SAP HANA: Really as Expensive as You Think?
Make an informed decision about adopting SAP HANA.
Certified Hardware
Then...
When SAP HANA was first introduced (in 2010) SAP required the use of certified hardware to ensure that SAP HANA worked properly in all scenarios. Yes, this was more expensive, but it allowed SAP to create a controlled environment for the rollout of this new technology.
Now...
Today SAP provides partners and customers with a more flexible system configuration option, thereby simplifying the bill of materials(BOM) to build your own infrastructure. Now, you can easily have a server and storage configured to meet SAP HANA specifications(in accordance with the SAP BOM) via one our hardware partners. This provides greater control of hardware costs in comparison to an appliance approach, and can reduce the hardware investment by up to 30%.
Storage Footprint: Not a 1:1 Comparison with Traditional Data Storage
Yes, in-memory storage is more expensive than traditional database storage. However a 1:1 comparisonbetween traditional data storage and in-memory storage (of any kind) cannot be made. The SAP HANA in-memory database will allow you to decrease your storage requirement by a ratio of at least 4:1; so you need only onefourthof the storage that you’re currently using. In many cases this ratio is even higher, thus reducing storage requirements by an even greater factor while increasing processing speeds of data.
Virtualization
Then...
As with the certified hardware requirement, SAP was not able to offer virtualization for productive environments. During the rollout of SAP HANA virtualization was available for test and demo systems only.
Now...
Today SAP offers a virtualization solution for productive environments through our partner, VMware. With this you can increase your deployment methods for SAP HANA systems. This balances the operational costs in time and money for running and deploying both productive and non-productive SAP HANA Systems. The usage of virtualization can significantly reduce operations and hardware costs of the SAP HANA landscape.
