SAP Business Data Cloud and what it means for SAP ...

kpsauer · ‎2025 Apr 11

I have been in many customer discussions over the past weeks since SAP Business Data Cloud was launched on February 13, 2025 as part of the business unleashed event. People always ask similar questions, also during the technology days of the German SAP user group DSAG last week which led me to create this blog to reach a broader audience to clarify regular questions we get and help you find answers to avoid confusion.

Where do I find more information about the product and the announcement?

With the announcement there are new pages on our corporate sap.com website as well as a new page on the SAP community with lots of details about the new solution:

📺 Watch the replay of the launch event

🔗 Check out the product page overview on sap.com

🔗 Join the SAP Community for exchange with your peers

What is SAP Business Data Cloud and why does it matter?

SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) is a fully managed Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that unifies and governs all SAP data while seamlessly connecting with third-party data. It provides line-of-business leaders with the context needed to make impactful decisions. The solution combines the functionalities of SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP Business Warehouse, along with managed SAP Databricks and context aware Intelligent Applications. It includes curated business-ready data products from SAP line of business applications.

SAP Business Data Cloud is at the core of SAP's Business Suite strategy, which aims to provide a comprehensive view of business operations by integrating applications, data, and AI. It brings together the world’s most comprehensive and mission-critical data with the leading data platform to deliver transformational insights across all lines of business.

This integration helps businesses manage complexity and interconnected processes more effectively, enabling smarter decision-making and optimized business outcomes.

🔗 Discover more details on the eBook online.

📺 For a more detailed view on BDC watch my overview session on YouTube

SAP Business Data Cloud specific questions

Which components are part of SAP BDC?

SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) is a fully managed SaaS solution that comprises several components that are integral to its functionality. These components include:

SAP Datasphere: This component is part of the BDC offering, providing capabilities for data modeling and business semantics, data integration and data management, as well as for the definition of custom data products.
SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC): SAC is included in BDC to offer advanced analytics, visualization and planning tools.
SAP BW 7.5 / SAP BW/4HANA private cloud: This component is part of the BDC to support data warehousing needs and the path forward for existing on-premises SAP Business Warehouse customers, while being able to leverage the data product generator to create custom data products based on BW data and semantics.
SAP Databricks: This SAP managed component is included to provide data science, data engineering and machine learning / artificial intelligence (ML/AI) capabilities. Also here you will be able to create your custom data products shared via zero copy delta share.
Intelligent Applications and data products: These are prebuilt apps that consume SAP managed and curated data products to provide analytical, process, or domain insights, and access via zero copy delta share.
Data catalog: The data catalog is a central component that supports federated metadata management providing a unified view of metadata from various data sources. This central catalog is complemented by metadata APIs, which facilitate integration with other catalog systems. The catalog is a crucial component for managing and discovering data products within the BDC environment, ensuring that users can efficiently access and utilize the data they need for their business processes.
Business AI with Joule: AI infusion with Joule and its agents leverage the data foundation provided by SAP BDC and its embedded SAP Knowledge Graph technology.
SAP Business Data Cloud cockpit: It is designed to facilitate administrative tasks such as the installation of Data Packages and Intelligent Applications. This cockpit serves as a centralized platform for managing various components and functionalities within the Business Data Cloud, streamlining the process for users to perform necessary administrative operations efficiently.

These components work together to unify and govern all SAP data while seamlessly connecting with third-party data, providing a comprehensive solution for data and analytics.

What is new with data products?

SAP data products are a central feature in SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), that provide curated and enriched data sets for various analytical and business needs. Data products are not a new concept to SAP and they are a core part of the data marketplace of SAP Datasphere for custom-built data products.

Here are some of the new aspects and functionalities related to data products in BDC:

Curated and Enriched Data: BDC offers SAP managed curated and enriched data products that are designed to provide advanced analytics and cross-analytics capabilities. These data products are intended to help users make smart decisions and optimize business outcomes.
Plug-and-Play on a Harmonized Data Model: SAP data products are delivered out-of-the-box using an always-on experience and following a harmonized data model to provide scalable access without data duplication. This not only includes metadata, but also includes the data of connected customer systems like from SAP S/4HANA PCE.
Integration with Intelligent Applications: SAP data products in BDC are consumed by Intelligent Applications, which provide analytical, process, or domain insights. Currently these apps cover analytic models in Datasphere and pre-defined SAC stories, with the intention to expand the app coverage beyond analytical use cases and also leverage pro-code applications built on SAP BTP.
Data Sharing and Consumption: BDC facilitates the sharing of data products between applications, allowing for seamless data integration and consumption leveraging zero copy delta share. This is part of the broader goal to enable easy data sharing and consumption across different platforms and applications avoiding the need for countless data copies, while using the same data for multiple use cases and tools.

