SAP offers three different data warehouse solutions: SAP BW/4HANA, SAP HANA SQL Data Warehousing, and SAP Data Warehouse Cloud. We want to give you a better understanding of the advantages and challenges of hybrid architectures in these three approaches.
In this blog article, we provide an overview of the various SAP data warehouse solutions. In our white paper of the same name, "Hybrid Data Warehouse Architecture: SAP BW/4HANA and HANA SQL," we then illustrate in chapters 2 and 3 the general motivation for using hybrid architectures and explain the combinations of SAP HANA SQL DWH and SAP BW/4HANA.
With SAP Business Warehouse (BW), SAP has had standard software for data warehousing for over 20 years, which integrates some of the strengths of SAP HANA technology in the current version of BW/4HANA. If this standard solution is not suitable, SAP HANA technology offers the option of developing a customized SQL data warehouse without being bound by predefined architecture and modeling conventions.
In addition to these established DWH approaches, SAP recently launched its Software-as-a-Service solution Data Warehouse Cloud, offering a purely cloud-based alternative that is currently tailored primarily to business users. Below, we provide an overview of the different options with links to further information. A more detailed comparison of the solutions can also be found in the first chapter of our book SQL Data Warehousing with SAP HANA.
SAP BW/4HANA
BW/4HANA is SAP's classic plug-and-play BI solution, which has been complementing the SAP portfolio as a DWH application for years, especially in the area of enterprise resource planning. Thanks to this long-standing relationship, BW/HANA continues to demonstrate its strengths in SAP-based system landscapes. DWH developers can draw on a comprehensive pool of standards for implementing data architecture and modeling, while relying on the powerful performance of the HANA database. The following aspects are particularly noteworthy:
- Out-of-the-box data warehouse: BW/4HANA is a mature DWH application that provides all the necessary functionalities for comprehensive data warehousing in proven processes. Users can draw on a large inventory of ready-made models and templates for almost all areas of the company, especially those related to SAP ERP. These proven best practices should enable you to quickly implement classic data warehouse content and make business intelligence and data science applications available.
- Proven SAP standards: Established and well-documented standards, such as familiar data objects, delta query handling, integrated ABAP program modules, and a sophisticated authorization system, should enable you to get started quickly and require less individual configuration.
- Semantic modeling in conjunction with SAP front ends: Especially in conjunction with SAP front ends such as SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Lumira, or other SAP BusinessObjects, you can profitably leverage the rich possibilities of semantic modeling in BW/4. The front ends can process this meta information to a large extent, allowing your modeling to be efficiently linked in the output layer of the DWH and in the front end.
- Existing expertise in companies and on the market: Due to the long history of BW, many companies have the relevant expertise, which can be leveraged with the latest generation of BW/4/HANA. If this is not sufficient, you can also draw on a wide range of external services provided by consultancies and agencies.
- Cloud prospects: SAP does not anticipate any transformation to the cloud for BW/4HANA itself. Of course, it is possible to use hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services for hosting. Beyond that, SAP sees the cloud prospects for BW in combination with SAP Data Warehouse Cloud. The recently introduced SAP BW bridge is an important step in the strategic transformation from BW to Data Warehouse Cloud.
For more information on BW/4HANA , please visit our topic page.
