Mastering SAP S/4HANA Sizing: A Comprehensive Guide

One of the easiest ways to ensure a smooth transition to SAP Business Suite or SAP Business Warehouse is to have an accurate estimate for the right SAP HANA sizing.
The SAP HANA sizing report is important and mandated for the SAP license calculation for Enterprise Edition. The right S/4HANA sizing estimate also brings optimal SAP HANA performance. Most focus is placed on the correct memory requirement, while businesses must spend considerable time calculating CPU requirements, including CPU cores, disk space, and network load.

Understanding the SAP S/4HANA and HANA Architecture

When businesses start accessing SAP S/4HANA, the teams will utilize the capabilities of the in-memory database to derive faster data-based decision-making. With huge volumes of data, SAP S/4HANA can prepare actionable insights to automate processes and get ahead of customer’s expectations. By automating repetitive tasks, SAP S/4HANA streamlines processes to free you and your employees up to work on more valuable work.

Recently SAP has chosen to re-position S/4 HANA from a “Future-ready ERP” to an “Intelligent ERP.” This helps give the high-demand product new context. With AI and automation now a key component, the Intelligent ERP gives businesses not just scale, but also enhanced technology capability. This is magnified by proper S/4HANA sizing / SAP HANA Sizing, as certified consultants can ease your transition by providing an SAP HANA sizing report.

Why SAP S/4HANA and HANA Sizing Matters

Being able to make decisions more quickly is the most powerful factor in competitive situations. Additionally, S/4HANA sizing is an excellent move. Thanks to its strong processing capabilities, the Intelligent ERP can recognize patterns, identify issues, and offer solutions. You can gain deeper insights and make decisions supported by data using the SAP HANA sizing report.

Your company’s information remains private and secure thanks to the ERP. The SAP S/4HANA system has built-in security features like XSS prevention, click-jacking protection, and cross-site request forgery protection.

Why Do You Need Exact S/4HANA sizing

The ability to access and generate real-time data at an unmatched pace is a key advantage of the proper SAP HANA sizing. Massive amounts of real-time data can be processed by SAP HANA thanks to its enormous memory storage capacity, which gives end users instant results.

With future projected growth in data amounts, proper sizing at the outset of an SAP HANA project will help to optimize ROI on SAP HANA and manage future maintenance costs. SAP HANA sizing will be established based on the data volume anticipated in the system, and compare the size of the physical volume, whether a single node system or a scale out system is required.

Performance Optimization

• Prevent bottlenecks: Proper sizing allows hardware resources to grow without developing any constraints, which will lead to poor user experience and slow performance.
• Faster processing: The in-memory SAP HANA database of SAP S/4HANA allows for real-time analytics and faster data processing.
• Reduced latency: In SAP S/4HANA, fast data access and handling of transactions depend on an optimal network capacity and low latency.

Cost Optimization

• Minimize infrastructure costs: Minimizing wasteful spending on unused resources.
• Reduce TCO: It can increase the total cost of ownership (TCO) by causing future performance problems or expensive upgrades.
• Plan for future growth: Precise sizing makes it possible to allocate resources effectively, avoiding investment waste and optimizing the value of each resource used.

Implementation and Migration

• System conversions (Brownfield): This mechanism is the best option for organizations that want to upgrade with minimum disruption because it maintains the historical data, settings, and customizations that were in use.
• Consolidations and carve-outs: These situations add more layers to the SAP S/4HANA sizing process as they are not a normal Greenfield or Brownfield situation, but can still provide a strategic rationale for the business.

Sizing Methods and Tools

• SAP Quick Sizer: This is a web-based tool that captures business-specific measurement standards to estimate the hardware requirements for your SAP S/4HANA system – such as RAM, CPU, and Disk Space. Its purpose is to provide an effective, streamlined, and standardized method to perform sizing.
• SAP S/4HANA Sizing Report: It is particularly useful for Brownfield (system conversion) projects, where system usage patterns and historical data can be thoroughly analyzed to produce extremely precise sizing recommendations.
• Expert Sizing: A highly customized sizing recommendation is provided after a thorough examination of your company’s operations, system environment, and growth trajectory is carried out by SAP-certified consultants or system architects.

