SAP RISE on Azure at Microsoft

| Frederic Huet |

Sep 7, 2025 Customer

Episode #258

Introduction

In episode 258 of our SAP on Azure video podcast we talk about SAP and Microsoft.

From time to time we mention that Microsoft is a huge SAP customer. Not only since a few months, but since tens of years. So in a lot of cases our situation refelcts the same situation as a lot of customers out there. Roughly three years ago we had Frederic Huet from out internal SAP team talking about Microsoft running SAP. Three years is a pretty long time in the age of cloud and AI, so I am happy to have Fred back with us to share the latest on SAP at Microsoft.

Find all the links mentioned here: https://www.saponazurepodcast.de/episode258

Reach out to us for any feedback / questions:

Goran Condric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gorancondric/
Holger Bruchelt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holger-bruchelt/

#Microsoft #SAP #Azure #SAPonAzure #RISE #S4HANA #SNP #Migrations

Summary created by AI

Microsoft’s SAP Landscape and Evolution:
Frederic, Holger, and Goran discussed the history and current state of Microsoft’s SAP environment, highlighting its evolution over decades, the symbiotic relationship with SAP, and the ongoing optimization and migration efforts, including the move to S/4HANA and RISE.
- Historical SAP Partnership: Frederic explained that Microsoft has been an SAP partner since 1993, with a deep collaboration that has resulted in both companies running significant portions of their business on each other’s platforms. This partnership underpins the criticality of SAP to Microsoft’s core business operations.
- Current SAP Ecosystem: The team described the current SAP landscape at Microsoft, which includes multiple ERP systems (ECC, S/4HANA), specialized modules for finance, HR, supply chain, and professional services, as well as a range of supporting and SaaS services. The landscape is color-coded to distinguish between corporate, federal, and SaaS environments.
- Ongoing Optimization and Migration: Frederic outlined the ongoing efforts to simplify and optimize the SAP landscape, including retiring legacy systems, migrating to HANA, and consolidating master data and reporting environments. The team is focused on moving to S/4HANA and leveraging Azure for improved performance and compliance.
- Major System Transitions: Key transitions include the migration of the federal environment to RISE, the decommissioning of older systems, and the replacement of legacy components with modern equivalents (e.g., Azure Data Factory replacing BODS, Corporate Serialization replacing OER). These transitions are part of a broader strategy to modernize and future-proof Microsoft’s SAP operations.
Migration Strategies: S/4HANA and RISE:
Frederic detailed Microsoft’s multi-pronged migration strategies to S/4HANA and RISE, including carve-out, Bluefield, and Greenfield approaches, and discussed the rationale for sequencing migrations to minimize risk and maximize business continuity.
- Migration Approaches: Three main migration approaches were used: a carve-out and fit-to-standard for the federal system, a Bluefield migration for the high-volume RMCA/BRIM system, and a multi-phase Greenfield migration for the core SAP system. Each approach was chosen based on system complexity, downtime tolerance, and business requirements.
- Sequencing and Risk Mitigation: The team emphasized the importance of sequencing migrations—first moving to S/4HANA on Azure, then transitioning to RISE—to reduce risk, allow for iterative testing, and ensure all dependencies and integrations are addressed before the final move.
- Iterative Prototyping and Testing: An iterative prototyping model was adopted, involving multiple mock migrations, parallel environments, and extensive business team involvement. This approach enabled rapid identification and resolution of issues, continuous feedback, and robust validation of business processes.
- Cutover and Downtime Management: A detailed cutover schedule was developed to minimize business impact, with system downtime limited to a weekend window. Preparatory steps included user lockout, system prep, data migration, validation, and integration ramp-up, all tightly coordinated to ensure a smooth transition.
Technical Execution of Large-Scale SAP Migrations:
Frederic described the technical execution of Microsoft’s large-scale SAP migrations, including data migration strategies, custom code adaptation, and the use of automation and AI to optimize and validate the process.
- Data Migration and Validation: The migration involved transferring over 100 terabytes and billions of records, using SNP CrystalBridge for parallel extraction and direct table writes. Pre-built target systems were prepared in advance, and delta loads were used to minimize downtime. Extensive data validation was performed, including 18 trillion field validations, to ensure data integrity.
- Custom Code Remediation: A significant portion of the migration effort focused on adapting 1.5 million lines of custom ABAP code. The team used Azure DevOps for code management and leveraged AI tools to automate code fixes, with approximately 50% of compatibility issues resolved automatically in the RMCA migration and 70% in the GTS migration.
- Performance Optimization: Performance bottlenecks identified during mock runs were addressed by tuning HANA settings, optimizing validation queries, and collaborating closely with SAP’s MaxAttention team. These optimizations reduced migration time from over 72 hours in initial runs to under 20 hours in production.
- Business Process and Currency Adjustments: The migration included harmonizing business processes, updating finance code blocks, and correcting historical currency setup issues (e.g., handling the Indonesian rupiah’s lack of decimals). All changes were validated to ensure accuracy and compliance.
Leveraging AI and Automation in SAP Migration:
Frederic explained how Microsoft’s SAP migration projects leveraged AI and automation, including a custom-trained Dev Copilot for ABAP code, to accelerate code remediation, improve compliance, and support ongoing development.
- DevOps Integration: All SAP code and configuration changes are tracked in Azure DevOps, with developers using Visual Studio Code and Eclipse IDEs. This centralization enables coordinated deployments and streamlined debugging across the SAP landscape.
- AI-Assisted Code Migration: A specially tuned large language model (LLM) was used to assist with ABAP code conversion and validation. The Dev Copilot, integrated with GitHub Copilot, provided code generation, review, and compliance recommendations, significantly reducing manual effort.
- Automated Issue Resolution: The AI tools automatically fixed about half of the custom code compatibility issues in the RMCA migration and over 70% in the ongoing GTS migration. The system also provided functional insights, batch job analysis, and code explanations, supporting both migration and ongoing development.
- Security and Compliance: The Dev Copilot includes features for intelligent code review, security compliance checks, and auto-fix recommendations, ensuring that migrated code meets Microsoft’s stringent security standards.
Business and Organizational Impact of SAP Migration:
Frederic, Holger, and Goran discussed the organizational aspects of SAP migration, including cross-team collaboration, business process validation, and the importance of sharing best practices and tools with the broader community.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: The migration projects involved 52 business teams, 120 major business processes, and 677 user acceptance scenarios, all coordinated through iterative prototyping and continuous feedback loops between project and business teams.
- Knowledge Sharing and Community Benefit: Microsoft’s approach emphasizes sharing lessons learned, best practices, and internally developed tools with customers and the SAP community, aiming to make solutions broadly available and beneficial beyond Microsoft.

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SAP RISE on Azure at Microsoft

Introduction

Summary created by AI