SAP Business Data Cloud - FAQs

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Motivation:

SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) has arrived and It is the future of the Data and Analytics. Launched on February 13th, 2025, BDC represents an exciting evolution in SAP's data and analytics solutions. We understand you are eager to learn more about this game-changing platform, and you likely have questions. This FAQ is designed to provide clear, concise answers to some of the most common queries, giving you a solid understanding of BDC. It complements the wealth of information shared at Business Unleashed Event, in SAP Help documents, and through expert blogs from our product colleagues. SAP Business Data Cloud launched on February 13, 2025, and will be commercially available on a controlled basis, with general availability planned for April 2025, subject to change. Let us dive in!

Disclaimer:
The dates and information shared in this blog reflect my best understanding of SAP at the time of writing and are subject to change as SAP's products, features, and timelines may change. Updated on May 20th 2025.

SAP Business Data Cloud Components:

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (FAQs):

We have grouped the questions by SAP BDC components to make the information clear, simple, and component-specific.

SAP Business Data Cloud:

1. What is SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC)?

SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) is a game-changer, providing a single, fully managed cloud SaaS platform for all your data and analytics . It brings together all your SAP data, integrates third-party sources, and offers powerful governance. BDC delivers enriched data products, advanced analytics, cross-analytics, benchmarking data, and AI-powered Intelligent Applications, empowering you to make smarter decisions and improve business results.. It empowers SAP ERP S/4HANA (PCE, Public cloud) and line-of-business applications (such as HCM, ISBN, etc.) with actionable insights to drive more impactful decisions. The platform enables a seamless delta data lake house architecture and combines the capabilities of SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP BW or BW/4HANA PCE (Private Cloud Edition), managed SAP Databricks, and Intelligent Applications. It offers business-specific data packages with Data Products, and supports BI, ML, AI services, Joule, a Knowledge Graph, and planning functionalities.

Learn more: https://www.sap.com/products/data-cloud.html 

2. What are the key components and building blocks of the SAP BDC?

1. Foundation Services and Data Products
2. Intelligent Applications formerly Insight Apps.
3. BDC Cockpit
4. SAP Datasphere
5. SAP Analytics Cloud
6. SAP BW, BW/4HANA PCE (Private Cloud Edition)
7. SAP Databricks

3. What is driving SAP to combine SAP Datasphere, SAP SAC  and SAP BW, BW4  into the new SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC)?

While the SAP Datasphere business data fabric architecture was a positive move, it did not fully realize the goal of a truly one unified semantic data platform. SAP BDC addresses these limitations by:

• One software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform and subscription model for all data & analytics needs.
• Unified Data Experience: By integrating these solutions, SAP aims to offer a seamless data experience that allows customers to access, manage, and analyze data across different SAP applications and third-party sources.
• Automating Data Integration: BDC provides SAP-managed data integration, including pre-built data products and Intelligent Applications, eliminating the need for customers to manually integrate data, even from SAP sources.
• Extending Analytics with AI/ML : It integrates SAP Databricks, expanding analytical capabilities and enabling comprehensive ML/AI use cases.
• Offering cost-effective storage, compute and a fully enabled data lake house architecture
• Delivering SAP-managed content: Like Intelligent Applications, which simplifies deployment compared to traditional Business Content.
  
  

4. What are the key differentiators of SAP Business Data Cloud compared to other data and analytics solutions, and how do these differences translate into tangible benefits for customers?

SAP Business Data Cloud empowers customers with a unified data foundation that spans your SAP ERP and line-of-business applications. It achieves this by integrating a single, consistent data model across these systems, enabling powerful cross-functional analytics, planning, and the application of AI/ML. Essentially, it's a fully managed suite of services covering everything from building a modern business data fabric and warehouse to handling planning, data engineering, and AI/ML workloads.

Here's how SAP Business Data Cloud benefits customers:

• Out-of-the-box Insights & Reporting: Pre-built, SAP-managed insight applications deliver advanced analytics and planning capabilities across all lines of business, providing actionable insights that drive better decision-making.
• Ready-to-Use Data Products: Pre-built and SAP-managed data products for critical business processes maintain essential business context and semantics while ensuring comprehensive data governance. This accelerates time-to-value by providing readily available, high-quality data.
• Unified Data Landscape with Advanced data warehousing: It harmonizes SAP and third-party data, simplifying data integration and management. The fully managed capabilities for business data fabric architecture, business warehouse modernization, planning, data engineering, and AI/ML further streamline operations and reduce complexity.
• ML and AI: SAP Databricks integration allows for pro-code development of AI, machine learning, and data engineering tasks, catering to the needs of data scientists and developers.
• Scalable and Efficient Foundation: Built on a delta data lake house architecture, leveraging HANA Data Lake Files and Apache spark compute, the platform can efficiently handle massive data volumes, ensuring performance and scalability as data grows.

