Gain a Better Understanding of How SAP HANA Works

SAP high-performance analytic appliance (HANA) is a popular database management system used in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. The system stores data in memory, rather than on a traditional storage device. This makes it much faster than other database management systems.

SAP HANA is column-oriented, rather than organizing data by row, which can speed up certain queries—such as when you want to look through parts of many database objects at once. These queries are more common in business intelligence, so this design works well in the context of ERP.

Data sources can include documents and spreadsheets, public websites, mobile device data, sensor data from the Internet of Things (IoT), and essentially any other information. Whatever your use case, Approyo can help you get the most value out of SAP HANA.

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What is SAP HANA?

Put simply, SAP HANA is an innovative technology to aid enterprises in extracting value from their data. Organizations use the system for all aspects of business intelligence, from forecasting and reporting to artificial intelligence and machine learning. It’s essentially a data management tool that boosts productivity throughout the company.

What Can the System Do For You?

SAP HANA shines when it comes to storing and retrieving data efficiently. Thus, the system helps you use your organization’s data quickly for on-the-fly decision-making and operations.

However, SAP HANA also offers other functionalities, such as maintaining a single source of truth—protecting you against inconsistent data. Some other ancillary benefits include:

• Comprehensive tools: The system comes with web application development capabilities and sophisticated analytics. Graphical data modeling encourages teamwork to solve difficult problems.
• Adaptability: While many of the features are geared towards analytical processing, you can also perform transactional processing on the same instance.
• Power: SAP HANA isn’t just fast; it’s also strong. The parallel processing engine enables you to work with big data sets in real time.
• Support for multiple users: Even if you have multiple employees using the database at various locations, the system will keep up with your needs. Continuous availability and monitoring protect you against risks.
• Usable anywhere: You can run SAP HANA on your own premises, in a private cloud, in a public cloud—or in any combination you want.
• Data consolidation: Instead of data silos and duplication, you’ll have a compact data repository. Easily combine data, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
• AI Smarts: SAP HANA includes artificial intelligence and machine learning, so you’ll have more useful analytics to enhance business processes. Automation simplifies even the most complex tasks.
• Security: A time-tested solution, the system includes extensive security features to protect your data and comply with regulations. For example, it supports identity and access management, encryption, and data anonymization.

SAP HANA Solutions

SAP HANA works as a database management system to support a wide variety of applications. These applications perform analyses or other functions, relying on SAP HANA as the core source of data. You can do real-time calculations to find what customers are buying or what stock levels you have, for example.

Given that SAP HANA can run in the cloud, many solutions take advantage of the cloud’s speed, size, security, agility, and cost. These include solutions made by SAP itself, such as SAP Analytics Cloud for real-time business intelligence, and SAP Digital Manufacturing Cloud for controlling a production process.

Approyo is certified by SAP for SAP HANA operations. We can assist you in deploying new SAP solutions, or in the architecture and implementation of your own solution. Whether you want a cloud app or a mobile app, we’ll deliver a fast and powerful solution fit for your unique needs!

Planning to Make the Migration?

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Are you ready to move your organization’s data from a traditional database to the speed of SAP HANA’s in-memory column-oriented system? The good news is, making the leap is a relatively straightforward procedure.

To start, decide what you want to migrate from your old systems. This involves choosing which data, code, and applications you want to keep, and which are no longer useful.

Next, you’re ready to decide where you want to run SAP HANA. Given its adaptability, you can run it on your local hardware, in a public or private cloud, or in some combination. Consider the relative costs and benefits, such as the expense, speed, and security of each of these options.

Third, determine how much memory you’ll need. This depends on the size of your database. It’s also important to develop a sense of the other resources you’ll need—how much processing power, network connectivity, and any other IT infrastructure.

You can make a rough estimate by counting the number of users, or you can find more precise numbers by using throughput measurements. An experienced SAP HANA firm like Approyo can help you assemble an appropriate sizing.

Now you’re ready for the migration! SAP offers the “Database Migration Factory” as a tool to simplify upgrades from earlier SAP products or any other databases. Again, working with a trusted partner like Approyo can ensure a successful migration.

After migration, you’re ready to test the deployment and go live. This completes the process, and leaves you with a faster and more secure database management system.

Upgrade Securely to SAP HANA with Approyo

SAP HANA is a column-oriented, in-memory database management system that improves productivity. Capable of running in the cloud, on-premises, or as a hybrid this system offers a range of benefits, from speed and power to security and adaptability.

