What SAP Fiori option is right for you – Cloud, on premise or Hybrid?
SAP Fiori has fast become the new standard for the SAP user experience, a world class consumer-grade interface allowing users to easily interact with their SAP software.
When it first came to market it was available purely on premise. This necessitated a SAP Gateway server and running Fiori inside your network. If you wanted to access anything externally it had to be carried out via e.g. a reverse proxy. Now Fiori Cloud has launched to give us fast and simple deployment through cloud services running on SAP Cloud Platform. It offers Fiori apps in the cloud with data from SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business Suite software.
There are some common myths about the cost of Fiori that need dispelling. Many people are suspicious of the costs that they perceive to be associated with Fiori Cloud, namely around the licence fees and maintenance. They believe that Fiori is free of charge within an on premise system.
There are hidden costs within the on premise system that some people haven’t considered such as hardware, maintenance, operation for multiple environments such as development, QA and production. From the outset you have to arrange connectivity and build knowledge and this can take time. Fiori is a very fast changing technology and there are frequently new releases. If you want your system to be fully up to date, then you need to upgrade it regularly, test it and so on. This all costs money.
On the other hand while it’s true that Fiori Cloud involves licence fees, you also have many advantages; once you subscribe, SAP will do all the rest. It’s automatically updated and managed by SAP, giving you access to all the latest innovations as well as enjoying a lower TCO.
As well as On-Premise and Cloud, you also have a Hybrid option available. Technically speaking Fiori has two parts; the HTML and Java Script which determines how the application and its functions should look and behave, and the data. With a Hybrid set-up you can effectively separate the two. You can retain the HTML and Java Script from the cloud and maintain your data on premise, ensuring it never leaves your network.
For some organisations data security is a very high priority and in this scenario the Hybrid option might appeal to them. But Fiori Cloud does also provide a proven secure solution with its SAP Cloud Connector. Even if you go for Fiori Cloud, because of lower TCO and faster innovation you may still have a solution for the requirement of data in your network.
Fiori gives you a wealth of options and you need to decide which option suits your organisation best. But consider the hidden costs of Fiori on premise versus lower TCO and the faster innovation with Fiori Cloud.