In short, One SaaS solution for all data and analytics requirements. It covers BI analytics(cross), planning, AI. SAP Business Data Cloud simplifies data management, accelerates insights, and empowers businesses to leverage the full potential of their data for improved operations, planning, and innovation.

5. What are Foundation Services in SAP Business Data Cloud, and what do they do?

Foundation Services are the essential behind-the-scenes components that power Data Products and Intelligent Applications. They handle everything from setting up the system and getting data, to transforming it, building Data Products, and keeping things running smoothly. They use Open Resource Discovery (ORD) to find Data Products from different sources. The data is stored in the HANA Data Lake Files (HDLF) namely Delta lake tables (a fast, efficient file format) and is accessed via SQL on files, Delta Sharing open source protocol. Delta Sharing principles is a way to share data without copying it, making it accessible to many different tools in a secure and scalable way. Essentially, Foundation Services are the engine that makes your ERP, LoB's data readily available as a curated data products and usable in BDC.

6. What is a Data Product in SAP Business Data Cloud, what types exist, and how are they created?

A Data Product in SAP Business Data Cloud is a self-contained, business-ready dataset designed for easy consumption. It's more than just raw data; it includes the necessary business context and semantic meaning, ensuring users understand what the data represents. Crucially, Data Products are fully governed and made available via APIs and a Data Product Directory, allowing them to be easily discovered and used across the organization. Data Package is basically will group the related Data Products. You can activate Data packages from the BDC cockpit and  Three types of Data Products exist:

1. Curated, SAP-managed Data Products: These are pre-built by SAP, focusing initially on data from ERP and Line-of-Business applications. They adhere to the One Domain Model and use a standard type system for consistency.
2. Customer-defined Data Products: These are created by customers to meet their specific analytical needs, leveraging data from various sources.
3. Partner-defined Data Products: These are developed by SAP partners, offering specialized datasets tailored to particular industries or use cases.

6.1 What is the difference between SAP Managed and Customer Managed Data Products?

• SAP Managed Data Products:
  • These are fully managed by SAP throughout their lifecycle.
  • The data is stored within the Foundation Service (FOS) HDLFS, which is not directly accessible to customers.
• Customer Managed Data Products:
  • These are managed end-to-end by the customer.
  • The data is stored in the SAP Datasphere object store, which is built upon the HDLFS.

7. Are BDC Data Products and the SAP Datasphere Marketplace the same thing?

No, they are distinct concept/offerings. BDC Data Products and the SAP Datasphere Marketplace serve different purposes. While both involve the concept of data products, the Marketplace acts as a platform for purchasing third-party data, monetizing datasets, and facilitating data sharing within your organization or with partners. Conversely, BDC Data Products are primarily focused on providing your semantic rich business applications data.

8. How does SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) store its data?

Stores its data using SAP HANA Data Lake Files(HDLF) as the underlying storage mechanism. The data is stored in Delta Tables, which are part of the Delta Lake architecture. This setup allows BDC to efficiently manage large volumes of data with features such as ACID transactions, scalable metadata handling, and unified streaming and batch data processing. This approach is cost-effective and scalable, supporting multi-terabyte storage and processing through HDFL, Apache Spark Compute, and SQL on Files. Data is organized using a medallion architecture (Bronze, Silver, and Gold tables) to provide readily consumable Data Products.

9. What are the Intelligent Applications in SAP BDC?

Intelligent Applications are pre-built analytical applications within SAP BDC. They help you quickly discover hidden insights and make faster decisions. They are fully managed by SAP, built on curated BDC data products, Datasphere models, SAC stories and include predefined metrics, AI models, and planning tools. 

10. How do Intelligent Applications in SAP Business Data Cloud differ from embedded analytics in SAP S/4HANA, Ariba, SuccessFactors, etc., and how will these apps be structured?

A: Intelligent Applications serve distinct analytical and AI/ML-driven use cases, focusing on historical and cross-application data for deeper analysis, unlike embedded operational reporting which emphasizes real-time, day-to-day operational data. Embedded analytics often struggle with high data intensive analytical use cases or consolidating data across multiple systems, a challenge Intelligent Applications address.

11. What's the difference between BDC Intelligent Applications and SAP prebuilt business content, especially since prebuilt business content is typically free? Can customers just customize the prebuilt business content instead of buying Intelligent Applications?

