<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
is	O
an	O
enterprise	O
resource	O
planning	O
software	O
for	O
large	O
enterprises	O
developed	O
by	O
SAP	B-Application
SE	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
successor	O
to	O
SAP	B-Application
R/3	I-Application
and	O
SAP	B-Application
ERP	I-Application
and	O
is	O
optimized	O
for	O
SAP	B-Application
's	O
in-memory	O
database	O
SAP	B-Application
HANA	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
is	O
an	O
enterprise	O
resource	O
planning	O
(	O
ERP	O
)	O
software	O
package	O
meant	O
to	O
cover	O
all	O
day-to-day	O
processes	O
of	O
an	O
enterprise	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
order-to-cash	O
,	O
procure-to-pay	O
,	O
plan-to-product	O
,	O
and	O
request-to-service	O
)	O
and	O
core	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
integrates	O
functions	O
from	O
lines	O
of	O
businesses	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
industry	O
solutions	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
re-integrates	O
portions	O
of	O
SAP	B-Application
Business	O
Suite	O
products	O
such	O
as	O
SAP	B-Application
SRM	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
CRM	I-Application
and	O
SAP	B-Application
SCM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
SAP	B-Application
Business	O
Suite	O
4	O
only	O
runs	O
on	O
the	O
SAP	B-Application
HANA	I-Application
database	O
it	O
is	O
packaged	O
as	O
one	O
product	O
:	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
's	O
classical	O
R3	B-Application
,	O
ERP	O
and	O
ECC	O
based	O
business	O
suite	O
and	O
related	O
products	O
were	O
designed	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
several	O
database	O
platforms	O
,	O
including	O
those	O
from	O
Oracle	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	O
and	O
IBM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SAP	B-Application
HANA	I-Application
platform	O
has	O
been	O
available	O
since	O
2010	O
,	O
and	O
SAP	B-Application
applications	O
like	O
SAP	B-Application
ERP	I-Application
and	O
the	O
SAP	B-Application
Business	O
Suite	O
are	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
SAP	B-Application
HANA	I-Application
database	O
and/or	O
other	O
supported	O
database	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
suite	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
,	O
launched	O
on	O
3	O
February	O
2015	O
at	O
the	O
New	O
York	O
Stock	O
Exchange	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
event	O
introduced	O
cloud	B-Architecture
and	O
on	B-General_Concept
premise	I-General_Concept
editions	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
on-premises	B-General_Concept
edition	O
becoming	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cloud	B-Architecture
edition	O
went	O
live	O
at	O
SAPPHIRE	O
NOW	O
(	O
SAP	B-Application
’s	O
annual	O
customer	O
conference	O
)	O
on	O
6	O
May	O
2015	O
in	O
Orlando	O
,	O
Florida	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
was	O
called	O
SAP	B-Application
's	O
biggest	O
update	O
to	O
its	O
ERP	O
strategy	O
and	O
platform	O
in	O
over	O
two	O
decades	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Post-launch	O
,	O
Gartner	O
analysts	O
noted	O
that	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
represented	O
a	O
"	O
transformational	O
shift	O
,	O
"	O
but	O
raised	O
questions	O
about	O
functionality	O
,	O
availability	O
,	O
pricing	O
and	O
migration	O
issues	O
surrounding	O
S/4HANA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
21	O
April	O
2015	O
,	O
370	O
customers	O
had	O
purchased	O
S/4HANA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
first	O
half	O
of	O
2015	O
,	O
positive	O
growth	O
was	O
confirmed	O
for	O
SAP	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
third	O
quarter	O
earning	O
calls	O
that	O
took	O
place	O
in	O
October	O
2015	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
confirmed	O
that	O
S/4HANA	O
had	O
more	O
than	O
1,300	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
Q4	O
2016	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
5,400	O
customers	O
had	O
implemented	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
,	O
growing	O
to	O
8,900	O
customers	O
by	O
30	O
June	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
can	O
be	O
deployed	O
on-premises	B-General_Concept
,	O
in	B-Architecture
the	I-Architecture
cloud	I-Architecture
,	O
or	O
through	O
a	O
hybrid	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
S/4HANA	O
product	O
offering	O
consists	O
of	O
various	O
editions	O
:	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
Cloud	B-Architecture
:	O
previously	O
called	O
essentials	O
edition	O
(	O
ES	O
)	O
and	O
Multi-Tenant	O
Edition	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
Cloud	B-Architecture
extended	O
edition	O
:	O
previously	O
called	O
Single-Tenant	O
Edition	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
Cloud	B-Architecture
,	O
private	O
edition	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
On-Premise	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
On-Premise	B-General_Concept
is	O
similar	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
coverage	O
,	O
functionality	O
,	O
industry-specific	O
support	O
,	O
and	O
localization	O
