SAP continues to be the main system that runs most large companies. It supports key business functions such as finance, supply chain, HR, logistics, and manufacturing. As companies move toward modern systems, they need a platform that can provide steady performance, work reliably across the world, offer strong security, give real-time insights, and connect easily with AI. Microsoft Azure provides this kind of platform and is certified to run even the largest SAP HANA systems. Azure also connects smoothly with Microsoft Fabric, Azure OpenAI, Defender for Cloud, Sentinel, and Azure Monitor. Because of this, organizations can go beyond using SAP only for transactions and turn it into a more intelligent and data-driven core system.
Why SAP on Azure Matters: Azure gives SAP systems the performance, stability, and global reach they need. It also includes built-in tools for analytics, AI, governance, and security, which are all essential for modern businesses.
Microsoft’s documentation on SAP workloads in Azure explains this broader modernization vision: Get started with SAP and Microsoft integration scenarios | Microsoft Learn.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters |
|
Platform Reliability |
Use SAP-certified VM SKUs / HANA Large Instances |
Ensures predictable, supported performance |
|
Security |
Enable Defender, Sentinel & Zero Trust |
Provides enterprise-grade threat protection |
|
Integration |
Connect SAP + Fabric + Azure OpenAI |
Enables AI, automation & advanced analytics |
|
Monitoring |
Use Azure Monitor + Log Analytics |
Ensures full visibility & faster incident resolution |
|
Global Reach |
Use multi-region & DR patterns |
Supports global SAP workloads with low latency |
|
Ecosystem Connectivity |
Use Logic Apps & APIM |
Enables smooth integration with CRM, HR, ERP, and mobile apps |
Azure Landing Zone: Every SAP deployment on Azure needs a strong starting point, and Azure Landing Zones provide that base. They create a well-structured environment with the right identity setup, access controls (RBAC), network layout, policies, logging, and security standards. This helps make sure SAP systems follow the company’s governance rules and operational standards right from the beginning.
Landing Zones are described in Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/ready/landing-zone/.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters |
|
Identity & RBAC |
Use Azure AD + least-privilege RBAC |
Enforces access control and audit readiness |
|
Networking |
Hub–spoke, ExpressRoute, SAP-isolated VNets |
Guarantees secure and scalable connectivity |
|
Governance |
Apply Landing Zone policies & guardrails |
Ensures SAP follows enterprise standards |
|
Logging |
Enable Azure Monitor + Log Analytics |
Provides operational visibility and auditing |
|
Security |
Use Defender, Key Vault, Zero Trust baselines |
Protects SAP data and mitigates threats |
|
Subscription Design |
Use dedicated SAP/non-prod/shared subs |
Improves cost management & lifecycle isolation |
SAP-Certified Azure Virtual Machines: After the foundation is prepared, SAP HANA and S/4HANA run on Azure virtual machines that are officially certified by SAP. Azure offers VM families built specifically for SAP needs, such as M-series for HANA, Ebdsv5 for memory-heavy workloads, and Azure BareMetal for very high-performance requirements.
Microsoft documents all SAP-certified VM types at: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/workloads/sap/.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters |
|
SAP HANA Compute |
Use SAP-certified M-Series VMs |
Only certified VMs meet SAP’s CPU, memory, and throughput standards. |
|
App Servers |
Deploy S/4HANA app servers on Ebdsv5 memory-optimized VMs |
Ensures stable performance for dialog steps and batch jobs. |
|
Extreme Performance |
Use Azure BareMetal nodes |
Dedicated hardware guarantees predictable, high-end SAP workload performance. |
|
Scalability |
Plan VM sizes with future growth in mind |
Avoids re-platforming and supports long-term SAP landscape expansion. |
|
Predictability |
Use only SAP-certified VM SKUs |
Ensures performance stability and maintains SAP support compliance. |
High-Performance Options for SAP: Below the compute layer, Azure provides several high-performance storage options that meet SAP’s strict requirements for speed and data throughput. Azure NetApp Files offers very low latency and is commonly used for HANA data and log volumes. Premium SSD v2 and Ultra Disk also provide steady, reliable performance for SAP application servers and other supporting components.