The fundamental difference between Intelligent Applications and business content is lifecycle management. They are fully managed by SAP (one click installation and ready to consume) that includes data integration, updates and ongoing support. Intelligent Applications are typically not free and require a subscription or purchase. SAP Business content, on the other hand, often with no additional cost, and shifts the responsibility of data integration, configuration, updates and maintenance to the customer (Import, Deploy, Data Integration, Updates etc.).

12. Will there be any changes to existing SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics or embedded SAP Analytics Cloud in Line-of-Business applications like Ariba?

No, there will be no changes.

13. How are Intelligent Applications different from Business Content for SAP Datasphere and SAC?

Business Content is a package of connection to source, data models(views) and stories that customers had to set up and use themselves, and connecting the data is not always easy. Intelligent Applications are ready to consume right out of the box. When you install an Intelligent Application, the data, analytics, and applications are all set up and configured for you. Plus, Intelligent Applications use pre-built, SAP-managed data products, which you can also use to create your own insights and build AI applications faster.

14. When will SAP Business Data Cloud Intelligent Applications be available for specific Line-of-Business (LoB) applications like Ariba, Concur, and SuccessFactors etc.?

The long-term goal is to offer Intelligent Applications for all business and LoB applications. However, this will be rolled out over time, and a detailed roadmap will be published. While SAP prioritizes building apps for core business functions, they will also collaborate with partners to create industry-specific solutions. Updates on availability will be shared as soon as possible.

15. Can customers customize or enhance the pre-built Intelligent Applications in SAP Business Data Cloud?

Yes, customers can extend Intelligent Applications within SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud to meet their specific needs. However, these customizations will be managed by the customer, as they will be based on copies of the SAP-managed content.

16. How does SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) access data from other SAP and non-SAP applications?

SAP BDC leverages SAP Datasphere's native data integration capabilities, including third-party connections (data flows, replication flows, remote tables, etc.), and also utilizes Databricks' write-back functionality to the foundational data layer. Additionally, customers can leverage the SAP Datasphere embedded object store for data access and storage.

17. What is the Business Data Cloud Cockpit?

The Cockpit is a new interface within Business Data Cloud. It is where you handle administrative tasks, like installing Data Packages and Intelligent Applications.

18. How do I subscribe to SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), and what's the pricing like?

SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) is offered through a SaaS subscription, priced using BDC Capacity Units (CUs). The pricing structure has two main components:

1. BDC Core Capacity: This component covers the four primary technical services within SAP Business Data Cloud. Capacity Units (CUs) act as flexible tokens, allowing you to allocate them across these 4 core services as needed. For instance, Customer 1 might choose a combination of Datasphere, SAC, and Databricks, Customer 2 might opt for Datasphere, SAC, and BW/4HANA PCE, While Customer 3 might opt for SAC only. This flexible token allocation ensures you only utilize the services you need.
   1. SAP Datasphere service
   2. SAP Analytics Cloud service
   3. SAP BW & BW/4HANA Private Cloud Edition (PCE) service
   4. SAP Databricks service
2. Intelligent Applications: This component covers the pre-built, Line-of-Business (LoB) specific applications, including SAP-managed data products, semantic models, and dashboards. Customer must license at least one insight app.

For detailed pricing information and to tailor a subscription to your specific needs, please contact your assigned SAP Account Executive (AE) or Customer Success Partner/Customer Success Manager (CSP/CSM).

19. How do I calculate or estimate size the SAP BDC and Components ?

Take me to SAP BDC estimator. SAP Databricks Pricing Calculator.

20. If a customer wants to build a three-tier landscape, how will provisioning work? Can they distribute their total Capacity Units (CUs) across these tiers?

Yes, customers will be able to provision multiple tenants of SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP BW/4HANA Private Cloud Edition (PCE), SAP Databricks and allocate their CUs accordingly.

21. Where can I find the SAP BDC roadmap?

SAP BDC Roadmap

22. Already have a contract for Datasphere (BTPEA/CPEA). How does that work with SAP BDC's different pricing? Can I use my existing contract to try SAP BDC?

Existing contracts will continue without issue, and there will be seamless integration with SAP BDC, both commercially and technically. However, SAP BDC uses a separate subscription model, so your existing contract won't directly cover SAP BDC usage. While SAP BDC isn't available for free trials at launch, you can use your existing BTP environment to explore SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud, which are components of BDC.

23. Can I subscribe to SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) now?

Yes, BDC is currently available for subscription in a controlled release, though with some limitations. General Availability (GA) is planned for April 2025. For any inquiries or to explore subscription options, please contact your SAP representative.

24. SAP BDC available in both public and private cloud?

No, SAP Business Data Cloud is currently offered only as a public cloud SaaS solution.

