There is truth in what Ron says. A few years ago we were looking at
this as an option. I had a 1 hour phone call with an US SAP consultant
who indicated the same points:
1.) Implementations take longer and are more complicated on other
platforms a huge majority of time
2.) SAP tries to be hardware and software agnostic (my term but is
meant to mean nothing about religion but about being noncommittal)
3.) SAP services and other consultants will make more money off of
other platforms
4.) Consultants will gravitate towards a specific solution set
(hardware, software, and DB) that they are comfortable with - not a
selection of best in class by any stretch.
5.) IBM i does not guarantee a smooth SAP implementation but does
reduce risk
6.) Small scale implementations normally result in IBM i having higher
acquisition costs but cost of ownership is almost always positive
compared to others
7.) Medium to Large the cost of acquisition tends to become equal
across the board
8.) IBM i solutions tend to require less logical and/or physical
servers
Ron can probably also speak to the lack of 3 tier architecture being
used in the IBM i world.....
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ron Schmerbauch
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 9:37 AM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: SAP on IBMi Power6...
I don't know if you looked very deep into the reference list, but this
particular on might be on target for your industry.
http://tinyurl.com/6emvnlb
If your company is looking at SAP, there are probably consultants
involved.
SAP is usually platform neutral.
However, be aware that consultants that provide the infrastructure layer
skills (DBAs) and system admin skills and SW know they'll get more
revenue from a server farm on Windows/Unix than they'll get from
i....just something to be aware of when you
start hearing platform opinions. IBM Software Group does this too.
Application layer SAP consulting skills are high in the stack - ok on
any os/db.
If you want to avoid headaches involve your i HW rep, i Business partner
and/or IBM i Lab Services off the bat.
Usually the existing i staff learns what they need to know about SAP
operations.
If you need help, IBM Lab Services has skills (former members of my team
that have spent time in Germany at SAP) that can work with you on the
install, landscape design and SAP on i training.
There is a Solution Edition of i offering for SAP - i license reduced
rate bundled with a voucher for Lab Services.
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/hardware/editions/solutions.html
Ron Schmerbauch 507-253-4880
IBM Rochester Development Lab, SAP on Power i
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/support/erp/
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/db4
http://www.twitter.com/SAPonIBMi
--
This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing
list To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe,
unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit:
http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx Before posting, please take a
moment to review the archives at
http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.
midrange.com