SAP performance requirements for storage and validated architectures are covered here:
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/architecture/reference-architectures/sap/run-sap-hana-for-linux-virtual-machines.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters |
|
SAP HANA Storage |
Use Azure NetApp Files (ANF) for HANA data, log, and shared volumes. |
ANF provides sub-millisecond latency and extremely high throughput required for SAP HANA certification and stable performance. |
|
Application Server Storage |
Place SAP application servers on Premium SSD v2 disks. |
Ensures consistent IOPS and throughput needed for SAP work processes, preventing slow dialog steps or queue delays. |
|
High-I/O Components |
Use Ultra Disk for log directories, transport directories, batch jobs, and other I/O-heavy operations. |
Ultra Disk delivers predictable low latency and scales up/down instantly based on workload demand. |
|
Backup & Archive Storage |
Use Standard SSD or Azure Blob Storage for SAP backups, archives, and non-critical volumes. |
Cost-effective storage for non-performance-critical data while maintaining durability and retention compliance. |
|
High Availability (HA) |
Choose zone-redundant storage where supported, especially for shared SAP directories. |
Protects against Availability Zone failures and improves overall SAP uptime and resilience. |
|
Throughput Optimization |
Size volumes based on IOPS + throughput, not just capacity. |
SAP workloads can saturate I/O long before storage capacity fills; correct sizing ensures optimal performance. |
|
Snapshot Strategy |
Use ANF snapshots and Azure Backup for SAP filesystem-level protection. |
Snapshots provide fast, application-consistent recovery with minimal overhead. |
Network & Connectivity [Secure, Low-Latency Access]: Since SAP systems rely heavily on stable network connections, companies use Azure Virtual Networks, private ExpressRoute circuits, and hub-and-spoke network designs to connect SAP to datacenters, users, and related applications. ExpressRoute delivers a dedicated and consistent private connection, which is important for the high volume of SAP traffic and the need for predictable network performance.
Microsoft’s ExpressRoute documentation describes the connectivity models in detail: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/expressroute/.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters |
|
Connectivity |
Use ExpressRoute Private Peering for SAP application and database traffic. |
SAP workloads generate large, latency-sensitive traffic; ExpressRoute provides predictable performance and avoids internet variability. |
|
VNet Design |
Deploy SAP systems in dedicated subnets with NSGs, UDRs, and segmentation between tiers (DB, App, Web). |
Segmentation reduces blast radius, enhances security, and allows independent scaling of SAP tiers. |
|
Architecture Model |
Use a Hub-and-Spoke architecture with shared services in the hub and SAP systems in spokes. |
Ensures centralized governance, consistent routing, shared identity/security services, and clean separation of workloads. |
|
Latency |
Keep SAP HANA, SCS/ERS, and App servers within the same region and preferably AZ-aligned. |
SAP performance is highly sensitive to latency; cross-region traffic degrades response times and impacts dialog steps. |
|
Security |
Use Azure Firewall or NVA in the hub for centralized inspection, logging, and policy enforcement. |
Provides a single control point for all SAP inbound/outbound flows and strengthens compliance posture. |
|
High Availability |
Deploy SAP components across Availability Zones where supported, and use zone-redundant gateways/firewalls. |
Ensures uptime targets are met even if an entire zone fails—critical for SAP business continuity. |
|
Hybrid Integration |
Enable ExpressRoute FastPath + BGP routing filters + Global Reach (if multi-datacenter). |
Improves routing efficiency, reduces hop count, and provides predictable hybrid network behavior. |
|
Name Resolution |
Use Azure Private DNS Zones for SAP components and integrate with on-prem DNS when required. |
Reliable name resolution ensures SAP app servers, HANA, and interfaces communicate without failures. |
|
Traffic Flow Control |
Apply NSGs, ASGs, and deny-by-default rules between non-SAP zones and SAP subnets. |
Helps enforce least-privilege network access and reduces the chance of lateral threat movement. |
|
Monitoring & Diagnostics |
Enable NSG flow logs, VNet diagnostics, ExpressRoute monitoring, and Traffic Analytics. |
Provides visibility into SAP traffic patterns, dependency chains, and early detection of routing issues. |
SAP S/4HANA and Supporting Components: At the application layer, Azure can run the complete SAP environment, including HANA databases, Central Services (SCS/ERS), SAP application servers, and components such as Fiori or the Web Dispatcher. Azure supports both traditional distributed setups and scale-out SAP architectures across different Availability Zones.
