What is our primary use case?
We are using the solution for our mobile services mainly, and we have a full SAP Integration Suite.
How has it helped my organization?
SAP Cloud Platform has got a lot of new developments and innovative capabilities. Earlier, we used to have development with limited tools on-premise. After SAP Cloud Platform, which is currently known as SAP Business Technology Platform, it has got a different indication. For example, the analytics are on the cloud and it has got development interfaces. It has got intelligent technologies in different areas. We use all these innovative capabilities which SAP provides, and we develop our system and our applications based on that.
What is most valuable?
Technical support is helpful. We are in contact with them often.
The solution is stable.
It’s easy to maintain, as everything is handled by SAP.
The scalability is good.
We’re happy with all of the features on offer.
What needs improvement?
The current pricing model is credit-based. We would like to have more information about the usage of the existing applications. That could improve.
Recently, SAP has introduced login, more of a free trial where you can trial and error, so you can try something without paying any subscriptions, so that's good. So similar, more applications can be hosted on free trial so that people can try them first, and then if they like it, then they can go for it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I’ve been using the solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The performance is pretty good and it's also stable. We don't have any downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's completely managed by SAP, so you don't have to worry about the scalability part. You can just deploy your subaccounts and SAP would be managing the infrastructure and all the storage, networking, and everything. We will be able to just deploy applications and manage without having to worry about sizing.
Currently, we have around 30 users using it for development integration and different purposes. They are actually working on it. On the other side, the user point of it is around a thousand plus users on the application side.
Slowly, there are more and more products being introduced in the SAP Business Technology Platform, that's the Cloud Platform. We have a lot of systems running on-premise as well, and here is where you have the possibility to increase usage. Sometimes your on-premise systems will come to the end of life. You don't have to upgrade those systems which are running on-premise. Instead, you can migrate your application to the SAP Cloud Platform and start using the solutions which are provided by SAP. From that point of view, you don't have to do any system administration. You don't have to do any hardware maintenance. It will be completely managed basically. From our side, slowly the usage would be increased, for sure.
How are customer service and support?
We are a premier partner and have a premium account for SAP. We do have biweekly calls with the SAP account managers and SAP to promote the product, as and when needed. For example, currently, we have a lot of applications are running on the SAP data center. It's called Neo data center and SAP is slowly reducing the usage of the SAP data center SAP is encouraging to move to the multi-cloud. It's called Cloud Foundry, the Cloud Foundry open-source platform where you can do the developments in all the different hyperscalers. SAP is helping us to do the migration from the Neo platform, that is the SAP data center, to the Cloud Foundry data center.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had all the systems running on-premise. However, when the SAP Cloud Platform was introduced, then we started using the native solutions and native applications provided by SAP. You have the possibility to connect the backend systems which are running on-premise using SAP cloud connector. This is the kind of usage, that we started with when using the SAP Cloud Platform for the first time and we have been pretty happy.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty straightforward and SAP has got a lot of YouTube videos where they explain how to configure different applications or subaccounts and how to integrate with the backend systems. With a lot of SAP-provided YouTube videos, it’s easy.
We have slowly started deployment. W haven't gone for a big bang approach. Also, we have started using the Business Technology Platform, the SAP cloud applications. We have developed some small applications. Once we are quite familiar with it, then we will migrate the SAP applications from the cloud. We’re going nice and slow.
There is no maintenance needed on our side. It's completely managed by SAP and the deployment of the applications is pretty fast. You have a different environment where you do the development and your production, so you will use the subaccount server. You can do the developments in the development subaccount, then you can transport them to the production subaccount. It's super easy.
What about the implementation team?
We have a service provider. We use a third-party service and we have a native team who is supporting this application. We have an in-house team as well. At the same time, we have gotten pretty good help from SAP’s side.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't have the details about pricing. It's been managed by a different contract team. We have only the user-based information, and the technical information. The cost part is managed by a different team.
It's a subscription. You just subscribe to whatever services you want and you get certain credits upfront. For example, when you get a first-time account, and if you choose the SAP Cloud Platform, then SAP would be providing certain credits. That credit would be reduced based on your usage. At the end of the month, you will come to know how much credit is left for you, then you can just increase or start using
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not look at other options. Currently, we have a lot of dependency on the SAP product as we have 25 different SAP products running.
What other advice do I have?
SAP Cloud Platform is an online platform, so it's getting updated all the time. There is no particular version. We have a multi-cloud provider. In the SAP Cloud Platform, you can choose different hyperscalers according to your requirements. We have a few subaccounts running in SAP data centers and a few subaccounts running in Azure.
SAP has got a new program called RISE with SAP. For the RISE with SAP program, it's everything in a single contract with SAP. You don't have to have a different contract for different products. SAP would be hosting the infrastructure and you have the possibility to choose the hyperscalers. You can choose which hyperscaler you want to run your systems and the RISE with SAP program includes SAPs Cloud Platform. With that program, SAP is encouraging new greenfield implementations and for us, more customers. Also, they have plans for integrating with bigger customers as well. They have different options for this RISE with the SAP program. So that would be really nice if any new organization needs pitching into or trying to get in with the SAP Cloud Platform. RISE with SAP is the first thing that they have to go with. SAP will come and they'll cover all the information, whatever is needed.
I’d rate the solution nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partners