SAP on Cloud: AWS vs Azure vs GCP vs OCI Cost Comparison for SAP HANA and S/4HANA
SAP Cloud Deployment Overview
Running SAP workloads on cloud requires careful attention to certified instances, licensing models, and total cost of ownership. Not all instances are SAP-certified for production HANA — using uncertified instances violates SAP support terms.
SAP HANA Certified Instance Requirements
SAP HANA requires specific hardware for production use. Minimum production configuration: 256GB RAM for S/4HANA, certified instance from SAP's public cloud list.
| Memory Size | AWS (Certified) | Azure (Certified) | GCP (Certified) | OCI (Certified) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 128 GB | r6i.4xlarge | E16s v5 | n2-highmem-16 | E4.Flex 16 OCPU |
| 256 GB | r6i.8xlarge | E32s v5 | n2-highmem-32 | E4.Flex 32 OCPU |
| 512 GB | r6i.16xlarge | E64s v5 | n2-highmem-64 | E4.Flex 64 OCPU |
| 1 TB | x2idn.16xlarge | M128s v2 | n2-highmem-80 | E5.Flex 64 OCPU |
SAP HANA 256GB — 3yr RI/Reserved Monthly Cost
| Cloud | Instance | PAYG/mo | 3yr Reserved/mo | HA (×2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS | r6i.8xlarge | $1,477 | $591 | $1,182 |
| Azure | E32s v5 | $1,476 | $547 | $1,094 |
| GCP | n2-highmem-32 | $1,532 | $872 (CUD) | $1,744 |
| OCI | E4.Flex 32 OCPU | $746 | $596 (UC1yr) | $1,192 |
SAP HANA Licensing Cost (Additional)
SAP HANA licensing is separate and significant. Enterprise Edition pricing (estimated, varies by contract):
- 256GB HANA: ~$8,000-15,000/month subscription or $200,000-400,000 perpetual
- SAP Enterprise Support: 22% of licence value annually
- Alternative: RISE with SAP includes infrastructure + licence bundled
Why OCI is Popular for SAP Workloads
- Oracle Database advantage: SAP with Oracle DB is cheapest on OCI due to licence mobility terms
- Competitive compute pricing: OCI E4.Flex is 50% cheaper than AWS/Azure equivalents
- Near-zero egress: SAP replication and data export costs are dramatically lower
- Oracle preferred partner: SAP certifies OCI as preferred cloud for Oracle DB-backed SAP systems
Azure for SAP — The Case
Azure has the strongest SAP-certified instance portfolio and deepest SAP partnership. Azure M-series VMs support up to 24TB HANA configurations. Azure Site Recovery provides excellent SAP DR capabilities. For S/4HANA with Microsoft SQL Server, Azure is often the optimal choice.
Total SAP Infrastructure TCO — 5 Years (256GB HANA, HA)
| Cloud | 3yr RI Cost (5yr) | Storage (5yr) | HANA Licence est. (5yr) | 5yr Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS | $70,920 | $13,800 | $600,000 | $684,720 |
| Azure | $65,640 | $13,800 | $600,000 | $679,440 |
| GCP | $104,640 | $20,400 | $600,000 | $725,040 |
| OCI | $71,520 | $9,180 | $480,000 | $560,700 |
For SAP workloads with Oracle Database, OCI provides the best total economics. For SAP with Microsoft SQL Server, Azure is the strongest choice. Use the TCOIQ SAP Calculator to model your specific configuration.
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