Microsoft explains how to design high-availability SAP applications on Azure in its guide: SAP workload configurations with Azure Availability Zones | Microsoft Learn.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters |
|
HANA Database Deployment |
Use scale-up for simplicity and scale-out for large analytics loads. Deploy HANA across Availability Zones. |
Ensures performance and resilience for production SAP environments. |
|
Central Services (SCS/ERS) |
Deploy SCS + ERS across Availability Zones to remove single points of failure. |
Critical for SAP system stability and lock handling. |
|
Application Servers |
Run multiple dialog instances across zones and use load balancing. |
Ensures high throughput and horizontal scalability. |
|
Fiori / Web Dispatcher |
Deploy redundant Web Dispatchers in multiple zones. |
Supports web traffic distribution and seamless failover. |
|
Networking |
Place all SAP components inside a secured Hub-Spoke VNet with NSGs and Azure Firewall. |
Enhances SAP application isolation and security. |
|
Storage |
Use Premium SSD v2 or ANF for application tier and shared filesystems. |
Meets SAP I/O performance requirements. |
|
Availability Zones |
Deploy at least two zones for HANA, SCS/ERS, app servers, and Fiori components. |
Provides architectural high availability for mission-critical SAP workloads. |
|
Monitoring |
Enable Azure Monitor for SAP for end-to-end insights (HANA, NetWeaver, OS). |
Replaces third-party tools and gives unified visibility. |
|
Backup / DR |
Use Azure Backup (Backint) for HANA and Site Recovery for app-tier DR. |
Protects mission-critical data and ensures business continuity. |
Connecting SAP to Enterprise Systems: Modern SAP systems do not work alone, and Azure provides built-in services that make it easier for SAP to connect with the rest of the business. Azure Logic Apps offers a dedicated SAP connector for process-to-process integration. Azure Functions supports small, event-based automations triggered by SAP activities. Azure API Management helps publish SAP interfaces securely for internal teams or external partners. Event Grid and Service Bus enable event-driven communication so SAP can connect with CRM systems, HR platforms, mobile apps, partner applications, and AI-driven workflows.
Microsoft’s integration documentation for Logic Apps and SAP is available here: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/logic-apps/logic-apps-using-sap-connector.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters |
|
Process Integration |
Use Azure Logic Apps with SAP Connector for stable, long-running workflows. |
Provides low-code integration patterns and native SAP connectivity. |
|
Event-Based Automation |
Use Azure Functions for lightweight triggers from SAP events. |
Enables fast, scalable automation with minimal overhead. |
|
API Exposure |
Use Azure API Management to publish SAP interfaces securely. |
Centralized API gateway with throttling, security, analytics, and versioning. |
|
Event-driven Architecture |
Use Event Grid / Service Bus to decouple SAP from downstream systems. |
Reduces coupling, improves reliability, and supports high-throughput messaging. |
|
Security & Governance |
Integrate Entra ID for authentication and Defender for APIs. |
Ensures secure access and protects SAP endpoints. |
|
Data Flow Management |
Route data to Fabric or Dataverse depending on analytics vs. app workflow needs. |
Creates clean downstream consumption paths for BI, AI, or business apps. |
|
Hybrid Support |
Use SAP RFC, IDOC, or OData adapters with VNet integration. |
Maintains secure, low-latency connectivity for on-prem SAP estates. |
|
AI Integration |
Add Azure OpenAI or Cognitive Services for natural-language and automation workflows. |
Enables copilots, anomaly detection, and intelligent processing around SAP. |
Microsoft Fabric (OneLake) and SAP: Data and analytics are a key part of modernizing SAP, and Microsoft Fabric plays an important role in this. Fabric creates a single data layer using OneLake, where both SAP and non-SAP data can be stored together in a controlled and organized environment. It supports real-time reporting, data engineering, data warehousing, lakehouse architecture, and AI model development—all from one platform.
