6    Trial Systems and Model Company

The SAP Activate methodology also includes a model company with preconfigured customizing that is based on SAP Best Practices. The model company can help you get started and is ideal for testing and determining the appropriate migration strategy.

The previous chapter introduced SAP Activate as the framework for implementing SAP S/4HANA, and Chapter 5, Section 5.1.1, provided an overview of SAP S/4HANA’s reference system, the so-called model company, which is a trial system in the cloud. This chapter now introduces this model company and its application options, which go far beyond the scope of common trial systems. The preconfigured system is already customized, containing, for example, predefined company codes, organizational structures, and sample data. The system is based on SAP Activate and SAP Best Practices and helps you identify your requirements for the migration to SAP S/4HANA and your prerequisites.

The model company in SAP S/4HANA replaces the obsolete world template in SAP Business Suite and is thus a comprehensive enhancement for SAP S/4HANA particularly because SAP Best Practices is now an integral part of SAP S/4HANA.

6.1    Trial System in the SAP Cloud Appliance Library

Both SAP customers and SAP partners can access the trial system, SAP S/4HANA’s reference solution in the cloud. The trial system contains the model company as well as corresponding sample data and scenarios.

[»]  Accessing the Trial System

You can configure the SAP S/4HANA trial system via the following link: www.sap.com/s4hana-trial.

The trial system is provided in the SAP Cloud Appliance Library (SAP CAL). SAP CAL delivers preconfigured software systems in a cloud-based solution on demand. You can start and use these systems in your own SAP CAL cloud space.

This cloud computing option allows you to lease computing infrastructures instead of purchasing your own hardware. The underlying scalable concept follows the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) model. SAP CAL provides an online platform for managing your SAP systems, which can be hosted by any IaaS cloud provider (for example, Amazon or Microsoft).

Two options are available for you to explore the world of SAP S/4HANA using the trial system:

• SAP S/4HANA Cloud Trial
  This variant enables you to create a user with 14-day test access to a preconfigured SAP S/4HANA Cloud demo system. All users share one system, but SAP CAL manages access to the system. This public cloud variant, or SaaS (software as a service) in the cloud, behaves like a “real” SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. Part II of this book discusses this type of SAP S/4HANA system in more detail.
  The system is shared by all users and is ready to use. You can execute demo scenarios using wizards. You can use the system to get familiar with SAP S/4HANA’s functions and the SAP Fiori user interface. However, you cannot change the configuration of this system and cannot run through migration scenarios because administrative functions are restricted. One advantage of this variant is that it is completely free because no hosting costs are incurred.
• SAP S/4HANA Trial
  For this variant, you can use a 30-day test license to create a complete SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, system in the private cloud (which is hosted by a cloud provider). More appropriately, you “instantiate” rather than “create” the system, which is a copy of the model company that we’ll discuss throughout this chapter. The test license is free, but you’ll have to pay hosting fees for the cloud provider you choose. Because this trial system is your system, you can view and change all functions (including customizing). You can also access the system via SAP GUI.
  The system is based on the SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance for SAP S/4HANA 1610, on-premise, at the time of this writing. Like SAP S/4HANA, the underlying trial system is continuously enhanced and updated to map additional functions.

  [»]  Setting up Your Access to the Trial System

  As you read Part II and Part III, we recommend activating the corresponding trial system to better understand our explanations by running through the scenarios in the model company in the SAP S/4HANA system.

The SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance allows you to run an entire SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, landscape as a trial system either in Amazon Web Services (AWS) or in Microsoft Azure. You will require an account for the cloud provider. Figure 6.1 shows the SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance in SAP CAL.

Figure 6.1    SAP S/4HANA 1610 Fully-Activated Appliance in the SAP Cloud Appliance Library

The benefits of using the SAP CAL landscape are its scalability and availability: You can define various sizes for the virtual systems (i.e., different memory and disk sizes) and thus easily scale the landscape. Furthermore, you can stop, start, and use your system as required. Actual costs involve hourly fees for activated systems only (in addition to the low basic costs for each instance). If needed, you can deactivate a system and then (re)activate it later on.

While this system is deployed within a few hours with the cloud approach, you can also implement this appliance on-premise in your data center within one or two days. In addition to a trial system, this method also allows you to deploy a sandbox system for a proof of concept, for example, or as a development system in your future SAP S/4HANA landscape. The following section discusses these options in more detail.