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From hybris to SAP Commerce Cloud v2

Maurice Rootjes, 24 april 2019

With the introduction of SAP Commerce Cloud v2, not only the name of ‘hybris’ passed away, also the new direction is set for the commerce platform. After successfully implementing the first project and having the second project in progress, it is time to share some insight.

Is it really cloud?

Yes, this version is significantly differing from the predecessors. SAP has moved away from there proprietary SAP Infrastructure and made the new version available on Microsoft Azure infrastructure. It makes use of modern technology such as Kubernetes and there is the new SAP Commerce Cloud Portal, a nice web UI for self-managing cloud infrastructure related activities.

What’s the difference between SAP Commerce Cloud v1 and v2?

When running commerce on the SAP Infrastructure (v1) deployment and maintenance of the environment are managed by SAP Cloud Services. The customer or partner is responsible for build packages for deployment and request to deploy these packages by SAP Cloud Services, as outlined in the diagram below.

With the SAP Commerce Cloud running on public infrastructure (v2), the process to provision environments, manage access control, build and deploy packages is self-manged by using the SAP Commerce Cloud Portal.

This new setup delivers more control and flexibility for customers and partners, without losing the advantage of SAP maintaining the environments.

How does SAP Commerce Cloud integrate with other SAP solutions?

As your SAP Commerce Cloud solution probably not lives on its own, CCv2 comes with many integration options. Where SAP Cloud Platform Integration is offered for integrating with products like SAP Marketing Cloud and SAP Sales Cloud. Also, the brand-new Cloud Platform Extension Framework (‘Kyma’) is offered as an integrated solution. See the integration options for more details.

How to migrate from on-premise to cloud?

On a high-level, the following steps need to take places. To move your on-premise environment into the cloud:

  1. First of all, your SAP Commerce should be upgraded to a suitable version. The lowest version supported is version 6.7. Although, we recommend version 1811 because this version contains additional cloud support.
  2. Adjust the project structure and build process. The CCv2 deployments are done from a GIT repository. This repository needs to have a specific structure. In addition, a manifest file needs to be provided. This manifest file contains the instructions and configurations for the build.
  3. Infrastructure configuration like in any other infrastructure SAP Commerce Cloud is probably not the only software used, therefore network connections, access rights and software configuration need to take place. One advantage over CCv1, most configuration can be performed via the Azure or SAP Commerce Cloud portal.
  4. Currently the only database option for CCv2 is Microsoft Azure SQL database. In the likely case you are not using Microsoft SQL server already, you need to migrate your existing database. The migration process needs to be so smooth that you can do this during the cut-over from existing system to the cloud while your service is down. Database migrations are always difficult this would be the most critical and difficult part of your whole cloud migration project.

Are there limitations or considerations?

Summary

With the introduction of CCv2 a more of a true cloud solution is offered. It still has its limitations; these are mostly due to the early staged of life. We expect that with all the effort SAP puts in this solution, these limitations will be history soon. CCv2 is an exciting environment leveraging the latest technologies and integration features. It’s gives more control and flexibility than the previous deployment models. SAP Commerce Cloud v2 is the way forward!

Maurice Rootjes

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