Public cloud solutions make information and services accessible to a broad public via the Internet. Examples of such public cloud applications are Microsoft 365, Dropbox or Google Drive - solutions that have established themselves in the environment of private Internet users.
A public cloud is characterized by the fact that all customers - under the technical term Software as a Service (SaaS) - share the same hardware and network infrastructure, while the processing of data takes place in protected areas.
But is the delivery model also suitable for enterprise applications? Absolutely, SAP agrees. For example, the SAP S/4HANA business suite has long been available as a public cloud solution.
The name has changed several times in recent years: SAP currently refers to it as "SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition".
Earlier designations such as "Multi Tenant Edition", "SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Essential Edition (Cloud ES)" or just "SAP S/4HANA Cloud" no longer apply.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition is operated and hosted by SAP. The scope includes the core of SAP S/4HANA and solutions for specific industries in 42 countries. Companies can only use this solution via a new implementation (greenfield) route.
Such offers are catching on: According to the IT industry association Bitkom, around one-third of companies already use enterprise resource management applications in the form of SaaS.
However, this requires the willingness to change established processes in such a way that the software manufacturer's specified standard can be implemented. Extensions are only possible to a limited extent - in the case of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition - for example via the Business Technology Platform.
Individual customizations of the cloud solution by customers, on the other hand, cannot be implemented. On the other hand - and this is one of the greatest advantages - the solution can be introduced and operated comparatively quickly and cost-effectively.
In addition, a cloud solution of this kind always remains "up to date" because new innovations are regularly made available to the customer.
SAP, for example, regularly and fully automatically introduces the necessary updates and upgrades - in the case of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition, there are two automatic releases and several updates per year. This also ensures that any security gaps are closed reliably and promptly.
If you want a lean ERP solution that can be used immediately and does not require any user customization, you are backing the right horse in the case of SAP with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition. The way to the public cloud at SAP is via the RISE with SAP or GROW with SAP bundle.