AWS Podcast Episode #752: Modernizing SAP with AWS

Release Date: January 19, 2026
Host: Simon Elisha
Guest: Tushar Srivastava, Principal Account Manager at AWS, Author of Modernizing SAP on AWS

Overview

This episode takes a practical and narrative-driven deep dive into the modernization of SAP systems using AWS. Simon Elisha interviews Tushar Srivastava, exploring Tushar’s extensive experience with SAP and the motivation behind his new book, Modernizing SAP on AWS. The conversation covers the importance of SAP in business, common fears and misconceptions about cloud migration, and how AWS unlocks new efficiencies and innovations for SAP customers. The podcast also discusses real-world challenges, storytelling as an educational tool, and concrete examples of AWS-enabled SAP innovation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Tushar’s Background and Motivation (01:04–05:16)

• Tushar’s SAP Experience:

  • Principal Account Manager at AWS in the retail/CPG sector, previously an SAP specialist, and former roles at SAP and consulting firms.
  • Helped customers modernize SAP through cloud, addressing confusion around migration options.
  • SAP modernization was an emerging field in 2020, now a mature global AWS practice.

• Why Write the Book?

  • Identify and provide clarity for customers overwhelmed by modernization options and cloud terminology.
  • Use analogies to demystify technical concepts and relate modern infrastructure back to desired business outcomes like reliability and agility.

  “Your goal is not just to get the brightest and shiniest infrastructure ... Your goal is to make SAP reliable and running smooth.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (03:01)

SAP’s Central Role in Business (05:16–10:32)

• SAP’s Evolution:

  • Originated as a way to standardize back-office operations for businesses, transforming from custom solutions to comprehensive ERPs.
  • Central to critical operations—manufacturing, accounting, payroll, compliance—especially for global businesses.

• Business Challenges:

  • SAP is mission-critical, making leaders cautious about change.
  • Must balance agility, compliance, security, and cost-efficiency (the “three-legged stool”).
  • Large teams often dedicated exclusively to SAP operations.

  “If you don’t make changes, if you don’t improve, … then it’ll actually hold the business back. So you’ve got this sort of dual challenges that you have to deal with.”
  – Simon Elisha (08:27)

Storytelling Approach: Nimbus Airlines (10:32–13:34)

• Why Storytelling?

  • Tushar structures the book around the fictional “Nimbus Airlines,” guiding readers through modernization with relatable characters and scenarios.
  • Technical concepts are introduced at logical points in the narrative, matching real customer journeys and concerns.

  “My focus was to write a book, include enough technical concepts, but tell it through the lens of a journey.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (11:09)

Realities of SAP Migration to AWS (13:36–21:54)

• Biggest Customer Concerns:

  • Reliability and performance of SAP on cloud vs. on-prem.

  • Disaster recovery, data center proximity, and infrastructure certification for SAP workloads.

  • Customers used to pre-ordering hardware and planning with long lead times now have to adapt to more elastic AWS provisioning.

  “On the cloud a lot of these tools are available for free ... It’s almost like teaching somebody to move away from riding a bike with three wheels to riding a bike with just two wheels.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (16:06)

• Cloud Benefits:

  • Monitoring, automation, disaster recovery, and failover are easier and come built-in.
  • Proof-of-concept migrations and immersion days help overcome fear and uncertainty.
  • Faster upgrades and scaling—moving from months to weeks.
  • Easier post-acquisition integration of SAP instances.
  • Removal of hardware procurement backlog and cost.

Innovation Beyond Infrastructure (21:54–29:32)

• Data & Analytics:

  • Enhanced analytics via AWS data lakes and AppFlow integrations; richer insights by seamlessly leveraging SAP data.

• AI and Machine Learning:

  • IoT-driven innovation—e.g., visual inspection on manufacturing lines using AWS Lookout for Vision, feeding direct quality alerts into SAP.

• Development Efficiencies:

  • AWS SDK for SAP ABAP enables seamless development within AWS.
  • GenAI and Bedrock for exception processing—AI agents automate tasks like invoice error resolution, reducing manual workload.

  “If somebody can write down a standard operating procedure ... we feed that into the tool … it can go in, log in into SAP and go ahead and process that invoice.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (26:46)

• Customer-Driven Innovation:

  • Many innovation ideas arise organically after SAP moves to AWS; community knowledge sharing boosts creativity.

  “Frankly a lot of these innovation ideas have come from customers themselves.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (28:33)

Writing the Book: Blending Technical and Narrative (30:14–32:59)

• Story-Centric Writing:

  • Describing realistic business environments (e.g., Nimbus Airlines HQ), drawing from professional experience, makes technical content engaging and memorable.
  • Feedback emphasized the value of immersive settings for reader connection.

  “The way you describe the environment … it certainly makes things real. And the reader feels now I’m in there with them.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (32:27)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Demystifying Infrastructure:

  “What exactly is at the core and eventually tie it back to their outcomes ... your ability to serve faster, ability to do upgrades faster. So that resonated a lot with my customers.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (03:33)

• On Customer Apprehension:

  “It’s actually better. You can go faster, you can do more things … for a lot of these customers ... it all of a sudden becomes a little bit of a concern that okay, how would I, you know, what would happen?”
  – Tushar Srivastava (16:36)

• On Cloud Innovation:

  “All of a sudden it opens up a door of so much innovation that you could do.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (28:03)

• On Writing Style:

  “That was my big learning and I’m glad I was able to incorporate that ... the storytelling is incredible and that helps them relate with the subject matter.”
  – Tushar Srivastava (32:37)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:04] Tushar’s background and the genesis of the book
• [05:16] Explanation of SAP’s history and role in organizations
• [10:32] Introduction to the storytelling approach (Nimbus Airlines)
• [13:55] Typical customer challenges and fears about SAP migration
• [16:06] How AWS changes the migration paradigm and alleviates pain points
• [21:54] The innovation unlocked by migrating SAP to AWS
• [26:08] Exception processing and GenAI in SAP environments
• [30:14] The process and personal impact of writing the book
• [32:37] The power of immersive storytelling in technical writing

Book Information & Where to Find It (29:43–30:14)

• Modernizing SAP on AWS by Tushar Srivastava
• Available on Amazon and from the publisher Springer Nature.
• Formats: Hardcover, eBook (PDF); no audio version yet.

Conclusion

This episode not only clarifies the complexities and opportunities of modernizing SAP on AWS but, through Tushar’s narrative-driven approach, makes a technical journey relatable and actionable for IT practitioners and business stakeholders. For listeners seeking practical insights, real-world analogies, and inspiration for tackling their own SAP modernization, this episode—and Tushar’s book—provide a compelling starting point.

For more details and a link to the book, please refer to the episode’s show notes.