There are many ready-to-use solutions for SAP HANA—and you can also develop your own! But the migration process, while straightforward, is always easier with some help. An experienced, reliable partner can also assist you with upgrades and any other services related to the database.

Approyo is a global leader when it comes to SAP HANA, with decades of experience and over a thousand environments managed. If you’re ready to make the jump, we’re ready to work with you to customize a solution that streamlines your business processes. When it’s time for you to level up your data management systems, contact Approyo!

4 Invaluable Benefits You Get with Approyo’s SAP Consulting Services

As useful as enterprise software is on its own, it becomes far more powerful when used with expert SAP consulting services. Approyo offers time-tested solutions that simplify installation, configuration, operation, and maintenance.

The sheer complexity of SAP software can make it intimidating for most organizations to run. Additionally, with all the variables, you’ll be hard-pressed to keep the deployment clean and secure. Fortunately, a consultant can apply their years of knowledge—in Approyo’s case, more than 25 years—to keep your system running smoothly.

Managing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is a demanding task. It involves many interrelated and continually evolving factors on the business and technical sides. The technology itself is quite complicated, and using it optimally demands time and money.

With SAP consulting services, you accelerate all elements of the system and increase its reliability. It’s simply more efficient—and thus a smart business decision—to work with the professionals. The greater agility soon repays the investment.

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The Benefits of Hiring an SAP Consultant

A professional consulting group offers numerous advantages. The experts can identify security weaknesses and produce solutions; they’ll also be there to assist with data migration. And the insights you gain from the partnership will reveal new ways to maximize the value of your SAP installation.

SAP consulting services speed up your business processes—the consultants have already gone through multiple processes and found the fastest way to perform tasks. The techniques they’ve learned can also save you hours on everyday activities.

Furthermore, consulting companies bring highly specialized knowledge to your team at reasonable rates. It’s just more efficient to hire a devoted SAP consultant than to attempt the same work without one. This approach also frees up your own staff to focus on their fortes.

Let’s take a closer look at four invaluable skills an SAP consultant can offer you.

Identifying and Assessing Possible Vulnerabilities—and Developing Solutions

Any software, no matter how well made, contains potential security threats. Even more serious risks emerge when one considers the many possible configurations of the software—especially as it’s not always done to the same specifications as the original programming.

The more elaborate a piece of software, the greater the business value it holds—and the greater its vulnerabilities. SAP software is extremely complex and used for large enterprise resources. As such, it ranks among the most important pieces of software to secure properly.

That said, most organizations using SAP software are ill-equipped to secure it adequately. Their focus is on their business (and rightly so), not on databases and applications. This is why it’s hugely beneficial to work with a specialist in the world of SAP consulting services, like Approyo.

The best SAP service provider carefully examines your entire configuration, including the underlying network and the data and applications. Moreover, they’ll regularly test for security problems and apply the relevant fixes.

Optimizing Migration Processes Through Trusted Frameworks

An SAP consultant expedites data migration using the most suitable tools and frameworks. Having conducted many migration processes for other clients, they’ll already have developed a reliable procedure. It’s much safer to migrate mission-critical data with proven experts than to risk going it alone.

Pre-made templates help to standardize the migration process, and by using the appropriate tools, the SAP experts move data in a fast and safe manner. As this is quite a labor-intensive process, there’s a substantial saving in time and effort—and that’s on top of improvements to the migration’s risk profile.

Providing Insights on How You Can Increase Your ROI

The main purpose of using SAP software is to streamline operations and increase earnings, which should more than cover the cost of deploying this new technology. The experienced eye of a professional consultant can give you a window into how precisely to maximize return on investment (ROI).

Experts understand just how the software can boost employee productivity. They’ve seen which aspects of enterprise resource planning contribute most to efficiency. Instead of searching fruitlessly for performance boosts or letting expensive software go to waste, take advantage of ready-made insights from a veteran SAP consultant such as Approyo.

Providing Guidance to Help Improve Overall Efficiency

An SAP consultant needs to have knowledge that extends throughout all aspects of the technology and its use. By working with such a partner, you’ll get the inside scoop on how best to incorporate this software into business processes and how to improve these over time.

The right consultant can train your staff to obtain maximum value from SAP’s capable yet complex software. This technology encompasses a range of features—some of which your organization may not even have heard of. However, when used intelligently, these innovative features can bolster business productivity.

Experience Excellence with Approyo’s SAP Consulting Services

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The best way to understand the effects of these benefits is to experience them for yourself. With Approyo’s full SAP consulting services you’ll have access to cloud hosting, upgrades, and migrations. In addition, their managed services cover any SAP-supported core functionality.