SAP HANA SQL DWH
Compared to the ready-made DWH application SAP BW, SAP HANA SQL Data Warehousing is more in line with traditional open database approaches. In these approaches, the necessary software components, for example for extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) the data to be integrated, are individually selected around the central database for storing the warehouse data and together form the DWH solution. For such a best-of-breed scenario, SAP HANA offers you many advantages, not only through its optimization for analytical data processing, but also specifically through its function as a platform for application development. The following advantages are particularly noteworthy:
- Model-driven: The core activity in the SAP HANA SQL DWH development process is the creation of graphical models that gradually translate the business requirements for the data warehouse into the necessary database structures. Programs such as SAP PowerDesigner or erwin Data Modeler are used for this purpose, ensuring consistent, visualized target definition of the DWH objects. Details on this approach can be found in the following two blog articles: Model-driven SAP HANA SQL data warehousing, Model-driven SAP HANA SQL DWH with SAP PowerDesigner
- Agile and flexible: SAP HANA is not just a database, but also comes with its own application server as a platform, which is called On-Premises SAP HANA Extended Application Services Advanced Model, or XSA for short, or Cloud Foundry in the cloud. You can use this to develop applications such as a data warehouse, which is a significant difference from conventional DWH database development, as you can clearly separate design time and runtime. Developers no longer work directly with SQL commands on the HANA database, but instead certify them in design time objects of a modular data warehouse application, which are only merged into corresponding runtime objects on the HANA database after a build or deployment process. This separation enables and encourages a more agile DevOps approach designed for short, iterative development cycles. For more information, see this white paper: DevOps and SAP HANA SQL Data Warehousing
- Software development standards: Using the integrated application server and the associated separation of design time and runtime allows you to apply additional software development standards. Particularly noteworthy here are the use of version control systems such as Git, build server tools such as Jenkins, and project management software such as Jira, which significantly facilitate agile and automated development processes and help you to increase the output of your development activities in terms of both time and quality.
- Automated: Thanks to the model-driven approach and the clear separation of design time and runtime, HANA SQL Data Warehousing offers enormous automation potential that you can quickly leverage by using the software standards mentioned above. In particular, the use of automated tests in the development process also offers significant savings opportunities.
- Cloud Ready: Thanks to the fundamentally identical architecture of the HANA platform on-premises and in the cloud with XSA and Cloud Foundry, HANA SQL Data Warehousing already equips you with the flexibility you need for long-term cloud strategies. You can work across platforms by developing your design-time objects on-premises or in the cloud and delivering them to the other environment. In addition, there are good integration options with SAP Data Warehouse Cloud.
For more information, please visit our topic page or refer to our book SQL Data Warehousing with SAP HANA.
SAP Data Warehouse Cloud
SAP Data Warehouse Cloud is now SAP Datasphere
IS THE DATA WAREHOUSE CLOUD THE SUCCESSOR TO SAP BUSINESS WAREHOUSE?
SAP Data Warehouse Cloud is the latest innovation in SAP's data warehouse environment and has been available as a software-as-a-service solution since the end of 2019. Data Warehouse Cloud is SAP's strategic application-driven cloud data warehouse solution and the focus of future investments and innovations by SAP. SAP promotes the product as a multi-cloud solution that encompasses data integration, database, data warehouse, and analytics capabilities for a data-driven enterprise, specifically empowering business users and different lines of business (LOB) to make informed decisions quickly and easily. The following aspects are important in this context:
- EDWH perspective: SAP aims to offer a fully-fledged enterprise data warehouse product in the future with Data Warehouse Cloud. At present, it still seems necessary to rely on established solutions such as SAP BW/4HANA or SAP HANA SQL Data Warehousing for complex system landscapes and data integration processes. In combination, Data Warehouse Cloud plays to its strengths in the department-specific areas of such an EDWH approach and enables individual data models and analyses for different business areas with a high level of IT governance.
- Focus on business users and self-service: The application currently focuses primarily on business users and the aspect of self-service. The concept of virtual spaces, in which different business areas can model and analyze the centrally provided data in a business layer according to their individual needs, takes this to a whole new level. You can find out more in this blog post: The new Business Builder at a glance
- Central IT governance: By designing central data entry spaces that are reserved exclusively for IT and the data layer upstream of the business layer, you can manage the self-service of the various lines of business in a highly integrated manner.
- SaaS advantages: The software-as-a-service design offers enormous flexibility advantages. The administrative effort required for commissioning is low and the system is highly scalable during operation. The benefits of the application should therefore quickly become apparent.
For more information about SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, see our topic page and chapter 11 of our book SQL Data Warehousing with SAP HANA.
Combination of BW/4HANA and HANA SQL DWH
For more information on the motivation for hybrid architectures and the combinations of BW/4HANA and SAP HANA SQL DWH, please download our white paper.
Author: Martin Peitz
Christopher Kampmann
Head of Business Unit
Data & Analytics
christopher.kampmann@isr.de
+49 (0) 151 422 05 448