25. What if SAP Business Data Cloud data centers aren't available in my region yet?

If BDC data centers aren't in your region, you have two choices: 1) You can still buy BDC and use a data center in another region, or 2) You can continue using SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud until BDC is available locally. This way, everyone gets access to the right solutions.

26. Which SAP S/4HANA editions are supported by SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), and are there plans to extend support to on-premise versions?

SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) strategically supports the cloud editions of SAP S/4HANA, specifically:

• SAP S/4HANA, Private Cloud Edition: SAP-managed Data Products are exclusively available
• SAP S/4HANA, Public Cloud Edition  : SAP-managed Data Products are exclusively available

While SAP-managed Data Products are exclusively available for these cloud editions, there are no immediate plans to extend support to on-premise S/4HANA systems. However, SAP will provide a customer-managed option for SAP BDC, enabling SAP S/4HANA on-premise customers to connect their systems and integrate data into the BDC for a holistic data and analytics solution.

27.  Is the long-term strategy to have all data currently stored in separate applications (SAP S/4HANA, SuccessFactors, Ariba, etc.) reside in the SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), with the applications serving more as services that access the data without needing to store it separately?

Not for transactional data within ERP or business applications. The SAP BDC is primarily intended for analytics, planning, and AI use cases, enabling the use of data across both SAP and non-SAP applications. It will move business data with semantics into the BDC layer, which will centralize data management, serving all data needs while offloading storage from core transactional or business applications.

28. Does SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) offer a trial or free tier tenant access? Can I use my existing BTPEA contract for a free tier experience with components like SAP Datasphere and SAC?

Currently, SAP BDC itself does not offer a free trial or free tier. However, SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), key components of BDC, do offer free tier options for existing BTP customers. Those customers can access these services to explore SAP Datasphere and SAC capabilities as long as these services are available in the BTP service catalog.

28. What hyperscalers are or will be supported for SAP BDC?
AWS, GCP, and Azure.

29.What is the difference between Insight Apps and Intelligent Applications? What happened to Insight Apps?

At a high level, this is primarily a rebranding. Insight Apps have been renamed to Intelligent Applications to align with the next generation of out-of-the-box solutions that will be AI-powered and integrated with Joule. These applications are becoming more intelligent through embedded and infused AI capabilities.

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SAP Datasphere:

1. How does SAP BDC affect existing SAP Datasphere and SAC customers, and what's the transition like? 

Existing Datasphere and SAC customers can continue using their solutions as they are, but they won't be considered part of the BDC framework. Alternatively, they can "rewire" their tenants to integrate with BDC. This transition is designed to be seamless, with no disruption to current operations or existing APIs. While a separate Datasphere tenant is currently required for BDC, SAP is exploring options for automatic upgrades. Ultimately, Datasphere and SAC will become integrated components of the BDC framework. There's no immediate pressure to switch, giving customers flexibility in their adoption timeline. Note: Rewire(seamless transition) of existing tenant (Datasphere, SAC) into BDC is planned for Q3/2025 subject to change.

2. What is the future of SAP Datasphere with BDC, and will it continue to be developed

SAP Datasphere remains a strategic component of BDC and will continue to be enhanced. There will be no feature gap between Datasphere within BDC and standalone Datasphere, and it will maintain its own roadmap.

3. How will SAP Datasphere change with the introduction of SAP BDC?

At the Datasphere level, there are no technical changes. In fact, Datasphere will benefit from SAP's curated BDC data products, Intelligent Applications, zero-copy integration, and Delta Sharing with Databricks. You can continue building custom models on top of these available data products.

4. What if the data I need isn't available as a data product in BDC? are native connections in Datasphere are relevant?

SAP Datasphere provides a wide range of built-in connections to various data sources, regardless of whether they're on-premise or cloud, or from SAP or non-SAP systems. If the data isn't readily available as a data product, within an Insight App, or in a third-party solution, you can use these connections to bring the data into BDC. This allows you to leverage data from both SAP and non-SAP sources to build your analytics use case. You can use native integration for various scenarios like:

1. Integrating standard CDS views that aren't available as data products.
2. Integrating custom CDS views tailored to your specific needs.
3. Connecting to SAP sources using the existing data integration capabilities.
4. Integrating data from third-party (non-SAP) sources alongside your SAP data.

5. How does SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) handle data integration, especially in mixed HANA modeling scenarios, and what are the key considerations for customers?

BDC employs a zero-copy data integration approach, similar to Databricks, to minimize data redundancy and enhance efficiency. For custom data products, data must reside within SAP Datasphere, which serves as the central data integration and modeling hub. BDC is actively improving connectivity with non-SAP systems, and customer feedback is encouraged.