Excellence comes from experience. Approyo has over a thousand active SAP environments under management globally and has overseen more than a hundred migrations. Consulting services aid businesses with their production deployments for SAP products—including the latest S/4HANA enterprise resource planning system.

With Approyo’s SAP consulting services, areas of excellence include initial discovery and assessment. And once you take these steps, you’ll see the most advantageous ways to leverage SAP products for your specific needs. By analyzing your software situation, an SAP consultant will be able to reveal fresh opportunities and pave the way for data migration.

IT transformation along with cloud transformation can lead any organization to the forefront of digital technology. For instance, making updates to older systems results in fast problem solving for your clients. And with modern infrastructure, you’ll also decrease downtime. This is another area where Approyo can help you deliver on your organization’s mission.

Engage SAP Consulting Services With Approyo

Working with the leading provider of SAP consulting services comes with numerous advantages. Their experts will assess security pitfalls and produce solutions. They’ll also optimize migration and give you the key techniques needed to improve efficiency and increase ROI.

As an SAP certified consultant, Approyo already delivers these benefits to many top businesses and government agencies, and can use this same skillset to help your enterprise achieve unprecedented results. Their deep understanding of the technology—and how it meets organizational needs—creates next-generation outcomes.

Planning to migrate your data to the cloud? Looking for a partner who knows what’s best for your business? Call Approyo and get a free consultation regarding data migration matters now.

Approyo CEO Chris Carter appears on DM Radio, Google and Amazon: The Future of Data Centers?

Approyo CEO Chris Carter was a guest on the latest episode of DM radio, "Google and Amazon: The Future of Data Centers?" with host Erik Kavanagh.

About this episode:
Time was, every major corporation built their own data centers! You found an appropriate site with enough power and cooling, bought all the hardware, set up the operating systems, loaded your applications, and then, sooner or later, had yourself a data center. These days, one visionary summed it up like this: “Friends don’t let friends build data centers.” The future is clearly in the Cloud, with Amazon, Microsoft, Google and others vying for those dollars. What does that mean for your organization?

Listen now: http://dmradio.dataversity.net/google-and-amazon-the-future-of-data-centers/ 

Guests:

• Keno Fischer, Julia Computing
• Chris Carter, Approyo
• Patrick Mcfaddin, Datastax

About DM Radio:
DM Radio is a weekly, one-hour live radio show broadcast Thursdays at 3 PM Eastern / 12 PM Pacific. It is owned and produced by The Bloor Group in partnership with DATAVERSITY. It is currently syndicated across three networks and broadcast live on WFOY and GAB Radio Network (please note: These are live radio stations which broadcast 24 hours per day. DM Radio and its affiliates have no control over any other show outside DM Radio.) Each show includes host Eric Kavanagh, a guest Analyst, and several industry experts brought together to discuss hot topics in Data Management. Every show is recorded and converted to a podcast within two US business days of the show. Some shows will keep the conversation going in a Webinar format at a later date or be followed by an article to dive deeper into the topics.

About Eric Kavanagh:
Eric Kavanagh CEO, The Bloor Group  Eric has more than 20 years of experience as a career journalist with a keen focus on enterprise technologies. He designs and moderates a variety of New Media programs, including The Briefing Room, DM Radio, as well as GARP’s Leadership and Research Webinars. His mission is to help people leverage the power of software, methodologies, and politics to get things done.

On-Premises vs. Cloud Solutions

Cloud computing continues to grow throughout the United States and the world. 2014 was the first year where a majority of workloads will processed in the cloud versus traditional on-premises
solutions. In addition, by the end of this year, end user spending on cloud services will reach
$180 billion, out pacing on-premises. Why are a majority of business, large and small moving to cloud computing?

Download our Whitepaper: On-Premises vs. Cloud Solutions:

• Cloud computing allows you and your employees easy access to applications and data from different computers and devices.
• Cloud computing lets you start up or grow your business quickly.
• Potential to be greener and more economical.
• You may be able to cut back on system hardware.
• A cloud computing application may make integration easier.

Check out the Whitepaper from Approyo today!

Certifications for SAP HANA Production Environments

Cloud computing is everywhere these days. According to a recent study, businesses in the United States will spend over $13 billion on Cloud Computing and hosting services by 2015. With more and more cloud options available, the level of expertise and facilities provided by solution providers are becoming increasingly important factors. To design, manage, and operate the critical infrastructure your business depends on, you need the most authoritative, evidence-based, and unbiased guidance. For the best SAP HANA technology solutions, Approyo has partnered with PCM. This partnership provides businesses with the best expertise and facilities in the industry.

