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Support for Mission Critical

| Anuradha Karnam |

Infrastructure Migration

YouTube

Anchor

Spotify

Apple

Episode #278

Introduction

In episode 278 of our SAP on Azure video podcast we talk about Support for Mission Critical.

When customers move their SAP systems to Azure, Microsoft is working closely with customers and their partners on the migration. We do not have our own team that actually does the migrations, but as we have highlighted several times on the show, we have dedicated teams that ensure an SAP on Azure Missions critical support. In the past we had colleagues like Hemanth Damecharla or Philiipp Leitenbauer from our engineering team in our show, who work very closely with SAP to ensure that SAP systems run best on Azure, but we also had colleagues like Etienne Dittrich from Shibli Subhanis team - or our own Goran – who support customers closely during their preparation and the actual go-live. Today we want to talk to Anuradha Karnam who is a Cloud Solution Architect working on Support for Mission Critical, who will with us share what Support for Mission Critical is and how he and the team is helping customers.

Find all the links mentioned here: https://www.saponazurepodcast.de/episode278

Reach out to us for any feedback / questions:

#Microsoft #SAP #Azure #SAPonAzure #Support #MissionCritical

Summary created by AI

  • Mission Critical Support for SAP on Azure:
  • Anuradha Karnam provided an in-depth overview of Microsoft’s Support for Mission Critical (SfMC) services for SAP on Azure, explaining the program’s structure, eligibility, engagement process, and the benefits for customers with high-stakes, business-critical workloads, with Holger and Goran asking clarifying questions about scope and process.
    • SfMC Program Overview: Anuradha described Support for Mission Critical (SfMC) as an enhanced support option designed to supplement Microsoft Unified Support, providing a programmatic, end-to-end approach for customers with complex, high-stakes solutions. The service focuses on improving the health, resiliency, and performance of mission critical systems, offering both proactive and reactive support.
    • Eligibility and Covered Workloads: Anuradha clarified that SfMC is aimed at organizations where outages are business critical, such as those with significant revenue or operational impact from downtime. The service covers a broad range of workloads, including SAP on Azure, M365, modern work, business apps, and Azure customer environments, provided the customer has a Unified contract in place.
    • Engagement and Delivery Process: The engagement process begins with the customer contacting their account manager, who coordinates with the Microsoft pre-sales and technical teams. Once the contract is signed, a dedicated technical solution architect is assigned to review the environment and provide both proactive and reactive support, including initial assessments, on-site visits, monitoring, and postmortem analysis.
    • Proactive and Reactive Support Features: SfMC provides a combination of proactive services, such as risk mitigation and monitoring, and elevated reactive support with faster response targets. Customers receive continuous improvement through structured case management, root cause analysis, and access to designated experts for high-touch engagement.
    • How to Access SfMC: To access SfMC, customers should contact their assigned account manager, who will involve the appropriate Microsoft teams to initiate the process. The service is available for any business-impacting scenario, and customers are encouraged to opt for the contract if they require enhanced stability and support for their environment.
  • Best Practices and Framework for SAP Migration to Azure:
  • Anuradha Karnam outlined the recommended migration framework and best practices for moving SAP workloads to Azure, detailing each phase from assessment to innovation, and addressing technical considerations and tools, with Goran and Holger contributing questions about methodologies and automation.
    • Migration Framework Phases: Anuradha described a structured migration framework consisting of Discover, Prepare, Migrate, Run (AI Ops), and Innovate phases. Each phase includes specific activities such as assessing the current landscape, planning for business continuity, executing controlled migrations, optimizing operations, and integrating IT environments for continuous improvement.
    • Assessment and Planning: The process begins with a thorough assessment of the customer’s SAP landscape, identification of dependencies, and definition of KPIs. Customers are advised to align their future vision and business goals, right-size their SAP environment, and establish clear plans for business continuity and migration cutover.
    • Migration Methodologies: Anuradha explained the two primary SAP migration methodologies: homogeneous migrations (lower risk and downtime, same OS/DB version) and heterogeneous migrations (higher complexity and downtime, different OS/DB version). The choice depends on the customer’s landscape and downtime tolerance, with options such as database log shipping, HANA system replication, and the Database Migration Option (DMO) for one-step migrations.
    • Automation and Tools: The use of automation tools like the SAP Deployment Automation Framework (SDAF) and ACSS was highlighted to streamline provisioning, configuration, and testing. Anuradha recommended executing multiple mock migration cycles and leveraging these tools to reduce manual effort, ensure quality, and facilitate high availability and disaster recovery configurations.
    • Post-Migration Optimization: After migration, customers are encouraged to integrate their IT environment securely, utilize Azure AD for single sign-on, and employ monitoring tools such as AMS for SAP solutions. Continuous optimization includes cost management, telemetry, and leveraging cloud-native features for innovation and operational efficiency.
  • Scalability, Sizing, and High Performance for SAP on Azure:
  • Anuradha Karnam discussed strategies for optimizing scalability and high performance of SAP workloads on Azure, including system sizing, infrastructure readiness, and monitoring, with Holger and Goran seeking clarification on technical details.
    • System Sizing Approaches: Anuradha described two main sizing approaches: referencing existing on-premises configurations using SAP OS collector and early watch reports, and using Quick Sizer for user-based or workload-based sizing. These methods help determine the appropriate system configuration for migration to Azure.
    • Infrastructure Readiness and Performance: Key recommendations for high performance include ensuring SAP-certified VM SKUs, validating SAPS sizing for application and database tiers, confirming memory and IOPS requirements, enabling accelerated networking, and using availability sets or zones to avoid single points of failure.
    • Storage and Cost Optimization: Anuradha advised deploying multiple smaller application VMs, choosing appropriate disk types (Premium or Ultra SSD), enabling write accelerators for HANA logs, and using disk striping for performance. Automation tools and workload activity analysis can further optimize cost and operational load.
    • Monitoring and Telemetry: Post-migration, customers are encouraged to use Azure monitoring solutions for SAP, such as AMS, to establish end-to-end telemetry and performance baselines. This enables rapid identification and resolution of issues, reducing reliance on multiple third-party tools.

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