Regarding mixed HANA modeling scenarios, customers should utilize SAP Datasphere's custom data integration capabilities. Datasphere is investing in semantic onboarding of HANA artifacts, enabling customers to directly leverage existing HANA developments within BDC. This approach streamlines integration and maximizes the usability of HANA models in the BDC environment.

6. How does reporting work within BDC, and what's the difference compared to standalone Datasphere?
Reporting tools, especially SAC, allow immediate reporting via live connection to Datasphere. A key difference is the addition of Joule within BDC.

7. Is SAP Datasphere included in BDC, and do I need a separate license for it? How will pricing work?

Yes, Datasphere is a key component of BDC. You will be licensed with enough BDC capacity to cover your Datasphere needs, similar to how you do it today, using a new BDC Estimator tool that will be available soon. The pricing for Datasphere itself will remain the same.

8. Will business content on SAP Datasphere & SAC still be available now that we have Intelligent Applications, and when should we suggest using one over the other?

Intelligent Applications are a major advancement, providing a more comprehensive and efficient analytics experience. This is end to end lifecycle managed by SAP. They streamline deployments by converting popular business content into one-click installable applications, automating the setup of data integration, data loads, data models and dashboards. Additionally, BDC manages end-to-end data extraction and staging, establishing a zero-copy data foundation accessible through Delta Sharing protocol. This makes Intelligent Applications the preferred choice, offering a simpler, more automated, and more powerful solution compared to manually managing prebuilt content

9. Are the SAP Datasphere Object Store and the BDC foundation storage layer the same?

No, they are distinct. While both are object stores based on HANA Data Lake Files, The BDC foundation storage layer is a SAP managed, centralized data lake house, acting as the core repository for the entire BDC platform. It powers features like Intelligent Applications and ensures unified data access. The SAP Datasphere Object Store, conversely, is a component within Datasphere that offers customers flexibility for storing and managing data within the Datasphere context. It's often used for staging, data preparation, and specific use cases.

A key difference is accessibility: the SAP BDC foundation layer is SAP-managed and inaccessible to customers. However, customers retain control over their data within the SAP Datasphere Object Store. Here, they can build custom data products with replicating data into file spaces and create medallion layers like (bronze, silver, gold) if they wish, performing transformations via transformation flows using Apache Spark runtime, and then share it to a standard space for use in flows, views, and analytic models.

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SAP Analytics Cloud:

1. What is the role of SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) within SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC)?

SAC is an integral part of BDC, providing a unified experience alongside SAP Datasphere and Business Warehouse. This combined offering enables comprehensive insights across all lines of business. Existing SAC customers can continue with their current contracts or transition to BDC with seamless integration. SAC Enterprise will also continue as a standalone product.

2. Is SAP Business Data Cloud replacing SAP Analytics Cloud?

No, BDC is not replacing SAC. Instead, it's an evolution of SAP's data, planning, and analytics solutions, bringing together Datasphere, SAC, and BW for a more unified and powerful experience. SAC can serve as the presentation and consumption layer for BDC contents like Intelligent Applications.

3. Will there be any restrictions on using SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) when it's part of SAP BDC compared to how we use it today?

No, there will be no difference in features or functionality, and no restrictions. You can continue using SAC as you do today. However you will get benefited if using out of the box Intelligent Applications having dashboards as SAC stories.

4. How will SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) licensing work within SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC)?

While SAC will be included in BDC and factored into the overall BDC Capacity Unit cost, its licensing will still be based on the number of BI and planning licenses and a conversion tool available. Existing SAC and Datasphere customers can continue using their current licenses without interruption. The integration with BDC will be seamless.

5. How will BDC affect our current SAP Webi/Business Objects environment?

BDC will not directly impact your existing Webi/Business Objects environment. However, to take advantage of the capabilities within Business Data Cloud, you would need to transition to SAP Analytics Cloud.

6. Is SAC embedded edition within BDC? And is planning functionality exclusive to the standalone SAC Enterprise version?

No, SAC embedded edition is not part of BDC; it remains within the Line-of-Business solutions. Planning functionality, however, will be available as part of SAC (seamless planning with Datasphere)  within BDC.

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SAP BW, BW/4HANA PCE (Private Cloud Edition) & SAP Datasphere, BW bridge:

1. What happens to my on-premises SAP Business Warehouse (BW or BW/4HANA) with the introduction of SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), and why should I consider uplifting/migrating?

SAP BDC represents the future for on-premises BW systems. By migrating to the private cloud version of BW within BDC, you safeguard your existing data and investments while gaining access to enhanced capabilities. You'll retain familiar BW features and unlock new possibilities, such as transforming BW data into data products, enabling seamless data sharing with other systems, and leveraging BDC's integrated tools for data engineering, data science, and AI/ML with Databricks. This migration allows you to expose legacy BW Info-Provider data within a modern data fabric architecture, rapidly harmonize legacy and new data for improved insights, extend BW data for AI/ML use cases, and transition to the cloud at your own pace. Basically moving from customer managed DWH into SAP managed DWH solution with data products and Intelligent Applications. 

