Migrate Your SAP Workloads to Microsoft
Learn how to extend SAP applications to Azure and innovate with Microsoft Cloud.
In this tutorial Hans Reutter, a principal group engineering manager at Microsoft, answers questions about migrating SAP to Microsoft Azure and lessons learned along the way.
Microsoft has been running SAP on Microsoft Azure since February 2018, and its afforded benefits of agility, scalability, and cost optimization.
For customers who are just beginning this journey, Reutter recommends starting with guinea pig systems as proofs of concept that you can learn from.
“They may start with some applications that are maybe not quite as critical and move them into the cloud,” Reutter says. “Once they see the benefits and how well it works, the rest will follow.”
There are a few approaches to migrating applications and development systems to the cloud. In a horizontal migration strategy, a team migrates sandbox systems, followed by development systems, test systems, and finally production systems. It’s a low-risk strategy, but it’s not the fastest way.
There’s also the option of a vertical migration strategy, where you cherry-pick certain systems and move them in their entirety.
“Microsoft used a horizontal strategy, and we had a couple of vertical systems that we moved as well,” Reutter says. “We accelerated learning by having a few of these vertical systems, and I think the outcome was awesome.”
Moving SAP onto Azure has also led to a change in people’s roles, one where IT professionals are partners in innovation.
“Before there was this perception of IT as a blocker,” Reutter says. “Suddenly we’re the enablers because we can build systems in hours or days versus months. So I think that’s a good position to be in.”
Agenda
0:00 – Introduction
0:28 – Where is Microsoft at in its journey of running SAP on Microsoft Azure?
0:50 – Where should customers start their migration to Microsoft Azure
1:15 – What are the benefits of running SAP on Microsoft Azure?
2:03 – How is Microsoft using Azure Data Monitor?
2:27 – What does a horizontal migration strategy look like, and how does it differ from a vertical migration strategy?
3:20 – Any advice for customers who are shifting to a cloud-first mindset?
4:13 – One piece of advice for customers?
4:37 – Outro and additional resources
