Red Hat OpenShift vs SAP Cloud Platform comparison

OpenShift is Red Hat's Kubernetes platform that provides a cloud environment for development, hosting, and scaling applications. The solution enables a cloud-like experience regardless of the location where it has been deployed, including in the cloud, on premises, or at the edge. It allows developers to select where to build, deploy, and run applications through a consistent experience, supported by full-stack automated operations, and self-service provisioning.

OpenShift employs an open hybrid cloud strategy which is built on the foundation of technologies including Linux, containers, and automation. This approach provides clients with a flexible selection of where to run their applications. Applications can be built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and are automatically compatible with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. OpenShift enables automation inside and outside clients' Kubernetes clusters.

The solution works with traditional, modernized, and cloud-native applications. It supports a wide variety of workloads, including Java, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and databases. Due to the vast ecosystem of technology partners that OpenShift supports, clients can benefit from automated deployment and life-cycle management. This product improves the security of the full application life cycle by decreasing operational risk. This is achieved by shifting security left and automating development, security, and operations (DevSecOps).

OpenShift Features

OpenShift facilitates clients’ application-running processes through various features. Some of the product’s features include:

• Backup and recovery: This feature ensures logical and physical protection through containers, Kubernetes, and serverless present opportunities. It is used to meet recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO).
  
  
• CI/CD pipelines: This feature of OpenShift automates the continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, accelerating the time for application development.
  
  
• GitOps: The GitOps feature increases security and reliability for applications through tools like Git repositories, Kubernetes, and CI/CD. The product includes this feature to allow developers more freedom in app development through tracing and accounting for the application life cycle in the Git repository.
  
  
• Helm: Helm is a package and installs manager that simplifies the deployment of containerized apps. It is included in the features of OpenShift to assist users with interoperability and support cloud-native applications from independent software vendors (ISVs).
  
  
• Sandboxed containers: OpenShift offers sandboxed containers based on Kata Containers to provide an additional layer of isolation for applications while meeting high-security requirements.
  
  
• Windows containers: The product offers this feature to facilitate users when running their Windows applications by providing them a scheduled, orchestrated, and managed environment.
  
  
• Security: OpenShift offers various operations through which clients can ensure the safety of their data and applications. They include container host and platform multitenancy, security and trusted content sources, security of the container registry, the build pipeline, and data, managing security container deployments, and more.
  
  
• Service Mesh: This feature provides a uniform way for clients to connect, manage, and observe microservices-based applications. It also provides detailed behavioral insight.
  
  
• Operators: This feature automates the development, configuration, and management of Kubernetes-native applications.
  
  
• Virtualization: OpenShift allows users to run and manage virtual machine (VM) and container workloads side by side.

OpenShift Benefits

OpenShift provides the companies and users utilizing it with various benefits. These benefits include the following:

• OpenShift provides scalability for applications, allowing them to run across hundreds of nodes in seconds.
  
  
• The product offers flexibility by simplifying the deployment and management of hybrid infrastructure and providing self-managed or fully-managed service.
  
  
• OpenShift incorporates open-source technologies alongside its native components and features.
  
  
• The product enhances the developer experience by offering a variety of tools, multi language support, and integrated development environment (IDE) integrations.
  
  
• The solution supports automated installation and over-the-air platform upgrades in the cloud with Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform, IBM Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, as well as various on-premise platforms.
  
  
• OpenShift includes streamlined and automated container and app builds, as well as health management and scaling.
  
  
• The solution enhances the support of smaller-footprint topologies in edge scenarios.
  
  
• OpenShift provides easy multiple cluster management through Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes.
  
  
• The product has enhanced security capabilities that include access controls, an enterprise registry with a built-in scanner, and networking.
  
  
• The solution supports a wide spectrum of enterprise storage solutions for running stateful as well as stateless apps.

Reviews from Real Users

An executive head of department - M-PESA Tech at a comms service provider gives OpenShift a high rating because its automation can go a long way in reducing time to market and the time required to fix issues that arise from deployment.

Vikram C., head of infrastructure & cloud ops at a comms service provider, rates highly three qualities of OpenShift, summarizing them to mature, seamless integration, and easy setup.

SAP Cloud Platform is an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) and PaaS cloud tool. It powers applications that deliver real-time insights to contribute to more effective and timely decision-making. Customers all over the world from different-sized companies use SAP Cloud Platform to build application extensions, integrate landscapes, or extend existing enterprise applications in the cloud.

The platform incorporates innovative technologies, including big data, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). SAP Cloud Platform supports native services and products by SAP, as well as partners with popular platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Amazon AWS, and Alibaba Cloud.

Users of the product can extend, integrate, and develop applications on premises and in the cloud. The product offers flexibility, agility, and scalability, as it enables easy integration and connection of different applications within the platform. The solution is based on open standards and provides a wide range of development tools.

SAP has announced that they are removing SAP Cloud Platform as a brand name and moving its capabilities within SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). The features of SAP Cloud Platform will be integrated into SAP BTP to assist with data management and analytics, alongside other components of the platform. Existing customers of SAP Cloud Platform will continue to benefit from its products under SAP Integration Suite and SAP Extension Suite.

SAP Cloud Platform Capabilities

The solution offers a wide variety of tools, application capabilities, services, and application programming interface (API). These can be categorized in the following ways:

• Enterprise extensions: The features of SAP Cloud Platform in this category include SAP Localization Hub, Tax Service, Data Enrichment for SAP S/4HANA, SAP Data Quality Management, SAP Business Application Studio, ABAP environment, and SAP Web IDE.
  
  
• Intelligent BPM: This set of features includes SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Process Visibility, Business Rules, and Workflow.
  
  
• Integration Suite: The features of SAP Cloud Platform in this category include Open Connectors, OData Provisioning, API Management, Cloud Integration, and Smart Data Integration.
  
  
• Digital experience: Features in this category include SAP Conversational AI, Mobile Services, Document Service, Portal, SAP Build, SAPUI5, and SAP Fiori Cloud.
  
  
• Data-driven insights: This category of capabilities includes SAP Leonardo Internet of Things, SAP Data Intelligence, SAP Edge Services, IoT, SAP HANA Cloud, SAP Web Analytics, SAP Streaming Analytics, SAP ASE Service, and SAP Analytics Cloud.
  
  
• Platform foundation: Alert Notification, Application Logging, Data Retention Manager, Job Scheduler, Java Server, and Transport Management are included in this group of capabilities.

SAP Cloud Platform Benefits

The platform has many benefits which improve their client’s workflows. They include the following:

• SAP Cloud Platform facilitates the seamless integration of existing solutions and hybrid system landscapes.
  
  
• The solution assists companies to deliver tailored end-to-end interfaces for improved user experience through software development kits (SDKs).
  
  
• It simplifies application interface management through the option of building apps in the Kubernetes environment.
  
  
• SAP Cloud Platform simplifies the development of native business applications through the various development tools and capabilities it offers.
  
  
• It provides companies with a wide range of pre-configured business services.
  
  
• Companies are offered the possibility to streamline the integration of new apps with a lowered overall cost of ownership.
  
  
• The product can reduce costs for organizations, as it does not require an up-front investment in software or hardware.
  
  
• The solution can increase productivity for developers through its supported open programming standards.

Reviews from Real Users

Shylaraj AK, a senior architect at a construction company, describes SAP Cloud Platform as easy to maintain, great features, and helpful support, which attributes to his high rating for the product.

Ehab-El H., chief executive officer at Asis, likes SAP Cloud Platform because it is easy to use with a fast deployment and straightforward setup.