving HCI Bottlenecks for SAP HANA
Traditional HCI forced SAP HANA architects to add compute nodes just to grow storage. The 2026 Nutanix and NetApp ONTAP integration enables independent scaling of compute and storage, with both platforms certified for SAP HANA production workloads. The solution reduces S/4HANA VM migration downtime to minutes. SAPinsider reported in May 2026.
Balance Governance and Flexibility with SAP HEC
SAP HEC enables organizations to migrate to SAP S/4HANA or run a greenfield implementation without traditional infrastructure overhead. The model bypasses deployment challenges and frees IT teams to focus on strategic outcomes. For organizations weighing classic hosting against managed services, HEC offers a vendor accountability model that third-party hosters cannot match. SAPinsider detailed the governance advantages.
What SAPinsider Research Supports This Topic?
SAP Workloads Are Moving to the Cloud
SAPinsider found 88% of SAP customers run at least some workloads in a private, public, or hybrid cloud environment, with nearly two-thirds of the remaining on-premise customers planning to move within two years. Security topped the list of deployment requirements, with 85% citing cloud-based data encryption and protection as a top priority.
RISE with SAP 2025 Benchmark Report
SAPinsider surveyed 122 community members through late 2025 and found fewer than 50% actively follow the shared responsibility model for SAP Cloud ERP Private security. The compliance gap, driven by failure to apply mandatory hardening requirements, underscores the value of a fully managed model like SAP HEC, where SAP owns security outcomes.
ERP Migration and Transformation 2026 Benchmark Report
SAPinsider found 55% of organizations report deploying SAP S/4HANA or S/4HANA Cloud, but only 34% have fully transitioned. With 43% citing SAP AI announcements as the top external ERP factor and the 2027 ECC deadline approaching, selecting a proven IaaS foundation like SAP HEC has become a defining infrastructure choice.
Managing Risk in the Cloud: Gaining Visibility and Threat Intelligence in the CloudLevi’s wanted to pilot a new SAP Hybrid Enterprise Cloud (HEC) instance, but the potential loss of visibility into its operating environment presented a concern and became a challenge that required additional education. This session examines how, by partnering with Onapsis, Levi’s gained visibility into its cloud environment in order to trust and verify that the HEC is operating according to Levi’s standards.
Attend this session to:
- Learn from the Levi’s project and come away with best practices for addressing a migration without losing visibility at the application layer
- Take away a blueprint based on strategies that were developed to protect business-critical ERP applications that you can leverage in your own organization
Managing Risk in the Cloud – Levi’s Gains Visibility & Threat Intelligence for SAP HECLevi’s wanted to pilot a new SAP Hybrid Enterprise Cloud (HEC) instance, but the potential loss of visibility into its operating environment presented a concern and became a challenge that required additional education. This session examines how, by partnering with Onapsis, Levi’s gained visibility into its cloud environment in order to trust and verify that the HEC is operating according to Levi’s standards. Attend this session to:
- Learn from the Levi’s project and come away with best practices for addressing a migration without losing visibility at the application layer
- Take away a blueprint based on strategies that were developed to protect business-critical ERP applications that you can leverage in your own organization
Oct 20, 2020
•1 minute read
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