SAP S/4HANA is an ERP business suite based on the SAP HANA in-memory database that allows companies to perform transactions and analyze business data in real time.

S/4HANA is the centerpiece — or digital core — of SAP’s strategy for enabling customers to undergo digital transformation, a broadly defined process where they can modify existing business processes and models or create new ones. This allows the companies to be more flexible, responsive and resilient to changing business requirements, customer demands and environmental conditions. SAP refers to this S/4HANA-centered business environment as the intelligent enterprise.

S/4HANA features

S/4HANA was designed to make ERP more modern, faster and easier to use through a simplified data model, lean architecture and a new user experience built on the tile-based SAP Fiori UX. S/4HANA includes or is integrated with a number of advanced technologies, including AI, machine learning, IoT and advanced analytics. The SAP HANA in-memory database architecture and the integration of advanced technologies allow S/4HANA to help solve complex problems in real time and analyze more information faster than previous SAP ERP products.

The on-premises version of S/4HANA can also be deployed in public or private clouds or a hybrid. There is also a multi-tenant SaaS version, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, whose modules and features differ from those of the on-premises version.