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Enterprise resource planning by SAP SE From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SAP S/4HANA is an enterprise resource planning software for large enterprises developed by SAP SE. It is the successor to both SAP R/3 and SAP ERP, and is optimized for SAP's in-memory database SAP HANA.
| |
| Developer(s) | SAP SE |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 3 February 2015 |
| Written in | ABAP |
| Operating system | Windows, macOS, Linux, Unix |
| Platform | Cross-platform (On-premises & Cloud) |
| Predecessor | SAP R/3 SAP ERP |
| Available in | Multi-lingual |
| Type | Enterprise resource planning |
| License | Commercial, Proprietary |
| Website | www |
SAP S/4HANA is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package meant to cover all day-to-day processes of an enterprise (for example, order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, plan-to-product, and request-to-service) and core capabilities.[1] It integrates functions from lines of businesses as well as industry solutions, and also re-integrates portions of SAP Business Suite products such as SAP SRM, SAP CRM and SAP SCM. As SAP Business Suite 4 only runs on the SAP HANA database it is packaged as one product: SAP S/4HANA.[2] SAP's classical R3, ERP and ECC based business suite and related products were designed to run on several database platforms, including those from Oracle, Microsoft and IBM.[3]
The SAP HANA platform has been available since 2010, and SAP applications like SAP ERP and the SAP Business Suite are able to run on the SAP HANA database and/or other supported database systems.[4]
The new suite, SAP S/4HANA,[5] launched on 3 February 2015 at the New York Stock Exchange. The event introduced cloud and on premises editions, with the on-premises edition becoming available on the same day. The cloud edition went live at SAPPHIRE NOW (SAP’s annual customer conference) on 6 May 2015 in Orlando, Florida.[6]
SAP S/4HANA was called SAP's biggest update to its ERP strategy and platform in over two decades.[7] Post-launch, Gartner analysts noted that SAP S/4HANA represented a "transformational shift," but raised questions about functionality, availability, pricing and migration issues surrounding S/4HANA.[8]
By 21 April 2015, 370 customers had purchased S/4HANA. After the first half of 2015, positive growth was confirmed for SAP. During the third quarter earning calls that took place in October 2015, SAP confirmed that S/4HANA had more than 1,300 customers.[9][10][11][12] [13] By the end of Q4 2016, SAP announced that 5,400 customers had implemented SAP S/4HANA, growing to 8,900 customers by 30 June 2018.[14]
SAP S/4HANA can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or through a hybrid model.[15] The S/4HANA product offering consists of various editions: SAP S/4HANA Cloud: previously called essentials edition (ES) and Multi-Tenant Edition, SAP S/4HANA Cloud extended edition: previously called Single-Tenant Edition, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, SAP S/4HANA On-Premise.[16]
SAP S/4HANA On-Premise is similar in terms of coverage, functionality, industry-specific support, and localization to the current SAP Business Suite (in 39 languages, 64 country versions).
SAP also offers SAP S/4HANA Cloud (in 18 languages, 33 country versions).[17] SAP has emphasized the product as pivotal to its cloud shift.[18]
Both editions consist of functionality for finance, accounting, controlling, procurement, sales, manufacturing, plant maintenance, project system, and product lifecycle management, plus integration with SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, SAP Hybris, SAP Fieldglass and SAP Concur.
SAP S/4HANA (on-premise) releases are once per year, SAP S/4HANA Cloud releases are 2 per year. Version coding for cloud edition: YYMM example 1709 - September 2017. Version coding for on-premise edition (since 2020): YYYY example 2020 - Release 2020.[19]
SAP S/4HANA On-Premise releases:
SAP S/4HANA Cloud releases:[22]
There are various ways to get to S/4HANA. This depends on a customer’s starting point. For example, new implementation, system conversion, and selective data transition.[32]
Both SAP S/4HANA on-premises and the SAP S/4HANA cloud editions have release strategies. The cloud editions are released semi-annually. The on-premises edition has one new release per year and receives additional functionality and corrections in the form of Feature Pack Stacks (FPS) or Service Pack Stacks (SPS) each quarter.[37]
On-premises: Each year, SAP traditionally shipped a new product version of its on-premises SAP S/4HANA product (e.g., SAP S/4HANA 1610), followed by three successive Feature Pack Stacks (FPS) on a quarterly basis. Subsequently, the previous product version received Service Pack Stacks (SPS) quarterly until the end of mainstream maintenance. However, with the release in October 2023, SAP introduced a significant shift in its release and maintenance strategy for SAP S/4HANA. The product now follows a two-year release cycle, providing a longer seven-year mainstream maintenance period per release. This change aims to offer customers greater opportunities for continuous innovation and a flexible path to cloud readiness. Additionally, more easily adoptable feature packs will be introduced every six months during the first two years of a release, reducing the need for disruptive upgrades and lowering total implementation costs.[38]
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