SAP on Azure Talk

We discuss different types of storage options in Azure for SAP systems and decision making around that. 

We discuss what it means to be ready to run SAP production systems in Azure and how to best prepare for it.

In today's episode, with out guest Holger Bruchelt, we discuss what Power Platform is and how it empowers SAP users. 

You can watch [or listen to] Holger's SAP on Azure video series at youtube.com/SAPonAzure

With our guest, Ben Lennon, we discuss Azure Gov Cloud (or is it a Gov region), SAP architecture and everything in between!

With our guest, Brenton O'Callaghan, we discuss what is AIOps and how it can be applied to SAP Landscapes so you don't have to get out of the bed!

We discuss things we do to get the latest information about SAP on Azure developments and how we keep up. 

Links for items discussed:

The Azure Podcast: azpodcast.com (don't miss the special episode #400 here: https://azpodcast.com/post/Episode-400-A-view-from-Azures-Core)

SAP on Azure Video Podcast: youtube.com/SAPonAzure

AZ120 Learning Path: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-120

AZ900 Learning Path: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/azure-fundamentals/

Azure updates for SAP related items: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/?query=SAP

Tech Community Blogs - Running SAP Applications on the Microsoft Platform: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/running-sap-applications-on-the/bg-p/SAPApplications

SAP on Microsoft Azure book (SAP Press): book.SAPonMicrosoftAzure.com 

We discuss what do successful SAP on Azure customers have in common and what to do when things go wrong.

Our favorite podcasts to listen to:

The Azure Podcast: aka.ms/AzurePodcast

SAP on Azure video podcast: youtube.com/SAPonAzure

We discuss what Bluefield (by SNP) is and how it combines the best of greenfield and brownfield!

We discuss Azure CSP and MSP models with folks from SoftwareOne

In the build vs buy debate, we discuss the buy side of Automation using Vnomic! 

Reference Links: 

Vnomic Solution: https://vnomic.com/automated-engineered-sap-landscape-deployment-and-governance-on-azure/ 

SAP Deployment Automation Framework on Azure: https://github.com/Azure/sap-hana

We discuss use cases of ASR and details around it. Listen till the end for the Poem summing up what you should use ASR for! 

We discuss Qlik Data Integration with Azure Synapse to enable real-time insights on SAP data with our guests Matt Hayes and Kevin Pardue

Show Insight: Extend and Innovate is not an official Gartner Magic Quadrant item; the show refers to it as a collection of individual things such as EiPaaS, Cloud DBMS, Analytics, IoT, Low Code, PaaS, etc.

Reference Links

Gain real-time insights on SAP ERP data with Azure and Qlik Data Integration: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/gain-realtime-insights-on-sap-erp-data-with-azure-and-qlik-data-integration/

Efficient SAP data replication to Azure (Case Study): https://www.qlik.com/us/-/media/files/resource-library/global-us/direct/case-studies/cs-greene-tweed-qdi-partner-case-study-en.pdf

Details about the SAP on Microsoft Azure book by SAP Press coming directly from the horse's mouth aka the author!

Here's 15% discount code for our listeners: MAAA15

Get your copy here: https://www.sap-press.com/sap-on-microsoft-azure_5174/ [or SAPonMicrosoftAzure.com]

We discuss what SAP customers are looking for in Azure after migrating their SAP systems

We dig deeper into SAP use cases for Azure NetApp Files [ANF] such as Shared file system and storage for HANA

Reference Links:

ANF Service levels and throughput limits: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-netapp-files/azure-netapp-files-service-levels

SAP on Azure solutions using ANF: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-netapp-files/azure-netapp-files-solution-architectures#sap-on-azure-solutions

We discuss Azure's approach to infrastructure maintenance, patching for SAP landscape in Azure, and how to avoid downtime! 

We talk about Azure Virtual Machines and HANA Large Instances (HLI) (or Azure Large Instances) as compute choices for SAP environments 

We talk about importance of Automation in the Cloud First world, use cases for SAP on Azure, and tools around it; we also reveal an investment that has better payoff than Bitcoin! (not an investment advice)

We discuss the Azure services that relate to SAP and their use-cases.

Reference Links:

Azure Charts: https://azurecharts.com/

Azure SAP Heat Map: https://azurecharts.com/heatmap?for=SAP

We explore monitoring (and tools) for Azure Infrastructure resources as well as SAP services. 

Nathan and Ravi talk about why we wanted to start a Podcast and how we plan to share information.

You can write to us at connect[at]SAPonAzureTalk.com 

#SAPonAzureTalk

We discuss the concepts and tools around Disaster Recovery for SAP systems in Azure

Reference Links:

Disaster Recovery for SAP: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/site-recovery-sap

SAP on Azure Architecture guide: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/sap/sap-overview

We talk about why we need backups, different kind of backups for SAP, and tools available. (Bonus: why Backups should be boring)

Fact check: Iron Mountain (company) does offsite data storage too besides destroying documents 

Reference Links:

Azure Backup: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-overview

Azure backup for SAP HANA Support Matrix: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/sap-hana-backup-support-matrix

We discuss Azure landing zone considerations for SAP environments.

Reference Links

Azure Landing Zone discussion: http://azpodcast.azurewebsites.net/post/Episode-367-Enterprise-Scale-Landing-Zones

Landing Zone for SAP: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/scenarios/sap/ready

SAP Start/Stop Automation: https://github.com/Azure/SAP-on-Azure-Scripts-and-Utilities/tree/main/Start-Stop-Automation

We talk about how shared storage relates to SAP High Availability, use cases, and the types of shared storages available in Azure for SAP. We also discuss about what end-to-end high availability scenario looks like.  

Reference Links 

Composite SLAs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/framework/resiliency/business-metrics#composite-slas 

SAP on Azure solutions using Azure NetApp Files (ANF): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-netapp-files/azure-netapp-files-solution-architectures#sap-on-azure-solutions 

Azure Architecture Center: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/

SAP on Microsoft Azure - Architecture and Administration (SAP Press book by Ravi Kashyap): https://www.sap-press.com/sap-on-microsoft-azure_5174/

We discuss application level clustering and why it's important even if you have infrastructure level resiliency. 

High-availability architecture and scenarios for SAP: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/workloads/sap/sap-high-availability-architecture-scenarios

In this episode we explore what High Availability (HA) is, difference between application and infrastructure HA, and SAP components that needs HA. 

Reference Links: 

Azure Global Infrastructure:  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/ 

Understanding Availability Sets and Availability Zones: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/itops-talk-blog/understanding-availability-sets-and-availability-zones/ba-p/1992518 

Azure Proximity Placement Groups for SAP: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/workloads/sap/sap-proximity-placement-scenarios

We discuss what makes SAP architecture special on Azure - certification, high availability, and dive little bit into Platform as a Service