Introduction
Deciding what SAP solution to buy is not always an easy task. The question at the top of peoples' minds is "What SAP solution will maximize our investments to fit our business needs?" In this blog, I will explore the idea of comparing HANA to the HANA Cloud Platform. I will list key HANA features from the HANA go-to-market web site and compare them to the HANA Cloud Platform.
Background
Let’s start by saying few words what SAP HANA is just to either refresh your memory or establish a common baseline. HANA is an in-memory database, but also more than that: it is a fully-fledged application development platform in its own right. So, on top of being able to execute a whole lot of data-centric processing directly at the database level (something we refer to as “code push-down”) via views, SQLScript and so on, HANA also includes a light-weight server-side JavaScript engine called XS, which allows you to handle sophisticated business logic within HANA itself as well. As such, you don’t need an additional/dedicated app server to expose data to the outside world and given the current trend for mobile first + very capable browsers the whole representation aspects is mostly handled on the client side anyway.
Meanwhile, SAP HANA Cloud Platform is an open platform-as-a-service providing unique in-memory database and business application services. Customers can quickly build new applications, extend, and integrate modern, mobile-enabled apps to meet your business needs. On top of the features HANA provides out of the box, HCP provides you with a comprehensive set of platform services and capabilities such as Mobile services, Cloud Portal, Identity Management and even a fully-fledged integration solution called HCI, which is the cloud equivalent of our on premise Process Orchestration (PO, PI, XI) solution. HCP is an open platform that ALL developers can use to leverage these capabilities to develop new cloud applications or build extensions to existing solutions.
Comparison
I have created a comparison list of key HANA features based on revision SPS09. The comparison is between features of SAP HANA Base/Platform Edition and HCP DBaaS HANA Base/Platform Edition. It illustrates the availability of SAP HANA platform features across 4 editions.
Before clicking on the slide link, please note the following:
No on HANA Edition (available option) - this feature is not part of the package, but customers may purchase this feature.
No on HCP DBaaS – this feature is not available on HCP. Customers cannot purchase it.
No (available if you have your own license) – HCP will install SAP Lumira on your account if you have a previous purchased license agreement.
For the full deck, please go here: http://www.slideshare.net/saphcp/sap-hana-feature-comparison-51111006
Conclusion
To summarize, HANA and HCP complement each other and which one to use depends on the exact scenario or use case for your business needs, in addition to whether or not you already have an on premise HANA installation. HCP is the designated extension platform for the Business Suite as well as our SaaS solutions.
**************Update********
Please check out part 2 of this comparison blog
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