to	O
the	O
current	O
SAP	B-Application
Business	O
Suite	O
(	O
in	O
39	O
languages	O
,	O
64	O
country	O
versions	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
also	O
offers	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
Cloud	B-Architecture
(	O
in	O
18	O
languages	O
,	O
33	O
country	O
versions	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
has	O
emphasized	O
the	O
product	O
as	O
pivotal	O
to	O
its	O
cloud	B-Architecture
shift	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
editions	O
consist	O
of	O
functionality	O
for	O
finance	O
,	O
accounting	O
,	O
controlling	O
,	O
procurement	O
,	O
sales	O
,	O
manufacturing	O
,	O
plant	O
maintenance	O
,	O
project	O
system	O
,	O
and	O
product	O
lifecycle	O
management	O
,	O
plus	O
integration	O
with	O
SAP	B-Application
SuccessFactors	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
Ariba	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
Hybris	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
Fieldglass	O
and	O
SAP	B-Application
Concur	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
(	O
on-premise	B-General_Concept
)	O
releases	O
are	O
once	O
per	O
year	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
Cloud	B-Architecture
releases	O
are	O
2	O
per	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
coding	O
for	O
cloud	B-Architecture
edition	O
:	O
YYMM	O
example	O
1709	O
-	O
September	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
coding	O
for	O
on-premise	B-General_Concept
edition	O
(	O
since	O
2020	O
)	O
:	O
YYYY	O
example	O
2020	O
-	O
Release	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
On-Premise	B-General_Concept
releases	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
Cloud	B-Architecture
releases	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
various	O
ways	O
to	O
get	O
to	O
S/4HANA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
implementation	O
-	O
This	O
is	O
a	O
new	O
implementation	O
of	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
(	O
"	O
greenfield	O
"	O
)	O
:	O
Customers	O
who	O
are	O
migrating	O
from	O
a	O
non-SAP	O
legacy	O
system	O
or	O
from	O
an	O
SAP	B-Application
ERP	I-Application
system	O
and	O
implementing	O
a	O
fresh	O
system	O
that	O
requires	O
an	O
initial	O
data	O
load	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
scenario	O
,	O
the	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
system	O
is	O
implemented	O
,	O
and	O
master	O
and	O
transactional	O
data	O
are	O
migrated	O
from	O
the	O
legacy	O
system	O
,	O
thus	O
standard	O
data	O
migration	O
tools	O
and	O
content	O
has	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
System	O
conversion	O
-	O
This	O
is	O
a	O
complete	O
conversion	O
of	O
an	O
existing	O
SAP	B-Application
Business	O
Suite	O
system	O
to	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
(	O
"	O
brownfield	O
"	O
)	O
:	O
Customers	O
who	O
want	O
to	O
change	O
their	O
current	O
SAP	B-Application
ERP	I-Application
system	O
to	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
scenario	O
is	O
technically	O
based	O
on	O
Software	O
Update	O
Manager	O
(	O
SUM	O
)	O
with	O
Database	O
Migration	O
Option	O
(	O
DMO	O
)	O
in	O
case	O
the	O
customer	O
is	O
not	O
yet	O
on	O
SAP	B-Application
HANA	I-Application
as	O
the	O
underlying	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Selective	O
Data	O
Transition	O
(	O
formerly	O
:	O
Landscape	O
Transformation	O
)	O
-	O
This	O
is	O
a	O
consolidation	O
of	O
current	O
regional	O
SAP	B-Application
systems	O
into	O
one	O
global	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
system	O
or	O
a	O
split	O
out	O
of	O
different	O
parts	O
of	O
a	O
system	O
:	O
Customers	O
who	O
want	O
to	O
consolidate	O
their	O
landscape	O
or	O
carve	O
out	O
selected	O
entities	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
company	O
code	O
)	O
or	O
processes	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
on-premises	B-General_Concept
and	O
the	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
cloud	B-Architecture
editions	O
have	O
release	O
strategies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cloud	B-Architecture
editions	O
are	O
released	O
biannually	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
on-premises	B-General_Concept
edition	O
has	O
one	O
new	O
release	O
per	O
year	O
and	O
receives	O
additional	O
functionality	O
and	O
corrections	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
Feature	O
Pack	O
Stacks	O
(	O
FPS	O
)	O
or	O
Service	O
Pack	O
Stacks	O
(	O
SPS	O
)	O
each	O
quarter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On-premises	B-General_Concept
:	O
Each	O
year	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
is	O
shipping	O
a	O
new	O
product	O
version	O
of	O
its	O
on-premises	B-General_Concept
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
product	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
1610	O
)	O
this	O
will	O
always	O
be	O
followed	O
by	O
three	O
successive	O
FPS	O
on	O
a	O
quarterly	O
basis	O
,	O
after	O
this	O
SAP	B-Application
releases	O
the	O
next	O
product	O
version	O
and	O
the	O
previous	O
product	O
version	O
is	O
receiving	O
SPS	O
on	O
a	O
quarterly	O
basis	O
until	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
mainstream	O
maintenance	O
.	O
</s>
