Lesson:DescribingSAPHANA

However,currentbusinesssystemscannotcopewiththeincreasingdemandsofthedigital
world.WecannotjustkeepaddingmorecomplexitytoexistingITlandscapesinthehopewe
cankeeppacewithtrends.Whatisneededisafreshstart,timetostartwithablankcanvas
andrebuildthebusinesssystemsfromthebottomupusingonlythelatesttechnologies
alignedtothemoderndigitalworld.ThisisexactlywhatSAPhavedonebydevelopingSAP
HANA,aplatformbuiltforthedigitalworld.

ITComplexityisStiingGrowth

Figure2:TheProblemwithCurrentLandscapes

TypicalITlandscapeshavedevelopedovertimeintomultiplecomplexarrangementsof
purchased,acquiredwithdevelopedapplications,poweredbymultipleplatforms.These
platformscanbebasedonincompatiblehardwarefromdierentvendors,withdierent
operatingsystemsanddierentdatabases,andevendierentdevelopmentlanguages.Totry
andpulltogetherthesedierentapplicationsweaddedextraapplications.
TheITdepartmenthasbeenresponsiblefortheintegrationofthesesystems.Moving,
harmonizing,andcleaningdata,resultsinmultiplecopiesofthatdata.Wehaveplacedhuge
demandsonsystemresourcesduringbatchprocessingandexpectuserstowaitforlong
runningprocessessuchasnancialclose,consolidations,andMaterialsRequirement
Planning(MRP).
Complexlandscapescreatefragmentedbusinessviewsofdata.Toobtainaholisticview,
usersarerequiredtowaituntilconsolidationiscomplete.Developingnewapplicationsina
complexlandscapeisalsodicult,ittakestimeandisexpensivetobuildandmaintain.
ThereistoomuchITcomplexityinmostorganizations,complexlandscapesarecostlyto
maintainwithmultipleskillsneeded.
Complexityisstiinggrowthandsuppressesagilityandinnovation,whichiscriticalintodays
digitalworldinordertosurvive.

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