2. What are the benefits of having SAP BW[BW/4] within BDC, and why should I migrate from SAP BW 7.5 to BW 7.5 PCE or BW/4HANA to BW/4HANA PCE in BDC?

A: Integrating into BDC offers significant advantages. Specifically, SAP BW customers can lift their systems to an SAP-managed PCE environment without an immediate, complex migration, benefiting from extended support  and allows for a gradual transition of BW use cases to SAP BDC,  e.g. replacing data flows with Datasphere's capabilities, saving time and resources. (Note: BW 7.5 must be on HANA DB for BDC integration.)

• Strategic benefits:
  • Full alignment with SAP BDC.
  • Adherence to the clean core principle.
  • Mainstream maintenance until 2030 for BW 7.5 PCE and until 2040 for BW/4HANA PCE.
  • Under a SaaS commercial model with CUs metric.
• Technical benefits:
  • Code enhancements and modifications are permitted.
  • Scalability and SAP-managed technical operations and upgrades upon customer request.
  • Out of the box Data products generator for BW Infoproviders (includes query), Multi providers, aDSO, Info Objects and Combine BW legacy data with new data.
  • All BW objects (Data products) are accessible through the BDC catalog feature.
  • Attach BW data to Data fabric architecture to enable BI, AI/ML use cases. 
  • Delta Sharing (zero-copy) enables data sharing with SAP Databricks.
  • Consume directly in SAP Datasphere analytical layer.

3. Who is responsible for the lift of an on-premise SAP BW, BW4 systems to into SAP BDC PCE, and what are the associated costs for SAP's lift and shift service? How much time it may take?

At high level the process involves a collaborative effort. The SAP Enterprise Cloud Services (ECS) team will manage the underlying infrastructure and its provisioning and  actual lift and shift of the BW system itself is typically performed by SAP Services or RISE-qualified partners. Customers cannot perform the migration themselves at this point.

Regarding costs, there are indeed service fees associated with both the lift and shift and the ECS infrastructure provisioning. However, these may be part of an attractive offering. Talk to your SAP Account Executive (AE), Customer Success Partner (CSP), or Customer Success Manager (CSM) to get detailed information and explore potential options.

Lift & shift time frame could be anywhere from 2 to 3 months, various based on the customer BW landscape.

4. Once our SAP BW or BW/4HANA system is migrated to SAP BDC PCE, what are the benefits and how does the transition process look?

After migrating to BW PCE or BW/4HANA PCE within BDC, you gain access to several key benefits and a streamlined transition:

• Out-of-the-Box Data Product Generation: The PCE version includes a Data Product Generator that seamlessly publishes BW objects as Data Products into the SAP Datasphere Object Store.
• Unified Data Foundation: You can leverage your existing BW data alongside SAP and non-SAP data, creating a robust and unified data foundation.
• Catalog Integration: Your BW objects will be readily available within the BDC catalog functionality, enhancing discoverability and accessibility.
• Gradual Datasphere Transition: You can gradually migrate BW data flows into SAP Datasphere, allowing for a phased and controlled transition.

5. What are the customer use cases for BW On-prem modernization into BW PCE with-in SAP BDC ?
The primary use cases include:

1. Harmonizing Data: Integrating SAP BW data with SAP BDC Data Products within SAP Datasphere, bringing together legacy and new data using a modern, SQL-based modeling approach.
2. Enabling AI/ML: Providing a solid foundation for machine learning and artificial intelligence initiatives by leveraging valuable BW data.
3. One unified Data Platform: Creating a common data platform to address diverse data consumption needs across the organization.

6. Can customers keep their SAP BW on-premises and connect to BDC without lifting into PCE?

No, customers must migrate to Private Cloud Edition (PCE) within BDC to fully leverage its benefits. Without this, they won't have access to SAP-managed Data Products, Intelligent Applications, or the ability to generate BW data products using the data product generator.

7. What happens to existing SAP BW/4HANA Private Cloud Edition (PCE) customers with SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC)?

If you already have SAP BW/4HANA PCE, you can connect it to BDC. You don't have to switch to BDC right away, but when your contract is up for renewal, you can choose to include BDC as part of your deal. If you're using the Private Tailored Option (PTO) of BW/4HANA, you can connect to BDC, but you can't switch over commercially just yet.

