The time has come for cloud-based solutions. Many companies are now in a situation where they either need to upgrade their own data center, or where the contract with their operating partner is about to expire. Then cloud-based solutions are an alternative path to take.
Operating contracts for infrastructure and services have traditionally had long contract periods. One of the reasons for this is that the owners of the data centers make large investments, and these need to be paid off. In addition, there are several surrounding services which need to be established, and it takes time to switch from a previously used platform.
Pearl is a partner with both Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. We have been in several processes with customers who have migrated their solutions to cloud-based service providers.
How can this be done? And what is important to include in the assessment?
Two options:
- decide that cloud-based services should be used as much as possible
- decide that cloud-based services are the only option
Whatever you decide, you should check the cost of renewing the contract or upgrading your own data center.
If your service provider gives you a price on the same platform that you have had in recent years, the expectation should be to significantly reduce operating costs. Most likely, the entire solution is written down and the margins of the supplier have gone up considerably.
If you have a complex system landscape, it may be smart to enter into a shorter agreement with an existing supplier with the possibility of liquidation at relatively short notice. The process may take longer than you think.
At the same time you should check:
- How the layout is today
- What solutions are located where
- How much processing power, memory and hard drives you use
- How is load balancing, networking and backup
Bring us this information
When you have this information, contact Pearl and ask us to make a suggestion based on your needs today. We will probably ask if you would like to upgrade of solutions that are going to be migrated.
There are often arguments for and against.
For many, it is good to take the migration to cloud-based solutions as a first step, then carry out an upgrade. Others will benefit from doing both at the same time. The business Komplett migrated to Microsoft Azure without upgrading the ERP solution, NorEngros moved to Amazon Web Services while upgrading to S/4HANA.
If you are migrating to a HANA database or to S/4HANA, the infrastructure need will be different. The solution requires a different setup because the database is memory-based, and we set up a proposal that is built for that. It can be a challenge for business partners who do not have the same understanding of what SAP requires compared to a partner like Pearl.
Correct scaling
You have a mindset where it is important to have a little extra vigor in the data center when the load is higher than usual. For example, the solution at Komplett had to be scaled to cope with 30 times more traffic on Black Friday than usual. Their rig was oversized for long periods of the rest of the year.
When you are going to the cloud, we scale the solution according to what a normal load is, and the solution can either be automated so that it scales by itself when needed, or that we plan for an increased load when we know the need will come.
Storage and backup
Today you may have data stored on the same type of storage media and run backups of the entire setup on a regular interval. In the sky platform, it is easier to move data which is not used or updated as frequently to less expensive storage and backup solutions.
Data lake
There is an ocean of opportunities in Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services - too many to mention all of them now.
An opportunity that is worth mentioning and which we talk to many customers about is data lake, or storage and processing of large amounts of data. This can be data from the SAP solution, or from other parts of their system landscape that can be used to analyze and provide insights.
Our collaboration partner Sannsyn helps customers use their data to create a better understanding of how data from different sources are connected and can be used for something smart. Read more about this in the article: Are You Concerned About Your Customers? (https://www.pearlgroup.no/aktuelt/er-du-opptatt-av-dine-kunder)
Contact us to learn more about how Pearl and our partners can help your business migrate SAP and other solutions to the cloud.
Jens Fossum, Sales and Marketing Manager
Mail to: jens.fossum@pearlgroup.no
Mobile: 470 34 200
Watch the video regarding Norengros move to AWS: