SAP Business Technology Platform Multi-Cloud Strategy FAQs

In order to address the most commonly asked questions on our multi-cloud strategy and its execution (see blog posts here and here), we have compiled this document.

Last updated on May 28th 2021.

STRATEGY

What is the multi-cloud first strategy?

As outlined in this SAP Community blog, our goal is to open the way for our customers and partners to get the benefits of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) on their cloud infrastructure of choice. That goal was and is to leverage the investment of our cloud infrastructure partners (hyperscalers) and serve our customers and partners with more flexibility (cloud vendor of choice and larger network of available regions), reliability (use of hyperscaler infrastructures and their capabilities), and agility (broader range of development services and supported development paradigms).

How long will SAP BTP, Neo environment be supported?

SAP has not yet set an end of maintenance date for SAP BTP, Neo environment.

We place customer relationships and customer success first. Hence, we want to ensure their investments are protected as we guide our partners and customers along this journey with us.

Will there be any new investment in SAP BTP, Neo environment?

New services and enhancements will only be provided to support the multi-cloud first strategy, rather than more services for SAP BTP, Neo environment. SAP will launch more services for the multi-cloud foundation for SAP BTP to further diversify our offerings. Customers and partners will benefit from the additional services offered only in the multi-cloud foundation, such as SAP Integration Suite; SAP BTP, ABAP^® environment; SAP Work Zone; and more.

How does this multi-cloud first strategy impact net-new customer and partner contracts?

New customers and partners will be deployed on the multi-cloud foundation for SAP BTP by default. Special exceptions may apply for deals that are currently being negotiated.

CONTRACTS

Does this only impact net new customer / partner contracts?

Yes

Can existing customers or partners renew their Neo contracts, or buy more of the same?

All existing contracts will be honored and fulfilled without any disclaimer. This includes the specific rights in partner contracts with regard to renewals and extensions, up to the specified term. In addition:

• All existing customers and partners using SAP BTP, Neo environment will have the option to renew their expiring contracts with continued services to consume more of those services.
• Current partners with contracts for services in SAP BTP, Neo environment can access additional services that are still available. This can be done via subscription only.
• Up-selling of these services into existing accounts, directly through SAP or indirectly through SAP partners that have chosen the Sell track in the SAP PartnerEdge^® program, is possible without restriction.

Does this impact consumption-based contracts (CPEA – Cloud Platform Enterprise Agreement)? If so, how?

Consumption-based contracts will follow these rules:

• New customers and partners with consumption-based contracts will only be able to provision services in the multi-cloud foundation for SAP BTP.
• Current customers and partners with existing consumption-based contracts and provisioned services in SAP BTP, Neo environment will continue to be able to use their existing services.

Do I have to migrate to a multi-cloud environment? Are there any exceptions for customers or partners who don’t want to migrate to a multi-cloud environment?

SAP is not forcing customers or partners to migrate to a multi-cloud environment.

We are committed to supporting customers and partners, especially those with specific regional data center requirements or with compliance or other requirements that are only available on SAP BTP, Neo environment today.

However, since SAP is adopting a multi-cloud first strategy, SAP recommends that partners and customers do so as well. SAP is working on several migration paths and on developing support for migration from the various services in SAP BTP, Neo environment to services in a multi-cloud environment

Do customers need to sign contracts with the hyperscalers?

No. SAP contracts for infrastructure services with the hyperscalers directly. Customers and partners only need to enter into a contract with SAP.

SERVICE AVAILABILITY

Where can I find out which services are available and where they are available?

Customers and partners can go to the SAP Discovery Center site to explore the cloud services currently available on SAP Business Technology Platform and to discover in which regions each service is available.

What will happen for the services that SAP doesn’t offer SAP Cloud Platform on hyperscalers’ data centers yet?

SAP is taking a two-tier approach to service migration :

• Most used services and services that are completely or almost functionally equivalent will be moved to the multi-cloud environment.
• For services that differ considerably in their technical setup und concepts, SAP is going to offer the same business capabilities in the multi-cloud environment.

We provide detailed service comparisons in this blog and the service mapping can be found here.

I currently use the EU-only option in SAP BTP, Neo environment. Will this be available as part of the multi-cloud foundation for SAP BTP as well?

SAP is aware that this is a key requirement for some customers and partners. This option is not yet available on the multi-cloud foundation for SAP BTP for our partners.

