Harnessing cloud power: Enhancing SAP ERP applications with AWS and Syntax

Migrating SAP applications to the cloud is a transformative move, unlocking scalability, cost efficiency, and access to next-generation technologies. With the public cloud services market projected to reach $1.28 trillion by 2028 and a potential $3 trillion in business value for organizations that successfully adopt cloud technology, the shift is inevitable.

But the journey doesn’t end there. Post-migration realities, such as ensuring uninterrupted operations and meeting stringent compliance requirements, often limit organizations from fully realizing the transformative potential of their cloud investments.

Let’s explore some of the obstacles organizations face during and post-migration and how AWS Cloud and Syntax enable them to fully harness the potential of their SAP environments.

Why moving SAP to the cloud isn’t always smooth sailing?

Integrating SAP systems with a future-ready cloud platform is critical for organizations navigating the competitive business landscape. While RISE with SAP offers a cloud-centric approach to shift focus from managing technical infrastructure to driving strategic business outcomes, the migration journey presents unique complexities.

Some of the challenges companies face with the RISE with SAP framework include:

Landscape analysis – Organizations often need detailed advisory services to evaluate their existing infrastructure, identify priorities, and define a roadmap for migration. This crucial step is not included in RISE with SAP but is essential for a seamless transition.

Limited availability of SAP applications – Not all SAP modules and applications make sense to move to RISE with SAP, which can create challenges for businesses relying on specific functionalities. This can lead to delays in migration plans or investment in temporary workarounds, increasing costs and project complexity.

Third-party applications – RISE with SAP primarily focuses on SAP-native environments, often leaving businesses to manage the compatibility, connectivity, and optimization of third-party tools independently. Without sufficient expertise, this can result in integration bottlenecks, data silos, or disruptions in business-critical processes. Additionally, ongoing maintenance of these integrations typically falls outside the scope of the RISE with SAP framework, adding further pressure on internal IT teams.

Networking and Connectivity – Establishing connectivity between RISE with SAP-hosted tenants and customer-owned AWS tenants, on-premises networks, and SAP BTP accounts can be complex. This complexity arises from the variety of networking options and the associated security considerations that must be carefully planned and accounted for.

In addition, post-migration comes with its complexities, including:

Ensuring high availability – Designing a resilient architecture that delivers uninterrupted availability while balancing performance and cost is complex. Also, organizations must meet stringent Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) to safeguard mission-critical operations. Any gaps in disaster recovery planning can expose businesses to significant operational risks.

Leveraging advanced analytics – Harnessing advanced analytics is essential for agile decision making, as real-time insights from SAP systems enable businesses to turn raw data into actionable intelligence. However, integrating advanced analytics tools like AI/ML platforms or the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) with cloud-hosted SAP systems introduces data synchronization, scalability, and operational complexities.

Achieving data sovereignty and cross-border compliance – Strict regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and other regional mandates require compliance across jurisdictions, often conflicting with the global nature of cloud infrastructures. For organizations handling sensitive data, maintaining compliance is non-negotiable. Balancing regulatory requirements with SAP’s performance demands across regions adds significant complexity, particularly in managing cross-border data flows, local storage mandates, and evolving legal landscapes.

Harnessing GenAI for SAP Use Cases –  The growing adoption of GenAI for predictive maintenance, customer personalization, and process automation presents opportunities for innovation. However, incorporating these capabilities into SAP applications on the cloud without disrupting system stability, user experience, or data integrity requires significant customization.

The AWS Cloud addresses these challenges by offering a comprehensive suite of capabilities tailored to optimize on-cloud SAP operations, particularly under the RISE with SAP offering. By embedding its infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) capabilities within RISE with SAP, AWS allows customers to shift their focus from managing infrastructure to driving strategic business outcomes. This approach empowers SAP users to achieve greater agility and foster faster innovation as they migrate their systems to the cloud.

Moving to SAP S/4HANA Cloud also gives tighter access to leverage AWS-hosted SAP BTP services and AWS native services, enabling organizations to manage data while preserving custom Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP) code during the transition. With over 5,000 active customers relying on AWS as their cloud infrastructure partner for SAP systems, many RISE with SAP adopters are following suit.

Turning obstacles into opportunities: The Syntax and AWS advantage

Overcoming post-migration hurdles goes beyond just solving problems. It’s about unlocking opportunities for growth, innovation, and competitive advantage. By combining the robust capabilities of AWS Cloud with Syntax’s deep expertise in SAP systems and proven AWS competencies, organizations can maximize the value of their cloud investments.

The Syntax SAP on AWS ecosystem offers a seamless journey, from advisory services to migration and managed support, ensuring SAP environments not only transition smoothly to the cloud but also thrive there. If you are initiating your SAP change or are already on the way, Syntax Compass for SAP S/4HANA provides you with continued support in the form of consulting, implementation, and ongoing improvements. It keeps your journey to ERP solutions like RISE with SAP on AWS smooth and successful. Our Power of Next and Cloud Migration Advisory Services help you understand the benefits of SAP S/4HANA Cloud and cloud computing. That way, you can secure your migrations, select the best path forward, and build a robust digital roadmap for post-migration adaptation.

Syntax bridges critical gaps in the RISE with SAP offering, delivering end-to-end support, including advisory services to plan and execute migrations and align SAP ECC modules with S/4HANA functionalities. We also manage custom code migration and third-party application integrations, often excluded from the standard RISE with SAP package, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted operations.

Our support doesn’t stop at migration. We provide tailored industry-specific solutions and support for hybrid-hosted SAP environments in RISE with SAP, SAP Cloud solutions and on-premises or hyperscaler (AWS) deployments. With advanced customization capabilities delivered through landscape, architecture, and release management planning and advisory services, we ensure organizations stay agile. We also provide ongoing optimization and innovation support through Syntax Global SAP Optimization Services, empowering businesses to maximize the performance of their SAP systems constantly.

With Syntax, it’s not just about moving your SAP applications to the cloud. It is about getting the best value from your cloud investment and helping your business succeed in this rapidly changing digital world. Connect with our experts to learn more about how we empower SAP applications on the AWS Cloud.