The top 10 questions about SAP BW Bridge

SAP Business Warehouse (BW) has been established on the market as a powerful business intelligence solution for many years. Companies have implemented numerous in-house developments on SAP BW, which they would like to continue using in the future. However, anyone using SAP BW 7.40 or an older BW release faces the problem that mainstream support for these versions has already expired at the end of 2020. Extended maintenance is not offered.

Basically, there are three alternatives to choose from: switching to SAP BW 7.50, which is supported by SAP until 2027 (mainstream maintenance) or 2030 (extended maintenance), migrating to SAP BW/4HANA, whose maintenance is guaranteed until 2040, or moving from on-premise SAP BW to SAP Datasphere, for which no end-of-life date has yet been announced. A new feature now makes the third option particularly attractive: SAP BW Bridge for SAP Datasphere. Would you like to know what it’s all about? We answer the ten most important questions about SAP BW Bridge.

1. What is SAP Datasphere?

SAP Datasphere is an end-to-end data management solution in the public cloud that combines functionalities for data management and data analysis. At the same time, the Space concept in SAP Datasphere provides additional flexibility for the business department. SAP Datasphere is SAP’s strategic data management product. This means that all innovations are implemented exclusively in SAP Datasphere. SAP BW/4HANA remains an important component in SAP’s data warehousing portfolio, further developments focus on hybrid scenarios with SAP Datasphere.

Thanks to SAP Datasphere, users are able to take advantage of the cloud without having to move huge amounts of data to the cloud. Numerous connectors enable easy access to the data. Whether SAP or non-SAP systems, cloud or on-premise applications – diverse data sources can be flexibly connected to SAP Datasphere. The source systems can be accessed virtually in real time or by staging the data in SAP Datasphere.

2. What is SAP BW Bridge?

SAP BW Bridge for SAP Datasphere is a new feature that makes certain elements from the on-premise BW system available in the cloud. In order to transfer these elements to SAP Datasphere, SAP supplies the appropriate conversion tools at the same time. For companies that have invested heavily in their on-premise SAP BW system in the past, SAP BW Bridge means protection of the investments made, as certain parts from SAP BW can be transferred in SAP Datasphere. SAP BW Bridge is a cost-effective and simple way to switch from an on-premise BW system to SAP Datasphere.

3. Is SAP BW Bridge a SAP BW/4HANA system in the cloud?

No. In a data warehousing solution, a distinction must be made between data storage and data analysis. SAP BW Bridge ensures that the elements for data storage can be taken from the on-premise BW system to the cloud and used there. Companies therefore continue to benefit in SAP Datasphere from investments they once made in their SAP BW system.

However, SAP BW Bridge does not have data analysis functionalities. Therefore, data analysis and visualization must be done using SAP Analytics Cloud in SAP Datasphere.

Do you also want to know the answers to the remaining questions?

4. What are the migration options for SAP BW Bridge?

5. From which SAP BW release can you migrate?

6. What is the pricing?

7. What are the differences between SAP BW/4HANA, SAP Datasphere and SAP BW Bridge?

8. What happens to my BEx queries?

9. What happens to Integrated Planning and Embedded BCS?

10. Why should I use SAP Datasphere and not another provider’s cloud solution for data management?