đ SAP & Microsoft Sign 3-Year Strategic Partnership
Simplifying SAP Cloud Migrations
When two giants of the enterprise software world shake hands, itâs worth paying attention. On October 21, 2019, SAP and Microsoft signed a three-year strategic partnership agreement, aiming to help their joint enterprise customers modernize and migrate their business processes into the cloud.
This deal doesnât just tighten SAPâs relationship with Microsoftâs Azure cloud platformâit also highlights SAPâs strategy of working with all three hyperscalers: Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. Internally, SAP calls this initiative Project Embrace. And that name is telling: SAP isnât picking sides. Instead, itâs embracing the entire cloud ecosystem.
That said⌠itâs clear Microsoft Azure holds a special place at the table.
đ New Leadership, New Focus
Interestingly, the announcement came shortly after SAPâs longtime CEO Bill McDermott stepped down, making way for Jennifer Morganâthe first woman to lead a company listed in Germanyâs blue-chip DAX index.
And what did Morgan focus on in her first major announcement?
SAP S/4HANA. No surprise there.
SAPâs flagship product, S/4HANA, remains at the heart of its cloud transformation strategy. As Morgan highlighted during the companyâs Q3 earnings call, SAP posted a 10% revenue increase for the quarterâa sign that the transition from on-premise to cloud services is already paying off.
âď¸ Why This Partnership Matters
In Morganâs own words:
âWeâve bundled SAPâs cloud platform services to support customers around extension, integration, and orchestration of SAP systems.â
Translation: SAPâs cloud services will now be sold through Microsoftâs global sales channels. For customers, this means:
Simplified purchasing
Integrated support models
A more cohesive roadmap for running SAP workloads on Azure
Why does this matter? Because historically, migrating from on-prem SAP systems to the cloud wasnât exactly⌠smooth. Many enterprises viewed SAP cloud transformations as:
Overcomplicated
Resource-intensive
Risky
And full of hidden costs
This partnership is SAP and Microsoftâs joint response to those concerns.
đŻ The Strategic Reality: SAP Cloud or Azure?
Now, hereâs a nerdy detail many outside SAP circles donât realize:
SAPâs own SAP Cloud Platform is largely powered by⌠wait for it⌠Microsoft Azure.
Yes, you read that right. SAP Cloud Platform is effectively a managed layer running on top of Azure infrastructure. In other words, customers using âSAP Cloudâ are often already leveraging Microsoftâs hyperscaler platformâwhether they know it or not.
This partnership simply formalizes that relationship:
SAP focuses on applications, extensions, and business processes.
Microsoft delivers the scalable, secure cloud infrastructure underneath.
From a customer perspective, this is good news:
Azure infrastructure with SAP-specific optimizations
Microsoft global support combined with SAP services
Joint innovations coming from two industry leaders
đ ď¸ Making Cloud Migrations Easier
At its core, this partnership aims to tackle one of the biggest barriers to cloud adoption:
Complexity.
Together, SAP and Microsoft are working to:
Provide reference architectures for SAP workloads on Azure
Co-develop migration toolkits to simplify onboarding
Build integrated support models to streamline operations
Automate infrastructure provisioning with Microsoft Azure blueprints
Reduce the friction of managing hybrid SAP environments
For companies running SAP on-premises, this partnership sends a clear message:
Itâs time to move. And weâre making it easier.
đ The Big Picture: Why Azure Is Winning SAP Workloads
While SAP maintains partnerships with AWS and Google Cloud, itâs no secret that Microsoft Azure has become the preferred cloud platform for SAP workloads. Why?
Because Azure offers:
Seamless integration with Microsoft 365, Power BI, and Teams
Enterprise-grade security and compliance certifications
Deep experience running SAP workloads at scale
Familiar management tooling for IT teams (Azure Monitor, Azure Security Center)
Itâs not just about âwhere your data lives.â Itâs about how your business runs.
đ§ Final Thoughts from The Cloud Advisor
As someone working deep in the Microsoft Cloud ecosystem, this partnership feels like the perfect match. SAP brings its expertise in enterprise applications; Microsoft brings its hyperscale infrastructure and global reach.
Together, theyâre simplifying SAP cloud migrationsâand giving customers a future-proof roadmap to modern ERP.
If youâre running SAP workloads on-premises and considering your cloud options, this partnership should tell you one thing loud and clear:
SAP on Azure isnât just possible. Itâs preferred.
And thatâs a message your CIO needs to hear.
Stay clever. Stay curious.
The Cloud Advisor,
Uwe Zabel
Read the book â SAP on Hyperscaler
Many more facts about the large hyperscalers and SAP, you now can read for yourself. Our new book âSAP auf Hyperscaler Cloudsâ by Steffi DĂźnnebier and me, The Cloud Advisor, is available. First in German only. English version will follow soon.
Buy now: SAP auf Hyperscaler-Clouds | SAP PRESS (rheinwerk-verlag.de)
đ Want to know what SAP S/4HANA on Azure looks like in practice? Dive deeper on The Cloud Advisorâs Book of Stories or reach out directly. Iâll help you map your cloud journeyâwithout the buzzwords.
Sources: Handelsblatt und Reuters