With SAP’s strategic focus on its cloud offerings, the future will be about the cloud data warehouse platform. In the long term, cloud data warehouses can be the successor to enterprise data warehouses. At the same time, the business data warehouse bridge will need to offer migration options for parts of the BW system.
However, enterprises need to prepare for the public cloud.
SAP Business Warehouse users who are considering a data warehouse and deploying SAP BW/4 to modernize HANA are faced with whether it is still appropriate for enterprises in the future.
We believe that BW/4 HANA deployment is still an appropriate solution for three reasons:
#1. SAP BW/4 HANA has been successfully deployed for several years and can be used for almost any data warehouse use case. It is now mature and ready for deployment.
#2. SAP provides support until 2040, which is a guarantee of a secure investment.
#3. Finally, BW Bridge offers an option where BW deployment in a cloud data warehouse is doomed to fail. Therefore, there is the possibility of clouds.
All SAP BW users are advised to monitor their data warehouse cloud evolution closely.
SAP BW/4 HANA And Cloud Data Warehouse Integration
From a technical perspective, there are several options for integrating the solutions:
Remote Tables Or Database Connectivity
In this scenario, HANA is connected to the BW/4 data layer and used as a remote source. This allows data to be accessed from the BW system. This is a quick and straightforward way to implement an integration solution.
If you only use this hybrid approach, you will have to recreate the semantics in DWC manually. However, this is the easiest way to quickly integrate the data models available in the cloud data warehouse so that departments can perform extensions.
Using BW/4 HANA Transfer Models
Unlike a standard database connection, a model transfer connection is linked to a BW query. In addition to the required database connection, the data warehouse cloud also scans the semantics and creates the objects required for the business layer. The significant advantage of this type of connection is that there is no need to model the business layer manually.
About BW Bridge
BW Bridge is a BW/4 HANA solution built in a data warehouse cloud environment. The DWC Bridge provides BW data models in the bridge space, so there is no native BW integration into the Data Warehouse Cloud modeling objects.
BW Bridge is not an integration of an existing BW/4 HANA system into the Data Warehouse Cloud. However, BW Bridge customers can migrate or migrate their BW system to the Data Warehouse Cloud environment. The migration of existing systems is theoretically possible. However, the range of bridge functions is minimal from a BW perspective, so much will have to be manually restored in the local “core area” of the Data Warehouse Cloud.
Is It Worth The Investment To Upgrade To SAP BW/4 HANA?
SAP BW/4 HANA is a very mature data warehouse used very successfully. Therefore, it is the right product for creating enterprise databases.
SAP has a roadmap for BW/4 HANA until at least 2040, which gives customers long-term investment security.
There is also the question of future options for companies upgrading their SAP HANA SQL data warehouse. The technologies and methodologies used are fully compatible with the HANA cloud. Companies can manage their data warehouse on-premises or in the cloud.
Because DWC is built on the HANA cloud, the SQL for HANA approach can be successfully integrated into a cloud-based data warehouse, allowing HANA-based EDW to be extended with self-service functionality. The SQL for HANA approach is also likely to be more secure from an investment security point of view, as, unlike BW/4, it is not a single product but a set of specific tools and custom methods.
There are a number of tools SAP used to develop HANA applications. Therefore you need to apply product guidelines before using them.
The mapping methods strictly conform to general DWH development standards, the SQL DWH methods in HANA are not significantly different from other SQL-based DWH frameworks, such as in Microsoft environments.
Overall, HANA SQL DWH SQL is a safe investment in line with SAP’s strategy and commitment.
The native EDWH HANA Cloud is an option for companies that already want to deploy EDWH in the cloud but do not want to do so in a non-SAP environment.
As mentioned above, HANA SQL Data Warehouse can be deployed in the cloud as it is already available. SAP has not formally announced this capability, but it exists, it works, and it should be considered as attractive investment as it largely cloud-based approach to HANA SQL.
This approach is similar to deploying EDWH on AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Snowflake, so it’s an option if you want to stay in SAP’s cloud environment.
In such cases, it is often desirable to have an open approach to data warehouse that the application-oriented approach of BW does not offer. Customers who consciously choose a BW-based strategy are also recommended to consider a HANA SQL or HANA Cloud-based strategy.
BW implementation at the national level is comparable to other BW implementation approaches that are not based on action plans. In addition, SAP has offered a highly scalable and efficient platform in the form of HANA Cloud, which we believe is the best in its class.
Conclusion
The Data Warehouse Cloud is SAP‘s most important strategic product in the DWH space. There can be no doubt about this.
Today, many users are deploying this system from scratch. They are getting a very mature solution that they can be confident will make their projects successful.
SAP has a very long-term plan. However, we recommend that you take Data Warehouse Cloud into your consideration.