SAP data can be moved into Fabric using Data Factory pipelines, SAP OData connectors, partner tools, or by referencing existing ADLS storage through shortcuts.
Fabric documentation provides an end-to-end view of these capabilities: https://learn.microsoft.com/fabric/.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why This Matters for SAP Modernization |
|
OneLake Unified Storage |
Use OneLake as the single data foundation for SAP and non-SAP datasets. |
Eliminates fragmented data silos and allows SAP teams to analyze ERP data alongside CRM, IoT, finance, and external datasets. |
|
Data Factory Pipelines |
Build scalable ingestion pipelines that extract SAP data using ETL/ELT patterns. |
Provides reliable movement of large SAP tables, BW extractors, and S/4HANA data into Fabric without performance bottlenecks. |
|
SAP OData & Partner Connectors |
Integrate SAP transactional and master data using native OData APIs or SAP-certified connectors. |
Ensures the ingestion process respects SAP metadata, hierarchies, and business semantics. |
|
ADLS Shortcuts |
Use OneLake shortcuts to reference existing ADLS data instead of making redundant copies. |
Reduces storage cost, improves governance, and accelerates onboarding of SAP datasets into Fabric. |
|
Fabric Engines (Lakehouse, Warehouse, Real-Time, ML) |
Host SAP data inside Fabric Lakehouse or Warehouse and enable real-time analytics or ML on top. |
Supports finance reporting, supply chain analytics, predictive forecasting, and AI automation from one governed platform. |
|
Unified Governance |
Apply Fabric’s built-in governance and Purview lineage tracking across SAP ingestion pipelines. |
Improves auditability, security, and data trust—critical for regulated SAP workloads. |
|
ML Across Enterprise Data |
Use Fabric ML or Azure ML to train models using both SAP data and external signals. |
SAP-only models are limited; combining datasets improves forecasting, risk modeling, and anomaly detection accuracy. |
Azure AI + Azure OpenAI for SAP: Artificial intelligence adds a new level of intelligence to SAP systems. Azure OpenAI allows users to interact with SAP data in plain language, helping them ask questions like “Explain last month’s P&L changes” or “Show unusual inventory patterns.” Azure AI Search adds deeper search and discovery across SAP datasets, while Azure Machine Learning supports use cases such as supply-chain forecasting, financial risk analysis, and equipment maintenance predictions.
Fabric’s machine-learning features extend this by allowing training on combined SAP and non-SAP data, giving more complete and accurate insights.
Microsoft provides documentation on these AI components at:
Azure OpenAI → https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-services/openai/
Azure AI Search → https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/search/
Azure ML → https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/machine-learning/.
