SAP applications now available from UAE Microsoft datacentres

Regional organisations can now run their SAP applications locally on Azure after Microsoft announced the availability of SAP workloads in the UAE data centre region.

The launch combines SAP software applications with the infrastructure of Microsoft Azure and is aimed at providing customers with a simplified cloud journey.

The Microsoft datacentres will also host the Microsoft M-Series virtual machines – ideal for heavy in-memory workloads, providing abundant computing power for SAP applications.

Read: GCC public cloud market to grow by 25% annually through to 2024: IDC

Early adopters of the joint offering include Dubai-based Landmark Group and RAK Ceramics. Landmark is running its HANA Data Platform for Enterprise Data Warehousing on the Azure Cloud, while RAK is running its ERP system (S/4HANA) on the Microsoft cloud platform.

“Our legacy hardware reached a point where it needed updating. Coupled with a need to have a highly scalable and multi-country infrastructure, a move to the cloud became our most cost-efficient option. Running our S/4HANA on Azure gave us a secure, highly scalable solution, and ease of migration allowed us to get up and running quickly,” said Saji Oommen, chief information officer at RAK Ceramics.

The latest development builds on a more than 25 years partnership between SAP and Microsoft who are also mutual customers.

It is forecasted that 80 per cent of enterprises will no longer use traditional data centres by 2025. Meanwhile, 73 per cent of SAP customers plan on deploying SAP S/4HANA.