SUSE

SAP SE, a leading enterprise applications and cloud services company, was looking to expand its offerings by launching a cloud platform to deliver SAP solutions. The goal was to create comprehensive software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings that would allow existing customers to reduce their infrastructure investments and lower barriers to entry for potential new customers. However, to meet the demand for always-available business applications, SAP needed to ensure its cloud offering would meet enterprise requirements. This meant that the platform had to be stable, secure, and highly flexible, with no margin for service interruptions or maintenance windows. As the company's cloud business was expanding rapidly, it was also crucial to use resources as efficiently as possible to realize economies of scale, increase profits, and build a sustainable SAP cloud business model.

Sony Italia, a branch of the global electronics giant Sony Corporation, was facing a significant challenge with its IT infrastructure. The company had consolidated most of its IT infrastructure into two data centers in the U.K, but Sony Italia opted to maintain its local server infrastructure for high performance and ease of maintenance. However, as data volumes and user numbers grew, the servers began to experience reduced performance and reliability. The company had 30 physical servers, but with limited budgets, replacing all of them was not feasible. Additionally, Sony Italia was concerned about the increasing heat output and electricity consumption in the data center. The company had already virtualized about half of its infrastructure, but needed a more cost-effective solution to extend these benefits.

Cloud4com, a leading provider of IT infrastructure and data center services, recognized the challenges and costs companies face when upgrading their on-premises infrastructure to meet the demands of SAP HANA in-memory technology. With the introduction of SAP HANA and SAP's decision to end support for all other databases from 2025, Cloud4com saw an opportunity to expand its services to a larger customer base. However, SAP HANA is a resource-intensive technology that requires companies to deploy powerful and costly hardware platforms. Businesses often overspecify the hardware, resulting in underutilization within the software's lifecycle. To capitalize on the opportunity presented by SAP HANA, Cloud4com aimed to create a cost-effective cloud platform for HANA and began working on obtaining the SAP Tailored Datacenter Integration (TDI) certification. A critical element was selecting the right operating system that would meet SAP’s standards and maximize the availability and performance of their customers’ SAP landscapes.