MIGRATION SUPPORT

What guidance and help does SAP provide to customers or partners to migrate their applications to SAP Cloud Platform, multi-cloud environment?

When and how to migrate from SAP BTP, Neo environment to a multi-cloud strategy is a scenario-specific question that customers and partners will need to determine for their specific solutions. General information on migration can be found in the published documentation.

See the information on the SAP Help Portal: Migrating from the SAP BTP, Neo Environment to the multi-cloud foundation for SAP BTP.

Does SAP offer any tools and guidance for migrations?

SAP has set up a dedicated migration project to provide more help and support for our installed base. This migration project includes developing “migration packs” for various services in SAP BTP, Neo environment. These may contain one or more of the following:

Migration Handbook

• Describes what needs to be done to migrate the respective service successfully
• Will be kept up to date with the latest findings from successful customer migrations

How-To Guides, Best-Practice Guides, and FAQs

• Specialized approach needed for migration, based on the customer-specific implementation
• Continuously growing set of assets documenting and publishing these approaches to keep the discovery effort low

Migration Tools

• Set of scripts, utilities, or services to automate as many tasks as possible to carry out or facilitate the migration

Information on the currently available migration packs can be found in the published documentation.

See the information on the SAP Help Portal: Migrating Your Scenario Components: Migration Packs

SAP HANA Service for SAP BTP

How long will SAP HANA^® 1.0 be supported in SAP BTP, Neo environment?

The end of mainstream maintenance for SAP HANA 1.0 is June 2021. For more information, please see:

• SAP Note 2946614 – End-of-Maintenance of SAP HANA 1.0 in the SAP BTP, Neo Environment
• SAP Note 2021789 – SAP HANA 1.0 Revision and Maintenance Strategy

What happens to my SAP HANA 1.0 instance of SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment after the end-of-maintenance date?

SAP will not shut down SAP HANA 1.0 instances or forcefully upgrade them to SAP HANA 2.0 when SAP HANA 1.0 moves out of maintenance.

Do I have to migrate from SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment to SAP HANA Cloud, or can I just upgrade my SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment to SAP HANA 2.0?

You do not have to migrate your SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment to SAP HANA Cloud. As of Q4/2020, you can upgrade your SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment from SAP HANA 1.0 to SAP HANA 2.0 to stay on a supported version.

When will SAP HANA 2.0 for SAP BTP, Neo environment be available, and how will the upgrade work?

The upgrade to SAP HANA 2.0 is already available, as of Q4/2020, for the SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment. It is available via self-service in the SAP BTP cockpit. See the information on SAP Help Portal: Update Database Systems.

However, there are some restrictions and changes that will come with SAP HANA 2.0 in the
SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment:

• SAP HANA 2.0 only supports the “MDC” mode of SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment. So “XS” systems will need to be converted to “MDC” systems.
• SAP HANA 2.0 in the SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment will only support SAP HANA extended application services, classic model (XSC). SAP HANA extended application services, advanced model (XSA) will not be available.

For more information on upgrading to SAP HANA 2.0 in the SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment, see:

• SAP blog: SAP HANA 2.0: Welcome to SAP BTP, Neo environment
• SAP Note 2946614 – End-of-Maintenance of SAP HANA 1.0 in the SAP BTP, Neo Environment
• SAP Note 2960608 – Converting SAP HANA XS to SAP HANA MDC in the SAP BTP, Neo Environment
• SAP Help Portal: Update Database Systems

What is the minimum instance size for SAP HANA 2.0 in the SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment? I have a 32 GB instance on SAP HANA 1.0 today. Can that be upgraded to SAP HANA 2.0?

Existing 32 GB instances will continue to be supported on SAP HANA 2.0 in the SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment, and those systems can be upgraded to SAP HANA 2.0 today.

Additionally, new 32 GB instances of SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment using SAP HANA 2.0 can be provisioned after May 20, 2021.

How long will SAP HANA 2.0 be supported?

Recognizing the need for a maintenance period longer than two years, SAP has decided to identify SAP HANA 2.0 support package stack (SPS) 05 with long-term maintenance extending for five years after its release to customers. The product SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 05 will be supported through June 2025.

