Why customers prefer Microsoft Azure to unlock insights from their SAP data

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Like many of our customers, you are probably facing multiple challenges with your ERP systems. Perhaps first and foremost are issues of security and compliance: somehow, your security team never seems large enough to provide the peace of mind you need. Then there is the matter of cost: building a certified data center is expensive, and most organizations overprovision to cover potential needs for growth and scale.

Traditional ERP systems are not easy to change. On-premise or hosted infrastructure is highly preplanned, with a three- to five-year planning cycle. It is simply not built for today’s fast-paced innovation cycles, which may require you to launch new applications or business processes in days. Further, it is difficult to scale these systems up or down quickly to meet unexpected needs.

You may also feel you are not reaping enough insight from your data. Your data sources are varied and no longer just in your ERP: data can be unstructured, from social and web sources or newer applications such as the Internet of Things. Manual processes that pull SAP data into spreadsheets or other systems no longer cut it. The high volume of customization in your ERP system may make it hard to move to newer versions as you look to replace technical debt with an innovation platform.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations running SAP solutions on premise had become aware of the need to be more agile and responsive to real-time business needs. Now, as enterprises across every industry adjust to the new normal, they are realizing that moving their SAP systems to the cloud can provide the resilience they need. The ideal solution is to adopt SAP S/4HANA running on an agile cloud platform to help you meet urgent customer demands, empower employees to make quick decisions, and plan for the future.

Moving a mission-critical workload like an SAP landscape to the cloud can be complicated. But the benefits are worth the effort, especially when you choose Microsoft Azure.

SAP customers broadly favor Microsoft Azure . As global organizations seek agility, cost savings, risk reduction, and immediate insights by moving their SAP solutions to the cloud, thousands are choosing Microsoft Azure as their trusted platform. They value our robust set of security solutions and migration tools, the ability to unlock immediate insights from their data in SAP software, and our partnership with SAP that spans more than 25 years including the latest initiative to invest in new offerings around cloud automation and integration for SAP S/4HANA on Microsoft Azure and integrating Microsoft Teams across SAP solutions.

By moving to our proven cloud platform built for mission-critical systems, you gain:

World-class security, compliance, and business continuity: We have 3,500 cyber security experts on the job working for you. Most customers tell us they can achieve stronger security running in Azure than on premise.

Cloud automation, scale, and OPEX flexibility for greater cost efficiency: With Azure, it’s easier to scale up and down to fit business needs. And cloud automation can take the place of repetitive IT tasks, freeing up your staff to add value in other areas.

Agility and automation: Cloud automation and increased agility can help you speed transactions and deliver a better customer experience.

Real-time and predictive insights from all your data: By running SAP solutions on Azure, you can provide a unified view of your data across the enterprise that combines SAP and third-party data in the cloud.

Comprehensive integration of SAP and Azure services: Shift your customization to SAP Integration Suite and integrate with innovative cloud services in Azure. For example, new integrations between Microsoft Teams and SAP solutions can help your people collaborate and increase productivity.

Learn more in Microsoft’s session at Sapphire 2021

Discover some of the latest tools and resources from Microsoft that simplify and accelerate your move to the cloud. Please join Matt Ordish, our Head of Product, SAP solutions on Azure, at SAPPHIRE NOW session IT614 to hear more about our partnership with SAP, our latest migration tools, and how you can extract more out of your SAP software data to achieve better business outcomes.