BW/4HANA
Modernise your Business Warehouse

What is SAP BW/4HANA?

SAP BW/4HANA is a business warehouse built on SAP HANA’s in-memory technology. It is a data management system that consolidates, harmonizes, and validates a company’s data in a central location. The system offers simple data modeling and straightforward administration of data processing workflows.

SAP BW/4HANA represents the modern evolution of the classic SAP BW and is fully based on the in-memory database SAP HANA. As a central data warehouse, it provides a harmonized view of data from a wide range of sources—whether SAP systems, external systems, or unstructured data. With real-time analytics, historical data, and an open SQL interface, BW/4HANA supports data-driven decision-making and serves as a foundation for innovative technologies such as big data and machine learning.

What advantages does SAP BW/4HANA offer?

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Established Solution

SAP BW/4HANA is SAP's strategic data warehousing tool, supported until 2040, providing businesses with investment security.

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Flexible Integrations

In addition to native SAP systems, a wide range of external data sources such as Hadoop, Oracle, or other databases can be integrated flexibly—ideal for hybrid data landscapes.

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User-Friendly Interface

With tools such as the Eclipse-based SAP HANA Studio, BW/4HANA offers a modern user interface that enhances productivity and user adoption within the company.

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Pre-Built Business Content

The system provides pre-validated and standardized business content based on S/4 best practice processes. Companies save time and costs by leveraging proven templates that cover a wide range of business requirements.

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Simplified Modeling

SAP BW/4HANA reduces complexity by eliminating redundant modeling objects. With features like field-based modeling, development becomes more agile and flexible, enabling shorter project timelines and tailored solutions.

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Real-Time Big Data

SAP BW/4HANA leverages the powerful in-memory technology of SAP HANA. This smooth integration enables real-time data processing and supports big data analytics, allowing faster and more accurate data-driven decision-making.

Which migration paths are available?

Inplace

  • Complete system conversion of an existing SAP BW installation (same SID)
  • Step-by-step inplace transfer of classic objects to their HANA-optimized counterparts
  • System conversion to SAP BW/4HANA

Minimum Start Release: SAP BW 7.5 SP 5 powered by SAP HANA.

Remote

  • Start with SAP BW/4HANA as a greenfield installation (new SID)
  • Supports carve-out and consolidation scenarios
  • Transport of data models and data transfer
  • Risk reduction due to a parallel system

Minimum Start Release: SAP BW 7.3 on any DB

Shell

  • Similar to remote conversion, but without data transfer
  • Accelerates the greenfield approach by transferring and converting data models and flows.

Minimum Start Release: SAP BW 7.0 on any DB

Whitepaper_MDWH

Whitepaper

Data Warehouse Moderninsation

In this whitepaper, you learn

  • how a Data Warehouse looks like in times of digitisation
  • which challenges you face
  • what are the most important building blocks

Make your Data Warehouse future-ready with BW/4HANA!

A Whitepaper by André Klos,
CHRO, PIKON Deutschland AG

Only available in German!

How can we support you?

We provide comprehensive support—from strategy development to successful implementation—creating a modern, agile data warehouse landscape with smooth interfaces to ERP systems, big data solutions, and cloud services, all aligned with the priorities of modern CIOs.

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Our Case Studies

Analytics & Reporting

We are at your disposal for any question around Business Intelligence.

FAQs of BW/4HANA

How long will SAP BW/4HANA be supported?

SAP BW/4HANA will be supported until 2040. The successor to BW/4HANA is SAP Datasphere, which represents SAP’s new Business Data Fabric.

Does SAP BW/4HANA have a future?

As an established data warehousing tool, SAP BW/4HANA is used by many companies. It is valued for its reliability and versatility – nearly every requirement can be implemented. However, BW/4HANA is only being further developed to a limited extent. SAP Datasphere will replace SAP BW/4HANA as the Business Data Fabric by 2040.

What is the difference between BW/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics?

S/4HANA Embedded Analytics focuses on operational reporting. As an integrated part of SAP S/4HANA, it allows live transaction data to be analyzed.

In contrast, BW/4HANA focuses on strategic reporting. Data from multiple sources can be consolidated and harmonized in BW/4HANA.

How is the architecture of SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics structured?

It is recommended to model in SAP BW/4HANA using the LSA++ (Layered Scalable Architecture) reference architecture guideline.

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Read more on this in our Blog

Contact us

Sebastian Broschart
Sebastian Broschart
Senior Consultant Business Intelligence
Martina Ksinsik
Martina Ksinsik
Customer Success Manager