With VMworld Europe 2016 now in full swing, it appears that this will turn out to be one of the most announcement-packed editions of our European user conference of yet. It’s been great to hear how the new release of vSphere 6.5 and VSAN 6.5 have further advanced the maturity and capabilities of our SDDC components, which now extends beyond traditional app to cloud-native apps.
But there is more! An increasingly important part of our product strategy is to deliver solutions that accelerate the time to value to SDDC by combining the power of our virtualization and management technologies to solve key use cases. Our goals are:
- Make it easy for customers to build cloud infrastructure through an integrated stack that spans across compute, storage and networking – the announcements of VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware Photon Platform are great examples of this
- Leverage the programmable nature of software-defined infrastructure to automate complex application processes. It is in this context, that we are introducing the VMware private cloud solution for SAP with the soon to be available new release of VMware Adapter for SAP Landscape Management Version 1.4
What is VMware Private Cloud Solution for SAP?
VMware private cloud solution for SAP defines the software stack to virtualize, secure and automate SAP environments leveraging VMware’s software-defined architecture. At its core, it includes vSphere, NSX, vRealize Automation and the VMware Adapter for SAP Landscape Management (LaMa). For customers interested in hyper-converged storage, VMware Virtual SAN can also be added.
VMware Adapter for SAP Landscape Management is the new key element that integrates SAP Landscape Management with VMware management software (vCenter Server and vRealize Automation), delivering unique automation capabilities that radically simplifies how you provision and manage SAP Landscapes. The VMware Adapter for SAP Landscape Management empowers SAP BASIS admins to automate operations, such as cloning, copying, refreshing, mass stop and start and migration of entire SAP landscapes while maintaining application consistency.
In the upcoming 1.4 version that will be releasing in Q4, we are delivering several important new features, including integration with vRealize Automation 7 and the option to obtain enterprise level support from VMware GSS. The free community edition of the Adapter will continue to be available for non-production environments (Click here to download).
By leveraging the new adapter in conjunction with the other elements of the VMware private cloud solution for SAP, many of the operational overhead of managing infrastructure for SAP environments can be drastically reduced from days to minutes.
Why adopt VMware Private Cloud Solution for SAP now?
SAP is one of the most widely adopted applications (Over 76% of worldwide business transactions touch an SAP system at some point!), and for most of our customers, it represents a key enabler of their business and for their digital transformation initiatives.
IT investments to support SAP are usually very significant because requirements are very demanding. End users want to spin up new SAP systems as fast as possible to develop and service new lines of business, and they want to access SAP anywhere and anytime through a variety of devices with maximum security and constant availability. This is easier said than done when it comes to large, multi-tiered application like SAP, especially when customers are using legacy ‘hardware-defined’ infrastructure that is expensive and cannot be easily automated. While many of our customers have started to virtualize at least portion of their SAP environments, a lot still remains to be done especially around storage, networking, and cloud management.
SAP has done a lot to simplify and automate how you can provision and manage your SAP landscape with the introduction of SAP Landscape Management. SAP administrators are well familiar with the concept of SAP landscape, which represent an arrangement of SAP systems and SAP servers typically consisted of Development Server(DEV), Quality Assurance Server(QAS), and the Production Server(PROD). SAP has also introduced a new application architecture built around the new in-memory database, SAP HANA, and the new ERP business suite, S/4HANA, and many customers are recognizing their values. To truly simplify the management of SAP landscape, however, and unlock the power of the new SAP architecture, we also need to move to a software-defined approach for the underlying infrastructure.
The re-platforming to adopt SAP HANA and S/4HANA and upcoming technology refresh mean organizations have a unique window of opportunity to implement best-in-class software defined infrastructure now and create a solid foundation to drive future business innovation.
How to learn more
If you are at VMworld 2016 Europe and want to learn more about the VMware Private Cloud Solution for SAP, stop by the VMware booth, try the hands-on-lab (SPL-1706-USE-7) or join us in this session:
[VIRT7931] SAP on SDDC: Business Benefits of SAP Automation with SDDC
Alternatively, you can read and find out more information about each topic below by directly clicking on the links:
