SAP HANA Platform

In-memory technology is the basis of SAP HANA. With this technology, data are no longer transferred from a hard drive to the RAM. Instead, they constantly remain in the main memory. This eliminates transfer to the RAM and the necessity of indexes and temporary tables, making systems run much faster. The parallel processing of this new database technology also increases data throughput and analysis speed many times over and makes it possible to process and analyse large quantities of data (Big Data) practically and in real time. The SAP/4HANA database’s in-memory technology has been useable on the market since 2011. In 2013, SAP announced that the majority of SAP Business Suite core applications and industry solutions were available on the basis of SAP HANA (“SAP Business Suite on HANA”), completing the changeover from the SQL database previously in place to SAP HANA. SAP S/4HANA has been available as an SAP HANA-based complete solution since 2015.

Another new feature is the conversion of the database to columns. Most relational databases store data sets on a line basis. This is a consequence of the original requirement to depict transactions such as order postings. SAP HANA stores all data sets on a columnar basis, making much greater compression possible. Double-entries only occupy one section of the memory, which also reduces the amount of memory required.  

SAP HANA is more than just a database. It also provides a variety of services, including Application Services, Processing Services, Database Services, and Integration & Quality Services. In the SAP database, applications can be programmed in different programming languages. The database, which can be accessed using open standards such as OData, allows companies to use SAP HANA along with SAP products and system-integrated applications that use the performance of SAP HANA. In short, SAP HANA provides a platform containing a database with impressive performance and open standards, as well as services that allow for the integration of a company’s own applications.  

SAP HANA in the Cloud

The HANA applications are available both on-premise on the organisation’s own servers and also as a Cloud solution known as the SAP Cloud Platform (formerly HCP). Cloud solution users can easily access applications from the new Business Suite without having to invest in new hardware. In contrast to the on-premise solution, the Cloud Edition is aimed at providing a quarterly as opposed to annual innovation cycle. A hybrid solution is also possible.  

Developing FIORI apps on the SAP HANA platform

Another major change is coming to the old SAP GUI user interface. This interface is being replaced by SAP Fiori, an intuitive HTML5-based browser operation. The interfaces are now programmed in Javascript, XML, and HTML instead of ABAP. This means a radical change for the data model, the internal structure of the system, and the user prompting. SAP Fiori allows users to comfortably complete all of their tasks using their own user interface in a role-based, process-related manner. Fiori apps are designed to equip users with the ERP information they need to carry out routine tasks on a wide variety of devices. Another advantage is that SAP Fiori applications can be developed and operated with SAP ERP ECC 6.0 (from version SPS 15).