SAP S/4HANA : The Cloud Scaling Dilemma

Author : Bret Applegate, Senior Manager, Managed Services Customer Engagements

In today’s business world, scalability is essential. It’s also one of the main factors that attracts businesses to move to the cloud. Scalability is relatively simple with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, and it provides a wealth of cloud scaling options. But how flexible are providers in reality?

You need an ERP system that can grow and adapt with your organisation as it increases in size or changes its business model — and with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, that should not be a problem. There are multiple options for cloud scaling available from SAP and third-party providers, no matter whether you want to scale up or scale out. But what do you do if you want to scale down?

Cloud Scaling is about Services and Systems

As an example, let’s talk about a company that starts with a relatively small instance of SAP S/4HANA Cloud. This company does not have a lot of experience with cloud computing, so it chooses a comprehensive service package to start its journey to the cloud. Allowing an experienced cloud provider to handle tasks like user administration and permission management, the company is free to focus on its core business. And, if they choose to pay for a local service delivery manager, they ensure that they have a dedicated point of contact for their inquiries.

Onwards and Upwards

As the business grows over time, it begins to require more database capacity and increased server performance. And, thanks to cloud scaling, they are able to choose a larger system package to meet their new demands. But the company has grown and is now much more familiar with its cloud environment, so they no longer need some of the services they subscribed to initially. This is where things get tricky.

The cloud scaling packages offered by most providers only combine systems and services. So, while their customers may be able to scale systems up, and in some cases down, there is often no option available to adjust services independently of the system packages.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could scale up and down in both dimensions: system and service? You would have a significant increase in flexibility, so that you truly only pay for what you need for your business. After all, isn’t the idea behind cloud scaling that it should be tailored to the needs of the customer?

Don’t Get Burdened with Services You No Longer Need

The itelligence Private Cloud gives you the freedom to scale your systems up or down, while independently adjusting the level of service. With different combinations of system and service packages, you have the flexibility to alter your plan to meet your current needs. In addition, our transparent pricing models mean that you always know exactly what you’re getting. Whether you need comprehensive support for a smaller environment or want a large system that you mostly manage yourself, itelligence has the right combination to meet the needs of your business.

If you want to learn more about all things S/4HANA and cloud then register for the #itelli2019 Conference taking place on the 15th May 2019 at the QEII Centre in London.

Register to attend today

In my previous blog we looked at S/4HANA deployment options. If you missed it you can read it here