From a functional and development perspective, SAP BW and the combination of Datasphere (DSP) and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) represent two different generations of SAP’s data & analytics stack.
- BW is feature‑rich and comes with many out‑of‑the‑box capabilities: tightly integrated data warehousing, mature modeling, and predefined mechanisms for enhancements and reporting.
- DSP/SAC provides a leaner programming and configuration set, which often requires a “do‑it‑yourself” approach: more scripting, more custom logic, and more architectural decisions on the customer side.
However, DSP/SAC are actively and rapidly evolving. Each release brings new features—and sometimes new issues, especially in SAC—but the overall trajectory clearly indicates that DSP/SAC are the strategic future. Over the long term, the flexibility, cloud‑native approach, and continuous innovation of DSP & SAC are expected to outgrow and eventually surpass BW in capability and relevance.
How-To implement BW functionality in DSP/SAC
Architecture DSP https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blog-posts-by-members/sap-datasphere-architecture-and-securi...
BW Security like in DSP/SAC https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blog-posts-by-members/bw-like-authorizations-in-datasphere-d...
Generic-like extraction into DSP https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blog-posts-by-members/sap-datasphere-delta-extraction/ba-p/1...
BW to DSP extraction using ODP https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blog-posts-by-members/sap-datasphere-bw-odp-delta-via-replic...
BW BEx User/Customer Exit https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blog-posts-by-members/how-to-build-bw-user-customer-exits-in...
DSP and SAC Versioning & Backup and Restore https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blog-posts-by-members/datasphere-dsp-and-sac-data-and-metada...
Bluesky