SAP HANA Certified Experts
SAP HANA is an in-memory database that massively improves performance of existing SAP applications, and enables business transformation via real-time analytics and transaction execution. Approyo recently completed certifications for SAP HANA Operations Services and SAP Infrastructure Operations Services.

Enterprise Class Facilities
Today’s high-density, consolidated, converged or virtualized data center is a complex environment. Every decision in the data center is critical and mistakes can be costly.

PCM data centers are purpose built Tier III facilities defined by the Uptime Institute’s tiered classification system. These enterprise class hosting facilities provide security-rich, controlled environments and high availability design features for business critical applications environments that need protected against natural disasters, power outages, network issues and unauthorized access.
SSAE 16 and PCI DSS purpose built Tier III data centers adhere to strict operational standards and offers a security-rich, controlled environment designed from the ground up for high availability.

Read the full Whitepaper

“What planning is needed for initial cloud projects?” – Q&A from the Trenches Series

rganizations typically conduct a lot of research on cloud providers and enabling technologies before making the decision to embark on their first cloud project. However, sometimes this extensive research and vendor selection effort gets confused with the actual project planning required for success of that initial cloud project.
After the decision is made to move forward with a cloud initiative, sometimes the urge to get our “stuff” on the cloud quickly is hard to resist. There hasn’t been a time in recent memory with more opportunity for IT but, with great opportunity comes great risk! We’ve all heard the saying that goes something like “automate a bad process and make bad stuff happen more quickly”. Cloud brings a myriad set of options for improving how your enterprise utilizes IT and executes its business objectives, but implementing it without sufficient upfront planning can bring serious risk and bring it very quickly.
Some of the biggest gaps I see in cloud project planning occur in the areas of Security, Policy and Governance. These are important considerations everyone should include in the review and planning portion of any project, before moving applications and workloads on to a cloud.
First let me say that I’m not an expert in security, policy or governance. If I have to be classified as an expert, it’s on the ownership and management characteristics of IT infrastructure. So, I’m not going to give you a detailed technical strategy for implementing your security or policy framework. Rather I’m going to focus on the planning and “ownership” point of view, both of which encompass having a clear set of goals and objectives for its implementation, management, and lifecycle.
Security: Planning here should include a well understood set of security requirements and usage characteristics for the project:
Who uses it?
Where and how will data be stored, shared, backed up, etc.?
Who will be supporting it?
What are the individual roles required?
Will it be a private cloud, hybrid cloud, or public cloud?
What are the characteristics of the network?
What experience does your internal network team have with cloud or highly virtualized environments? What are the current skill gaps & where can you get help?
What tools do you already have? Have you compared them against newer products/services on the market that are focused on security in a cloud?
Do your tools allow for automated policy enforcement on new instances?
What type of reporting and auditing will you have?
What about identity management? Is it integrated with your cloud management platform?
What are the partner requirements? Do you have the right partners, with appropriate experience? Should you audit current and proposed service providers? Have you evaluated team skills to identify gaps and training opportunities?
Where and how has security been factored in to your business continuity planning? Security, like an earthquake or a hardware failure, can be a threat to your availability. As such, your security strategy should match enterprise objectives for availability.
Governance and Policy: This includes governing how an instance is created, why it’s created, by whom, and under what restrictions it operates.
Governance and approval work flows should be well understood.
Document and enforce regulations/restrictions regarding data availability, storage location, and performance.
Establish a governance lifecycle that includes the creation and enforcement of policies for cloud workloads as they are planned, built, shared, and deployed.
Where will your instances reside and under what context or situations while they be put there or moved?
What is the performance criteria to determine right placement of workloads?
Define role-based access to assets and environments.
Ensure that automated approaches to scale, distribution and shutdown encompass enterprise policy controls.
What are the guidelines for allowing scale? How is scale approved?
How are Business Critical priorities mapped against threshold limitations
Change management strategy.
Roles and ownership
Who’s responsible for the delivery of cloud services
Who’s responsible for the cloud environment?
Are all the roles well defined?
Many times, the most valuable time spent on a project is the time spent during planning. Moving to cloud is no different. Make your move in a well-planned and controlled fashion so you can more rapidly benefit from new services, while not putting your team or the enterprise at risk.