In addition, an S/4 stack TM installation currently requires higher licensing cost when compared to AnyDB stack TM 9.6, due to additional S/4HANA licensing that comes into play. See the “What key SAP TM functionality is not yet available in the embedded TM option in S/4HANA?” section below. These apply to both the embedded and side-by-side deployment options.
![latest version sap ecc latest version sap ecc](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zswnm4LiKhk/T2hixF5zR9I/AAAAAAAAAIg/1fH6HMw7PoI/s1600/final.jpg)
Keep in mind that there are still some differences between functionality of AnyDB stack TM 9.6 and S/4 stack TM, that might prove to be critical for your implementation. SAP has been pretty clear that the future of TM is on the S/4 stack. Based on latest information from SAP, TM 9.6 will be the last AnyDB stack release and all future improvements will be done in the S4 stack TM solution. In fact, any new SAP TM implementations that have already determined to use the side-by-side deployment option should seriously consider implementing an S4 stack (1909) standalone TM solution instead of the AnyDB stack TM 9.6. This can also be a good option if you are currently not in a position to move your SAP ECC environment to S/4HANA but still want to take advantage of the latest S4 stack TM system. This side-by-side deployment option is often appealing to customers that have a number of SAP ERP systems that they want to connect to a single TMS. You can implement a standalone S/4 stack TM system that is then connected to other SAP ERP systems (ECC 6, S/4, etc.) or non-SAP ERP systems. Can I still choose to implement S/4HANA TM in a side-car scenario? In other words, it is no longer necessary to have a separate set of systems/servers/databases for SAP Transportation, as is the case with the classic side-by-side deployment option of SAP TM that we have seen to date. S/4HANA 1709 introduced an additional deployment option for SAP Transportation Management where TM functionality runs on the same S/4HANA instance as the ERP functionality.
![latest version sap ecc latest version sap ecc](https://techconcepthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/SAP-versions.png)
Please note that the information provided below is accurate as of the writing of this post (May 2020) and relates to S/4HANA version 1909. We have compiled a number of frequently asked questions and answers in regard to embedded TM offering in SAP S/4HANA and published them for your reference below. However, the embedded SAP TM alternative has its limitations that are important to understand and take into consideration. The embedded TM option certainly looks advantageous, as it reduces the complexity of several interfaces and data duplication.
![latest version sap ecc latest version sap ecc](https://sitacorp.com/img/sap-hana-migration.png)
S/4HANA 1909 release has made the embedded TM option even more appealing, by closing most of the functional gaps that S4/HANA 1709 release had with the AnyDB stack (aka Business Suite) TM release 9.6. With the release of S/4HANA 1709 SAP customers have been able to run SAP Transportation Management functionality on the same instance as their ERP solution. Author's Note: This post was originally published in January 2018 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness to cover S/4 HANA 1909 release.