Data analysis is an important process in today’s business management process and SAP S/4HANA is one of the supporting systems for this process. The solutions from SAP ERP are being used popularly in a lot of countries around the world, although lots of people still do not understand this software clearly. So, what is SAP S/4HANA? What features and benefits does this software have for enterprises? Get the details right about this technology software through the article with BAP Software!
1. What is SAP S/4HANA?
SAP S/4HANA is software that uses a database from SAP HANA. Source: blogs.sap.com
To understand SAP S/4HANA, firstly, we need to know what SAP HANA is. SAP HANA (High-performance analytic appliance) is an ultra-high-speed database system provided by SAP – a large software engineering development company in Germany.
SAP S/4HANA is a new generation SAP ERP solution based on the SAP HANA platform. ERP is an acronym for the phrase “Enterprise Resource Planning”, which is used to refer to a method of managing all core basic information such as accounting, human resources, production, distribution, and sales.
The current ERP system provided by SAP is SAP S/4HANA. This software was launched in 2015 as a fourth generation ERP system. The introduction of this software allows systems in the enterprise to process data more quickly and accurately.
2. The differences between SAP S/4HANA and SAP HANA
Because of the same names, SAP S/4HANA and SAP HANA are often confused when the two terms are different.
- SAP HANA is a database solution system using internal memory technology.
Compared to common application systems, the SAP HANA’s database is implemented entirely in internal memory. This makes reading and recording on RAM faster and more efficient.
- Meanwhile, SAP S/4HANA which is based on SAP HANA, is an ERP product provided by SAP.
We can simply understand that SAP S/4HANA and SAP HANA are two completely separate concepts and SAP S/4HANA only uses some SAP HANA data simultaneously.
3. Features of SAP S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA uses a database and inherits many features of SAP HANA. Source: ngsc.vn
SAP S/4HANA uses the SAP HANA’s database, thus inheriting and promoting many preeminent features of this system, such as:
- SAP S/4HANA eliminates some middleware to process data at extremely high speed.
When SAP S/4HANA was born, SAP rebuilt the complete ERP solution based on SAP HANA. Therefore, the data model is simplified, making the processing speed faster. Not only that, the high-speed processing also thanks to the reduction of the intermediate tables, allowing the processing of computational epochs.
- UI and UX are significantly improved.
With the fourth SAP ERP system, the UI/UX has been significantly adjusted and the configuration is simplified and easier to use. As a result, the number of screen switching times is reduced and then improves work efficiency.
- SAP S/4HANA bundles functions together.
SAP S/4HANA determines the core scope by reducing the redundancy between SCM and CRM. Besides, this software also integrates the core system (OLTP) and analysis system (OLAP) to operate multiple business activities on an integrated system.
OLTP is an acronym for Online Transaction Processing, which is a traditional data transaction processing system. Nowadays, OLTP is often applied to record databases in the banking system, applications in business administration, retail services, computer science, etc. It can be seen that OLTP is a very important system for many industries today.
OLAP is an acronym for Online Analytical Processing, which is a system whose task for analyzing data. Unlike OLTP, the OLAP system can process extremely large amounts of data efficiently and effectively.
The main operation in an OLAP system is a big data query that takes a long time to execute. The OLAP system has a smaller number of users than the OLTP system, mainly for management and analysts.
4. Benefits of implementing SAP S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA brings many benefits to the business administration process. Source: eyeonquality.com
SAP S/4HANA is introduced to enable faster calculation, improve operational efficiency and productivity, and enable access to data processing at extremely high speeds. It can be said that implementing SAP S/4HANA brings many benefits to enterprises, specifically as follows:
- Helping enterprises make quick decisions:
The first benefit that enterprises get when implementing SAP S/4HANA is being able to make quick decisions by analyzing and reporting on the same system. To do this, SAP S/4HANA has helped enterprises through centralized management of business data, monitoring events that are happening in the enterprises in real time to make timely decisions.
- High-speed data processing to improve work efficiency:
SAP S/4HANA’s “internal database” transports computational memory to analyze large amounts of management information data. At the same time, the data processing functions of different operations are integrated into one system, which reduces the data entry time for each operation, connects the processing of various tasks, and synchronizes data.
Thanks to data integration and synchronization, SAP S/4HANA increases the speed of response from the in-memory database, thereby improving operational efficiency.
- Take advantage of features from On-premises and Cloud:
SAP S/4HANA software supports system transformation from On – premises to Cloud and conversely, thereby taking advantage of all the features of these two system environments.
On Premises has outstanding features such as users can have full access to data at low long-term costs, accessing data without the Internet, extremely tight data security policies and procedures, data storing in separate centers.
Meanwhile, Cloud has features such as helping users access data anytime, anywhere, and can store large data traffic, but depends on third parties, making information security poorer. Overall, the features of On Premise and Cloud computing offset each other.
- Ensure security:
SAP S/4HANA enhances security administration for enterprise systems by applying security measures such as centralized data management, and implementing thorough internal controls.
- Proposing new improvements:
SAP S/4HANA system links data between departments in the enterprise, analyzes input data, and proposes new improvements.
- Optimizing business processes:
SAP S/4HANA system improves business operations and administration with smart tools. These tools provide automated business processes consisting of finance, human resources, production and distribution of products.
5. SAP S/4HANA Context for the next few years
SAP S/4HANA will likely be used by many businesses after 2027. Source: pikon.com
SAP ERP is considered the leading integrated technology system in the market nowadays. Recently, SAP announced that this enterprise will stop supporting ERP solutions from 2025. It is one of the dilemmas in the next few years, and SAP will extend support until 2027 in regard to users’ system transitions.
To solve this problem, enterprises need a proper solution to maintain SAP ERP before 2027.
- Solution 1: Convert the system to SAP S/4HANA
The first solution that can be used is to convert to the SAP S/4HANA system. However, enterprises should note that SAP S/4HANA is not based on any database other than SAP HANA.
- Solution 2: Continue using the SAP ERP system
If not using solution 1, enterprises can consider continuing to use the SAP ERP system. After 2027, SAP will no longer provide technical support for this system, if there is a system failure no updated fixes will be provided. Therefore, to implement this option, enterprises will need to sign a system maintenance service contract with a third party.
- Solution 3: Use another company’s ERP product
Converting the system to SAP S/4HANA or continuing to use SAP ERP is both time-consuming and laborious. Therefore, if you do not want to use these two solutions, you can consider using ERP services at other companies.
Conclude
So, the above is all information about “what SAP S/4HANA is” as well as the benefits of implementing SAP S/4HANA before 2027. As can be seen, SAP S/4HANA is the first generation of SAP ERP software advancements that give enterprises many benefits in managing their business processes.
SAP’s discontinuation of support for ERP solutions can be seen as an opportunity for enterprises to deploy SAP S/4HANA. Therefore, this is a suitable time for enterprises to learn about this software and consider using it in the future.
In Vietnam, there are quite a few enterprises providing information technology services as well as SAP services. In particular, BAP Software is also one of the enterprises that provide SAP services professionally with a team of experienced staff. If you need to use these services, contact BAP today!