What are these Intelligent Applications?

Intelligent Applications in SAP Business Data Cloud are low code apps designed to deliver tailored insights and actionable recommendations out-of-the-box. They are a collection of pre-built apps that leverage SAP's curated unified semantic models. These apps are integrated with essential business applications to automate critical daily decisions in various areas such as working capital management, sales and distribution, and people analytics.

They contain an SAP managed collection of analytical assets and functionalities to provide value to customers through analytical, process, or domain insights. They can contain data products, semantic models, stories, planning models, AI-powered analytics, and more.

SAP Datasphere related Questions

What does that mean for existing SAP Datasphere customers?

For existing SAP Datasphere customers this means you are on the right track with your investment in SAP Datasphere. There will be no immediate changes, and existing customers can continue using their current services without interruption.

Over time, existing customers will have the option to transition to the fully managed solution offered by SAP Business Data Cloud. This transition is designed to be simple and ideally seamless, ensuring that customers do not experience any disruption in their services.

The initial release of SAP Business Data Cloud for controlled availability in Q1 2025 is mainly addressing greenfield customers. Later in 2025 existing SAP Datasphere customers can also start adopting SAP Business Data Cloud and bring their existing landscape into the fully managed SaaS experience.

Can existing SAP Datasphere systems be used without SAP BDC?

Yes, existing SAP Datasphere systems can continue to be used without transitioning to SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC). Customers currently using SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud services can continue their operations without interruption. Over time, they will have the option to transition to the fully managed solution offered by SAP Business Data Cloud, but it is not mandatory. This ensures that existing customers can maintain their current setups and workflows without being forced to migrate to BDC.

How can an existing SAP Datasphere system be integrated into SAP BDC?

Existing SAP Datasphere systems can be onboarded into SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) through a service that will be available at a later point in time. This onboarding will allow existing Datasphere customers to transition to BDC, leveraging the new functionalities and services offered by BDC while maintaining their current data and workflows. The onboarding process is designed to be simple and ideally seamless, ensuring that customers do not experience any disruption in their services.

Is the SAP BW Bridge of SAP Datasphere still supported in SAP BDC?

Yes, the SAP BW Bridge is still supported in the context of SAP Business Data Cloud. However, the strategic solution for SAP BW customers is to move to SAP BW Cloud, private edition to accelerate adoption of SAP Business Data Cloud. If customers envision a decommissioning of their SAP BW systems and the SAP BW investment can be covered within the scope of SAP BW Bridge, customers can replace the SAP BW 7.5 or SAP BW/4HANA systems with the SAP BW Bridge via a tool-supported conversion. Customers can benefit from the access of S-API extractors and business content similarly to the SAP BW on-premises world, while moving SAP BW investments to SAP BW Bridge. At the same time, customers can adopt data products and Intelligent Applications with SAP Business Data Cloud.

Roadmap and Learning

In which data centers is SAP BDC available?

SAP Business Data Cloud will initially be available on various AWS data centers. By mid-year, we plan to offer several data centers for Google Cloud and in the second half of 2025 also data centers from Microsoft Azure.

What is the roadmap for SAP BDC?

SAP Business Data Cloud was launched with the SAP Business Unleashed virtual event on February 13, 2025, and is commercially available on a controlled availability basis. It is planned to be broadly available in April 2025 (GA). A more detailed roadmap is currently being developed and will be published on the SAP Road Map Explorer.

🔗 Explore our product plans on the Roadmap explorer

Are there any learning tutorials available?

To quickly learn more about SAP Business Data Cloud you can enjoy the SAP Business Data Cloud product tour, which is a click through demo to experience SAP Business Data Cloud's most powerful capabilities.

🔗 To get a level deeper you can learn more with tutorials on the learning journey.