SAP Cloud Platform is an enterprise Platform-as-a-Service, and SAP HANA Service is the company's Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) with an in-memory database and a variety of application services. If you have even a passing knowledge of Big Data, then you know about SAP HANA, a stellar relational database management system (RDBMS) with an in-memory database and real-time analytics. It processes data stored in random access memory (RAM) instead of on a disk. So, it was with keen interest that I took SAP HANA Service (which begins at $483 per month) for a test drive. For this review, I used the Free Developer Edition, which can also be accessed from other SAP platforms, too, including SAP.com, SAP Community Network, and SAP Cloud apps. Although SAP Cloud Platform is a strong offering that earns points for its integration with SAP HANA, overall it trailed behind Editors' Choice winners Microsoft Azure SQL Database and MongoDB Atlas in our DBaaS solutions review roundup.
As of this writing, SAP was cautioning users that European Union (EU) access is not possible in the Cloud Foundry environment. The warning did not apply to the Neo environment. I suspect this was due to the adjustments all DBaaS vendors were making to help users be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), but I have not yet verified that assumption.
Those exception notices aside, I found SAP Cloud Platform to be a powerful service, which is no surprise given it is SAP HANA-driven. But it is also better suited to large enterprises working with massive data sets—also not a surprise given the company's Big Data roots. But none of that is to say that SAP is still bound to the SAP HANA utility. It has added a spread of functionalities and features to its cloud platform beyond that originally defining factor.
While it is simpler to use than Hadoop (everything is simpler than Hadoop) and has a simpler user interface (UI) than many of its DBaaS peers, the platform is still maturing, and its dual environments for developers is a bit confusing and potentially restrictive. For those reasons, we give it a 3.5 Editors' Rating.
Similar Products
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
MongoDB Atlas
Amazon Relational Database Service
Google BigQuery
IBM Db2 on Cloud
Pricing Model
Paid packages for the SAP HANA DBaaS come in subscription and usage models. In either scenario, you'll be required to pay up front. The plus side of the SAP pricing models: no contortions are needed to arrive at the price. Starter subscription packages begin at $483 per month, and Enterprise packages start at $1,749 per month. Use case pricing scenarios simplify price estimates for the usage model. SAP also offers a free trial offering.
SAP Base Edition on the Cloud Platform is similar to SAP HANA Standard Edition on-premises, while SAP HANA Platform Edition on the Cloud is comparable to SAP HANA Enterprise Edition on-premises. SAP was in the process of making some improvements when I did this review, so you may notice some differences later on in the processes I describe and rate here. One example is SAP's announcement that users will soon be able to access all of their global accounts from the home page without first navigating through regions and environments. SAP also announced that users will soon be able to create subaccounts in any region or environment. Neither of those features existed at the time of the review.
Step by Step
First, go to the SAP Cloud Platform website and click either the Free Developer Edition at the top right of the page or scroll down to the Pricing & Packaging link, which will lead you to signing on for one of those options. Once signed in to the Free Developer Edition, the timer will expire too fast. I found it inconvenient to have to sign in again after any pause that took longer than a sneeze. I must have signed on again eleventy-seven times. Alas, mine is a busy office and the re-sign-in is just a small aggravation.
Data migration options are to install a new system on SAP HANA, migrate a traditional database to SAP HANA, or use the DMO tool to upgrade and migrate the data in one step. In short, you're probably better off soliciting the help of your DBA from the outset.
Once on the Cloud Platform, click "Data and Storage" and choose the database management systems service you want to use. Follow the prompts to provision the database. The Free Developer Edition will guide you through the database spinup, tools, and services. I wouldn't call it simple but it isn't overly difficult for the average developer to use.
In the paid editions, you'll choose from two versions of HANA: Standard and Advanced Enterprise. The Standard version has most of the core database features, but the Advanced Enterprise version has a lot of cool extras, such as the ability to layer a graph over a table without having to move anything. Since the computing is done in-memory, everything's very fast.
Integration in any cloud is still a challenging exercise, but SAP has a bit of a leg up on that by virtue of how deeply entwined HANA is with large enterprises. Many companies that would be interested in this DBaaS are probably already using SAP products or services.
The Toolbox
SAP Development tools include ABAP for SAP NetWeaver, BW modeling tools, a variety of Java-based cloud platform tools, cloud integration tools, HANA tools, identity management (IdM), and mobile tools, plus a UI development toolkit for HTML5.
If you don't want to slog through the list, then choose the Starter Edition where everything you need is already bundled for you. SAP has two development environments and both are available in several regions. SAP alone provides 12 regions in the Neo environment. Several providers offer the six regions in the Cloud Foundry environment, and some are third party, namely, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.
The SAP Ops team provides backup and restore for HANA, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL (aka Postgres)services. The list of available backups for each service instance is found under "Backups" under the respective service, such as MongoDB. Backups are done once daily for managed plans of MongoDB and PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL on SAP Cloud also backs up in two-hour increments, but incremental backups for MongoDB are not yet available. Backups are stored for 14 days and there are no other options.
SAP Cloud Platform will mostly appeal to developers and analysts working for companies that already use HANA and SAP products and services. This product needs improvements as having two development environments is confusing but manageable. However, SAP says several modifications to the DBaaS are coming soon, and that some may be in place by the time this review is published.
SAP HANA Service needs to mature, but it's still a powerful and unique Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) solution with many important capabilities.
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