Why SAP BDC Matters in modern data architecture?
Traditional data warehouses and lakes have long promised data centralization. But moving data introduces latency, complexity, and often, loss of context. SAP Business Data Cloud shifts this paradigm by enabling:
- Federated data access using live data where it resides
- Semantic consistency retaining SAP’s business logic and metadata
- End-to-end lineage and governance
- Business-friendly modeling eliminating complex ETL scripts
- Collaboration across teams and ecosystems
This means business and technical users can work together more effectively, using trusted data in real-time.
Key Features of SAP Business Data Cloud
- Data Fabric Architecture: BDC implements a data fabric, a modern approach that enables real-time, distributed data access and integration without duplicating data unnecessarily.
- Business Data Modeling: Users can define business-friendly data models that preserve the semantic richness of SAP systems. This ensures analytics and AI solutions use data with context.
- Data Marketplace: BDC offers a data marketplace that enables companies to discover, buy, and share data securely accelerating innovation with curated external datasets.
- Open Integration: Enables integration with third-party clouds (Google BigQuery, Azure Synapse, Snowflake, Databricks), AI/ML frameworks (SAP AI Core, TensorFlow, Python) etc.
- Data Governance & Lineage: With built-in data cataloging, lineage, and role-based access, BDC ensures that data is secure, compliant, and auditable.
Modernization path from SAP BW to SAP Datasphere
As companies embrace the business value of AI and prepare their data to be AI-ready, SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) emerges as a cornerstone for building a unified semantic layer of trusted data. This foundation is essential to power advanced analytics and intelligent applications.
At the heart of BDC, SAP Datasphere plays a pivotal role. It seamlessly connects data from both SAP and non-SAP sources while preserving business semantics through robust data models. These models can be directly consumed by AI tools and applications, enabling organizations to unlock new levels of insight and automation.
A critical milestone on the path to BDC is the modernization of existing SAP BW systems. Over the years, many organizations have made significant investments in their BW landscapes, generating high-value, trusted data that reflects their core business processes. To protect this investment and extend its value, customers can choose from several modernization scenarios. Each approach allows them to evolve their BW landscape at their own pace, while progressively tapping into the innovation potential of SAP Business Data Cloud.
Integrating SAP BW into the SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) can be approached in three key steps:
- Lift: Move your SAP BW or BW/4HANA landscape into the SAP BDC Private Edition.
- Shift: Transition SAP BW data into reusable Data Products.
- Innovate: Unlock new opportunities by combining Data Products with intelligent applications.
Lift:
By lifting your SAP BW or BW/4HANA on-premise landscape into the Private Edition of SAP BDC, you can reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) by leveraging SAP-managed infrastructure and removing hardware maintenance efforts. In addition, this step extends mainstream maintenance: until 2030 for BW 7.5 and until 2040 for SAP BW/4HANA. If your BW system still runs on a non-SAP database, a migration to SAP BW on HANA is required before moving to the cloud. You can either convert to SAP BW/4HANA during the lift or at a later stage, as long as it is within the supported maintenance timelines.
Shift:
Once migrated into the Private Edition, you can use the Data Product Generator to move your BW data into SAP BDC. The generated Data Products in SAP Datasphere can then be consumed directly, combined with external data, or pushed to SAP Databricks for advanced ML/AI innovation scenarios. This enables the creation of powerful analytical data models that bridge business and technical insights.
Innovate:
An alternative scenario is to replace SAP BW 7.5 or SAP BW/4HANA entirely with SAP Datasphere by leveraging the SAP BW Bridge. This allows you to modernize your BW landscape while seamlessly transitioning trusted data models into the innovation capabilities of SAP Business Data Cloud.
Real-world use cases in the Life Science Industry
End-to-End Clinical Trial Data Integration
Challenge:
Clinical trial data is spread across CROs, EDC systems, SAP ERP, lab systems, and spreadsheets slowing down analysis and reporting.
How BDC Helps:
- Federates data from clinical trial platforms (e.g., Medidata, Veeva) and SAP S/4HANA
- Maintains business semantics like patient IDs, trial phases, study arms
- Enables real-time dashboards and analytics for clinical operations
Regulatory Compliance & Audit Readiness
Challenge:
Life sciences companies must comply with regulations like FDA 21 CFR Part 11, GxP, and EMA IDMP which require trustworthy, traceable data.
How BDC Helps:
- Ensures governed access to master and transactional data
- Tracks data lineage across systems for full auditability
- Enables real-time reporting for compliance dashboards
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Optimization
Challenge:
Managing product data across R&D, manufacturing, quality, and regulatory teams is fragmented and error-prone.
How BDC Helps:
- Connects product master data from SAP PLM, QMS, and lab systems
- Enables a single semantic model for product lifecycle data
- Supports AI/ML models to predict stability, shelf-life, or quality issues
Demand Forecasting for Specialty Medicines
Challenge:
Forecasting demand for temperature-sensitive or specialty drugs requires integrating ERP, logistics, market data, and external sources.
How BDC Helps:
- Combines internal (SAP IBP, S/4HANA) and external (IQVIA, market access tools) data
- Supports live forecasting in SAP Analytics Cloud or AI models
- Enables visibility into inventory, cold chain status, and demand signals
Data Sharing with Research Partners & CDMOs
Challenge:
Collaborating with contract research and manufacturing organizations requires secure, selective data sharing.
How BDC Helps:
- Provides governed data sharing via the SAP Data Marketplace
- Supports read-only or collaborative access
- Enables use of partner data (genomics, clinical, etc.) in AI/ML pipelines without moving raw data
Post-Market Surveillance and Pharmacovigilance
Challenge:
Adverse event reporting must be timely, integrated, and compliant.
How BDC Helps:
- Unifies complaint, quality, and CRM data
- Enables real-time signal detection across regions and markets
- Supports AI to classify and route incidents
As organizations continue their journey toward becoming AI-driven enterprises, the foundation for success lies in trusted, connected, and business-ready data. SAP Business Data Cloud provides exactly that a unified semantic layer that not only preserves the value of existing SAP investments but also unlocks new opportunities for innovation.
Conclusion
Successful adoption of SAP BDC requires more than just technology; it demands future-proof migration blueprints, proven tools, and accelerators that help customers unlock the full innovation potential of SAP BDC. TCS, a trusted SAP partner, is at the forefront of this effort, guiding customers through the entire transition lifecycle to SAP BDC by leveraging best practices and deep expertise in business data fabric architecture, advanced analytics, and AI-powered innovations. TCS helps organizations define tailored modernization strategies for moving from SAP BW to SAP BDC at their own pace while building a resilient data foundation that powers intelligent applications, accelerates insights, and transforms the way business and AI work together.
Bluesky