Key Challenges in SAP S/4HANA Sizing

For SAP S/4 HANA, choosing the right sizing requires considerable thought because going either way might lead to time and resource waste. According to the SAP HANA sizing research, an update must lead to increased company growth and process efficiency for organizations. Restricting the provision leads to practically no upgrade, while excess provision wastes capacity and money. With a good total cost of ownership, you want to make the most out of your investments and improve your project outcomes.

High Memory Requirements

SAP HANA is an in-memory database in opposition to a conventional database that puts data on disk and loads it as per requirement. Thus, the entire operational data is loaded into RAM to ensure speedy analytics and real-time processing.

Data Volume Management

The amount of SAP HANA memory (and processing) required is based on the total amount of data that must be loaded into memory, because it is an in-memory database. Data volumes that are not managed well can skew sizing estimates, increase the cost of infrastructure, and ultimately have an adverse effect on system level performance.

Complexity of Data Migration

Data migration to S/4HANA from legacy systems can be complex, time consuming and error prone. Data volume and variety can play a large part in sizing, and there are essential steps of data translation, validation, and data cleansing.

SAP S/4HANA Sizing Methodology

SAP optimizes memory and CPU requirements for SAP S/4HANA using a comprehensive strategy. To ensure your system has the resources to function optimally, we consider several options using an iterative approach.

Best-Case Scenario:

This scenario considers ideal conditions for generating an S/4HANA sizing / SAP HANA sizing report. Your CPU, memory, storage, and network bandwidth needs are calculated based on anticipated usage under optimal conditions.

Normal-Case Scenario:

The S/4HANA sizing scenario for SAP HANA sizing report incorporates realistic deviations and considers fluctuations in user activity, data volume, and system load, adding some buffers and additional resources to cover off the everyday operation.

Worst-Case Scenario:

For the purposes of this scenario we can factor in the unanticipated scenarios or events where you had peak user logins, data maximalization or system failure, the report will add buffers and redundancy.

Cooperative effort:

When dealing with customers, SAP and hardware vendors’ process to size S/4HANA properly is important. Collaboration used will reduce the risk of over-provisioning or under-provisioning factors in Sizing SAP HANA which ultimately will maximize cost efficiency and efficiency of the system.

Key Aspects of SAP S/4HANA Sizing

Establishes the hardware requirements (CPU, memory, disk space, etc.) to ensure the system’s optimum performance and scalability. It converts business requirements into technical specifications for the physical infrastructure, including user activity and data volume. For S/4HANA to be implemented and run effectively, proper sizing is necessary.

Understanding Business Requirements

To start a successful SAP S/4HANA sizing activity, you must have an extensive understanding of the business requirements of your company. This entails examining user loads, transaction volumes, business procedures, and periods of high activity, both present and anticipated.

Hardware Components

Servers, storage, and other hardware components can be chosen from certified configurations based on the size requirements.

Memory is Key

Scenario-driven detailed memory estimation is required to ensure that your system performs appropriately and is capable of growing to meet the evolving needs of your business. Proper memory sizing is critical to enabling advanced capabilities such as embedded AI and predictive analytics—which are some of the hallmark capabilities of SAP S/4HANA—as well as enabling high-speed processing.

Tools and Resources

To help with the process, SAP offers resources including size reports and the Quick Sizer.

Initial vs. Delta Sizing

In greenfield projects, initial sizing is the process of determining the system requirements for a new implementation. It entails making estimates for memory, CPU, and storage based on projected data loads, business processes, and user volumes. However, for current SAP clients going through functional upgrades or system conversions (brownfield), delta sizing is important.

User-Based and Object-Based Sizing

User-based sizing accounts for the type of users (casual users, professional users, power users), the number of concurrent and active users, and the overall user workload portrayed during peak times. This method estimates the unique workload by determining how much CPU and memory resources are required to support regular tasks and transactions. In contrast, object-based sizing determines the processing and memory requirements for managing, storing, retrieving, and analyzing business data by analyzing the size and complexity of particular business objects (for example, financial documents, purchase requisitions, sales orders).

Performance Testing

Performance testing is an integral part of Sizing SAP S/4HANA, validating that the recommended infrastructure will be able to sustain workloads in a real environment without degradation. Performance testing establishes the highest transaction volume levels, anticipated user activity levels, and data processing possibilities to verify throughput and response time.

Scalability

The continuous evolution of data volume alongside business needs makes scalability an essential factor in SAP S/4HANA sizing. The system design must transcend basic performance criteria to incorporate scalable architecture that allows seamless expansion to accommodate potential future demands such as increased user numbers, higher transaction volumes, and additional business processes. Future-sizing operations must evaluate inorganic growth alongside seasonal peak loads while incorporating company guidance and potential new market entry.