|
AI Capability |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters for SAP |
|
Azure OpenAI |
Enable natural-language access to SAP data so users can ask questions such as “Explain my month-end P&L variance” or “Show inventory anomalies.” Integrate with SAP via API, OData, or data exported into Fabric. |
Makes SAP insights accessible to business users without needing SAP query skills. Greatly improves decision-making speed. |
|
Azure AI Search |
Build a semantic search index over SAP datasets (finance, supply chain, materials, sales) to allow deeper business queries. Leverage semantic ranking and vector indexing for ERP data. |
Helps users find patterns and information across SAP tables that are too complex to search manually. |
|
Azure Machine Learning |
Use AutoML or custom ML models for forecasting, risk scoring, and anomaly detection. Train models using both SAP transactional data and external signals. |
Supports use cases such as supply chain planning, financial risk prediction, and maintenance forecasting with better accuracy. |
|
Microsoft Fabric ML |
Use Fabric’s unified lakehouse to combine SAP and non-SAP data, then train ML models across OneLake with centralized security and lineage. |
SAP data alone is often not enough—Fabric allows holistic modeling by bringing in CRM, IoT, finance, and market data. |
|
AI-Driven Enterprise Insights |
Combine OpenAI responses, search intelligence, and ML predictions to build role-based AI copilots for finance, supply chain, HR, and operations teams. |
Turns SAP into an intelligent enterprise system instead of only a transactional ERP. |
Zero Trust and SAP Governance: Security needs to be built into every part of the SAP environment. Microsoft Defender for Cloud helps manage security posture, detect threats, and protect workloads across the SAP landscape. Microsoft Sentinel works as a cloud-based SIEM/SOAR solution that identifies unusual activity across SAP systems, networks, and user identities. Entra ID manages identity and access control, while Azure Key Vault secures encryption keys, passwords, certificates, and other sensitive information.
Microsoft’s Defender for Cloud documentation includes SAP-specific protections: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/defender-for-cloud/.
|
Security Layer |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters for SAP Landscapes |
|
Microsoft Defender for Cloud |
Enable SAP-specific workload protection, continuous posture management, and real-time threat detection across HANA, application servers, and OS layers. |
SAP stores sensitive financial, HR, procurement, and operational data. Defender ensures misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and threats are identified immediately. |
|
Microsoft Sentinel |
Integrate SAP security logs, identity events, network telemetry, and infrastructure alerts into Sentinel for SIEM/SOAR analytics and automated incident response. |
SAP systems are frequently targeted by credential attacks and lateral movement attempts. Sentinel correlates signals across identity, network, and SAP workload layers to detect abnormal behavior quickly. |
|
Microsoft Entra ID |
Apply Conditional Access, RBAC, MFA, and Identity Protection for SAP administrators and service accounts. Use PIM for privileged roles. |
Identity is the top entry point for attackers. Entra ID secures access to SAP systems and prevents unauthorized elevation of privileges. |
|
Azure Key Vault |
Store HANA encryption keys, database credentials, SAP service passwords, certificates, and automation secrets securely with rotation policies. |
Key Vault prevents exposure of sensitive secrets and supports compliance for encrypted HANA storage and secure SAP integration patterns. |
|
Network Security |
Use segmented VNets, NSGs, Azure Firewall, and private endpoints to isolate SAP components and protect east-west traffic. |
SAP workloads require strong isolation because compromised network paths can expose the entire application landscape. |
|
Monitoring & Threat Visibility |
Use Azure Monitor + Defender alerts + Sentinel analytics to provide unified visibility into SAP DB, app, OS, VM, and network activity. |
Continuous monitoring dramatically reduces mean-time-to-detect (MTTD) and mean-time-to-respond (MTTR) for SAP incidents. |
|
Compliance & Governance |
Enforce Azure Policy for encryption, approved regions, VM hardening, identity rules, and resource tagging. |
Ensures SAP systems run in a compliant state and meet enterprise audit requirements automatically. |
Azure Monitor for SAP: SAP operations also require deep observability, and Azure Monitor for SAP delivers a unified view of HANA database health, application telemetry, OS performance, log analytics, alerts, and dependency mapping. It replaces the need for third-party monitoring tools by providing a cloud-native way to monitor SAP performance and dependencies. Microsoft’s monitoring guidance is available here: SAP Monitoring with Azure Monitor for SAP | Microsoft Learn.