8. What is the future of the SAP Datasphere, BW bridge component ?

SAP Datasphere BW bridge optional component is still relevant and supported for new projects until at least 2040. It serves two main purposes or use-cases:

1. Access to BW Content & ECC extractors: It enables access to SAP BW Business Content and ECC extractors, including SAPI and customer-generated extractors..
2. BW System Decommissioning: It facilitates the decommissioning of BW systems by allowing the reuse and migration of BW assets to SAP Datasphere (with certain limitations). This allows it to function as a data ingestion and staging layer, retaining most BW modeling capabilities, excluding BW queries.

Note: While no major new features are planned beyond addressing some missing functionalities (like importing BW models from Datasphere), it provides a pathway for integration with Datasphere. It is not on SAP BDC innovation path. For existing BW customers not using BW Bridge, SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) offers migration paths to BW 7.5 PCE or BW/4HANA PCE, simplifying the transition and enabling quicker access to BDC services like Data Products, Intelligent Applications, and AI capabilities.

9. What is the scope of BW modernization, and what's the recommended transition path to SAP BDC for on-premise BW systems?

BW modernization is comprehensive, allowing a gradual transition of your entire BW footprint to BDC and public cloud components. For on-premise BW 7.5 on HANA, the recommended path is to lift it to the private cloud edition (PCE), managed by SAP, and benefit from extended maintenance and BDC's added value (data products, Intelligent Applications). With BDC, you can move directly and benefit from extended value. The path to bring an on-premise BW to PCE is managed by SAP. You can integrate on-premise BW into SAP BDC and gradually transition away from it.

10. What are the maintenance timelines for BW 7.5 PCE and BW/4HANA PCE, and does BDC-BW-PCE have an end-of-life?

SAP BW 7.5 PCE contracts can run until end of 2030. BW/4HANA PCE and on-prem are linked to the S/4HANA strategy (commitment until at least 2040). SAP BW capacity services follow SAP's product release and maintenance strategy.

11. What is the future of SAP BW, and should I still migrate to BW/4HANA?

With SAP BDC, the recommendation is to lift on-premise BW systems to the cloud (PCE) that will be SAP managed. Whether you should still migrate to BW/4HANA depends on your requirements as it will be supported until 2040 (based on the SAP BW/4HANA version). With BDC, you can move to PCE at your own pace. Consider if BW/4HANA functionalities are critical for your use cases. SAP BW bridge will stay for special use cases.

12. Does SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) replace SAP BW, Datasphere, and Analytics Cloud?

No, SAP BDC brings together the capabilities of BW, Datasphere, SAC, and SAP Databricks as a fully managed solution, so it includes functionalities from all these products, allowing easier integration and transition.

13. What is the advantage of using SAP BW, BW/4HANA PCE within BDC compared to SAP RISE PCE?

SAP BDC provides the flexibility to reallocate resources across cloud components (such as BW, BW/4 PCE, Datasphere, SAC, and Databricks) using universal BDC capacity units, without the need to restructure contracts.

14. What are the development options in SAP BDC, and will BW/ABAP consultants need new skills?

SAP BDC modeling uses the same tools as SAP Datasphere (Data Builder, HDI Containers, OpenSQL schemas). 

15.  Is the SAP BW PCE environment located in the same data centers as the general BDC public cloud, or can it reside elsewhere?

The SAP BW PCE environment can reside in a separate data center from other SAP BDC components. However, in most situations co-location of the BW PCE with an SAP S/4HANA PCE system is prioritize.

16. What is the sizing limit of SAP BW or BW/4HANA PCE?
Currently, it is up to 12TB, and by Q2 2025, it will be increased to up to 24TB.

17. What are the SAP BW Modernization program offerings?

• A free SAP BW cloud modernization assessment is available.
• Transformation incentives are available; check with your Account Executive (AE) and Customer Success Manager (CSM).
• SAP Factory services are also available.

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SAP Databricks:

1. What is SAP Databricks, and how does it enhance SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC)?

SAP Databricks is a fully SAP-managed version of the Databricks serverless lake house platform, from compute to storage, everything is fully integrated and embedded inside SAP BDC.
Leveraging Apache Spark for large-scale processing, it seamlessly integrates data engineering, machine learning, and business intelligence. This allows you to combine structured SAP data with unstructured and semi-structured data from any source. SAP Databricks is a tailored, serverless offering where SAP manages the data storage and Databricks manages the compute infrastructure. This partnership provides BDC customers with leading AI/ML capabilities, complementing Datasphere and SAC, and reinforces SAP's commitment to an open data ecosystem. Essentially, it bridges the gap between traditional business data and big data, empowering advanced analytics, AI/ML, and deeper business insights. As a leader in data engineering and ML platforms, Databricks significantly strengthens BDC's analytical capabilities.

