SAP Cloud: Keep it secure, reap maximum benefit

SAP offers a wide range of cloud solutions and is continually expanding its offerings. In addition, SAP is increasingly integrating its AI assistant Joule into all cloud products, from SAP Analytics Cloud to SAP S/4HANA Public Edition to SAP Datasphere. In SAP Build, business users can create UI components using natural language. AI makes SAP Cloud more productive, agile, and efficient.

Choosing SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud, or both requires some strategic preliminary work, but it pays off. Both cloud deployment models have many advantages, but also some disadvantages.

SAP identifies three core benefits of SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud: A first initial release can be set up relatively quickly thanks to many pre-configured best practices. Implementation costs are significantly less than those for SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud, and time-to-value is shorter, i.e., the time required to go into productive use. However, these advantages are offset by limited adaptability (customizing) that companies have to accept.

SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud is the ideal solution for growing companies with standardized processes that are looking for quick time-to-value versus lower costs.

SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud, which 58% of participants in this year’s valantic SAP study prefer, is much more flexible. Companies can transfer their SAP customizations (in-house developments), which can number in the hundreds or even thousands at larger companies. In addition, private cloud customers retain control over release cycles, allowing them to plan and control updates more accurately themselves.

The advantages of SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud, in turn, are offset by a number of disadvantages. More complex migration and higher operating and maintenance costs require customers to invest more effort and take on greater responsibility. They have to take care of more themselves than in the more carefree, but also more standardized public cloud.

SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud is ideal for large companies with complex processes and high customizing needs that also want to control their cloud solutions more effectively.

The cloud, which companies striving for business success are using strategically, is currently enormously important and relevant. In the survey conducted by valantic in cooperation with the Handelsblatt Research Institute “Digital 2030: The Rise of Applied AI”, cloud computing is at the forefront of technology trends. 83% of companies using SAP solutions named the cloud as one of the key technologies for business success over the next five years. This means that the cloud has even surpassed the current hype topic of artificial intelligence, which took fourth place on the relevance scale, and the perennial favorite cybersecurity (second place). Third place goes to the Internet of Things (IoT).

However, the many undeniable advantages of the cloud are offset by a number of concerns and pitfalls that are causing headaches for business decision-makers in the valantic SAP Study 2025. The ambiguous evaluation of costs is particularly striking. Many companies recognize the business benefits of the cloud, such as the elimination of their own data centers and lower operating costs (44%). At the same time, almost as many companies report significant financial hurdles in connection with the migration itself, especially when complex customizing or complex integration work becomes necessary (42%).

The picture is also mixed when estimating project duration. Although the rapid availability and low entry barriers of cloud-based systems are considered advantages (44%), in practice they frequently encounter technical complexity, which is particularly noticeable in legacy systems that have grown over the years. As an alternative, there is often only the time-consuming migration to the more adaptable and flexible private cloud.