|
Area |
Recommendation |
Why It Matters |
|
End-to-End Monitoring |
Use Azure Monitor for SAP to consolidate HANA, S/4HANA, OS, and VM telemetry into a single pane of glass. |
Ensures operations teams don’t rely on fragmented tools and reduces troubleshooting time. |
|
HANA Database Health |
Enable native database metric collection with alert rules for CPU, memory, column store compression, and log volume. |
Helps identify early signs of performance degradation and supports capacity planning. |
|
SAP Application Insights |
Integrate SAP S/4HANA and NetWeaver telemetry into Log Analytics for correlation with infrastructure signals. |
Provides full transparency into how SAP workloads behave in production. |
|
OS & VM Monitoring |
Capture Linux OS metrics, VM performance counters, and system logs through the Azure Monitor agent. |
Essential for diagnosing issues caused by OS or infrastructure rather than SAP itself. |
|
Log Analytics & Alerts |
Build custom dashboards and ML-driven alerts using Log Analytics workspaces. |
Enables advanced operational intelligence and reduces manual monitoring. |
|
Dependency Mapping |
Use network maps and distributed tracing to understand how SAP components interact. |
Improves root-cause analysis and supports complex multi-tier troubleshooting. |
|
Integration with ITSM |
Connect Azure Monitor with ServiceNow or BMC Helix via ITSM connectors. |
Automates incident creation and ensures SAP issues follow enterprise ticketing workflows. |
SAP HA/DR on Azure: SAP systems require strong monitoring to keep operations running smoothly. Azure Monitor for SAP provides a single view of the HANA database, SAP application layer, operating system metrics, logs, alerts, and dependency paths. It removes the need for separate monitoring tools by offering a cloud-native approach to monitoring SAP performance, stability, and system behavior.
Microsoft explains SAP’s HA and DR guidance across these documents:
High Availability → Azure VMs HA architecture and scenarios for SAP NetWeaver | Microsoft Learn
Disaster Recovery → https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/sap/workloads/disaster-recovery-sap-guide.
|
HA/DR Capability |
Recommendation |
Why This Is Important for SAP |
|
HANA System Replication (HSR) |
Use synchronous replication for high availability within Availability Zones, and asynchronous replication for cross-region DR. |
Ensures the HANA database remains available even if an entire zone fails, protecting mission-critical workloads like S/4HANA. |
|
SAP Application Server Failover |
Deploy multiple application servers across different Availability Zones with load-balancing and auto-recovery. |
Allows SAP users to continue operations even if one app server or zone becomes unavailable. |
|
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) |
Use ASR to orchestrate full-stack failover for the SAP application tier and supporting VMs to a secondary region. |
Provides automated DR with controlled RTO/RPO, covering more than just the database layer. |
|
Azure Backup for SAP HANA (Backint) |
Configure Backint-certified backups with daily full backups and frequent log backups for point-in-time recovery. |
Ensures the HANA database can be restored quickly, with SAP-certified backup methods required for compliance. |
|
Multi-Layer Business Continuity |
Combine HSR + zonal failover + ASR + Backint backups to meet enterprise HA/DR SLAs. |
SAP landscapes require protection at the database, application, OS, and infrastructure layers—no single solution is sufficient alone. |
|
Network Resiliency |
Use zone-redundant load balancers and redundant ExpressRoute circuits for stable connectivity. |
Ensures SAP traffic remains consistent and predictable during outages or failovers. |
|
Operational Testing |
Perform quarterly failover and restore testing of HSR, ASR, and backup processes. |
Validates DR readiness and ensures compliance with enterprise governance and audit expectations. |
When all these layers come together, SAP on Azure becomes much more than just a hosting platform. It turns SAP into a modern and intelligent core system that supports strong governance, real-time visibility, integrated analytics, and automation powered by AI. This approach allows organizations to move to S/4HANA more easily, operate on a global scale, improve performance, and gain insights that were not possible in traditional datacenters.
Microsoft