Cost Optimization

Organizations utilize SAP Quick Sizer alongside historical consumption patterns and company forecasts to determine resource allocation based on actual requirements. Cloud deployment vendors offer more economical options through reserved instances and pay-as-you-go models. Through smart sizing organizations achieve optimal ROI and minimal TCO while maintaining system performance standards.

Consider Backup and Archiving

Data backups are necessary to facilitate disaster recovery and business continuity. However, if backups are not well-planned backup strategies, they can also rapidly utilize a significant amount of disk space.

Similarly, when more historical or inactive data is retained, active memory will decrease, giving up memory resources needed, and adding overhead to system responsiveness. Only pertinent data is kept in memory when a clear archiving policy is incorporated into the sizing process, improving speed without putting unnecessary strain on the infrastructure.

Involve Experts

Professionals leverage their knowledge of SAP best practices, the latest tools like SAP Quick Sizer and SAP Sizing Reports, and hands-on experience from prior rollouts. They can confirm sizing assumptions based on real company demands, provide performance optimization techniques, and uncover unknown risks.

Best Practices for S/4HANA sizing

Accurate Input
It is critical to ensure the data or information is accurate as soon as possible. If the data set is incorrect, consequences may include wrong decisions, wrong analysis, not delivering a project, or wasting resources.

Consider Future Growth
Sustainable growth involves planning for and anticipating future growth, either from a scaling perspective, or the complexity or size of an userbase. This means implementing processes and systems that respond to your needs without too much rework or disruption.

Consult with Experts
Engaging with individuals who possess specialized knowledge and experience in specific fields enables you to obtain essential guidance while steering clear of numerous typical mistakes.

Monitor System Performance
To optimize resource usage and detect potential issues while verifying system goal achievement, it is essential to conduct ongoing monitoring and evaluation of critical performance metrics. The system records user behaviors alongside resource usage while monitoring error rates and response times.

How to Size the Back-End Server

Develop a Quick Sizer project for the My Timesheet Application

• After creating the Quick Sizer project for the My Timesheet Application, choose the questionnaire for the back-end server. You can view the following figure to get a more clear understanding.
• The image indicates the questionnaire for the back-end server
• The next step is to calculate the total number of high-activity simultaneous users and apply the peak scenario assumption we discussed earlier.
  (5000 users * 2 minutes) / 2 hours = 83 simultaneous users.
• You need to insert this output into the high-activity user field in the Quick Sizer questionnaire.
• Now click on the option to calculate the result to size the KPIs for the back-end server.

Figure Depicting the Back-end Sizing

Make sure you are verifying all assumptions on a compulsory note. Do check the usage stats and the refined data as indicated previously in the interactive sizing procedure.

SAP HANA sizing report For Fiori Front-End Servers

• The SAP HANA Sizing / S/4HANA sizing for the SAP Fiori front-end server also begins on a similar note as in the case of the back-end server, which is selecting the questionnaire for the SAP Fiori Front-End server. However, please bear in mind that there is a change here. You do not need to focus on concurrent users. However, Quick Sizer will pay attention to the highest number of SAP Fiori launchpad logons generated during the peak time scenario. Please be careful, as this number is very important. Any increase or decrease in this number will lead to an error in sizing.

Questionnaire for the SAP Fiori Front-End Server

This means that if 5000 people are logging into the system, the SAP Fiori should manage about 5000 logons during the 2 hour peak time scenario. So, based on what we have assumed, the SAP Fiori front-end server sizing would come to 2,500 peak hours. Please have a look at the image below.

The image depicts SAP Fiori Front-end sizing results

• The S/4HANA sizing Quick Sizer also offers aggregator options to aggregate the sizing results by selecting a particular category, as shown in the figure.

Quick Sizer provides the aggregating options to aggregate sizing

• Lastly, you will get the final aggregated picture that combines both the back-end server and the SAP Fiori front-end server features. This also includes the CPU, memory, and disk requirements. Here, the CPU is measured in SAPS.

Image Indicating an aggregated view of sizing results

If you look at the above figure, you will notice that the total memory requirement is about 210GB, for which you would probably need a 256GB SAP HANA box in order to make your project scalable. Do not forget to include the growth of data in your project.