2. How does this partnership work with Databricks?

SAP Databricks is embedded directly into BDC as a core component – an inbound OEM offering. When you enable BDC, you'll have the option to also enable Databricks for your ML and data engineering needs. Critically, this integration allows for seamless, zero-copy, bidirectional sharing of data products between BDC and Databricks.

3. Who manages the storage of data used by SAP Databricks in BDC?

SAP manages the storage for Databricks data products and any results it produces. This ensures data security, and efficient storage, and maintains SAP's data governance within the SAP ecosystem. Essentially, Databricks provides the compute engine, but SAP controls and manages the data storage.

4. What are the key benefits of using SAP Databricks within SAP Business Data Cloud?

SAP Databricks offers several key benefits:

1. Zero-copy data share via Delta Sharing: Share data (without replication) with SAP Databricks, use Databricks features and re-share back with BDC (SAP Datasphere). 
2. Data products: Access SAP managed Data products and Combine and enhance your data to create valuable new 'derived' data products. Then, share back by publishing them to the BDC data product catalog and Databricks Unity Catalog.
3. Pro-code tool for developments: Data engineering and AI/ML solutions of Databricks.
4. On-demand up scale: Analyze massive amounts of data quickly and easily using Databricks SQL.

5. What is the difference between greenfield and brownfield situations when positioning SAP Databricks to customers?
Greenfield customers refer to those who have not yet used Databricks or are only processing non-SAP data. In these cases, SAP Databricks is positioned as the solution for processing SAP data. Brownfield customers are those already using Native/Enterprise Databricks to process SAP data. For these customers, SAP will offer a Delta Share connector (coming in 2025 ) to integrate their existing Databricks with SAP BDC, allowing zero-copy data integration.

6. Can customers use their existing enterprise/native Databricks deployment with SAP Business Data Cloud, or bring their own Databricks license?
Yes, customers with existing Databricks installations can benefit from SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC). To support this, SAP will release a Delta Share connector in 2025 (product name TBD) that enables seamless, zero-copy data integration between existing Databricks deployments and SAP BDC. This allows customers to integrate their SAP data into their existing Databricks systems without the need for additional licensing or complex data replication processes.

7. What is the pricing structure for SAP Databricks within SAP BDC?
SAP Databricks is included as part of the SAP BDC subscription, billed based on BDC capacity units. Customers do not need to purchase a separate Databricks license; however, they will need to ensure they have sufficient capacity units to configure and use SAP Databricks within their BDC subscription.

8. How will SAP Databricks impact AI/ML capabilities for businesses?
SAP Databricks enhances AI/ML capabilities by providing customers with access to a rich set of tools for data engineering, machine learning, and analytics. Customers can develop secure and governed AI/ML solutions, conduct large-scale data analysis, and leverage Databricks' data science workbench and Mosaic AI to drive deeper insights and innovation.

9 Is SAP Databricks different from the standard/native Databricks platform (databricks.com)?

Yes, SAP Databricks is a specialized version developed through a partnership between SAP and Databricks. As BDC data products are curated, some data engineering capabilities, such as Delta Live Tables and Workflows, are not available and not required.

10. How can we determine the correct size for SAP Databricks?
Databricks sizing is quite complex, and it includes various capacity services like serverless compute, storage, model serving, model training, Egress, etc. General sizing considerations would be based on the data volume, developer's ETL/ML, ETL/SQL workload, and AI/ML workload. However, everything would be under SAP BDC Capacity units to simplify for our customers. A calculator will be provided soon.

11. Is it necessary to share-back with a bi-directional delta-share with SAP BDC?
It entirely depends if prediction is built in databricks just for the analysis of this dataset - databricks SQL capabilities can be used like data exploration or if this needs to be merged with SAP or custom Data products then you can build a model in Datasphere and story in SAC. So it depends on the personal like Data scientist or analyst they can stay with databricks or they may say we will only do ML part in databricks and shareback with BDC.

12. Are Delta share capabilities same between SAP Databricks and Native/Enterprise Databricks?
No. SAP Databricks can only delta-share back with SAP BDC, while SAP Databricks can be the recipient of any delta-share from SAP BDC, Accuweather, and Native Databricks etc.. Whereas native databricks does not have any restriction for the delta-share.

13. Are AWS Databricks and Azure Databricks the same as SAP Databricks?
No, SAP Databricks is a SAP-managed version of Databricks, while AWS Databricks, Azure Databricks are considered as Native/Enterprise Databricks.

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Conclusion:

We have made every effort to cover the important FAQs, however we understand you may have additional questions. Please refer to standard SAP guides or Feel free to use the comments section to ask them. We are committed to keeping this blog up-to-date with the latest information. We hope this has been a helpful resource.