SAP HANA Doesn’t Have to be Hard

Are you considering SAP HANA, but you’re not sure where to start?

SAP HANA is a relational database that runs in-memory for fast access, allowing business analysts to query large quantities of data without having to wait for the database to read and write data. This speed allows users to explore and analyze both analytical and transactional data from almost any data source.

However, users of SAP HANA face some common challenges:

1. Slow deployments can be costly

One common complaint with SAP HANA is that slow implementations can be costly. Rapid deployments can increase ROI. Most organizations can expect a cloud-based SAP HANA implementation in less than 30 days.

Using SAP HANA in the cloud allows businesses to shift from a large upfront capital expense to a more manageable monthly operational expense. This reduces the infrastructure total cost of ownership an average of 28% or more within a three-year period.

2. Latency and speed issues

There are speed benefits to being closer to the HANA production lines. Close geographic proximity puts your data nanoseconds away from the SAP HANA cloud engine. This is what happens when your application exists in the same data center as the HANA cloud. This type of speed is possible when you have a physical data center infrastructure that allows you to incubate, test, and grow IT environments that have a nanosecond access to HANA cloud.

Faster access improves flexibility because it allows you to grow an SAP HANA database, add new apps, and expand your geographic footprint giving you the lowest cost, greater speed, and least disruption. Having HANA in the cloud allows the service provider to focus on delivering an SAP HANA solution so that your IT department doesn’t have to accommodate a new platform and manage yet another system.

3. Security concerns

While many data centers offer five levels of security, there are advantages to being in the same data center as the SAP HANA cloud. One of them is that you have the benefit of not touching any public IP addresses, and another is that you have a point-to-point cross connect directly to the HANA cloud. This eliminates information exchange over public networks and allows a more secure point-to-point connection.

4. It’s a complex implementation

It’s unfortunate that SAP HANA has a reputation of being very complex and hard to deploy, especially with an on premise solution. By moving an on premise solution to the cloud, it allows your service provider to take care of complex configurations for you. While some businesses may be hampered by a complex on premise solution, having the right provider will make it easy to get customizations up and running quickly and easily. This allows the service provider to manage and optimize your SAP HANA implementation, so that your IT department doesn’t have to.

Optimization is critical for any system. Businesses have learned that optimization is not a once and done process. It is an ongoing process that requires a business to revisit and optimize on an ongoing basis. By having a strategic partner that manages your SAP HANA service, they can continue to help you optimize as they have learned some of the latest and greatest best practices from the industry.

5. No current analytics solution

What if your company doesn’t have an analytics tool; can you still get the benefits from all of those legacy systems that have disparate data that need to be combined into one dataset? Using SAP HANA, you can handle these large loads of data from legacy systems and tie them all together. This is one of the true business benefits of analytics.


SAP HANA doesn’t have to be hard. To be successful, you need a data center with flexible, scalable deployment that is close to the SAP HANA cloud. They will also need the available space and power to handle high-density equipment and still have interconnects to SAP HANA and other carriers.

Combining the right data center with an SAP HANA partner can give you access to the industry experts, speed, and security that your company needs to succeed.