Microsoft and SAP partner on bringing SAP HANA platform to Azure

SAP announced today at its annual SAPPHIRE NOW conference that it has expanded its partnership with Microsoft to provide more choice for SAP deployments. Following this announcement, Microsoft is now claiming that its Azure cloud platform “offers the most comprehensive platform for running SAP workloads, with a broad range of choice and capabilities for enterprise customers.”

First, the enterprise application software company will get a new deployment option for the SAP HANA cloud platform on Microsoft Azure, and the Redmond giant has detailed on a dedicated blog post on the Azure blog all different deployments options now available for SAP applications :

• SAP HANA on Azure with multi-node support for deployments capable of scaling up to 32 TBs of memory for SAP HANA Enterprise OLAP applications like SAP BW.
• SP HANA on Azure with single-node support up to 3 TB each of memory for SAP HANA Enterprise OLTP applications like S/4HANA.
• SAP HANA One images in Azure Marketplace
• Controlled Availability of SAP S/4HANA on Azure GS5 [i]

Additionally, the following new scenarios are available today:

• SAP HANA Enterprise on Azure GS5 for OLAP (single node) in production and non-production scenarios
• SAP HANA Enterprise on Azure GS5 for OLTP NetWeaver solutions for non-production scenarios

But that’s not all, as both companies have also announced new integrations between Microsoft Office 365 and cloud solutions from SAP to “combine Office 365 communications, collaboration, calendar, documents and other data with cloud solutions from SAP, including Concur, SAP Fieldglass®, SAP SuccessFactors®, and SAP Ariba® solutions, helping employees improve their overall productivity.” These new cloud services integrations will be available in the third quarter of 2016, with plans to release additional integration features in the future.

Last, Microsoft has also announced that it is extending the certification and support of SAP Business Suite, NetWeaver and SAP HANA Developer Edition on Azure Linux Virtual Machines. The Azure team added that “customers can choose to deploy a 2-tier or a 3-tier SAP configuration with various Azure VM sizes available to support SAP workloads ranging from 200 SAPS to 20,000 SAPS capacity.”

SAP CEO Bill McDermott shared the following statement in the press release:

“We believe the IT industry will be shaped by breakthrough partnerships that unlock new productivity for customers beyond the boundaries of traditional platforms and applications. SAP and Microsoft are working together to create an end-user experience built on unprecedented insight, convenience and agility. The certification of Microsoft Azure infrastructure services for SAP HANA along with the new integration between Microsoft Office 365 and cloud solutions from SAP are emblematic of this major paradigm shift for the enterprise.”