Note: This does not necessarily mean that SAP HANA service for SAP BTP based on SAP HANA 2.0 will be offered for the same period.

I am using SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment. When and how can I migrate to SAP HANA Cloud?

SAP HANA Cloud is available today in multi-cloud data centers only. However, guidance, tooling, and support to enable and facilitate such migrations is not yet available. SAP is evaluating migration paths from SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment to SAP HANA Cloud, but this has not yet been determined.

Can I migrate directly from SAP HANA 1.0 in the SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment to SAP HANA Cloud? Or will I need to upgrade to SAP HANA 2.0 first?

The currently planned support for migration to SAP HANA Cloud is based on SAP HANA 2.0 as the source system. So, if you plan to use the self-service migration tooling, if or when support for migration from the Neo environment is released, then you will need to be on SAP HANA 2.0 and should plan to upgrade.

Direct migration from SAP HANA 1.0 in the SAP HANA service for SAP BTP, Neo environment to SAP HANA Cloud is possible, but this is typically complex and an entirely manual effort that you will need to perform on your own. There is no support from SAP for this approach to migration and it is not recommended.

SAP BUSINESS APPLICATION STUDIO / SAP WEB IDE

We are using SAP Web IDE for development. Do we need to migrate and start using SAP Business Application Studio?

No. SAP Web IDE is still available for SAP BTP customers running on the Neo environment in accordance with the maintenance statements given previously in this document. Nothing should change for these customers. ​With SAP Web IDE, the developers can deploy extensions & new applications on both, Neo and Multi-cloud.

Does SAP Business Application Studio cover all the business scenarios supported by SAP Web IDE?

The story continues to evolve and we are working to improve and extend the tools to provide an enhanced and integrated development experience for native HANA development and across the entire SAP developer ecosystem. We are excited to inform you about the first public release of the HANA development story in SAP Business Application Studio.

Please follow the developer guides below:

• SAP HANA Cloud Developer Guide for Cloud Foundry Multitarget Applications (SAP Business App Studio)
• SAP HANA Cloud Modeling Guide for SAP Business Application Studio

What is the guidance from SAP for the customers that already leveraged WebIDE to build extensions on Neo? 

For productive usage:

We recommend to try out and use Business Application Studio, as it is the next generation of SAP Web IDE. It offers a modern desktop like experience in the cloud including new tools, capabilities and much more. For more information, take a look at the Business Application Studio central blog. Please note, SAP Web IDE is available and supported.

For trial:

Existing Neo trial can continue using SAP Web IDE Full-Stack on the SAP BTP, Neo trial environment until November 13, 2020. New trial users on can use SAP Business Application Studio on the SAP BTP, multi-cloud environment.

HIGH AVAILABILTY AND DISASTER RECOVERY FOR MULTI-CLOUD

Do we have a list of SAP BTP services supported for High Availability (HA)?

All SAP BTP services are planned to be HA enabled (meaning available on 3 Availability Zones) by end of 2020. For some services, e.g. SAP HANA, a service request is required when using the HA option.

Do we have a list of SAP BTP services supported for disaster recovery?

We offer standard and enhanced disaster recovery for SAP HANA on Neo, but we do not plan to offer it on hyperscalers. However, we will provide a HA implementation which can also serve as a first version of disaster recovery and can ensure superior RPO/RTO numbers. In data centers hosted by our partner Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers, the provider of the respective data center operates the infrastructure layer and is therefore responsible for handling the Disaster Recovery plan.

DATA

Where will my data reside?

SAP is using hyperscaler’s data storage and data persistence services to store the customers’ and partners’ data

TRIAL

Will we discontinue the trial in Neo environment?

The SAP BTP trial is meant to help users understand the value of the platform and test out new services and innovations. All these aspects are covered in alignment with our multi-cloud strategy. Therefore, new users will not be able to create new Neo trial accounts after August 13^th 2020.

There will be a transition period of 3 months for our Neo existing customers before we delete the trial accounts in Neo environment on 13th November. More information can be found in this blog.

What features and services are available on the multi-cloud trial?

For the documentation of trial accounts in the Cloud Foundry environment, please refer to here. For the latest list of services on multi-cloud trial, you can find it here.

If you have any questions that we haven’t been able to answer, we would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment, so our team will be in touch.

Disclaimer: All forward-looking roadmap statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates, and they should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.